With the spring weather heating up, so do the engines on the tractors and the barrels on the JAGER PRO Remington R-25’s. Farmers in Southwest Georgia are planting this year’s peanut crop. With the price at about $550 per acre to plant peanuts, there is a lot of frustration when hog find their May food source. Hogs will put their nose in the ground, as if they have a GPS precision device in their head, to find every peanut seed in the field.
Things to Consider Prior to the Hog Hunt
With every hunt you must consider the weather. When shooting hogs you have to take into account the wind direction and wind speed. A light and variable wind will result in the hogs busting you, as you just can’t beat their nose. A 5 to 10 MPH wind will work best. Ensure you have the wind in your favor when selecting an observation point.
Field conditions are important also. A fresh plant planted peanut field is very soft. Add the spring rain and you will might cause more damage to the field than the hogs are. Always consider the farmers investment and treat their fields with respect.
Conducting the Hunt
We always start out with our weapons safety class and verify the rifles zero. We scan the fields from up to 1500 yards away with our 100mm thermal optics. Once we have found the hogs causing the damage to the field, we move into the wind in a single file trying to get as close to the hogs as possible. When we can advance no more, our hunters will deploy to the left and right of the guide to obtain a shooting position. The hunters then scan the field locating all the hogs and select their target. With all hunters ready, we will conduct a countdown to ensure multiple rounds impact on multiple targets at the same time. At the end of the night we like to tell our farmers that we have taken multiple hogs off his peanut field.
