# Building a hog trap- Help us decide (poll)**Trap built-Pics added-4/8/22**



## turboM70 (Feb 3, 2022)

I have been researching hog trap designs and all but settled on a cell phone triggered door. I have an electrician friend that can wire it up and know the parts to get. I recently saw a video of a guy in Louisiana that uses a rope/guillotine/trigger system that looks like it works well, so now I’m not sure. 

My thought is to fabricate a guillotine door then decide on cell phone vrs trigger. We’re going to modify/reinforce a hay ring. We don’t have a lot of flat ground in the mountains and it will be portable for neighbors requests, so the size will fit our needs.

Pros/cons:

Cell phone: Pros: Can decide when/if to drop door (get more hogs, no unintended animals) Cons: More moving parts, annoying alerts (can turn off), possible  wifi reception issues 

Trigger: Pros/cons are pretty much the opposite of former 

Anyway, cast your vote and feel free to chime in!


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## beretta (Feb 3, 2022)

Pig Brig


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## HogKillaDNR (Feb 3, 2022)

I did the trigger type trap last year but I've seen the Pig Brig and that's what I want now.  I do volunteer trapping so any extra money goes to my Pig Brig savings.


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## dfurdennis (Feb 3, 2022)

Cheapest route for me was cell phone trigger...also has been the most reliable. Good luck hope you catch a ton of em...we have


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## turboM70 (Feb 3, 2022)

dfurdennis said:


> Cheapest route for me was cell phone trigger...also has been the most reliable. Good luck hope you catch a ton of em...we have


Thanks and what camera do you use to monitor the trap?


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## Ihunt (Feb 3, 2022)

I have no experience with the Pig Brig so no thoughts on that one.

A cell phone trigger allows you to watch, trigger, and catch the entire sounder thus eliminating educating the ones not in the trap. A mature hog that watches any kind of door drop will for the most part be uncatchable after that. 

The Pig Brig may help with that. I would be curious of the Pig Brig users catch rate. Meaning, if they have pics of 15 hogs coming to a feeder and they set up the Pig Brig, do they catch all 15?


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## dfurdennis (Feb 3, 2022)

turboM70 said:


> Thanks and what camera do you use to monitor the trap?


I used a Spypoint Link Dark but we upgraded to the Spartan. You can live stream real time once you get a pic so you can maximize the drop on the gate...runs about a 3-5 second delay live stream


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## dfurdennis (Feb 3, 2022)

You can also share the Spartan with several different people so the same person does not have to Monitor the trap all the time. Myself and another guy do it in the daytime....Got another buddy that does it at night while he's at work.


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## turboM70 (Feb 3, 2022)

dfurdennis said:


> You can also share the Spartan with several different people so the same person does not have to Monitor the trap all the time. Myself and another guy do it in the daytime....Got another buddy that does it at night while he's at work.


Very cool feature. I was looking at them vrs a cell security camera. I understand with the latter the lag is shorter?


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## crackerdave (Feb 3, 2022)

All this hog-ketchin makes me want to build a super smokehouse to put some of that pork to use,instead of giving it all to the buzzards and coyotes.

Who's gonna butcher all these hogs??


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## dfurdennis (Feb 3, 2022)

Idk bout security cams but so far I am digging the Spartan it has worked flawlessly and service has not been an issue


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## Son (Feb 3, 2022)

I used two drop door traps. One is built using two cattle panels. The other is like a cage, 4 x 4 by 8 long. Door held up by rope through a pulley. Trigger is at the far end of the trap so that multiple hogs can get in before being tripped. Last catch was two days ago, caught five at open time. Pork is in the freezer already. 
I'm all about being cost effective and saving money. Check the price on materials these days, out of sight. Today I finished a new drop door frame for the small trap. We catch plenty hogs, sometimes a whole sounder.


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## Howard Roark (Feb 3, 2022)

beretta said:


> Pig Brig


pig brig

2 nights of hogs.


