Best hog trap bait: attractants that bring the whole sounder in

Corn first, attractants second

The best hog trap bait usually isn't something you buy in a bottle. Texas A&M AgriLife's trapping guidance says "commonly used baits include deer corn, soured corn, manufactured baits, or ripening crops found on the landscape such as peaches or peanuts" (AgriLife, Trapping). Its publication on placing and baiting traps lists "whole corn, livestock cubes, carrion, sour grain, and commercial hog attractant scents" (AgriLife, Placing and Baiting Feral Hog Traps).

So the job of a store-bought hog attractant is narrower than the label suggests. It makes the corn you already haul smell stronger, it keeps a site interesting between visits, or, for the sow-in-heat lures, it pulls in a boar. AgriLife's trap-design authors point the same way: shelled corn is the default, and fermented corn or old grease "appeal to the hog's sense of smell and may be better baits if shelled corn is not productive" (AgriLife, Hog Trap Design). If you'd rather ferment your own, our guide to making sour corn for hogs covers it. This page ranks what you can buy to do the same job with less mess.

Bait is one part of a trap plan. If you're still choosing the trap, see our best hog traps, or start at the hog traps hub.

How we ranked these

Every pick is scored on our attractant rubric: whether its intended use fits a trap or feeder (30%), form and longevity in weather (25%), ease of deployment (20%), label clarity and safety (15%), and value per use (10%). The weights are published on How We Choose. We haven't tested these units; scores come from published specs and the rubric on our How We Choose page. Nothing here claims a catch rate, because no maker publishes one we could check.

The rank follows the scores, and trap fit carries the most weight in them. Swine Sauce and Pig Oil tie; Swine Sauce ranks first because it goes on the bait inside the trap, and Pig Oil second because its maker names trap use and it keeps a site smelling between refills. The feeds and powders follow. The boar lures come last: two of them are made for hunting from a stand, and we say so on their rows rather than pretend they're trap baits.

Feed, booster or lure: what each one is for

For trapping, AgriLife's whole approach is to get the entire family group, the sounder, feeding inside the trap, and every bait it lists is food. That's why the food-based picks lead this list and the boar lures trail it.

The eight picks side by side

The picks in context

1. Elusive Wildlife Swine Sauce (32 oz)

The easiest way to make trap corn stronger. It's a super-concentrated liquid in a squirt-top bottle that goes straight onto corn, a bait pile or the ground (Elusive Wildlife), so you can put it exactly where you want hogs to root: at the back of the trap by the trigger. It comes in three flavors (Roasted Peanut & Soybean, Day Old Donut, and Strawberry), which lets you follow AgriLife's advice to alternate bait types if a sounder loses interest. It also carries the clearest label of the group: the maker warns that baiting is prohibited in many areas and tells you to check local game laws. It doesn't say how long an application lasts in rain.

2. Elusive Wildlife Pig Oil

A pour-on scent for a tree or rubbing post, sold by the quart (Elusive Wildlife). The maker says it sticks to trees and lasts for weeks, and it names both stand sites and traps as uses. Its value near a trap is between refills: the corn gets eaten, the post keeps smelling. It isn't food, so pair it with corn or a feed, and note that the maker's page doesn't list ingredients.

3. Wildgame Innovations Hog Heaven (5 lb)

A ready-to-use granular hog feed, grains with a sweet fruit-punch additive, that the maker pitches for attracting, patterning and trapping hogs (Wildgame Innovations). That makes it the simplest store-bought answer to AgriLife's "manufactured baits". Two limits: at 5 lb a bag, it works best on top of corn rather than as the whole daily ration, and the maker doesn't print a nutrient analysis or a feeding rate.

4. Pork Police Cherry Dynamite

A 3 oz dry packet you mix into a gallon of water and pour over corn or grain, into a hole or over a stump (Pork Police Bait). The maker claims one pack treats up to 200 lb of corn, so at that rate five packs cover half a ton (5 x 200 lb = 1,000 lb), the best value per use here. It stores dry in the truck, and the brewer's yeast is meant to start fermentation, the same idea as souring corn. The catch is honest on the maker's own page: it's marketed for whitetail, black bear and raccoons too, so expect visitors you don't want in a trap.

5. Evolved Hog Wild (4 lb)

An ultra-concentrated berry-and-molasses powder, and the only bagged attractant here with a nutrient analysis on the maker's page: sugars 28%, fiber 22%, calcium 7.5%, protein 4% (Evolved). That label transparency is why it makes the list. It ranks fifth because the maker's page gives no directions and says nothing about how it holds up in rain.

6. Tink's Power Pig Sow-In-Heat (4 oz)

The one boar lure whose maker names trap use: a natural sow-estrous scent "around hunting areas or in hog traps", rated year-round and especially during peak breeding (Tink's). The maker aims it at boars, so treat it as an add-on to corn for a big boar, not a replacement for food bait.

7. Hunters Specialties Hog Bomb Sow 'N Heat

Sow-estrus urine in a 6.65 oz aerosol with a 180-degree valve for short bursts or a full release (Buck Bomb). The maker claims the scent carries more than a quarter mile on a 3 mph breeze and pitches it for stands, blinds and stalking, not traps. It's here for the reader who searched "hog attractant" to hunt over, not to trap.

