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Prehunt preparations can make a hunting spot better or it can ruin a hunt, it all depends on what the hunter's intentions are. There are several kinds of hunts a hunter will be preparing for. Long Term Hunting, Short Term Hunting and Quick Hunts or all types of hunting conditions that hunters may be faced with. Preparing for each one will be vastly different. The preparation for Long Term Hunting would involve lots of activities such as sawing limbs or small trees and cutting grass with a weed eater and other intrusive methods. It would possibly involve setting up feeding devices and comfortable stands near areas where hogs have had established patterns for years. This kind of activity is sure to scare the hogs off for an extended period of time. But, in the long run it should provide excellent hunting. This is not the kind of preparation a hunter would take if hogs were in the area and a hunter was faced with a limited amount of time.
When a hunter is restricted to Short Term Hunting, such as a month or two months as some public land is now governed by it would be wise to consider other less intrusive measures of preparation. This would also be true for those Quick Hunts of just one or two days. In this situation a hunter would be scouting for fresh hog sign and trying to establish a pattern that already exists. When pattern is found, without scaring the hogs that are on the pattern, it would be wise for the hunter to stop and study the signs.
In a Short Term Hunt a hunter would leave the area after studying it. The plan would be to move into other areas if time permitted but not to risk jumping the hogs. The hunter can return the next day study the sign and see if the hogs have returned if so plans could be made for certain types of preparation that would not be intrusive, noisy or otherwise alert wary hogs. Such as baiting the area with corn by scattering it on the ground. It is not wise to pile the corn up. It's better to scatter the corn and make the hogs roam the area more and work for the corn. This will help stir natural odors in the area and help cover your activity. It also helps to bury corn in deep holes so it will keep the hogs coming back to finish getting the corn. All of this will reinforce the present pattern of those hogs and possibly bring in more.
The hunter should be prepared with some kind of light stand that can be carried into the area and set up quietly and with very little effort. The preparation could take more than two or three days with the hunter being very cautious too never jump the hogs or leave intrusive odors or damage. The baiting would continue and should lead to taking a hog either day or night. If night hunting is not allowed the hunter would have to study the sign and figure which direction the hogs are coming from. If it becomes obvious that the hogs will not come out in the daylight hours of morning or evening then the operation would need to be moved ever closer to where the hogs are coming from careful to never jump or scare the hogs. It would also be wise for the hunter to stay clear of the area during the middle of the day. He could search more areas to establish patterns from other groups of hogs and start working more and more spots. A portable climbing stand comes in handy in these situations. The hunter should remain patient be confident that he is afforded some time to have a successful hunt. A hunter who has only a day or two is at a real disadvantage.
The Quick Hunter in the same situation as the Short-Term hunter above will be faced with having to make quicker decisions and will need to very skilled at reading and judging sign. When the pattern is found he will have to study the sign and decide whether to stop or proceed closer. The main factor in this decision is whether or not he can or will hunt during the nighttime hours. If he can hunt during the night it would be better to stop and quickly and quietly prepare for the upcoming hunt. A portable chair or climbing stand is all that should be used.
If the hunter is dayhunting only he will have to judge the area and the sign and decide whether to go further toward the hogs and risk jumping them where he should be prepared to shoot or stopping. The guiding factor for me is always the location. To make it simple for daytime hunting you will always need to be near some kind of dense cover. If there were no type of dense cover than I would track the hogs till I did reach some kind of noticeable dens cover. At that point I would stop and set up and wait or go on in after them. Luck with as much skill will determine the success of these short hunts.
Once the preparation is done and the patterns are established it's important that all activity be held to a minimum around any areas that hogs are frequently using. I can't count the number of times that I have taken hunters out to their stands, which are hot and heavy with hog activity only to see them unzip their pants and relieve themselves or pull out a cigarette and start smoking. They may as well turn around and go home at that point cause no wild hogs are likely to come around and stay when they get a smell of all that. Remember that hogs are the most intelligent animals in the woods here in North America. If you underestimate them to any degree less than that your hunts will most likely remain or be mostly unsuccessful.