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## sleepr71 (Feb 3, 2022)

They all have pros & cons. I think one of the main pros of a remote, cellular,drop gate is that if nobody’s available to go get them out of the trap, you don’t have to drop the gate. Versus them getting in there and triggering The gate on their own, then somebody has to go deal with them. Main downside to a cellular gate, IMO… Is getting woken up in the middle of the night from text alerts..and you may have poor cell signal & delayed drops?‍?


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## Todd E (Feb 3, 2022)

Pig Brig


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## crackerdave (Feb 4, 2022)

From what I've heard the Pig Brig is the best trap.

The cell phone monitor is a dandy thing,too.

If enough people start trapping the varmints maybe there's hope for controlling them before they take over.


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## turboM70 (Feb 4, 2022)

sleepr71 said:


> They all have pros & cons. I think one of the main pros of a remote, cellular,drop gate is that if nobody’s available to go get them out of the trap, you don’t have to drop the gate. Versus them getting in there and triggering The gate on their own, then somebody has to go deal with them. Main downside to a cellular gate, IMO… Is getting woken up in the middle of the night from text alerts..and you may have poor cell signal & delayed drops?‍?


Good points, one could build a catch on a trigger system I reckon to keep it held up if you didn’t want to mess with it. ‘Son’ could elaborate?

I am leaning towards cell gate though. As for ‘pig brig’; I have seen that system and while it looks amazing I’m trying to build plus/minus 1k. From what I’ve added up I should be close to that


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## dfurdennis (Feb 4, 2022)

turboM70 said:


> Good points, one could build a catch on a trigger system I reckon to keep it held up if you didn’t want to mess with it. ‘Son’ could elaborate?
> 
> I am leaning towards cell gate though. As for ‘pig brig’; I have seen that system and while it looks amazing I’m trying to build plus/minus 1k. From what I’ve added up I should be close to that


Agreed, using cell technology I go when I want to go, when I get the numbers I wanna get. I don't like making trips for a few hogs unless absolutely necessary, this method allows me the ability to trap them or let them go and wait for more. An unmonitored trap just means I have to go check it constantly...had a neighbor on another property leave two hogs in a trap he didn't know he had and came back to some skeletons. Not cool no matter how much I despise a hog they don't deserve to die like that...but opinions vary.


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## sleepr71 (Feb 4, 2022)

Cell cameras help prevent this…


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## bfriendly (Feb 4, 2022)

Howard Roark said:


> pig brig
> 
> 2 nights of hogs.View attachment 1133471View attachment 1133472


What a mess! Pics speak for themselves and there is no doubt about the effectiveness of a pig brig system. You can catch pigs with most traps, some just catch more than others. Any pig that escaped a trap, probably won’t go into another.


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## turboM70 (Feb 4, 2022)

sleepr71 said:


> Cell cameras help prevent this…


Fair point. My only question with a trigger system trap is the others seeing their comrades get trapped as pointed out earlier.


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## crackerdave (Feb 11, 2022)

The pig brig gives me some hope that the feral hog population might be controlled.
I kinda doubt it,though.They reproduce so rapidly....


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## frankwright (Feb 12, 2022)

Even a cheap trap with a simple gate and trigger will catch them over and over. 
I shot a hog in this trap yesterday so they don't mind their kins blood. 
Two guys live 15 and 30 minutes away so no big deal to check but they did borrow a cell camera to check the trap.


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## Howard Roark (Feb 12, 2022)

Pig Brig strikes again. 

https://youtube.com/shorts/Dag3J4IotUA?feature=share


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## Howard Roark (Feb 12, 2022)

Howard Roark said:


> Pig Brig strikes again.
> 
> https://youtube.com/shorts/Dag3J4IotUA?feature=share



20 hogs total.


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## Howard Roark (Feb 12, 2022)

They can’t see that in the pig brig. The hogs walk in and are trapped and more hogs can walk in. 

