Some hog problems need a fortress. Others need a trap you can throw in the truck on Saturday morning and have set by the creek before your coffee goes cold. The Boss Hawg Standard is the second kind.
Maybe you saw it at a feed store. Maybe a neighbor has one. Either way, you probably want three things: the real specs, how it actually catches a hog, and whether it’s the right trap for what’s rooting up your place. That last one matters most, so we’ll give you a straight answer, even when the answer is “you need a bigger trap.”
Key Takeaways
- Size: 4 × 8 × 3 feet, and it fits in a full-size pickup bed.
- Frame: 1½-inch, 14-gauge square steel tubing with bracing.
- Panels: 6-gauge wire, MIG welded to the frame, with prime-coated tubing.
- Trip wire and swing gate come included.
- Hinged-floor version makes it easier to get captured hogs out.
- Best for single hogs and small groups. For a whole sounder, a corral pen is the better tool.
Why Trust Us: How We Put This Together
We build the Standard in our own shop in Cross Plains, Texas, and supply the stores that sell it. Our team in the US works with these traps on real ranch ground. We talk with the landowners and trappers who use them, read what owners say about box traps from different brands, and study what Mississippi State University and Texas A&M AgriLife publish about trapping feral hogs. The specs on this page are the maker’s specs. If a store listing says something different, this this is the page you can trust.
What the Boss Hawg Standard is
The Boss Hawg Standard is a 4 × 8 × 3-foot steel box hog trap with a swing gate and trip wire, built in Cross Plains, Texas, and sized to ride in a full-size pickup bed.
A box trap is a single steel cage with a one-way gate. Hog goes in, gate comes down, hog stays there. It’s the simplest trap there is, and simple is good when you’re setting it alone at dusk.
The Standard is the trap most of our customers start with. It sits at the small end of our hog traps for sale, below the Big Pen and the Pro Pen, and it’s built from the same steel as both. Boss Hawg is the maker. You’ll also see the Standard at Texas stores that carry Boss Hawg traps, and it’s the same trap.
Standard hog trap specifications
The Standard measures 4 × 8 × 3 feet, with a 1½-inch 14-gauge square steel tube frame, 6-gauge wire panels MIG welded to it, prime-coated tubing, and a trip wire and swing gate included.
| Spec | Standard | Hinged-floor Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 4 × 8 × 3 ft | 4 × 8 × 3 ft |
| Frame | 1½-inch, 14-gauge square steel tubing, braced | Same |
| Panels | 6-gauge wire, MIG welded to the frame | Same |
| Welds | MIG welded throughout | Same |
| Finish | Prime-coated tubing | Same |
| Gate | Swing gate | Swing gate |
| Trigger | Trip wire | Trip wire |
| Floor | Fixed | Hinged, opens for easier removal |
| Fits a full-size pickup bed | Yes | Yes |
The two versions share every spec except the floor.
About that wire gauge. With steel wire, a lower number means thicker wire, so 6-gauge is heavy stuff. And the wire is MIG welded straight to the frame. Not clipped on, not tied on with tie wire. A panel that’s only fastened is the first thing to give when a hog keeps pushing on it.
The prime coat on the tubing has a job too: it keeps the joints from rusting after a few seasons sitting out in Texas weather. The full reasoning behind each spec is on how Boss Hawg traps are built.
Flat floor or hinged floor: the two versions
The Standard comes in two versions: the flat-floor Standard and the hinged-floor Standard, whose floor opens so captured hogs are easier to remove. Size, frame and panels are the same on both.
Here’s the honest truth about catching a hog: the catching is the fun part. The hard part is what comes after, when you have an angry animal in a steel box and need it out of there.
That’s what the hinged floor is for. On the hinged version, the floor opens, so getting a captured hog out takes less lifting, prying and colorful language. If you’ll be emptying the trap often, it’s worth asking about. If you trap now and then, the flat-floor Standard does the job.
Which one should you pick? Think about the day after the catch, not the day of it. Whoever empties the trap gets a vote.
How the trip wire and swing gate catch a hog
A hog walks in after the bait, pushes the trip wire, and the swing gate closes behind it. The gate stays shut and the trap holds the hog until you come back.
Step by step:
- Set the gate open. The swing gate is propped open, ready to drop.
