[cliffy]

Feral Hogs are any hogs out of a pen. Texas has over three million of those, and forty states now have too many. Michigan begs any hunter to shoot any wild hogs they see. Feral Hogs taste better than domestic hogs because they're leaner and tastier. Feral Hogs are the most destructive beasties in America. They kill and eat fawns, eat game bird eggs, foul streams, destroy acres of farmland by rooting, and eat the same food as whitetail deers. Feral Hogs have replaced deer in many areas. Exotic in nature, but Carp-like in survival and propagation. Cooked Carp are hard to swallow, but the only virtue of wild hogs is they are extra-delicious. Cliffy

[shevrock]

so what's this thread about?

[Vegaslaith]

I think he wants to know if anyone has any experience eating or cooking wild hogs. That's a no for me.

[3pairs12]

my family and i have eaten several and if you get small enough you are absolutely right very tasty indeed.

[wally]

They are eatable, just be sure to cook them enough to kill the parasites!

My buddy is an avid hunter and I've enjoyed many a feral pig roast party at his place. Taste good to me.

As to the taking, they can be pretty tough critters, he likes .30-'06 for 'em.

--wally.

[skinewmexico]

I just hate cleaning them, and feeling like there are fleas and ticks crawling all over me when I'm done.

[cdrt]

I hate gutting them; the smell is just nasty, but we have made some great sasusage from them.

Most of the ones I've shot have been with my .280 Remington. They are tough to put down.

[cliffy]

Apparently I wasn't clear enough in my subject. Feral Hogs have over-run Texas and Oklahoma and Louisiana and Florida and Hawaii. Feral Hogs are destructive alien species akin to Zebra Mussels regarding replacing native species of wildlife in America. Look up a myriad of Internet entries regarding Feral Hogs. Some people have never heard of Feral Hogs, but these wild pigs should concern every American. In part of Texas, Feral Hogs have already replaced Whitetail Deer as the primary species. I'm not certain what else I can add to clarify the magnitude of my post. Cliffy

[Drgong]

Indeed they are a pest, And I will gladly hunt any that are in my area. I have heard that Michigan and Texas are being overrun with them.

From what I understand, 6.5 x 55 sweede is the smallest round really to go hunting with them, me, I am thinking that hunting them with a mosin would be a cheap way to hunt them.

[Crunker1337]

I heard that hogs are tough to put down because they have a strange "kill-zone" so to speak... like you have to hit them just next to the shoulder, because that's where there's less protective flesh, and it leads to the entrails... is this true? Or do you just go for a headshot, haha...

[dakotasin]

i can appreciate and understand what you're saying...

what kills me, however, is this pest species needs to be eradicated, but if you want to do it, most times you need to pay to play. i don't understand it. same goes for prairie dogs, canadian geese, and whitetails. the same farmer and rancher that complains to no end about the pest species is also the one saying he'll let you hunt 'em for $x...

[whiskey]

Understand the kill zone on a pig before you hunt. I like head shots when hunting over bait, but that ain't the only way to kill them. It is the only way to not to have to track them.

over at www.texasboars.com there are photos and reasoning for the advised kill zones. Check out the FAQ on texasboars.com

[Flash!]

them are tasty critters!!! a little sweeter meat than store bought pork.....just eat the ones that are 150 lbs or less..... the real big ones are stinky and nasty tasting.....

[rangerruck]

well, you do want to clean them real good, and the bigger they are, the more scent glands they have, they look like little clusters of small peanuts, under the skin. the backstraps are freakin the best thing I have ever eaten. now then, what i like to do with the straps and other areas to cut steaks, take a plastic bag, put in your pieces, with all the seasonings you like. Leave in the fridge for a day or two, then rinse all out, to remove all settled blood. repeat the above step for a day, then put in a pan, with about 1/4 inch of oil in the bottom, cook up medium heat, to a nice brown top and bottom, and eat away!!!! I like olive oil for this.

[Crunker1337]

Praire dogs? Canadian geese? White tails?
Pests?

I respectfully disagree. Feral hogs are different altogether from the aforementioned animals as they are an invasive species.

