Honest opinions wanted

As I understand it from those that have land in Texas, the smaller pigs are good eating.  But, they worry a little about what they can get into.  Being hog farmers themselves, they know that a pig on the loose will eat just about anything and everything. If they have nothing bad to eat there is little worry, but what about if they find poisoned, plagued or rabid critters to eat.  There is a possibility that some contagions and toxins can be transmitted to the the handlers and even the eaters of the wild pork.  It is all about the environment that they live in, from what I understand.

[chopx2]

From what I've read feral hogs are a perplexing issue, but what is clear, love 'em or hate 'em, they are not easily managed and can quickly overwhelm an ecosystem.

I certainly don't like the idea of shoot them and leave them, but honestly in rural southern areas overrun with them there really isn't another viable solution short of letting disease do it which could threaten native wildlife and domesticated animals. Not to mention still leaves carcasses all over the place only these are diseased.

Donations are not "free". someone has to pay the processor if you can find one willing to do it. In low population density areas there isn't enough 'wealth' for that. besides I would bet many of the poor in those areas already take hogs for food.

Transporting them to more populated areas isn't economical and is frought with health issues.

So for now it seems those who have them manage the best they can and those of us who want to hunt them and don't have them pay to get access to them. Sad situation, but one that is what it is and isn't likely to change.

  :(  

sorry, felt the need to summarize the issue

[beetlebailey1977]

They are a feral pest and should be shot....You decide whether to use the meat or not.  If it a young sow say 150# or even 200# I will keep the meat but otherwise kill them and leave them.  It is said you have to kill 70% of the population every year just to keep the numbers the same.  Hunting alone will not do that you have to trap and other methods.  Be relentless.

[Shakes.602]

Personal Opinion for Me is This: They are like the Oriental Carp that are Destroying Our Local Rivers and Lakes, almost as Far as The Great Lakes soon!! Croak the Critter and Let it Lay.  SOMETHING  will eat it, even if its its Own Piglets!!  

[beetlebailey1977]

Shakes.602 you are correct as far as I'm concerned...do what you have to do.

[beetlebailey1977]

Now I will say this I have a many a wild hog and they are not bad eating but they need to be smaller sows no boars.

[Mojostick]

They are damaging invasive species just like Asian Carp are invasives in rivers.

You're doing the native species, and the native plant life a big favor by killing hogs.

They don't belong here.

What you decide to do after your "pruning" is up to you.

The question for those who say "don't shoot what you won't eat", I ask, do you ever shoot rough fish like carp or gar? If so, I assume you eat or at least clean to give away every last one?

[chopx2]

Here in the Chesapeake Bay tributaries we now have snakeheads breeding (thanks to people releasing them from home aquariums or flushing them)...won't be long before they start decimating local game fish. These damn things can practically live in mud and or flop across roads and fields looking for more water.

[Ray Hammond]

I've heard this before and you can do what you like but I think you're insane to leave a hog then drag a deer

I've had Midwestern corn fed or bean fed deer that was as good as hog but woods and scrub brush deer meat doesn't hold a candle to hog done right!!!

And a 225 lb boar eats just fine if you take care of it

Sean the best meat is shoulders- for BBQ- not as much there but it's goooood!

[Tsalagi]

Why not take the meat and give it to the local food bank? There are needy people who would love to have that meat. Leaving meat lay to rot is a tragedy when there are people who are starving in the world. We have Hunters for the Hungry here. When hunters donate meat to the needy, it really opens a lot of eyes to the good that hunting is---can can be more.

[Gtownviking]

Here in Texas...hogs are trouble. So I guess I fall in the "leave 'em" category.  But personally, I like the "footballs" (small ones)  they are very tender.  Anything around 150 to 200 pounds and higher I leave. Which, there are way too many of.  Just last year I dropped three that were well over 250 pounds and pushing 300 to 325.  Meat on those pigs is no good.  IMHO.

[mrjsl]

In Louisiana, you can hunt hogs at night most of the year. People here will usually keep and eat the small ones or sows, and won't eat a boar - they are nasty.

I do a lot of coon hunting, and the majority of those are left. If there is someone around who wants them to eat, I will take them some. But I don't eat them.

However, I go coon hunting on lots of very nice private lands, and the people are glad to see me and the dogs coming. With little to no fur market, coons are a varmint in lots of places. If no one hunts them they get bold. They get overpopulated and spread distemper. They are hard on wild bird populations etc.

