the USA ferral hog situation ....

[MikeW]

Originally posted by L. Harris:
I would love to help out any rancher/farmer to get rid of some hogs! I have personally heard several crying about how much damage is being done to their land and crops. However when you approach them about helping them out by allowing you to come hunt the hogs, the answer is always, sure! $100.00 a day and you can hunt all you want. Some even want to charge a dollar a pound for any weighing over 150#s. They must not need the hogs gone too bad or they wouldn't be charging a healthy fee. I am on a very fixed income so I can't afford to "help" these poor farmers out.

My guess would be if they are really causing property loss/income on those places charging to hunt would help offset it. Plus there are plenty of folks that are willing to pay to hunt to hunt and these property owners know that. Hunting is a billion dollar business in Texas. Knock on more doors,ask everyone you meet about hunting hogs, you'll find a place that will let you for free, I did. Most of the free hunts I found were from guys with deer leases who were fine with it when deer season wasn't in. Offering some free labor on the lease will open a lot of doors.

[PaddyMac]

Originally posted by L. Harris:
I would love to help out any rancher/farmer to get rid of some hogs! I have personally heard several crying about how much damage is being done to their land and crops. However when you approach them about helping them out by allowing you to come hunt the hogs, the answer is always, sure! $100.00 a day and you can hunt all you want. Some even want to charge a dollar a pound for any weighing over 150#s. They must not need the hogs gone too bad or they wouldn't be charging a healthy fee. I am on a very fixed income so I can't afford to "help" these poor farmers out.

Dead right. There ARE landowners who want hogs removed and there are hunters who would love to have access to hunting without having to pay a lease or trophy fee. Seems to me the game departments should be hooking the two up. For instance use hog hunting tag money for crop mitigation payments but only where free (and controlled/responsible) hunting is allowed. That would take the wind out of the hog hunting outfitters and reduce the incentive for relocating hogs.

I would love to go to Texas and hunt hogs.

[jonsimoneau]

I have a little bit of a problem with the thoughts that hunters are the main reason hogs are spreading.  I'm sure that hunters have done this plenty of times, but I believe the prolific breeding capabilities as well as the adaptability of hogs is the MAIN reason they are spreading.  I could be wrong though.
    On another note, I too find it interesting how landowners want them gone, yet many of them charge people to hunt hogs.  Seems to me if you were serious about getting rid of them, you would be begging for hunters to come and hunt.

[b.glass]

Indiana has a thing where deer hunters sign up for counties they are willing to hunt and farmers get their info. then contact the hunter that would best meet they need.

I signed up for a couple of counties but never heard from a farmer. I'm wondering if the farmers know about the opportunity and I don't know if it is being effective or not. Sounds good in theory though and maybe it would work for hogs.

I too would like to hunt hogs but would never condone transplanting.

They say that there are alot of hungry people in America. Let's stock them up in pork! Except for the disease they tend to carry. What a mess!

[Jeff Strubberg]

Banning the hunting of hogs will do nothing but make the problem worse.  I understand the desire to stop folks from releaseing hogs to have something to hunt, but you really need to go back and read how prolific these things are.  You either hunt them with every means possible or they will outbreed every animal in the woods.  

Tennessee has seriously put their head in the sand on this one.


Rob, one of the reasons Texas has so many hogs is that absolutely nothing was done about them for years.  Now the population is far too widespread to eradicate.  Ranchers "managing" them for hunts surely doesn't help, but the problem is that they are already a part of the landscape.

[Montanawidower]

I have the solution... We'll give you some of our wolves!    We've got plenty  

[wildwood]

I can find their rooting along the road less than a mile from my house but almost impossible to get permission to hunt.

[arrow flynn]

the ranch i used to hunt them on has mostly got rid of them cowboys on horses w dogs is a combination ahog cant win against .add in the next door neighbor growing pot and its next to impossible to find one.the ranch is in harris ca on the eel river.the best hog hunting is mostly on private land in ca.

[PaddyMac]

Originally posted by Montanawidower:
I have the solution... We'll give you some of our wolves!    We've got plenty    

       

   

[monterey]

Wolves and pigs??  

Maybe the tx hog pop tracks with the loss of wolves?  Not saying wolves are the solution, but OTOH, Montana and Idaho may avoid the hog problem.    

I hear stories of them being seen here in CO.  A fenced hunting operation on the west slope got busted for bringing them in illegaly.  Ironically, they could have done it legally and had done so in the past but apparently they were trying to go around some of the disease checking requirements.