[cliffy]

Most ducks and other birds contain parasites, as do rabbits, yet they're delicious table fare. Wild Hogs are no different; hunters must get passed the inevitable parasite and never eat wild organ meat. Most animals, probably since the caveman days, have unsightly parasites within them. All humans have microscopic parasites, that certainly would put me off from eating those creatures, but I'm not a vegetarian. Even pen-raised Pigs have parasites. Parasites are a fact of nature regarding all living creatures. Many fishes contain parasites, so thorough cooking is essential with all meat products, domestic or wild. Cliffy

[Crunker1337]

@ whiskey
So you aim just a tad behind the shoulder? Also, where exactly in the head do you shoot? In between the eyes, but higher?

[Kentucky-roughrider]

Dokotasin,

A lot of farmers and ranchers are cash poor, and need every way they can to make money, so if making a hunter pay to kill a pest its a double plus for them. And two, it helps limit the number of hunter in their fields. If you give free hunts, some people take it to mean anyone and everyone can hunt.

Wild Boars have a cartiage shield over their heart and lungs, to protect them in fights with others boars. This is where, the odd kill zone comes from. I havn't hunt th'm, yet.

[cliffy]

Feral Hogs are different than deer, in that one never should shoot a Hog behind the front leg. A Pig is all stomach just behind the shoulder. The pig vitals reside forward of the front leg by a smidge. Centered neck shots break the spine, but high neck shots don't kill. Brain shots kill normally as in any other vertebrate animal. A pig's pumper is more forward than on most ungulates. The heavy shoulder-shield can repel light bullets of varmint grade construction, but a .243 Winchester with 100 grain Nosler Partition bullets work well with well-placed hits. Hogs leave little to no blood trails cause the hits seal-up well. Cliffy

[bragood]

Question: Planning on hunting hogs if I get a chance later this weekend on a spot of land that I know they frequent. Ive never done this except when hunting deer. Will a 12 gauge witha slug work and how does one go about cleaning them? Similar to a deer?

[Nathanael_Greene]

I had feral hog for dinner tonight, in fact. Mesquite-smoked young sow, left over from my last hog-hunting trip.

Yum, yum.

[gbran]

The reason there are so mnay feral hogs is that far too many landowners either won't allow hunting on their property or charge high prices to hunt the beasts.

[cliffy]

Love the experienced responses thus far. Farmers and ranchers hate the beasties, yet charge hunters to hunt them. Fair-enough, as long as prices are not ridiculous. $150 to shoot a hog is a stiff price for something they'd like to get rid of at any price or cost. As Hogs increase in numbers, shooting costs should go down. I have a Texas Internet buddy, who invited me to shoot Feral Hogs on his ranch for free, and he'd even treat me to a free bar-be-que. Friends like that are rare, but soon as I'm able . . . Cliffy

[LSU Fan]

I heard that hogs are tough to put down because they have a strange "kill-zone" so to speak... like you have to hit them just next to the shoulder, because that's where there's less protective flesh, and it leads to the entrails... is this true? Or do you just go for a headshot, haha...

Headshot is the way to go... don't mess up that good meat!

Here's a couple we got last week. (Sorry for the redundant post for those of you who saw this in the hunting section) First pig with my new stag 15, my buddy got the other with his 30.06

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o127/avoorh1/IMG_2149.jpg

[Rugerlvr]

There are none in Utah. Otherwise I think I'd hunt them.

[telomerase]

What about brucellosis? Is it reliably destroyed by cooking?

[Crunker1337]

So headshot or low neck shot to break the spine is the way to go huh...
Since you used a Stag 15, LSU Fan, I'm gonna assume that .223 is enough to put 'em down... good.

[Nathanael_Greene]

...one never should shoot a Hog behind the front leg.

Most of the hogs I've shot have been right behind the shoulder, and they've died PDQ.

A head shot is preferable, but hogs tend to sweep their heads around a lot while looking for food, so a broadside shot is more common, at least based on my experience.

