You've been flinging a few arrows at the 3-D targets at CCR telling yourself it's only 4 more months to deer season.  Well why wait when you can hunt now!   Yeah it's hot.....but with the right attitude equipment and a little knowledge you can enjoy the thrill of nighttime hog hunting in Texas. 

Wild pigs are an abundant source of endless hours of fun hunting and are almost everywhere, including our own backyard.  With a just little searching just about anyone can find a location close by the (even inside) DFW area to pursue the feral pig with stick and string.   Yeah it's hot....but one great thing about wild pigs is you can hunt them at night!  It may not be 65 degrees but the mid to low 80's are much better than sweating it up in 95 plus temps with a hot Texas sun beating down on you.   A critical  item every nighttime hog hunter should have to make his or her nighttime foray into the woods as comfortable as possible are a good mesh  bug suit.  This suits work pretty well at keeping the biting bugs away, while allowing some air movement in to help keep you comfortable.   Many hog hunters have forgone the bug suit for the very effective Thermacell.  I for one can attest that this product works great on Texas mosquitoes and other annoying biting bugs.   

Once you have the bugs whooped, now it's time to make sure you can see your quarry in the darkness.   Over the years I have added a few pieces of equipment to both my bow, my arrows and around my feeder.  On my bow, I have used small LED light that eliminates my pin.  The trick to this light is to be able to adjust the light down so that it barely lights your pin and does not get so bright that you can't see the pig you're aiming at.  Some of the new sight lights on the market come with an adjustable rheostat that allows you to fine tune the amount of light hitting your pins.  On non-adjustable lights, a small piece of tape with a tiny pin hole will help control the amount of light on your pins without obscuring the target.   Another cool night hunting accessory is the bow mounted flashlight with either a red or green lens covers and a pressure switch to activate the light while at full draw.  These lights screw right into your bow's stabilizer hole for simple operation.  There are many models available on the market with prices around $100.  For those more thrifty and industrious archers, you can make your own with readily available materials from stores like Radio shack and Wal-Mart.  

Say you have your access to piece of property that you have a corn feeder running.   Now all you need is a light for the feeder.  Solar powered lights with a light sensor work the best.  There are several solar feeder lights available at hurting retail stores and over the web.  Some of these lights get a little pricey, but don't despair, a trip to one of the big box home improvement store and you can have your own custom feeder light   for less than half of the cost of a retinal variety.   All you need is a solar powered yard light kit that comes with a couple of small LED lights and a solar charger.  Attach the lights and solar charger  to a pole anchored in the gerund next to your feeder, adjust the charger to gather as much direct sunlight as possible and aim the LED  lights to the area right  below your feeder and your set.  The lights will automatically come on at dark and run through the night.  The pigs (and a few raccoons) will quickly get use to the small amount of light and your hunting hours have just doubled.

Yeah it's hot!  But with the right equipment you can still hunt pigs during the Dog days of Summer...of course that is when you're not shooting 3D at CCR J