On my last (3rd) trip to the tx panhandle to hunt hogs we were skunked because the tx parks dept had shot them out from helicopters on any property the owners would allow it on.  From what I read here, they ought to be back in full force by now!  Honestly, the ranch we hunted on was far more damaged by overgrazing of the owners cattle than anything.  It looked like the ranchers cattle could be starving the hogs out!

[Bluenose]

I live in Ontario, Canada and was previously unaware that any Canadian Province had reported the presence of wild hogs.  Does anyone know which Provinces have reported wild hogs and the suggested population stats?

[killinstuff]

Well the Pig Gig is coming in 3 months and the Tx hog numbers are going to drop a fair amount. Arrows will fly and pigs will die.

[straitera]

First hand hog destruction will sober you quick! They'll eat anything from snakes to roots & vegs to other hogs. Most rooting in the forest looks rototilled over a large area & it's everywhere. Worse, they multiply like rabbits.

Study a few years ago said hogs were much smarter than dogs & other omnivores. No wonder they prefer the dark. Getting a daylight bowshot in dense public woods is lotto lucky. No baiting on public land here either. IMHO, they take too much from deer benefit. But, like coyotes, you can't stop them.

[RC]

On the TV show they had a while back about pigs in Rhine Ga they said they were tearing up the place....they had interveiws with farmers the pigs were putting out of business.....pigs coming into town....
  Stop and ask one of these landowners if you can hunt pigs on their place and you will get a very quick...NO!!!. I`ve asked.
  A place like some of you Northern fellas have that have a few pigs and you don`t want them. All it takes is a couple of very good dog hunters and the pigs will be gone. Once they get locked in with a whole lot of them its a different story but a couple of groups of hogs can be wiped out. I`ve seen it done.They are not like foxes or deer...they will not get away from the dogs.RC

[lt-m-grow]

I don't know.   I love hunting hogs.  It is great to have more hunting opportunities and in this case year round.

Regarding them not being native, neither are Pheasants.

I get the concern about the environment, but as I traveled and hunted through states like Texas, Fla., Okla, Georgia, etc. I didn't exactly see mayhem.

Like most things a balance is good.

Just offering another view.

[GrayRhino]

"This reproductive proficiency combined with an absence of natural predators has allowed many wild pig populations to double in as little as four months."

Forgive my ignorance, my home state does not have a hog problem.  I hear so much about the coyote population explosion....wouldn't they prey on piglets???

[Stick n' String]

We have had wild hogs inhabiting most of southern Texas for as long as I have been hunting, dating back to the late seventies. However, the population "seemed" contained to what is referred to as the South Texas Brush Country until the 80's. It seems the population reached as tipping point and began gradually spreading north and east where there was actually agriculture, more prevalent surface water and better overall range conditions. this exacerbated the spread of feral swine like pouring gasoline on a campfire...

The notion that hunters are responsible for the spread of feral hogs is just silly. Sure, I would imagine some isolated populations resulted from transplantation for hunting purposes - maybe even large local populations. However, I think the head of the task force on feral hogs in Texas said it best: "There are two types of landowners in Texas and the rest of the South below the so-called frost line. Those who have wild hogs on their properties and those who are about to."

Where I live, wild hogs are not really viewed as much of a problem. Sure, they root up hay fields and gobble up corn beneath deer feeders. However, there is very, very little commercial agriculture outside of a little cotton and grain sorghum in isolated pockets. This country is completely covered with pigs and we have plenty of deer, turkey and other game. In the end, pigs are more a "nuisance" species that happens to taste pretty good.

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

Originally posted by lt-m-grow:

Regarding them not being native, neither are Pheasants.

True, but pheasants aren't an invasive species that destroys habitat, and therein lies the difference. I agree with you regarding balance in nature, but much like common carp, their presence does nothing to establish balance, and everything to destroy it.

I hope that at some future point, people will finally learn to stop introducing species such as these into natural areas where they don't belong, but I doubt it will happen in my lifetime. A few weeks ago I was on another internet forum reading threads about habitat improvement when I found a discussion on planting and fertilizing bush honeysuckle for deer browse. Good grief. Maybe they could throw some kudzu and buckthorn in for good measure.

Somehow I suspect Leopold would be rolling in his grave.

[Ric O'Shay]

I was told by an Oklahoma Game Warden in a WMA to "Shoot all the hogs you want. Take home what you'll eat and leave the rest for the coyotes. They gotta eat too."

[Jeff Strubberg]

Ric,

That's been the attitude of every ranch I've hunted on in Texas as well.

"Didya shoot your limit yet?"

"Yup, limited out yesterday."

"Well, git out there and do it again!"