Question: Planning on hunting hogs if I get a chance later this weekend on a spot of land that I know they frequent. Ive never done this except when hunting deer. Will a 12 gauge witha slug work and how does one go about cleaning them? Similar to a deer?

Yes, the first feral hog I ever saw killed was done in with a slug. And yes, they clean pretty much like deer. Just be warned--they smell pretty bad on the inside and they can be covered with ticks. I've seen one cleaned without gutting it by slicing the hide along the spine and peeling it back, then removing the quarters & backstraps. If you want to reach up inside and retrieve the tenderloins, go right ahead.

If you give free hunts, some people take it to mean anyone and everyone can hunt.

That would be my concern if I were a landowner. THR had a long discussion on this topic about a year ago; reading it may save us all some time and repetition: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=307619

[caseypj]

I've seen them a few times in Florida, many of the orange groves have problems with hogs.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Well, on the nuisance aspects of this species:

"They've overrun....Oklahoma" - no not really, they're not yet spread to where I hunt most often (and which is ideal habitat for them), much to my chagrin. I'm anxiously waiting for them to spread there, since they're within 20 miles and supposed to spread rapidly....been waiting 4 years - hope it ain't much longer. :( If they ain't there by 2010, I'm releasing some. :p J/K guys; that is not legal.

"They tear up crops, destroy everything, invasive blah vermin blah blah" - This is pretty simple: If I was a farmer, I'd care; I'm not a farmer, so I don't care. Lessee, right now only large game to hunt is deer with a shortish season and very short gun season....if the hogs would just get there (dangit), I could hunt large game 365 days a year instead of just a couple/few months....where's the downside to that?! It's all in your perspective.

Oh, they taste darn good to me. I think it's pretty obvious that they are NOT vermin. "Vermin", by definition, offer no redeeming value. Piggies are yummy tasty backstraps and hams; hence not "vermin".

[Art Eatman]

PremiumSauces, if you eat food, you oughta be concerned about a farmer's productivity. And, from at least a smidgen of giving a hoot about "one's fellow man", his profitability.

[cliffy]

Feral Hogs become a plague wherever they establish regarding Farmers and Ranchers and Deer Hunters and Native Wildlife. Eating fawns as they fall from their mother's wombs, is a vicious, predatory event that Feral Hogs thrive upon, in addition to eating almost anything a deer would eat. Rooting up to two feet deep in Farmers' fields removes a great deal of farming profits. Wallowing fouls the waters of streams and creeks, yet this a favored hobby of Hogs. That Wild Pigs supplant Whitetails is a recognized fact, especially in Texas where Hogs (Pigs) dominate vast areas. Various Hogs interbreed readily with Domestic escapees. The pure Russian Variety brought to this continent for exclusive Hunting Ranches have long gone Feral due to interbreeding with domestics. A purebred swine is nearly non-existent in the wild. Nearly four million wild swine in Texas alone, shows that pigs are capable of survival and massive reproduction. Feral Hogs have proven they cannot be wiped-out once established. Cliffy

[azhunter122]

I wish we had some in my area, but that's fine I'd rather have deer. We have Javelina here but they are nasty!

[skinewmexico]

I can't believe someone would want hogs to move into their area. I guess when your deer and quail go to crap, it will be different.

[Art Eatman]

Pork is cooked to "well done" to ensure against trychinosis, not brucellosis.

Shame feral hogs don't eat "far aints". :D (A little suthern tawk, thair.)

[Marlin 45 carbine]

I shot a dry sow that weighed 180 field dressed with a ROA BP revolver, missed a little too far back to get the heart/lung junction but drilled through both lungs. that dern thing ran over 1/4 mile away. there was light snow laying so tracking wasn't too bad. it was still blowing blood when I found it piled up in thicket and gave it a slug in base of skull to finish it.
plenty tasty though and worth the effort. there was a cabbage and pumpkin field and apple orchard nearby it had been feeding from. several other fellers got a hog there too. the farmer let me hunt first I did repair work on his equipment.