The trap is always set


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## sleepr71 (Feb 17, 2022)

I agree on the Pig Brig not spooking them..so they just keep filtering in to join the others. No loud gate drops & No steel panels clanging. It’s just different..


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## Howard Roark (Feb 17, 2022)

sleepr71 said:


> I agree on the Pig Brig not spooking them..so they just keep filtering in to join the others. No loud gate drops & No steel panels clanging. It’s just different..



Works like a fish basket sort of.


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## sleepr71 (Feb 17, 2022)

I’m guessing Deer can jump out of a Pig Brig?


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## turboM70 (Apr 8, 2022)

Trap update: We have been working on building the trap in between other farm duties. It is now built and set up. Details: We modified a hay ring and made a back gate to mirror the front, giving us an extra 3-4' in diameter. We had to keep it relatively small due to mountainous terrain but I feel it's a good compromise (appx 13' diameter). As for the electronics; we have a GSM board, solenoid/popper, 3a/30a fuses, deep cell batt/solar panel/regulator.

Next step is to figure out how to get the GSM synced with the SIM card. Here are some pics showing various stages of the build (not as many as I would've liked but work gets in the way):


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## bfriendly (Apr 9, 2022)

Turbo that’s pretty nice. My fear is they are gonna get out by climbing the sides…….maybe lay a hog panel across the top and zip strip or wire tie it?


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## turboM70 (Apr 9, 2022)

bfriendly said:


> Turbo that’s pretty nice. My fear is they are gonna get out by climbing the sides…….maybe lay a hog panel across the top and zip strip or wire tie it?


Thanks and that is my concern too, although we did extend it a little I think we need more as well. Even a foot or so angled in would probably work


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## Pig Predator (Apr 9, 2022)

That looks nice! I wouldn't worry too much about them climbing out of that personally. Most of them I come to trapped are either tryin to run straight through the fencing after you or straight through the fence away from you.


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## turboM70 (Apr 9, 2022)

Pig Predator said:


> That looks nice! I wouldn't worry too much about them climbing out of that personally. Most of them I come to trapped are either tryin to run straight through the fencing after you or straight through the fence away from you.


Thanks! I appreciate your feedback. Yeah, I have seen what you describe in videos. I may leave and see what the first sounder does than take appropriate action. Of course I’d rather they don’t get trap shy… They are less likely to escape a round vs a square trap but it can be done.


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## antharper (Apr 9, 2022)

Looks good , I think it will work just fine .


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## turboM70 (Apr 9, 2022)

antharper said:


> Looks good , I think it will work just fine .


Thanks, we did a bunch of dry fire runs and that gate is a weapon in and of itself! 

Update on sync issues; I'm researching why we are having trouble getting the GSM/SIM synched and come to find out today that while the GSM is a 4g unit the call function is 2g... ughhh... seems like hooking up to Channel 2 will fix it until they get a fix. I'm ok letting them hit the trap to get comfortable anyhow.


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## bfriendly (Apr 11, 2022)

turboM70 said:


> Thanks, we did a bunch of dry fire runs and that gate is a weapon in and of itself!
> 
> Update on sync issues; I'm researching why we are having trouble getting the GSM/SIM synched and come to find out today that while the GSM is a 4g unit the call function is 2g... ughhh... seems like hooking up to Channel 2 will fix it until they get a fix. I'm ok letting them hit the trap to get comfortable anyhow.


Woohoo! Let’s go! I’m stoked!


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## Davexx1 (Apr 11, 2022)

Turbo

The trap and electronics look good. The cellular trap systems are very effective but having to be constantly awaken all thru the hours of the night to check the pictures and see coons or deer in the trap 99% of the time gets very old and the loss of sleep wears on you the next day. Sometimes you get lucky, and the hogs come in at reasonable hours.

