Hog smelling sense vs birds

[lt dan]

does anybody know the smell sense of birds when compared to say hogs and small antelope. i recently build a hide at a cattle feeding post. of my last 6 wart-hogs i have shot i shot 5 in a 100m radius of this post(before building the hide ). the hogs got into the pen and chase the cattle away and then eat and drink and bath to their hearts contend. this has become such a problem that it takes the farmer 10 days longer than usual to get his cattle to a selling condition. twice the cattle got so frightened that they broke out of the pen.

my hide is about 20 yards from the nearest fence of the pen. my hide is now 10 days old and i have never seen a hog since erecting the hide. i have seen a lot of birds especially fowl as close as 5 yards without them noticing me. in fact they have chased each other around the hide often.

so the question is can the hogs smell me and the birds don't, or should i just wait for the hogs to get used to the hide?

 

[Byron Quick]

You've probably got more experience with wart hogs than anyone here, friend.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I am not sure the comparison of smell capabilities is completely valid, although birds tend to have reduced oldfactory capabilities compared to most mammals and even more so compared to mammals that rely on smell to survive such as warthogs.

Warthogs may be avoiding you because they sense you via their ability to smell, but the bird's inability to smell as well may not completely be why they aren't avoiding you. You just don't pose that much of a threat to them as they perceive their world and their ability to escape you.

Okay, so you have erected the hide and haven't seen any hogs. Did you have hogs moving through that area when you erected the hide? Is the hide on a game trail where you have observed them previously? I am guessing you aren't in the hide 24/7. So have you seen any tracks around the hide from the hogs passing through when you weren't there yourself?

At least here in the States, we find there are periods when some animals appear to drop off the radar for a while only to reappear days later. Maybe you are in a down time?

The point is, there are a variety of reasons why you may not be seeing your warthogs right now that isn't necessarily a smell issue. Or it may be related to smell, but that the comparison with birds isn't fully valid.

What I am getting at is that there may be

 

[hogdogs]

If they compare to our feral domestics, it is incredible... We routinely bury 5 pounds of corn 3 feet deep in a post hole and cover it. They go straight in.
truffle mushroom hunters use pigs to locate the underground shrooms.
Brent

 

[lt dan]

byran, i spoke to a couple of guys that have both hunting experience over here as well as with you guys. all agree a hog is a hog. granted some are more ugly than others. the reason why i asked this is that on my experience American hunters have more exposure to hunting with hides and the tactics surrounding this.

hogdogs, i left about 15kg of corn mixed with vanilla essence and beer to rot for a couple of days in the sun. since i wrote this thread this morning i went out to the farm and poured it out about 30 yards from the hide.

dn spy, thanks i thought the presence of the birds isn't a clear indication that the hogs wont notice me .

as i am typing this i am waiting for my hunting buddy to arrive , so that we can go and have a look see. we park the pic-up about 1.5 miles from the hide. is that far enough? anyway will give feedback.

 

[hogdogs]

lt dan, Take a few buckets, 3 buckets 5 gal per bag of corn, and bakers yeast. I have had super success using only corn and yeast soaked in water. It is the fermentation you seek. 7 days is usually okay but 12-14 days is better. If that doesn't work, add fruit punch, grape or strawberry jello. The protein scent in the jello will attract better than basic kool-aid. I am assuming these items are available to you...
But the corn and yeast surely are there.
I saw no increase in performance with beer added.
Fill buckets or barrel to within a few inches of top with corn and some yeast and cover with water. the next day you may need more water as the corn swells up. leave this sit. When you use it save the juice to scatter in any high brush foilage. The elevation helps the scent waft on the breeze better, farther, faster.
Brent

 

[hogdogs]

Drive right on up close... for scouting the bait but yes stay off a ways if you expect them to be there.
We would do "drive-by trap checks" and never did my truck odor affect the trapping.
Brent

 

[bwheasler]

African Hunting Gratuity

I am going on a hunting trip to Africa and was wondering what the average is an tipping. Who much? Is it a percentage of the total? Who do I tip? The main tracker? Skinners? Cooks? Any input would help

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

So the question is can the hogs smell me and the birds don't, or should i just wait for the hogs to get used to the hide?

Most birds have essentially NO sense of smell. If they do smell something they apparently don't care much about it. I have had several birds literally sit on my hat while hunting. Hogs have an exceptional nose, you have to be down wind or you'll never see one.

I am going on a hunting trip to Africa and was wondering what the average is an tipping.

It may be advisable to start your own thread to ask this question.

 

[Scorch]

Birds have very little sense of smell, and are more visual than mammals. The hide likely does not alarm them, but any movement will. Pigs (and I am assuming that warthogs will act similar to pigs) have mediocre eyesight and rely very heavily on their sense of smell. If you have spooked the pigs away from the pen by building the hide, I would check that the hide is properly situated in relation to the wind and the direction from which the pigs are approaching the pen. Never let the wind go from you to them. Crosswind or downwind is best.

 

[Al Thompson]

PK and Scorch nailed it IMHO. No noses on birds, just beaks.

Try a cover scent - the corn and vanilla mix may work fine or anything strong enough to hide your smell..

 

[hogdogs]

Soaking your hunting duds in the sour mash corn water will surely cover your scent. It is not a terrible foul odor unless you add crap like beer. I put the jello on the sour corn at the site not in the souring process so the rotting cow hooves (or where ever they get protein for jello) won't gag me...
Brent

 

[lt dan]

after reading all the feedback from you guys it is obvious that i went back to fast and that i didn't prepare my corn mix correct.

the one thing that i left out in my opening thread was: we had very few rain the last couple of months. it bordered on a draught. in this time i shot a lot of hogs around the feeding post. however it started raining heavily 3 weeks ago and since then i have only seen one young hog. not even tracks around the feeding post.

my new strategy is to let the corn mix become more sour before i put it out. then wait longer before i return.

 

[Rmart30]

If there was a drought their "normal" area moves to where they can find water and food more easily.
In one hunting club I was in the only years they would have hogs on the property was in times of drought. When the rains came back the hogs dissapeared as fast as they had showed up.

You can also bait them in with any used cooking oil. It has more smell than a lot of things and they will eat whatever you pour it onto.

 

[FrontSight]

Depends on the bird. Some vultures have extraordinary senses of smell, while other birds like turkeys have very poor to none.

 

[Semi-jacketed]

Most hogs have a better sense of smell than dogs. Yep, no kidding. Birds have incredible eyesight, but mostly poor senses of smell (small olfactory organs and little brain size relegated to smell) except for the aforementioned carrion birds. And they still see far better than we do.

 

[Fat White Boy]

As far as I know, the only birds that make a living with scent are the vultures. Most birds rely on eyesight and movement to catch a meal.

 

[lt dan]

the hogs are back

went to the farm on Monday to put out more "prepared corn". caught a horse red handed eating my first batch of corn!!! chased him out of that area and locked him out. then i left the new batch of corn.

went back yesterday to check up on the new corn(just a drive by). still no sighn of hogs next to the pen, hide or the corn. i then decided to drive through the whole farm(2500hactares) in the hope of spotting a hog.

i ended up seeing 4 in spots on the farm i have never seen them before. so i guess that the recent heavy rains did change their habits at least for the time being.

 

[jdscholer]

I read somewhere that one of the ways that utility companies are able to find a leaking natural gas line is by buzzards circling the area.

And that's just one example of the mountain of useless trivia that crowds my convoluted mind. jd