8. Code Blue Sow in Heat Hog Urine (2 oz)

A 2 oz amber glass bottle of sow-in-heat urine for laying a scent trail to a stand with wicks or drags, or freshening hog scrapes (Code Blue). Like the Hog Bomb, it's a hunter's boar lure, and the smallest bottle here.

How to pre-bait a hog trap

The bait matters less than the routine. AgriLife's guidance, across its trapping page and publications, comes down to these steps:

1. Bait the site every day before the trap is set. AgriLife says bait "must be regularly available before, during, and after trapping" and should be available every single day, so the spot becomes part of the hogs' regular travel pattern.
2. Put out only what they'll finish. "We recommend limiting the amount of bait available so that the hogs finish the bait each time they visit the suggested trap site" (AgriLife, Trapping). Leftover bait means they don't have to come back.
3. Pre-bait with the gate open. AgriLife's trap-design authors describe feeding outside and through the gate opening for at least a week, and warn a new trap "may require several weeks" before hogs are used to it.
4. Move the bait inside and wait for the whole sounder. Keep pre-baiting inside the trap until feral hogs are consistently feeding and entering, and "wait until an entire sounder appears to be frequenting the trap" (AgriLife, Corral Traps for Feral Hogs).
5. Bait to the trigger, not on it. When you set the trap, place bait all the way back to the trigger, but not directly on the trip wire, which can close the gate before every hog is in.
6. Keep baiting after the catch. AgriLife recommends post-baiting to find out whether the entire sounder was caught or other groups remain.

Two more tips from the same corral-trap publication: minimize baiting outside the trap so hogs have to enter to eat, and alternate bait types if necessary. Our step-by-step guide on how to trap feral hogs puts the baiting schedule together with the camera and the trigger.

Where to put the bait

The best attractant does nothing at the wrong spot. AgriLife's trapping page says to start where hogs already are: identify an area they use often, from signs such as "scat, tracks, rooting damage, and wallows", and position traps near water and game trails. Its placing-and-baiting publication adds that traps belong on or along hog trails linking food, cover and water, and its corral-trap publication says to set the trap upwind of an area hogs frequent.

Inside the trap, the bait has a job to do. AgriLife's active-baiting advice is to put the bait inside, with a leading trail toward the rear and the larger amount near the trigger, so the group walks all the way in before anything closes. Liquids like Swine Sauce make that easy, because you can put them exactly on the pile at the back. A scent post like Pig Oil goes where its maker intends it, on a tree or rubbing post near the site, not in the bait pile.

What to look for in a hog attractant

• An intended use that matches yours. Trap and feeder use on the label (Swine Sauce, Hog Heaven, Tink's, Pig Oil) beats a stand scent pressed into service.
• Food for the sounder, scent for the site. Every bait AgriLife lists for trapping is food. Use a booster or feed inside the trap, and a scent post if you want the site to hold between visits.
• A form that suits the weather. Liquids and powders on corn can wash off, and none of these makers publishes rain performance. Plan to reapply when you bait.
• How many other animals it invites. Cherry Dynamite's maker lists deer, bear and raccoons as targets. AgriLife notes that souring corn in water helps avoid attracting nontarget animals such as deer, and its door publication suggests a strand of baling or barbed wire across the middle of the door opening to deter them (AgriLife, Door Modifications for Feral Hog Traps).
• A label you can read. Directions, ingredients or a nutrient analysis, and any legal warning. Evolved and Swine Sauce are the most forthcoming here.

Why warfarin (Kaput) isn't on this list

Warfarin hog bait is a toxicant, not an attractant, and in Texas it's restricted. We don't recommend or link it.

AgriLife adds that the label requires the bait be "deployed using a hog specific feeder" with "a detailed pre-baiting process" (AgriLife, Chemical Control). For licensing categories, defer to TDA. For everyone else, the attractants above and a trap are the legal route. Trapping comes with its own rules once hogs are caught: read what to do with trapped hogs in Texas before the first catch.

Budget and value per use

Every pick here sits in our under-$500 tier, and most are a small line item next to the corn. The better question is cost per night of baiting. One Cherry Dynamite pack treats up to 200 lb of corn by its maker's figure, the only coverage rate published for any pick here. Swine Sauce is a concentrate sold by the 32 oz bottle, but Elusive Wildlife doesn't publish how far a bottle goes. Bagged feeds like Hog Heaven (5 lb) and Evolved (4 lb) run out fastest if you use them as the main bait, which is why they work best on top of corn. The boar lures are measured in ounces (2 to 6.65 oz) and are meant for occasional use at a stand or on a trail.

Baiting mistakes

• Leaving bait uneaten. AgriLife says to limit bait so hogs finish it each visit. A standing pile teaches them they can skip a night.
• Setting the trap too early. Wait until the whole sounder is coming in, not the first few hogs.
• Baiting on the trip wire. It can drop the gate before every hog is inside.
• Relying on a boar lure for a sounder. Sow-in-heat scents are made to draw boars; the baits AgriLife lists for trapping are all food.
• Baiting where it isn't allowed. The Swine Sauce label warns that baiting is prohibited in many areas; on public land or outside Texas, check the rules first.
• Buying a toxicant online. In Texas, warfarin hog bait is for licensed applicators only.

For the rules that apply once you're trapping and hunting in Texas, see Texas hog hunting laws.