Metropig
Member
I recently moved and I am in Andersonville, Anderson County. Where is my closest best bet to bag a pig or two?
Boar Hunting
- Thread starter Metropig
- Start date
Around here they ride around in full sized pick up trucks at night and use their thermals to poach private land. They shoot at homes, kids, widows, harass and stalk the landowners where they want to hunt and they do it all right in front of TWRA. Only time they get caught is if they don't spot the game wardens first before they shoot and when they get caught its not near what it should be. We can't even hunt our own property because of the obvious safety concerns.
AppalachiaVol
Well-Known Member
I hadnt heard much of that. is that happening around the plateau? Im sure youll have some guys over reaching their land boundaries much like coon hunters
AppalachiaVol
Well-Known Member
Here is a very broad answer to your Question. your in a pretty good area to get around to some pig hunting. Always check the Regs on each specific WMA. and this is true for all areas I will mention - Go DEEP into the mountains/valleys in the thickest/steepest stuff people dont go or youll never see a pig.
- North Cumberland WMA. (ive never hunted here) im told theres a high population of pigs. lots of other misc. traffic however.
- Big South Fork - i have hunted here, not my first choice in terms of pig #s. but i did find areas with some sign.
- Catoosa WMA - moderate to low pig #s. but theyre there. youll fight crowds of deer hunters but they have a hog control season with guys running dogs. (not a bad idea to just show up that weekend, make some freinds and see if you can join a party hunt)
- Luper Mtn and Skinner Mtn. i havent hunted either. limited access points and smaller acreage. decent pig #s.
- Bridgestone/Firestone Wma - never been but plan to this season. I have heard pig #s are rising there.
- South Cherokee WMA - This is my main hog hunting spot. plenty of pigs but many miles to cover. same goes with dog runners. Tellico region has them.
- there are pigs on private land around you, ask around, I know some farmers in Knox county and North that have pigs on em
AppalachiaVol
Well-Known Member
Forgot Foothills WMA. i hear theres pigs. has to be with the amount being in Cades Cove and Tellico. but less acreage to get around
Yeah its Overton County. I live in the thermal road poacher hellhole capitol of the world along with my poor neighbors. It started last fall when some hogs showed up and TWRA issued year around coyote night permits to some cow farmers/renters up the road and they apparently invited the whole state to road hunt everyone else's property at night as well. We have at least 40 people that's involved in a road poaching ring. Ive challenged the alledge poacher that shot directly at my house to a fist fight. I undergo constant intense stalking and harrassment at night with thermals. Ive been vandalized and stolen from during this time. They harass the game wardens when they discover them the same as they harass the landowners when they are discovered on their on property. Ive spent 3K on a hog trap that i have baited and set.
Ive patrolled our property at night for the last 17 nights until at least 3 am. Most of the time i go until 5 am. Had one thermal scanner show up last night at 1:30 am but they didn't shoot this time. Patrolling is the only way the neighbors kids can sleep without the constant gun fire in the street at night. TWRA is not out here monitoring their year around night seasons and they know it. Its not just the worst thing that's ever happened to hunting, its the worse thing that's ever happened to our community.
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Well on private property you are supposed to be on a list if you are hunting while a big game season isn't open, pigs are hard to find when you are looking for 1 lol, sign is easy to find but they move a lot. Scott county is probably the closest place to find some, Lot of folks run dogs up there and may not follow all the laws . Have found dogs with tracking collars on them in Catoosa during deer hunts before. Big South fork has cost me a lot of boot leather in years past but other than sign I never caught up with 1. good luck
AppalachiaVol
Well-Known Member
AppalachiaVol
Well-Known Member
like Mike said, good luck getting private land access
I thermal hunt Overton county. several farms there loaded with hogs.
You know any of them roadhunters that ride around at night shooting at people, pestering people at their homes, monitoring other peoples land with thermals against their will?
I know alot of people that have thermals. At night when we're out hunting you hear gunshots all around.
Do you know any of the ones that get in their trucks and ride around and hunt other peoples land against their will?
No. We ride around and find pigs outta the truck to cover more ground but only shoot on farms We have permits for.
Boone25/06
Well-Known Member
Don't worry Planking isn't trying to accuse you of doing it. It's only his 1,000 post about thermal poachers. Everyone has heard at this point. Every topic gets turn into thermal poachers when he post. You keep shoot all of them we're you have permits for. It's an effect and fun tool to remove unwanted hogs!
From one hog hunter to another don't become more unwanted than the hogs themselves because that is what has taken place in our community. Id rather have a 100 hogs than one thermal road scanner.
You left out the part about scanning your own place where you have permits for and leaving everyone else's business to the people that actually have business there. You know, respect for other people. Respect for other hunters. I don't scan your land, don't scan ours because that crap obviously leads to idiots committing crimes. We've seen it too much and there will be 2000 posts about it until the problem gets addressed.
Remember when you could just kill a hog anytime you saw it and night hunting wasn't legal.
Riding around in a truck on a public road monitoring other people's land at night with an electronic device is anything but hunting.
Your exactly right it's not hunting it's the eradication of and invasive species. I've killed feral hogs with thermal since 2015. Landowners we hunt on our thankful and we are constantly getting new access to different properties all the time. Sometimes we see hogs were we don't have a permit we record the hogs threw our thermal then show the landowner and most of the time we gain access to that property too.
Doesn't appear to be eradication of an invasive species to me. After all the crimes we have had to endure because of it, it has more in common with a crime.
"Stalking is a crime of power and control. It is a course of action directed at an individual that causes the victim to fear for their safety, and generally involves repeated visual or physical proximity, nonconsensual communication, and verbal, written, or implied threats.
Research shows that victims of stalking are more likely to experience anxiety, insomnia, social dysfunction, and severe depression compared to the general population.
Stalking is a crime in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Territories, and the Federal Government. Each year, January is recognized as National Stalking Awareness Month in an effort to educate the public about serious—and at times deadly—crime of stalking."
https://ovc.ojp.gov/topics/stalking
We gonna keep on eradicating.
That's what makes narcissism such a terrible disease. There is no cure and the people who have it don't realize that they have the disease.
If you guys were actually interested in "eradicating" you would be using a trap instead of a thermal. All that is is justification for illegal hunting methods and their related crimes.
We use both methods.
Atchman2
Well-Known Member
I hunt them in Northern Anderson county on private property. There used to be a LOT of them there until the state exterminated a bunch of them. I second the New River area. That is where I have the private property. In the last few years, I have seen exactly two hogs during daylight hours. That is because of the ORVs running all through that area from Windrock.
AppalachiaVol
Well-Known Member
OP got more than he bargained for on this thread HA
Trapping works…. But we never seen a decrease in hog numbers where we hunt until the dog and the thermal guys were given permission to do whatever they needed to get rid of them.
Fast forward 2 years and besides one lone boar passing thru our property last summer it 2022, the 10-12 cameras we have out and in year around haven't taken a pic of a hog since.
