My dad's property is getting overrun by feral hogs. I'm looking for suggestions on rifle setups to exterminate them with extreme prejudice. He has an AR-15 in 5.56, but no optic, suppressor, or threaded barrel yet. Budget unknown at this time, but assume nothing too high end. Trying to gather info on the setup needed.

Just put a scope on the AR and you are good to go.

But just shooting the occasional hog won't impact the population. In fact, they will likely respond with a higher level of fecundity

Thunderstruck xx said:

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My dad's property is getting overrun by feral hogs. I'm looking for suggestions on rifle setups to exterminate them with extreme prejudice. He has an AR-15 in 5.56, but no optic, suppressor, or threaded barrel yet. Budget unknown at this time, but assume nothing too high end. Trying to gather info on the setup needed.

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What kind of AR doesnt have a threaded barrel? Take off the flash hider...

+1 put a optic on it and it'll be good to go.

beb08 said:

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Thunderstruck xx said:

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My dad's property is getting overrun by feral hogs. I'm looking for suggestions on rifle setups to exterminate them with extreme prejudice. He has an AR-15 in 5.56, but no optic, suppressor, or threaded barrel yet. Budget unknown at this time, but assume nothing too high end. Trying to gather info on the setup needed.

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What kind of AR doesnt have a threaded barrel? Take off the flash hider...

+1 put a optic on it and it'll be good to go.

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I don't know anything about adding a suppressor, so I assumed a special type of threaded barrel was needed. His does have a flash hider already.

What optics do you all recommend? Thermal? Night vision?

I have a nightvision scope on an AR. I use a death grip tripod and pair the scope to my iPad. When it detects motion I get a push notification and can take a shot. I can sit comfortably in my stand without having to look down the scope the whole time. Great setup

I have a few

I have a cheap AR with a red dot and a green light for illumination. This one rides on the can am with me. Gun + red dot + green light in sum was just under $500 new…but it works good!

Then I have a nice AR with a good scope. Fancy green light from elusive wildlife. Red laser on the barrel. I've had this one the longest. It's for sitting in the stand or spot/stalk. I have night vision binoculars or thermal monocular for spotting.

Then there's a browning .308 BAR with a pulsar thermal scope. I talked about thermal for a long time but never wanted to pay for it. So my dad bought this set up and put it in the safe. He said he probably won't use it and I can consider it an inheritance gift but can use anytime. It's been sitting in safe for 2 years, untouched lol

This is a surprisingly good product. Night vision binoculars for $100. https://militarymentalendurance.com/products/trailblazer%e2%84%a2-pro-1080p-night-vision-binoculars

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I'm looking for suggestions on rifle setups to exterminate them with extreme prejudice.

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What you need is a trap large enough to capture an entire sounder.
Then you can exterminate.

If you want to hunt them I think the best set up is some solar green lights around a feeder and a cheap AR. Thermals are awesome but not when you're looking through one for a few hours.

The green lights gradually turn on when something triggers the motion and then illuminates the entire area for easy shooting. Much cheaper too.

Then again, trapping is the best way to rid them.

Simple set up is AR with LPVO, Light and Suppressor.

From there add:
Thermal and Tripod
https://instagr.am/p/Cp3IdwpP2VZ
https://instagr.am/p/DA7M3t6P1U1

A trap and coordination with neighboring landowners doing the same is going to be your most effective means if you're truly concerned about mitigating property damage.

But thats not as fun as getting a nice gun setup and going hunting a bunch of times. A suppressor is always a good idea, but just want to set your expectations straight up front that it's not going to allow you to wipe out half a herd while theyre eating corn under a feeder or anything. They're still gonna take off after the first shot. You may get lucky in that some run towards you as it's harder for them to track the noise, but thats gonna be about it. Just making sure you dont go in with unwarranted expectations.

That being said, still get a suppressor for your setup as it's great to not need ear plugs and have half the county know you're shooting.

Exclusively looking at a feeder?
Using a thermal, we move and scan, rinse and repeat.

Lot's of great advice, thank you all.

Seems like a BoarBuster trap or something similar is needed. Anybody know what those cost?

I use two setups.
AR15 when I get them in an open field. And when hunting a feeder, I use my 1895 45-70 and take out 3-4 with one shot after getting them lined up.
I will say it's most satisfying with the 45-70.

Not sure what your situation is but we used to have a huge hog problem. Especially at our deer feeders. About three years ago, we put up hog panel fences around our feeders. The enclosures varied some from feeder to feeder but they were all at least 80' x 80'. The hogs could not get in and the deer did not care. This was our third season with the hog panels and barely saw any hogs at all. They seemed to have moved on since they could not get to our feeders any longer,

We started having hog issues as did our neighbor which has over 450 acres while we only have around 55. We joined up and put out a bunch of different traps. 6 weeks in and we only got a few so we changed the traps up a bit. Changed the traps up a bit and the neighbor had some specialist come in, those traps didn't work as well. Ended up baiting close to the feeders them by sections to get them off of the properties. Ended up killing over 50 in a few months and haven't had an issue in 2 years. Dang hogs around us got smart about traps. Now we have the hog fences just in case.

We used a mix of thermal, night vision, and green light to shoot the majority of them. I used 6.8spc AR, stepdad liked using 45-70 or 30-30, neighbor liked 6.5C or .308 AR10.

I have a stand that looks over 2 "hog toys" - Took plastic barrels and drilled holes in them and anchored it to the ground. The hogs push it around to get the corn out and it really keeps them occupied

6.5 Grendel suppressed for daytime or close in nightime (have green light on the gun)
5.56 suppressed with digital NV for anything beyond ~100 yards or when it is full on dark

Biggest challenge is being where the pigs are when the pigs are.

