Hog Trapping in Dry Country: Tactics Without Trail Cameras
George Wardlaw ranches sheep, goats and cattle in the rocky canyon country north of Del Rio, Texas. Water is scarce, the dust is thick, and cell coverage is spotty at best. He doesn't rely on trail cameras or phone alerts to know when hogs are working his traps. He reads the ground.
Wardlaw is a sixth-generation rancher, the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers Association's Outstanding Trapper of the Year, and the subject of our story on what wild pigs cost one Texas ranch. In a recent Pig Brig webinar with Aaron Sumrall, PhD, Pig Brig's Director of Outreach, Education and Research, he walked through the tactics he's built over years of trapping hogs in arid country.
"I'm pretty much just reading signs on the ground," Wardlaw said.
Here's how he does it.
Why Arid Country Changes the Rules
Water Drives Everything
In dry country, water controls where hogs can go. During a drought, hogs have to stay close enough to return to their usual watering spots every night, so they don't wander far. When it rains and water fills the draws, that changes fast. Hogs follow the water and no longer need to go back.
"We pray for rain three times a day, and we need it," Wardlaw said. "But anytime it rains, I have more hogs show up."
For an arid-country trapper, a good rain is a signal to watch for new signs.
The Opposite of East Texas
Hog movement doesn't look the same everywhere. Sumrall, who works in East Texas near the Louisiana line, sees nearly the reverse pattern. In wetter country, droughts push hogs down into the watersheds, where they travel long distances following the water. When rain returns, they move back out.
The takeaway for any trapper is to learn how water moves hogs on your own ground, then plan around it.
Where to Set: Start With Water
"I always trap next to water, because the pigs are gonna go to water every night," Wardlaw said.
Most of his trap sites sit along water gaps and draws on the property boundaries, where hogs cross over from neighboring land. In rough, rocky country, fences are hard to keep tight to the ground at water gaps, so those spots become natural crossings.
When he finds a fence that's been lifted or torn, he doesn't fix it right away. "I don't want to fix the fence and then trap my hogs," he said. He traps the crossing first, then repairs the fence.
Setting near water also saves on bait. By Wardlaw's estimate, trapping close to a water trough uses about half the feed.
He also plans for the end of the job. When he clears a site, he makes sure there's room to bring in a trailer and turn around so he can haul hogs out.
For more general guidance on choosing a trap site, see our guide to where to put a hog trap.
Working With Dust Instead of Against It
Approach From Upwind
Dust is a real problem in arid country, for the trapper and for the trap. Wardlaw always walks up to a trap on the upwind side. On bad days, he wears clear glasses and a bandana or mask over his nose.
Water Your Trap Sites
Wardlaw waters the ground around his traps with a 300-gallon tank on his pickup, and he's made it a regular practice. On one recent morning, he had 25 to 30 hogs in a net, and the dust was boiling so badly he couldn't work.
Hard-Packed Ground Tells You More
Watering does more than settle dust. It packs the ground hard, which makes fresh tracks easy to read. On loose dust, signs blur together and bait vanishes.
"You can go pour corn on the ground, but it just disappears," Wardlaw said.
On packed ground, he can see what's coming in and how often.
Baiting in Dry Country
Straight Corn, Nothing Else
Over the years, Wardlaw has tried rotted corn, flavored additives and old feed. He keeps coming back to plain shelled corn.
A note on attractants: Pig Brig strongly recommends never using diesel or any other fuel as a hog attractant. Fuels can contaminate soil and water, and chemicals can damage the protective treatment on your net. Plain corn works, and it's what we recommend.
Use the Brush
Wardlaw places his trap sites near mesquite, cactus and thorny brush, and he throws his corn right into it. Deer, raccoons and livestock tend to avoid digging through cactus. Hogs don't.
"You throw it inside a cactus, and when you come back and that cactus is leveled, you know it was hogs eating it," he said.
Bait in the brush also helps him read signs. He knows exactly who's been eating.
Work the Bait Toward the Center
As hogs clean up the bait, Wardlaw keeps throwing more into the brush to keep them coming to the area. Over time, he moves it inward, so by catch night all the bait sits in the middle of the trap.
Bait in the Evening
Wardlaw puts his bait out in the evening, not the morning. That way, it isn't sitting out all day drawing in other animals before the hogs arrive.
Reading Sign When You Don't Have a Camera
Wardlaw has used SD card cameras, but the time spent pulling cards and checking footage didn't fit his days, and most of his catch sites are down in the bottoms where there's no cell service.
"You can do it without a camera, because I have," he said. "You just look at the signs and how the feed disappears."
Here's what he watches:
- How fast the feed disappears. Bait cleaned up overnight means hogs are committing.
- How torn up the ground is. Heavy rooting around the trap shows a group is working the site.
- Fresh rubs and mud. He watches for mud on trees, T-posts and center anchors.
- Salt blocks. Wardlaw keeps sulfur salt out near water, and hogs rub on the blocks until they turn brown. As he put it, "they rub on a salt block like they would a creosote telephone pole."
If you do have coverage and want to add cameras to your setup, we carry three cellular trail cameras that send photos straight to your phone. The REVEAL by Tactacam X 3.0 uses a low-glow IR flash that's virtually undetectable to wildlife, and it automatically connects to the strongest carrier in your area, which helps on ground where signal is hit or miss. We also offer the REVEAL by Tactacam Ultra and the Spartan GoLive3, which you can find with the rest of our SMART Gear.