Coon hunting with dogs can be a lot of work, and keeping just two dogs costs time and money, but I do get to make a lot of deer hunts because of getting to know people by helping them with their coon problem. And where I live, almost every deer lease has a coon problem. I really don't have time to go everywhere people ask me to.

Hogs are ten thousand times worse of a problem, and if you need to process every one killed, there is no way to kill enough of them.

I haven't seen anyone offering paid hog hunts, but I sure as heck wouldn't pay to hunt feral hogs.

[thunder1]

I won't kill a game animal unless someone can use it. Now if a game animal becomes a pest and needs to be killed then I'll find a person that can use the meat. I've not had much trouble giving away fresh killed game.

[Cherokee Scout]

Keep in mind what the original post stated.......you kill the hog a long way from your truck, in a steep ravine, tough to get it out. Would you still drag it out just to give it away?

[Dave Thaxton]

In keeping with the original question, if I killed a hog I would drag it out. I do not shoot game animals unless I will eat them or have someone lined up to give the meat to.

[nutmeg]

They ARE NOT game animals here in Tx. No closed season. They're like big rodents.As one of the boys above said the little ones are darn good eating. The big board aren't worth touching.(nut)

[Bill Turner]

I've been hunting hogs since the early 90's. I've only left one on the ground for the coyotes and he weighed in excess of 300 pounds. I mean really big. The rancher had told us to shoot every hog we saw and leave'um be, unless we wanted the meat. They were destroying his fence and creating havoc on the ranch. I smelled this big boy before I saw him. He came out at dark thirty and I was a long way and three cross fences from the truck. When the smoke cleared, he was dead and I had a heck of a time just rolling him over. I opened up the body cavity and left him for the "yotes". The next weekend I went back to the same spot and there was no sign of that bad boy. I mean not a hair. Felt bad at the time about leaving him on the ground, but after seeing the damage they do every year on Texas ranches I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Course that is only the big boys. The rest are coming home to momma.

[rascal]

First let me say I have not read all the posts on here, second I would like to express my support of scientific game management versus management by polls or by emotion.  

This is more of an emotional issue for most of the folks who dont face the destruction and over population of hogs in their hunting grounds and farms.  The people who get to see first hand how these animals breed and adapt to hunting pressure and eventually destroy the habitat are more likely to take a practical approach to the problem.

The feral hogs we are talking about are not native species, they are either put there by man or they have escaped mans enclosures to become feral.  Either way they are competing with native game species for limited resources.  It is not a matter of opinion in the game management community that hogs will expand and over run the environments they are currently in, it is a matter of time.  This is a "Coming to a forest near you" situation, and they aint coming to play nice!

Although they might provide a challenging hunting opportunity and be respected as a game species they have the capacity to do way too much damage to the environment to let them multiply without controls.  In the case of hogs they can breed faster than "hunting" and "consumption" can control them and if we dont control them they will negatively impact everything else they encounter.  Destroying the land, competing with native species to the point of driving them out or severely limiting their numbers.  All of that being said I say use what ever methods work best to limit the negative impact of this invasive species, if that means shooting them and letting them lay so be it.

Mind you I would never suggest this for any species that lived in balance with its environment but drastic situations sometimes call for drastic measures and the wanton waste of animals is certianly drastic in my opinion.  The potential for disasterous results if hogs are left unchecked puts this issue outside of normal protocol.

[Flesner]

It seems that there is a bit of misunderstanding about what is and what is not wildlife or a game animal. Hogs are not game animals and are not native wildlife. The same rules of engagment do not apply.
 
I would never waste a deer if I could help it. I make every effort available to me to recover them.

I would gleefully machine gun as many feral swine as I could and feel like I did the world a favor when I was done (or out of ammo).

This is a perspective from a farm boy that grew up raising them on dirt. (As opposed to confinement hogs, which are even more despicable).

But..., I'll help you drag yours out if you really feel your ethics demand that you eat it.

[Caddo]

I shoot everyone I can, on my property. Small pigs and sows go in the freezer or to friends who want them. The rest get the backstraps pulled and left.

For all of you that say "Just give it to the food bank". Ever pull up to a food bank with a hog carcass and ask them where they want it? If it's not wrapped and frozen, they won't take it. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not near rich enough to pay for all that processing, and I sure don't have the time or willingness to do it myself.
  Tried that "here's your hog" thing with friends/aquaintances that said "Oh you hunt, sure would like to have some of that hog meat". Again, if it's not wrapped and frozen, they don't know what to do with it.

LD