If your goal is to remove all of the hogs, be patient and wait until all are well inside the trap before triggering the gate. Pre-baiting for a while and putting most of the bait along the back side of the trap away from the gate will help. Also, the welded wire cattle panels on the trap have the large holes in them. A small pig can easily get out thru those holes. If total elimination is the goal, you need to replace those panels or overlay another panel over top of those. The panels that have either the 4" square or 2" x 4" holes are the best and are the strongest.

A top on the trap will prevent escapes. Keep in mind that any hog that stands up or jumps and gets his front legs over the top of the sidewall panel can/will climb out. A big hog can get his nose in those large holes and easily lift the trap side up. I put tops and bottoms on all of my portable traps for those reasons.

Good luck, catch'em up.
Dave


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## turboM70 (Apr 11, 2022)

Thanks, yeah, we plan to address the bottom; supplies are at a commodity now so we had to work with what we had. As for tipping over, that’s not happening. We secured with t-posts are various points and it’s solid; hard to see in pics


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## longrangedog (Apr 11, 2022)

When you get tired of having to stay up late or tired of being waked up from a sound sleep you can connect your gate to a root stick and they'll activate the gate themselves. Go out the next morning and take care of them after a good nights sleep.


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## Darkhorse (Apr 12, 2022)

A few years ago I built a trap using wire panels it finished about 20' wide and 30 ' long. I had one door (saloon) with a strong spring. To hold the door open I made a 2 piece stick  out of 1X1's, both sticks had a 45 degree angle on one end and there was a wire ring screwed into the top. In use the door was held open by the two sticks butted up against each other. A stout cord was tied to the ring then run up a pole and through a pulley, then down to and through another pullet, then secured across the trap. This cord was across the back 1/3 of the trap and the ground was heavily baited with corn and sugar donuts behind the trip cord, plus a good amount of corn scattered all over.
This allowed most or all the hogs to get inside and start feeding before one tripped the cord.
Here is a big boar I caught. It took two weeks to coax him in. First pic shows him at the door. You can also see the trip cord just before he came in.






Here he is the next morning slamming into the side of the trap. Notice how far the feeder is swinging compared to the night photo. The trip stick is in the air. He hit it hard and meant buisness.





He doesn't know it but he's about to go for a long ride.


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## mallardsx2 (Apr 12, 2022)

Coral trap and leave the door open when you are not wanting to deal with hogs through the week and then let the door close up when you are there to be able to check the thing seems to be the best bet IMHO. Never trapped them but from everything I have read it appears to be the best bet.

That or do the coral trap and put a cell camera on it so you know when you have hogs that need "tended to" lol


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## Son (Apr 14, 2022)

Cell cam saves trips.


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## sleepr71 (Apr 15, 2022)

Son said:


> Cell cam saves trips.



Yep. A battery powered spin feeder + cell cam saves a lot of time + gas..?


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## bfriendly (Apr 16, 2022)

This is when I’d agree with “needing” a cell cam…….man I wish I could trap them


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## Darkhorse (Apr 16, 2022)

bfriendly said:


> This is when I’d agree with “needing” a cell cam…….man I wish I could trap them


I really enjoyed it. I had just retired and needed something worthwhile to keep me occupied. We have a large pond on the property and we keep about 1/3 of the bank mowed, the rest is woods. The hogs moved onto the mowed banks and almost ruined it with their rooting.
Along with my trapping we finally put up a couple of strands of barbed wire hooked to a really hot charger and that stopped them. People say a hot wire won't stop a hog but I beg to differ. We use barbed wire because the barbs will penetrate the hair and mud to contact the skin. I use a really hot charger. I have both mares and a fire-breathing stallion and he respects the setup. And I don't use barbed wire with him.
I don't like to shoot them in the pen because the smell of death and blood stops some hogs and it might take a couple of weeks before they will use the trap again. So I got most of them out alive and tried to give them alive.
I handled so many that the smell seemed to have gotten into my skin on my hands and I couldn't get away from it. So I decided to take an extended break.


