Gary Reeder
Scotty is right. They have hogs for every taste
Saturday, August 31, 2019, 18:34

They have the big "Russian" type hogs, the mixed breed hogs that look a bit Russian, the feral mixed up Heinz 57 type hogs and some farm type piggies that were thrown in for kicks. Several National parks up in the Smokey Mountains are overrun with hogs and they are destroying everything in sight. So the Park Rangers have allowed commercial trappers to put in large wire traps on the edges of the parks full of corn to trap these hogs. Some of these traps hold 30 to 40 hogs. They are trapped live and hauled away in trucks and the various preserves buy them from the trappers and turn them loose on their land for hunting.

In the mixture of hogs are the various hogs mentioned above. From time to time you will see all of these varieties in one bunch running together. But in most cases the pitch black and dark reddish hogs run together in groups of 15 to 20 and they often run the ridges.

If we are lucky this year Alan will have the corn field full of corn and every type of critter available. He plants about a 50 acre field full of corn, not for human consumption but for the animals. It is extremely thick with weeds and vines growing among the corn stalks. A big hog can be 5 feet from you and you won't see him.

Usually there are exotic sheep, Bison, water buffalo, elk, red stag and quite a few other breeds of critters in the corn field. It is a challenge just seeing one. I shot a big black hog on one of the HHCs in the corn field and I swore I could see his head and took the shot. I hit him square in the ass. On another hunt again in the corn field Kase and I were hunting hogs and we could hear crunching ahead of us. We did a sneak on them, if crunching thru dried corn stalks can be called a sneak. As we got to where we were sure the hogs were just ahead, maybe 6 or 8 feet in front of us, we parted some of the corn stalks and were nose to nose with a group of water buffalo. We did a strategic withdrawal and left that section of corn field to the buffalo. But if the corn field is up this year it is always a challenge. There are several other large parcels to hunt in. One is straight up and down steep hills, another is rolling hills with lots of open pasture surrounded by woods. Another is chest high grass and weeds with woods all around it. Another is called the canyon and that it is. Steep hillsides dropping down into a canyon. Whatever type of hunting you like, they have.
If you want a meat hog then go with more of a feral type hog as they will have a small amount of fat on them. The Black Russian type hogs are good also for eating, if you pick out one in the 100 to 150 lb range. The big hogs will either be all fat or will be skinny and rangy like the normal long nosed Russian and the meat is [pretty tuff. The farm type piggies, which you will probably see a few are mostly fat. Some of the hogs you will normally find there...
This is typical of a feral hog, not overly fat, weighing around 100 lbs. Decent eating.

This is a Russian type hog, all black, long nose, ears that stick up and a straight tail, your typical "wild boar", good eating if you go for one around 150 lbs.

Typical of what is called a pure Russian hog..a good trophy but usually pretty tough eating..

And unless you like a lot of fat, this is the one to stay away from..