Honest opinions wanted

[DVSHUNTER]

pile em up!

[LoneWolf73]

A buddy of mine and I just killed a hog way back in the woods at BankHead last week. We were hunting the creek beds so at the bottom of the hills too. Temps were 90+. So as fast as we could, we did the gutless method and grabbed the shoulders,hind quarters and backstrap and thru it in a pack. Worked out good and the other 3 in the bunch are populating the area still. But we just had to worry about having a good time in the woods. Now on the other hand, if you are "trying to control" something on your property and it is just you.. well, you do what you have to do. It would be better to come up with ways to eliminate wasting the animal. It is like Predator Control. You can Trap or shoot the animal and leave it lay or you can skin it out, tan the fur, boil the skull, use the meat, taxidermy the whole animal. But there is not much support in the fur market these days so you have to make the decision to put up the fur for later or leave it lay. I am a firm believer of Predator Control doing what you have to do, so I guess it would be okay for Hogs too. Hopefully one of these guys that is having Hog problems will invite me over when they take over the land, my freezer needs filling!

[joevan125]

A friend of mine bought a 700 acr farm in south Al and we always let them lay after we shot them.

A friend of ours that does a lot of work for us said please bring him all we could, said he liked them better than deer meat.

I sure hated leaving those hogs out in the woods but they are doing a ton of damage to his property.

[Soilarch]

Its a fine line between managing and wasting/disrespect...sometimes.  I think this is one of those times.

We don't have pigs in my woods...YET.  But I know this situation/dilemma well.

Eat all you can, donate what you can. After that, you hold a greater responsibility to the environment as a whole than you do a single species.  It's part of that "dominion over animals" thing.  It's a privilege AND a responsibility.

It gets emotional (for me at least) and often you have to see/experience the damage firsthand in order to justify "managing" instead of "harvesting"

My 02 cents, YMMV.

[piggy]

In Australia is is most common to not utilize feral pigs when shot especially in the northern areas of the country.

[piggy]

In Australia is is most common to not utilize feral pigs when shot especially in the northern areas of the country.
Regardless of what you chose to do with an animal once taken you are still taking a life regardless of weather its feral or not, their only trying to survive and all should be shown some respect.

[Stiks-n-Strings]

Ain't got any hogs here close but the dnr tells us to shoot them all. I would keep as much as possible but like many here said you have to manage your environment.

 If my area was overrun with them I would not have a problem with leaving them lay if necessary.

[Ron+dog]

i know they are a nusence but if your not going to eat it dont kill it two words BUFFALO HUNTERS a waste is a waste and gives hunters a bad name now more than ever we need to make sure we live to a higher standard than our wasteful anti hunting co citizenry

[BWD]

Have dressed and eaten, or given away all I have killed, except one. Took a while to find him, in hot weather, and the blow flies and such got to him first.

If my ways and means of making a living were in question, I would probably take a different stand.

[Soilarch]

I see a very honest, and respectful, difference in Buffalo Hunters and what we are talking about here.

Buffalo where nearly exterminated because their hides were worth money...not because they were a nuisance, correct?

[vernon]

hard for me to give input on the hogs since I don't live in that country.  However, I do see them as varmints and in my neck of the woods we usually leave varmints.  If there is that many and they are a nuisance and interfering with other wildlife than I see the method behind the madness.  Where I live we shoot yellow bellied marmots, foxes and coyotes and leave them lay unless we hand the hide.  I don't see the dfference with hogs

[NBK]

We introduced them, we can take them out.

[COMPOUNDLESS IN CONCRETE]

There are the people who live in places where feral hogs have all but taken over the land and they believe, as do I even though we don't have hogs in WA, that the pigs have to go.  They take food, and habitat from native game animals and that is not good.  Then there are the people who don't live in areas with hog problems and they are usually either on the fence or against letting them lay.  Everyone is entitled to their own views on these types of situations and I am glad that this is 3 pages long and still a civil discussion among us traditional bowhunters.  I was once a member on another large archery forum that was impossible to discuss anything without insults and rediculous bashing.  Tradgang members are A+ in my book.
To compare shooting and letting feral pigs lay and the buffalo killing issue are two things not even in the same category as someone already posted.  Buffalo were slaughtered for their hides which were worth big $$.  Wild hogs are a nuisance animal and have to be treated as such.  My parents and other family members own land in North Carolina and the hogs have absolutely butchered the land and the deer and turkey on that land have all gone somewhere else.  Killing hogs and leaving them lay may not be comfortable to some and it is certainly not something that most people get any enjoyment out of.  Sometimes doing the right thing, doesn't always fall into our comfort zones as individuals.

[Bjorn]

We have a fair number in California, and ranchers complain as always.
I'm an eat what you kill guy and never been in the 'too many hogs' situation myself so it is hard to comment objectively.

[Northwest_Bowhunter]

NBK, exactly!!! Don't compare hogs to coyote, ground hogs or especially buffelo (their American's), hogs are an invasive species that early Europeans brough here for easy food.  I really do want to hunt them, and I want to eat them too but I don't blame and might even commend anyone that goes to all ends of the country to hunt down and kill hogs. I just wish I could join you.

[James on laptop]

To him they are considered a pest and as long as it is legal what can you say?Many value one animal much more than others as do game departments.I consider hogs as a great animal to hunt so would not just kill them because they might have some impact on deer or other animals.From what I have seen hunting in the south hogs,deer and turkeys do quite well in places and even if they did not I would rather cull the deer instead of the hogs.  

[Rob DiStefano]

imo, for the very most part, feral hogs are both destructive land and farm pests, and good eating table fare.  

hogs absolutely need to be killed for population control, but they sure are a fine food source, too.  

so, leave 'em dead in the field, or butcher for human consumption, it don't much matter to me ... turkey vultures and coyotes gotta live, too.

no matter what, pigs are GREAT HUNTING!  

[SveinD]

Originally posted by JEFF B:
if i cant eat it i dont shoot it  except for targets  as they aint live simple as that.      

Well spoken Jeff!

[Burnsie]

I have never hunted hogs, but have eaten quite a bit from freinds who have gotten them.  I love domestic pork, but I like the wild/ferrel stuff even better.
I have never experienced the property damage and over population firsthand, but I would think if it is as bad as everyone says there would be all kinds of land owners/farmers begging hunters of all kinds to come on down and hunt as many as possible.  Instead all I see is high dollar hog hunt packages being offered.  I would love to hunt hogs some time,  but I have a hard time shelling out money to hunt what most are considering a pest/varmit as though it were a sought after elk/bear/whitetail...etc hunt.

[Soilarch]

(quick note on farmers/ranchers)

We can't "beg hunters" because SADLY we all learned long ago that most hunters are a bigger nuisance than ANY animal.  
Trash,
4-wheeler tracks,
griping and complaining like they have an actual *right* to be there,
only shooting bucks (for deer, when the condition is one doe for every buck),
crossing property lines and causing grief between the neighbors.............

No, making an open invitation to hunt on your land is a huge HUGE mistake for the exact same reason some landowners charge money:

Human Nature.

   :D   (I promise I don't hate all humans)    :D