- Bait the back of the trap. The bait goes past the trip wire, so the hog has to walk all the way in to reach it.
- The hog trips the wire. Nose down in the bait, it pushes the trip wire.
- The gate swings shut. It closes behind the hog and stays closed.
That’s the whole trick. No batteries, no app, no signal bars needed. The trip wire works the same in a creek bottom with no cell coverage as it does next to the barn.
Our shop field tested the Standard, like every Boss Hawg trap, for continuous loading, retention and durability. In plain words: it keeps catching, it keeps what it catches, and it holds up. Other gate and trigger designs exist for bigger traps. Those belong to the pens.
What a box trap catches, and what it doesn’t
The Standard catches single hogs and small groups, not a whole sounder. Mississippi State University notes box and cage traps limit each catch to a small number of pigs; for sounders, a corral pen fits better.
A sounder is a family group of feral hogs, usually sows and their young. If a sounder is working your place, a 4 × 8 box can only hold part of it. And the part that doesn’t get caught watches. Catch three out of twelve and you’ve taught the other nine what a trap is. They get harder to catch every time.
| Standard (box trap) | Big Pen (corral pen) | |
|---|---|---|
| Catches | Single hogs and small groups | Whole sounders |
| Moves by | Pickup bed, one person | As panels |
| Setup | Drop it and set it | Panels joined on site |
| Best for | Chasing fresh sign around the place | A sounder that keeps coming back to one area |
The Standard is the mobile tool for a few hogs; the Big Pen is the tool for the whole sounder.
So here’s our straight advice. Seeing one or two hogs, or need to move the trap around a big place? Buy the Standard. Seeing a sounder? Look at the Big Pen corral hog trap, or the Pro Pen hog trap if you want the loading ramp and gates in one package. We’d rather sell you the right trap once than the wrong one twice.
Hauling and setting the Standard by yourself
One person can load, haul and set the Standard: at 4 × 8 feet it fits a full-size pickup bed, so you can move it to fresh hog sign without a trailer.
That matters more than it sounds. Hogs shift ground. A trap you can’t move is a trap that only works in one place, and you end up waiting for the hogs to come back to it. With the Standard, you go to them.
Strap it down in the bed before you drive. Then set it where the rooting is fresh, prop the gate, bait it and walk away. Texas restricts moving live feral hogs, so check the rules before you haul a full trap anywhere.
Where to buy the Boss Hawg Standard
You can buy the Standard direct from the shop in Cross Plains at (254) 725-4554 or through stores that carry Boss Hawg traps. It ships anywhere in the US, with freight paid by the buyer and quoted to your ZIP code.
Three ways to get one:
- Order from the shop. Call us and we’ll quote the trap and the freight to your ZIP code before you order.
- Pick up in Cross Plains. Call ahead so it’s ready, then bring the pickup.
- Buy at a Texas store. Ultramatic Feeders (Hockley and Brookshire), Elusive Wildlife (Conroe) and J & N Feed and Seed (Graham) sell Boss Hawg traps. Call the store to check stock.
What does a box trap like this cost? Steel 4 × 8 box traps list for about $550–$700 at US farm stores and dealers (prices checked 1 October 2026). We quote by phone, because the hinged floor and freight change the number.
Two honest trade-offs before you call. Freight is on the buyer, so a trap from the shop costs more the farther it travels. And we build to order, so ask about current build time.
REQUEST A QUOTE: CALL (254) 725-4554
Tell us flat or hinged floor, and your ZIP code. We’ll quote the trap and the freight.
Also check our partner products that go with the Standard:
- Cellular trail cameras to check the trap from your phone
- Heavy-duty ratchet straps for hauling the trap in your pickup
- Hog attractants and bait
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Partner products are listed separately from our own and never replace them.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Standard sold in stores the same trap?
Yes. Boss Hawg builds it in Cross Plains, Texas, and stores that carry Boss Hawg traps sell the same Standard.
What gauge are the Standard’s panels?
6-gauge wire, MIG welded to a 1½-inch, 14-gauge square steel tube frame.
How much does a 4×8 hog trap cost?
Steel 4 × 8 box traps list for about $550–$700 at US stores (checked 1 October 2026). Call us for a quote with freight.
Can I pick up the Standard at the shop?
Yes. Call (254) 725-4554 first so it’s ready.