[achildofthesky]

dakotasin has a great point. People/farmers whine about an invasive and destructive species yet don't want FREE help eradicating the problem. I feel for them, but just a little. Kinda like having a broke down in a car and having someone kindly offer to fix it free and the owner sez you need to pay me for the privilege of fixing my problem. OOp's there goes my sympathy for the landowners....

Be safe

Patty

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

dakotasin has a great point. People/farmers whine about an invasive and destructive species yet don't want FREE help eradicating the problem. I feel for them, but just a little. Kinda like having a broke down in a car and having someone kindly offer to fix it free and the owner sez you need to pay me for the privilege of fixing my problem. OOp's there goes my sympathy for the landowners....

Exactly, +1. Obviously, it ain't *that* big of a problem for farmers & other landowners, and costing them too terribly much, or hunting them would be cheap. As it stands now, it costs an arm and a leg. I can understand charging a *small* fee to weed out the riff-raff and cover your very slight liability exposure, but hogs is big business, so if these "poor ol farmers" don't like having their fields dug two feet deep, then they'd let in more hunters for free or cheap (for hogs only, anyway). I have NO sympathy for them. As for caring about food production, bah, Thomas Malthus was pretty sure doomsday was coming, too. Food prices won't change due to hogs. Just make rich landowners a little less rich. Reminds me of the South Park episode when the boys were chastised for downloading free music on the internet, by showing them that Britney Spears had to downgrade from a Learjet 4 to a Learjet 3 with no remote control for the surround sound, due to the money she lost from people downloading her music on the internet - this was supposed to guilt them into stop downloading.

Feral Hogs become a plague wherever they establish regarding Farmers and Ranchers

Plague regarding farmers and ranchers? See above - boo hoo.

and Deer Hunters and Native Wildlife.
Well, I not so sure that it's a plague to deer and other native wildlife. If they are, then that's a very valid concern I'd be interested in learning more about. Are there any scientific studies that prove that any species (deer or otherwise) are adversely impacted in a material way by hogs? I'd like to see it. Seems to me, anecdotally, that in the hog areas around here, deer thrive just as well as in the non-hog areas.

Eating fawns as they fall from their mother's wombs, is a vicious, predatory event that Feral Hogs thrive upon,
Well, maybe this is something - I'd like to know how common this is - seems like the deer could run in 30 seconds way farther than the slower hogs could catch up and find her when she is about to give birth - any scientific studies or proof that show that this happens and how often in reality?

in addition to eating almost anything a deer would eat.

Where I hunt, that is in NO WAY a problem. Every year, there are literally tons and tons of uneaten acorn mast left on the forest floor to rot, for starters. Plenty of food for all.

Rooting up to two feet deep in Farmers' fields removes a great deal of farming profits.
Well, that's why they get subsidies from Washington. See above / boo hoo. Maybe they should sell some of that land to others who want to move to the sticks, so they'd be mere millionaires instead of multi-millionaires, from all they land they inherited. Maybe some of them might even have to (gasp!) change careers like so many others among us do, which is a natural part of the free-market economy (career changes). And I'm all broke up about Archer Daniels Midland's profits, as far as the big corporate farmers are concerned.

Wallowing fouls the waters of streams and creeks, yet this a favored hobby of Hogs.

That'd be a problem, but I'd like to see scientific studies that show that the waters would then adversely affect other species. Sounds to me like it's only a problem when you let your number run away and don't control them. Sounds to me that because they don't let enough hunters on their land, because they're so greedy, they charge too high of a price to get enough numbers of hunters to effectively control their numbers. I can't imagine a properly-controlled number of hogs materially affecting the water supply, but I'm open to proof to the contrary.

That Wild Pigs supplant Whitetails is a recognized fact, I'd like to see that "fact" recognized by a scientific study. Maybe they do, so I'd appreciate any links to impartial data showing that.

