HOG PROBLEMS

[Balljoint]

Was watching the Discovery Channel last night about the proliferation of feral hogs in the US, the show showed a ranch in Texas and a farm in Hawaii were hogs are a very big problem that have hired some company's to remove the hogs using dogs.
What gets me is WHY DON'T the property owners JUST SHOOT THE DAM HOGS is it against the LAW TO SHOOT THE DAM HOGS AND EAT THEM were they live or is it some other reason, if it was me I would be having a HOG ROAST EVERY WEEK of the year and also donating meat to the homeless.

[jwolf]

You ever eat "Wild Boar"?

[tammons]

You have to kill 7 out of 10 just to keep the population in check.
If they dont have any natural predators, like probably in Hawaii then its more.

Wont happen with a gun. You have to trap them and dispatch to keep the population in check and still
that probably wont do it but they do make for good target practice.

I shoot every one I see and if the are around 60# or below, fat and a sow, I will
put them in the freezer.

Know of one peanut farmer that had killed about 200 in 3 months on just one of his fields, hunting at night and he was still having problems.

Know of another that trapped 300++ very close to where I hunt. He knocked the local population back a bit temporarily,
but they were back in no time.

Our neighbor has trapped like 20 in the last 3 weeks, but 20 in 3 weeks is just a drop in the bucket.

I watched a program where they said that one sow, if she had max litters, and all her offspring lived and had max litters, etc etc, by the time she died she and her offspring would have propagated 7 million pigs.

As far as boars, they are nasty.
Could not pay me to eat one. Castrate and feed off for a year yes, but otherwise forget it.

They get recycled into the environment via buzzard food.

Have a friend that killed a 250# boar and not wanting to waste it had a huge amount of smoked sausage made by the local
butcher, and not cheap and it was so rank he threw it all out.

That is in Ga, but what they really need to do is allow baiting hogs while hunting. I suppose if it gets bad enough they will.
On Fort Benning land along the river, they are so bad they have a bounty on them.
I think $35 a head.

A bounty would be a good way to keep the population down.

[Monkeymaster]

you tube had a video of a couple of guys who received permits to fly helicopters, and shoot them out of it.
Texas I think.
They were using side gunners with AR type rifles.
Made me think a m1 garand would would be a "blast".
Could you make drives, if you had very competent people on the shooting ends ?
How about, hog shooting weekend, make it free..
Or is the dnr down there like here in Iowa....
They want us to shoot as many does as you can, but for $28.00 each.
Good luck.

[rcinit]

Hog hunting is big bussiness here in Texas. You would think you could find adds for farmers/ranchers that would like you to shoot'em. Not happening!!!! They've found that people will pay to shoot them. So now it just cost about as much to hog hunt as it does to deer hunt.

[Rick_W]

I saw that last night but I won't watch another episode if I can help it.

What really threw it all away for me were the bozos (errr - professionals) in the FL community.

While it may have been a poor job of editing - spending that much time, with that many people, and only coming away with one hog - reminds me of hunting shows on other channels.

I could at least rationalize (barely) with the TX folks calling it a night after the big dog was cut.

Now I did like watching the one group in Hawaii that killed the pigs with knives and then took 'em back and cooked 'em. Not sure if it was the same show, though.

Either trap the hell out of 'em or shoot 'em - the only way to control the population is to eradicate 'em or introduce another predator to do it (and that's not a viable option IMO).

[slaroy]

Here in Michigan I think the DNR is taking a good step in the right direction on this. We havent had a huge problem with this since we cant grow hogs quite like the southern states can.

Since this has become a big issue in other states, and a wild popolation has been identified, the DNR has made it legal to shoot any wild pig you see at any time of the year. All you need is a valid hunting license for that year (can be as cheap as $12 for residents)

Also, if you guys have any information on the bounties that were mentioned in an earlier post, I wouldnt mind a link to check it out. Ive got a week off work coming up after Easter and wouldnt mind taking a little hunting road trip!

[1Shot]

..Now how many people in the world use common sense..We're on a different page than most... ;)

[bubbinator]

As a matter of fact we have, Jwolf and it was great pork! The big ones with the tusks make awesome wall mounts and the smaller ones eat great. Their meat is less fatty than commercial pork and it is a bonus if they are swamp hogs feeding on acorns. These especially need elimination due competition with deer herds.

[tammons]

As a matter of fact we have, Jwolf and it was great pork! The big ones with the tusks make awesome wall mounts and the smaller ones eat great. Their meat is less fatty than commercial pork and it is a bonus if they are swamp hogs feeding on acorns. These especially need elimination due competition with deer herds.


+1 on elimination

[johnnyrambo]

Having property in Texas that is affected by these vermin, I can tell you we hunt and trap them with ruthless abandon. We have a Shoot-on-Sight policy on our place. Keep'em or not, just kill them - - all. On our place, they have exceeded any reasonable boundaries of what can be considered a worthwhile game animal and graduated long ago to the "Nuisance" category. It is legal to kill them in Texas by damn near any means, short of poison. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. No season, no limit. As it should be with such an exotic, invasive species.