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## turboM70 (Apr 19, 2022)

Update on trap: My neighbor shot (3) hogs last night and said they counted near 50, so.. I need to figure out why the trigger system is not working. I talked with a TX trapper who builds them and he gave me a checklist, so we're going up to troubleshoot today.


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## longrangedog (Apr 19, 2022)

Darkhorse said:


> I really enjoyed it. I had just retired and needed something worthwhile to keep me occupied. We have a large pond on the property and we keep about 1/3 of the bank mowed, the rest is woods. The hogs moved onto the mowed banks and almost ruined it with their rooting.
> Along with my trapping we finally put up a couple of strands of barbed wire hooked to a really hot charger and that stopped them. People say a hot wire won't stop a hog but I beg to differ. We use barbed wire because the barbs will penetrate the hair and mud to contact the skin. I use a really hot charger. I have both mares and a fire-breathing stallion and he respects the setup. And I don't use barbed wire with him.
> I don't like to shoot them in the pen because the smell of death and blood stops some hogs and it might take a couple of weeks before they will use the trap again. So I got most of them out alive and tried to give them alive.
> I handled so many that the smell seemed to have gotten into my skin on my hands and I couldn't get away from it. So I decided to take an extended break.




I think that is a violation of the law. They're supposed to be dead when they leave your property.


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## DOUG 281 (Apr 19, 2022)

good luck with whatever you go with


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## rosewood (Apr 20, 2022)

longrangedog said:


> I think that is a violation of the law. They're supposed to be dead when they leave your property.


He never said they left the property, just didn't kill them in the trap.

Rosewood


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## longrangedog (Apr 20, 2022)

He said that "he tried to give them alive".


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## Davexx1 (Apr 21, 2022)

Shooting three out of a group of 50 (if they were at/in/or near your trap) is likely only making your problem more difficult. Hogs associate a bad experience like gun fire with danger and then they avoid your trap. Trap shy hogs are a curse.


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## turboM70 (Apr 21, 2022)

Davexx1 said:


> Shooting three out of a group of 50 (if they were at/in/or near your trap) is likely only making your problem more difficult. Hogs associate a bad experience like gun fire with danger and then they avoid your trap. Trap shy hogs are a curse.


Yeah... my thought too. He has a farm below our ridge but I can't control what others do.. My only hope is they push them towards us/trap but we will see.


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## turboM70 (Apr 26, 2022)

Trap update: We have been trouble shooting the IT portion and got the trap working yesterday. One text and it slams shut; pretty cool!!

We had to add a 50a circuit fuse. It turns out the popper motor was drawing 40a and staying on, popping the 30a fuse. I can control how long the signal stays hot via a simple number though.

Now to get them in the trap..


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## Robust Redhorse (Apr 26, 2022)

If you can afford a Pig Brig, get it!!!


Nothing compares.


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## turboM70 (Apr 26, 2022)

Robust Redhorse said:


> If you can afford a Pig Brig, get it!!!
> 
> 
> Nothing compares.


Already have mine built less than 1k in materials.


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## Darkhorse (May 1, 2022)

longrangedog said:


> He said that "he tried to give them alive".



I guess pigs have rights too. Action word here is "Tried".
What I did is dispatch the hogs with a .22 then drag it to a wash out where it fed the buzzards.
Tell me. How should we handle multiple dead hogs that are no longer considered vermin?


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## Pig Predator (May 1, 2022)

Darkhorse said:


> I guess pigs have rights too. Action word here is "Tried".
> What I did is dispatch the hogs with a .22 then drag it to a wash out where it fed the buzzards.
> Tell me. How should we handle multiple dead hogs that are no longer considered vermin?


Pile em up. If your cleaning hogs, you ain't killing hogs.. 2 nights of hunting in swga. No trap


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