HOG PROBLEMS

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.

You ever eat "Wild Boar"?

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.

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.

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.

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).

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!

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

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.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 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.

---

+1 on elimination

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.

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.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 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.

---

This sounds like an alternative to prairie dog hinting!

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

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

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

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.

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.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 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.

---

you have a pm.

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.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 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.

---

well if the cash crop is now hogs instead of the cotton that was growing? they still have payments like the rest of us.

My wife and i are thinking of coming to texas for vacation and were thinking of maybe hunting hogs while were there(we live in idaho) does anyone know of someone we might contact to get permission. I'm also an avid predator hunter so coyotes, bobcats that sort of thing would also be on my hitlist. Willing to trade authentic idaho spuds for permission to hunt. My wife is also wanting to get herself a ringtailed cat to mount.

I know a guy from arfcom and the 6.8 forum that guides and will set you up in a cabin, with food (I think) for a couple of days and take you out on night hunts with his Eq. ar15 6.8 spc rifle, gen 3 or 4 night vision etc.
Its pretty reasonable too from what I understand.

Not exactly sure where he is but if you are interested I will hook you up.

My wife is interested but would like more information if u could send it. We would have our own rifles and i would also be bowhunting. Please e-mail me more info @ boesiger2000@yahoo.com

I passed on your email address to him.

He goes by hightechrancher over at arfcom.
HTR for short.

Herd an interview with Ted Nugent on NRA NEWS that he and some friends were going to Texas to shoot Hogs from a helicopter and expedited to shoot 1000 hogs and that you have to shoot behind them too hit the right spot, didn't say it BUT sounded that he was going to have an automatic weapon with him.

1+ on the Tannerite! We duct taped packs of nail gun nails around a 1# charge about 1" thick and put in a pile of corn/sweet potato rejects and Hog wild. Got 12 pigs on that one. Shot was from 200 yds for safety. Doubt we will do that again, though. While no one was hurt or any thing damaged, it reminded me of Claymore mines from VietNam and we go no meat of any use from it.

Here in Arizona, all most of us can do is dream of hunting wild hog.

The latest dream in particular has been to contract some Air-Balloonists and form
some three man Hog-Sniper teams. Each gondola would have two designated snipers
and the pilot of the balloon.

Ideally, it would be nice to be able to acquire special permits allowing for night hunts with
Counter-Sniper rifles wearing suppressors and night-vision scopes. (make it an all-nighter)

Tethered at a certain elevation, those Gondolas would make an almost perfect (and silent) shooting
platform for anyone fortunate enough to be able to take part in such a hog hunt.

Since most of the smartest hogs are nocturnal, the "Arial Supremacy" that these floating shooting
platforms would give, could mean that (to a good shooter) any hog out to several hundred yard
would be fair game.

Our military is always looking for ways to further the training of their sniper teams. I can't think of
a better way to spend our tax dollars than to have our guys get in some real-world shooting time, help with this hog-problem and
possibly donate some of the meat to those who go to bed hungry in our country every night.

I take that back. I can think of a better way. That "better way" would be if I were one of the
hog hunters shooting from one of those Gondolas.

Rhetorical question; Am I a fool to dream such dreams; a hog hunting fool???

Is anybody with me on this?? I bet that would make a heck of an awesome video too.

HollowPoint

Ain't it kinda amazing that Christopher Columbus only brought eight pigs with him on his second voyage to the new world in 1493.

uj

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bubbinator

1+ on the Tannerite! We duct taped packs of nail gun nails around a 1# charge about 1" thick and put in a pile of corn/sweet potato rejects and Hog wild. Got 12 pigs on that one. Shot was from 200 yds for safety. Doubt we will do that again, though. While no one was hurt or any thing damaged, it reminded me of Claymore mines from VietNam and we go no meat of any use from it.

---

Roofing nails and I hear it works well for raccoons. ;)

Quote:

---

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.

---

Yep, I paid $100 per day around Brennan TX to help them with there Hog problem!

It was fun!!!!