Nomex ON - Go! :)

Patty, we have GOT to try to help you figure out where you live. For starters, lets look on your mailbox - tell me, is there a zip code listed? :p

[achildofthesky]

I'm with you premium sauces (interesting handle BTW). As for my loc. I seem to be lost in the fog on such a fine day sometimes (jessie collin young?) but for the present am spending more time in AArghkansas... Looking at a slab of dirt, forest and rocks for a retreat in the coming days and IF that pans out and there were any hogs on the land I will go on a pogrom against them and WELCOME responsible friends to do the same. Hell, if they shoot '06, 44 mag or 45-70 they can shoot from my boxes (crates?) of ammo for free and feel free to kill every damn pig they see on my (if it becomes my) property.

I can understand a small "offset" price someone else may receive for improvements in habitat, food plots, blinds/stands and the like for deer and such. But we are talking about dang wild pigs, nothing more than a somewhat costly vermin, albeit on a more grand scale. Also underthis heading could be grouped coyotes, crows, 'chucks and such. Different critters similar time or $$ sucking result.

If I had a problem that people volunteered to help with gratis, I would cheerfully welcome such help and likely reciprocate in kind for the help, not friggin charge for receiving the help in the first place.

I originally started in the shooting sports & hunting at 12 back in NW PA and during the summer months honed our shooting skills by shooting woodchucks, generally with out high power rifles. As soon as I could drive I was scouting for likely fields and would simply ask if the farmer or land owner would like to lessen the population of chucks for free. Universally they said yes. I was NEVER turned down to shoot them usually just with a caution to not shoot their stock and such. On numerous occasions they bought ammo, components (I reloaded from 12 for my '06 and 16 for my 338WM) soda, invites for dinner or to hunt deer on their property and the like. I guess what I am getting at comes back to a basic appreciation for help rendered and often reciprocity (though never EXPECTED) for the help.

Stepping off my soapbox and as you said "flame on"...

Be safe all

Patty

[MCgunner]

I love to smoke a hog ham. They're great for grilling even though they're a might less fatty than a barnyard animal. Much better than venison. I trap 'em. They get shot in the head with whatever my carry gun is that day, usually. LOL. So far, it's been .38 special 158 grain +P JHP, .357 magnum 140 grain JHP (pretty awesome exit wound), and 115 grain 9mm +P JHP. Dead right there. I aint' opening the trap until they're down, LOL.

It's the other white meat....:D

[DRYHUMOR]

Oh yeah,

They eat good, being lean, you lose a bit of weight in the cooking.

Head shots and neck shots work best. I do remember about 20 years ago I shot one with a quartering shot into the front shoulder with a 7mm Remmag. Blew a chunk of bone out, had blood trail. Lost the trail with the light. Took up the search the next day, and ran out of blood with no hog.

That hog was pushing 200lbs, thats what moved me to neck and head shots. Tough somebits.

[MCgunner]

Shoulder, not behind it.

[DRYHUMOR]

Shoulder, front part.

[Art Eatman]

Premium Sauces, I don't think you quite understand farm subsidies. I don't want to get into a long dissertation, but essentially they maintain enough farm profitability that farmers keep on farming and we don't run into food shortages and high consumer prices.

Aside from feral hogs tearing up crops, they wreak havoc on sheep/goat fences in ranch country. They'll root under and make big holes, to get from one area to another. Goats spend their lives looking for a way to be elsewhere. Since a Spanish cabrito-goat is approximately a $50 bill with legs, ranchers definitely don't like having to run all over the county trying to catch the (bleep) things.

They will eat the eggs of ground-nesting birds, which includes quail. There is *some* predation during lambing or kid time in sheep/goat country, although it's not all that much of a problem. Still, money lost is money lost--and there ain't no subsidies in the goat business.

They will turn an easily-mown hayfield into a seriously bumpy mess. They can quickly turn an area into looking like a drunk with a backhoe went to playing.

As far as habitat goes, they're now in the Davis Mountains of west Texas, with its 16" average annual rainfall and few streams of more than post-rainfall trickle. They've been seen south of Marathon in serious desert country (6" average annual rainfall) and there is a fear of them getting into the Chisos Mountains, the showpiece of Big Bend National Park.