We have a guy who comes out and traps pigs for us for free. He then sells to either game ranches that sell pig hunts or to meat companies.

Do the same with a 6inch pvc tube about 8ft long.

Ghollow,
Unrelated to OP, is all that corn from one throw or a few times? Asking because our feeders throw WAY less. They spin for about 3-5 seconds and 2-3 deer could eat it all in ~30 mins.

OP,
Sorry, I don't mean to derail-use the AR you have with a good optic and shoot pigs right behind the ear. You don't have to have a suppressor and green light is a good alternative to NV/thermal if you're on a tight budget. As stated, being where they are is the tricky part to figure out.

I charge $5 a pig and will need key or combo to said property 24-7 365.

Options. For different scenarios.
What's the one I grabbed most recently?
12" 5.56 with an eotech and magnifier with a polo suppressor.

I was going to be walking for several miles through sporadic heavy brush, so I wanted something light and short and quick.

1. Build a trap.
2. Bait and monitor.
3. Trap entire sounder; remove hog problem for 12-18 months.

This is the best way to do it. But, if you want to use an AR, by all
means, do so, but don't forget to use a propane cannon and copious amounts of tannerite.

Saw this idea at working the other day

Tannerite , 50lbs corn @ 200yds with an iced down 12pk of Modelo Especial

Well, the 12pk part for sure

Man I have several of them for a hog hunt, just depends on the setting. Am I sitting in the truck, blind, walking? Is there sunlight? How much?

My medium to long range day time set up is .308 suppressed with a LPVO.
Short range day set up is either 10MM suppressed or a shotgun both with dot sights.
Night time is .300 ham'r or 6.8 with thermal suppressed
Helicopter is my binary trigger SBR with dot sight, suppressed.

Suppressors and thermal/nightvision units cost a lot. You're looking at probably $3K combined. I'd put a descent red dot with a magnifier, upgrade the trigger, and put the rest in heavy grain HP ammo.

Once hunted they'll spook off for a bit. You have to stay on top of them but you could shoot 50% of the population and their numbers will still grow.

Based on the replies, I'm on the fence about a suppressor, but I understand the benefits. What red dot plus magnifier or "all in one" optic do you all recommend for this?

Go through the trouble to get the suppressor. Save your hearing. You will appreciate that you did as you age.

GentrysMillTX10 said:

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I have a few

I have a cheap AR with a red dot and a green light for illumination. This one rides on the can am with me. Gun + red dot + green light in sum was just under $500 new…but it works good!

Then I have a nice AR with a good scope. Fancy green light from elusive wildlife. Red laser on the barrel. I've had this one the longest. It's for sitting in the stand or spot/stalk. I have night vision binoculars or thermal monocular for spotting.

Then there's a browning .308 BAR with a pulsar thermal scope. I talked about thermal for a long time but never wanted to pay for it. So my dad bought this set up and put it in the safe. He said he probably won't use it and I can consider it an inheritance gift but can use anytime. It's been sitting in safe for 2 years, untouched lol

This is a surprisingly good product. Night vision binoculars for $100. https://militarymentalendurance.com/products/trailblazer%e2%84%a2-pro-1080p-night-vision-binoculars

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Thanks I just bought one!

Suppressors are nearly always the answer. You won't regret it. Unless you'll regret buying more. Because you won't want to stop with just one.

If you don't yet know what type of red dot you want, find someone who can loan you one or at least let you look through. Most people will have an immediate preference. Then they will branch out from there.

I hate that they are Chinese, but I love holosun's circle and dot for moving targets like hogs. I've had great luck with their 503 series red dots.
I also love my eotech. Same type reticle but different technology.
Oddly, I am probably slowest with my aimpoint compM4s which is my most expensive red dot.

As far as magnifiers, they all kinda suck. The vortex micro 3x is what I run behind my eotech and some others. I don't feel like the aimpoint magnifier I run behind my aimpoint is a 600-700 bean worth of an upgrade over the vortex.

Thunderstruck xx said:

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Based on the replies, I'm on the fence about a suppressor, but I understand the benefits. What red dot plus magnifier or "all in one" optic do you all recommend for this?

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Get the suppressor
1-6x LPVO scope with a red dot reticle is a jack of all trades optic (for daylight hunting or hunting where you have a light)

FallsonbrazosAg91 said:

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GentrysMillTX10 said:

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I have a few

I have a cheap AR with a red dot and a green light for illumination. This one rides on the can am with me. Gun + red dot + green light in sum was just under $500 new…but it works good!

Then I have a nice AR with a good scope. Fancy green light from elusive wildlife. Red laser on the barrel. I've had this one the longest. It's for sitting in the stand or spot/stalk. I have night vision binoculars or thermal monocular for spotting.

Then there's a browning .308 BAR with a pulsar thermal scope. I talked about thermal for a long time but never wanted to pay for it. So my dad bought this set up and put it in the safe. He said he probably won't use it and I can consider it an inheritance gift but can use anytime. It's been sitting in safe for 2 years, untouched lol

This is a surprisingly good product. Night vision binoculars for $100. https://militarymentalendurance.com/products/trailblazer%e2%84%a2-pro-1080p-night-vision-binoculars

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Thanks I just bought one!

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Site looks like a scam!???

Buy that Grendel on the other thread. My Grendel with Hornady SST's is super fun and effective.

schmellba99 said:

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Thunderstruck xx said:

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Based on the replies, I'm on the fence about a suppressor, but I understand the benefits. What red dot plus magnifier or "all in one" optic do you all recommend for this?

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Get the suppressor
1-6x LPVO scope with a red dot reticle is a jack of all trades optic (for daylight hunting or hunting where you have a light)

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Do you have any recommendations on a quality LPVO? Let's go with $2000 or less on the optic budget.