[flintknapper]

MARLIN375 wrote:

So now what do you do Flint?

First thing we do is to get rid of this one.

He’s being “recycled”.

Kind of hard to find someone on a Friday night…. who wants to come pick up a Boar, field dress it, skin it, bone out the meat…. and get it on ice (before it spoils in this heat).

As accute as these hogs are for things out of the norm, How do they react to the smell of "death" particularly one of thier own.

Depends largely upon the circumstance. For instance, in this case the boar was alone. There were no other hogs around to encounter a "bad experience" and thus make an "association".

All that is left...is bloody spot that will be completely gone in a couple of days (beetles and ants).

However, it is always a good thing to be careful and quiet when removing the carcass. The less commotion in an area the better.

Do you have to move the trap and bait setup to a new location?

Not in this case...and not "normally" if you rake out the first layer of dirt in the trap soon after dispatching the hogs. As far as a "bait site" is concerned....I have shot dozens of hogs in the same spot over a period of time. But, I am careful and patient.

Too, hogs can be a bit different (one individual to the next), some spook more easily than others. So, I can't say the smell of blood, musk, etc...never alarms them...but not normally.

or is death just business as usual like with ungulates

They encounter other dead animals in the woods from time to time. By the time a hog is a year old... a little blood left behind is not a particularly alarming thing (unless found in conjunction with a strong human scent).

You raise a good point about hogs being aware of things out of the "norm". It is incredible sometimes.... how little something need be out of place for them to notice. It doesn't mean they will always spook from it, but they WILL notice.

I have moved just a few limbs (3' long, 2" diameter) near a trail in order to funnel movement a foot or so... and completely "killed" that trail for weeks.