Landowners are using a homemade trap to catch the most hogs

Tyler, TX — Landowners are turning to different methods to catch feral hogs on their property. Here in East Texas people are now using a homemade trap to get more hogs at a time. It's called a "figure 6" trap and it not only saves you time by catching multiple hogs at once, but in some cases it can even save you money!

Traditional hog traps not only cost hundreds of dollars, but they are also limited to the amount of hogs they can catch. One East Texas hunter, Carter Morby says, "They have drop gates on them so once the pig sets the trap, the gate locks down and no more pigs can get in." Which is why landowners are starting to use what is called a "figure 6" trap. Morby says, "Figure 6 trap, they can push through and there's nothing that engages it's just they can't come back out through it."

So, what makes such an intelligent animal push through a wire fence? "Whenever we bait it, we put feed out here too so they start following it and then we put a bunch inside here," said Morby. Traditional hog traps tend to be expensive which is why some landowners transform old materials such as old cattle panels and T-posts and turn those into a "figure 6" hog trap. Morby used old materials he had out on the ranch to make his hog trap.

However, you can also buy cattle panel and make your own "figure 6" hog trap at places like Atwoods and Tractor Supply in Tyler. The assistant manager, Brett Anderson, at tractor supply says they sell cattle panel nearly every day. Anderson said, "They're going to be wider, they'll be 50 inches as opposed to the hog panels that are 32." Not only do cattle panels make for a taller trap, they also cost less compared to hog panels. Anderson said, "We sell less of these, we sell more of the cattle panel so we get a better price from the manufacturer."