Hog calling, or pig calling, is the art of making a call to encourage pigs to approach the caller. Competitions in hog calling are held.

Calls

To attract pigs (or family), the calls are based on four strategies: a male call to encourage territorial males to come to fight, a female call to encourage males to come to mate, a general call of dinner is served, and a piglet in distress call which works on adults.

Aids to calling

Calls are usually simple

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and Ree ...

instruments, sometimes adapted from other hunting lures. Electronic devices are also available.

Contests

Hog calling contests are usually held in regions with

pig farming Pig farming, pork farming, pig production or hog farming is the raising and breeding of domestic pigs as livestock, and is a branch of animal husbandry. Pigs are farmed principally for food (e.g. pork: bacon, ham, gammon (meat), gammon) and l ...

. Rules may vary between competitions. There usually is a time limit of 30 seconds, but some festivals allow for longer time. In competitions where there is no set rule for the duration of the call, it can be a criterion for judgement, awarding more points for sustained loud calls. The contestants are also judged on creativity. The contestant should aim to mimic a hog's call, but the exact type of call may vary. For example, some might call out "SOOO-o-oeeyyy", with the s sound perhaps coming from 'sow', and others "Who-o-eyyy". The use of props and costumes might also happen, but is usually frowned upon. Despite being originally about communicating with pigs scattered over a field, modern hog calling competitions will provide a microphone for contestants to amplify their calls. However, it is expected that the champion of a contest is able to render the microphone redundant. While some contests take the audience excitement as a necessary criterion of a good hog call, others consider that to be a side effect of the performance. And finally some contests divide participants by age (having a separate contest for kids and adults), while others mix everyone. In the 2015 Illinois State Fair, in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States, the winner of the hog calling contest had already participated 24 times and won 10 of them. That competitions involved four contestants.

In popular culture

In the short story, " Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey", by

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

the sow Empress of Blandings misses her first keeper, Wellbeloved, when he is sent to jail for a spell; her pining is worrisome to her owner ( Lord Emsworth), with the big show approaching, until she is pepped up by James Belford's hog calling techniques, returning to her trough with enough gusto to take her first silver medal. The

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

chant is Calling the Hogs. In July 2024, the Australian rock band

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (KGLW) are an Australian rock band formed in 2010 in Melbourne, Victoria. The band's current lineup consists of Stu Mackenzie (vocals, guitar), Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, harmonica, keyboards), Cook Craig ( ...

released the song Hog Calling Contest, the second single from their 26th studio album, Flight b741. The song features hog calling.

References

External links