Conditioning Is More Important Than the Catch
"That is the most important part. The conditioning's more important than the catch."
A Typical Progression
Wardlaw starts by spreading about 50 pounds of corn wide underneath the raised net. Once hogs are feeding comfortably, he lowers the net enough that it rubs their backs as they feed. When they're used to that, he sets the trap to catch mode.
He's done the whole process in as little as three days, but that's rare. A week is more typical, and some sites have taken two weeks.
Let the Pigs Set the Schedule
The goal of every stage is for hogs to get comfortable with the net touching them. That takes as long as it takes.
"Let the pig dictate the process," Sumrall said. Or, as he put it during the webinar, those West Texas pigs haven't learned to read a calendar yet.
Never Drop the Net With Corn Under the Skirt
This is one of Wardlaw's firmest rules. If corn is still scattered under the edges of the net, a hog can feed there while holding the skirt up, and others can slip out.
"Do not drop that net on the ground if there's still corn out on the edges," he said. "You've educated those animals."
He's gotten down on his knees in leather gloves to rake corn into the center before a catch.
Set Up Ahead of Kidding and Lambing
When Wardlaw knows he'll be kidding or lambing in a pasture, he moves nets there well in advance. By the time he starts trapping, hogs are used to seeing them, and conditioning goes faster.
When a net isn't in use, Pig Brig recommends taking it down and storing it to protect it between trapping seasons.
When the Net Comes Up Empty
Sometimes Wardlaw drops a net expecting a catch and finds it empty the next morning. Instead of raising it back up, he often leaves it set.
The first time he tried it, he checked the empty net five mornings in a row. On the fifth morning, he had 15 hogs. More recently, he left a net down for four nights and came back to 25 hogs.
This isn't our standard recommendation. For most trappers, Pig Brig advises leaving a net in catch mode no more than two nights in a row. A net left set longer gives non-target animals more chances to get caught, and anything caught in a net too long, hogs included, can damage it.
Wardlaw can make it work for two reasons. He's diligent about checking his traps every morning. And his arid West Texas ground doesn't carry the same non-target pressure trappers deal with in the Southeast and other parts of the world.
If you're considering leaving a net set longer than two nights, text or call our trap support team at 1-833-PIG-BRIG first. They can help you decide whether it makes sense on your ground.
Timing Around Hunting Season and Feeders
On land with hunting leases, feeders can compete with your bait. Wardlaw finds catches come easier when neighbors' feeders are sitting empty and at the end of hunting season, when feeders stop being filled.
During hunting season, he traps unleased pastures heavily. Hunters create a lot of pressure, and the quieter pastures give hogs a reason to move in.
For more on how fall food sources affect trapping, see our guide to trapping hogs in fall and getting ready for peak season.
Why These Tactics Work With a Net Trap
Everything Wardlaw does comes back to keeping hogs comfortable. That's where a net trap fits arid country.
The Pig Brig® Trap System has no gate to slam and no trigger to set off. "It's a silent trap," Wardlaw said. "There's no clanking or banging." Hogs root under the net the way they would push under brush, and because there's no single entry point, the sounder can keep coming in through the night. The system also doesn't need cell phone service, which matters in canyon country where a signal is hard to find.
To learn more, see how the Pig Brig Trap System works. Have questions about your setup? Browse our Help Center for answers to common trapping questions, or text or call our trap support team at 1-833-PIG-BRIG. Buy your own trap here. And once you own a Pig Brig, you'll have access to our private Pig Brig Owners Facebook group, where owners swap tips, share catches and help each other troubleshoot in the field.
Want to hear Wardlaw's tactics in his own words? Watch the full webinar on our YouTube channel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can you trap hogs without a trail camera?
A: Yes. Fresh tracks, rooting, mud rubs and feeding activity can help you monitor a trap site without a camera. Look for repeated visits and evidence that hogs are feeding inside the trap. Missing bait alone does not confirm hog activity or tell you whether the whole group is entering.
Q: Where should you put a hog trap in dry weather?
A: Start near a reliable water source with fresh hog sign. Look for well-used trails, draws and fence crossings connecting water to areas hogs frequent. Choose a site you can access regularly to replenish bait, check the trap and remove captured hogs.
Q: Does plain corn work for trapping feral hogs in dry country?
A: Yes. Plain shelled corn can attract hogs and encourage repeat visits to a trap site. Baiting in the evening gives daytime wildlife less opportunity to eat it before hogs arrive. During net-trap conditioning, gradually move bait toward the center. Before setting the trap to catch, make sure no corn remains beneath the net's skirt.
Q: Should you raise the net after an empty night?
A: Usually, yes. Pig Brig recommends leaving a net in catch mode no more than two nights in a row to limit non-target captures and net damage. Wardlaw sometimes leaves his net set longer and has caught 15 hogs after five days and 25 after four nights, but he checks his traps every morning, and his West Texas property has low non-target pressure. Talk with our trap support team before trying this on your own ground.
Q: Does rain affect feral hog movement?
A: Yes. In dry country, rain can create temporary water sources that let hogs travel beyond their usual watering areas. That can bring hogs onto land where they were not active before. After rain, check draws, crossings and trails for fresh signs rather than assuming hogs are still following the same routes.