However, they are not stupid. On our place, they have turned primarily nocturnal and change patterns often. They have wised up to some of our trapping techniques. I do not believe they are the hapless quarry some would have you believe. And... they are very tough animals. The large ones can take on some serious firepower and still go quite a distance before submitting to their wounds. We are doing what we can to "manage" the population. Eradication would be nice, but highly unlikely.

[tammons]

They are very intelligent animals but honestly I think their appetite gets the best of them.

I watched one program where a guy was teaching his show pig to do tricks.

One was pushing a golf ball along with his nose into a portable putting green hole.
One day the pig picked up the hole and placed it over the ball.

Darn smart, considering I know some people that wouldn't think of that one.

I have noticed they tend to get really stupid at dinner time.
They just dont pay attention to anything when they are rooting/eating.

That and they cant see for $hit.
Really near sided and I have slipped right up on them a few times in broad daylight.

They do adapt and are extremely hard to figure out and they dont really have a pattern that makes sense to me.

Then again one time I was just driving around, drove through a pipeline clearing and there they were at 12 noon. About 25 or so. Shot one. Next day I thought what the heck and there they were in the exact same place exact same time.

Really weird animals.

Had a couple of them growl at me when I was swamping. First one was in a thick swamp when I decided I needed a bigger pistol.
He was a huge boar and sounded like a full grown bull when they get mad.
Very un-nerving since I could only see about 20 feet in any one direction with no trees to climb.

Now I think I have sort of figured I think they use that growl as sort of a decoy so they can slip away.
Had it happen just a few weeks ago.

Well thank god they cant see and they get stupid when they eat.
If they were smart 100% of the time and had vision like a deer we would have a real problem.

[Terry Balding]

You have to kill 7 out of 10 just to keep the population in check.
If they dont have any natural predators, like probably in Hawaii then its more.

Wont happen with a gun. You have to trap them and dispatch to keep the population in check and still
that probably wont do it but they do make for good target practice.

I shoot every one I see and if the are around 60# or below, fat and a sow, I will
put them in the freezer.

Know of one peanut farmer that had killed about 200 in 3 months on just one of his fields, hunting at night and he was still having problems.

Know of another that trapped 300++ very close to where I hunt. He knocked the local population back a bit temporarily,
but they were back in no time.

Our neighbor has trapped like 20 in the last 3 weeks, but 20 in 3 weeks is just a drop in the bucket.

I watched a program where they said that one sow, if she had max litters, and all her offspring lived and had max litters, etc etc, by the time she died she and her offspring would have propagated 7 million pigs.

As far as boars, they are nasty.
Could not pay me to eat one. Castrate and feed off for a year yes, but otherwise forget it.

They get recycled into the environment via buzzard food.

Have a friend that killed a 250# boar and not wanting to waste it had a huge amount of smoked sausage made by the local
butcher, and not cheap and it was so rank he threw it all out.

That is in Ga, but what they really need to do is allow baiting hogs while hunting. I suppose if it gets bad enough they will.
On Fort Benning land along the river, they are so bad they have a bounty on them.
I think $35 a head.

A bounty would be a good way to keep the population down.



This sounds like an alternative to prairie dog hinting!

[Terry Balding]

I fat fingered it again... Hunting, Hunting, Hunting

[texwelder]

We have a new method of mass eradication....which includes the piglets. Just find a spot where they will gather like a baited wallow, set a medium sized tannerite bomb in the middle of their feeding area, then wait on them to show up. The idea is to wait until numerous hogs are around the tannerite, then shoot the tannerite......its the only time you can actually see that "pigs can fly".

texwelder

[calib]

sounds like a good shooting opportunity. like a big dam ground hog ha ha

[anytym]

Hi all,
Do any of you fellows from Tx. happen to know of any ranches that will let you hunt hogs for free? I have looked on the net for places in Tx. to hunt and they all want you to pay to hunt their problem?? My brother is from Austin and I am in Mt. When I go down, I would like to hunt coyotes and hogs. Any help finding a place would be appreciated.

[tammons]

Maybe call the game wardens in the areas and ask if there are any farmers that need help.

Most farmers will do anything to get rid of the vermin.

[rcinit]

Hi all,
Do any of you fellows from Tx. happen to know of any ranches that will let you hunt hogs for free? I have looked on the net for places in Tx. to hunt and they all want you to pay to hunt their problem?? My brother is from Austin and I am in Mt. When I go down, I would like to hunt coyotes and hogs. Any help finding a place would be appreciated.
you have a pm.

[anytym]

Thanks recinit,
I won't be going until next March so I should have time to find out more by then. I have been examined by the FBI and BATFE, so I should be alright on the checks. I figured on bringing a .223AI and a 45-70 for the hogs, and a 22-250 AI for the dogs.