[3pairs12]

If you know the right people ie farmers and they have a hog problem most would gladly let you hunt them. A sow can have 20+ piglets a year so for those of you wishing you had them in your area think again. Laast year the feral hog caused 52million dollars in damage to ag just in Texas alone. There population (according to some websites) is 6million and expecting that number to double by 2012. They are fun to shoot and 250lbs and smaller a quite tastey but there a lot of farmers out here who really don't care too much about that.

[mike724]

When I brought this to the check station and others crowded around, I heard someone say,"Now THAT'S how you kill a d**n hog!"

[Floppy_D]

Awesome shot, mike724. That IS how you kill a d*** hog. :D

I'm signed up for our local refuge lottery, hopefully I'm as lucky as some of you folks have been. (And by golly, I'll eat every one).

[mbt2001]

What about brucellosis? Is it reliably destroyed by cooking?

Yes... http://books.google.com/books?id=ysrzdCPc4dAC&pg=RA1-PA1147&lpg=RA1-PA1147&dq=brucellosis+destroyed+in+cooking%3F&source=web&ots=NTEdzcfxnE&sig=BJHUmkh3b7-3OBnysf88nYmiYeU&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

[Marlin 45 carbine]

yep, you gave credence to the phrase 'stick one in his ear'! #46.

[achildofthesky]

Mike:

Nice shootin', I'd have to agree THAT is a great way to put an oinker down! Way to go.

Be safe

Patty

[Cypress]

WOW!!! You can really get an idea about who here has ever owned property or hunted hogs. I happen to live on a fairly large(for the area) ranch/farm and have plenty of hogs doing plenty of damage each year. I'll take the hogs over a bunch of moron hunters shooting cows, dropping trash, and thinking they can bring their buddies any time they d@mn well please!!! IMHO the only way to get ahead of the hog population now is for the government(s) to offer a bounty. Its a trade off for me. A lot of time is spent repairing damage pastures but I have something to hunt whenever I want. I shoot them often but pass up on nursing sows as I don't believe anything should have to starve to death. We process every hog we kill. Its way more than we can eat so a lot gets given away. As far where to shoot them goes, I will always opt for the center of the shoulder. This usually drops them even if you don't clip the spine. Don't try it with your tacticool .223 though. I feel that they do compete fairly heavily with deer for food and probably come across the occasional fawn. They make a lot of tracks in a days time and they will eat just about anything. As far as the comments about the rich farmers getting what they get. Well, some guys are just making ends meet and if they can make a little money off the hogs I'm all for it. Charging a very low fee only ensures that you would get the worst of the worst and its hard to discriminate without repercussions.

[littlecleo]

I shot 3 of these in the head, 12 ga, 7/8 oz slugs. They drop in their tracks with a good head shot, using slugs, or an appropriate caliber. I use the smoker quite a bit for hams, and ribs, but I also grind the neck, shoulders, flank, scrap meat, and use it just like ground beef. Wild hog, processed & aged correctly, is excellent!

[alsaqr]

I hunt hogs 12 months of the year. They are very plentiful in parts of southwestern OK. In some areas they have greatly impacted the deer population, eating up scarce acorns and pecans. Deer and elk do not like to drink from a pond that is frequented by large numbers of hogs.

Am lucky enough to have permission to hunt several pieces of private property in this area. I also often hunt a large piece of government property that is around 14,000 acres. One of our own places is often visited by a large sounder of hogs.

Every hog I kill goes to feed someone: Sometimes pay for the processing myself. Have often passed up on shots at sows with small pigs and large boars. Did kill a sow with pigs this spring when she made the second swipe at me. The next week I was in that area and her parti colored pigs were with another sow.

Not too long ago was buying some ice to cool a big sow that I had killed. A couple of teenage boys told their mom that there was a pig in my truck. The lady said that she wished that she could get a pig. Told her that she had a pig and the ice to go with it. Her sons put hog and ice in their pickup and they left for the butcher.

[W.E.G.]

Not too long ago was buying some ice to cool a big sow that I had killed. A couple of teenage boys told their mom that there was a pig in my truck. The lady said that she wished that she could get a pig. Told her that she had a pig and the ice to go with it. Her sons put hog and ice in their pickup and they left for the butcher.

Outstanding!

I aint seen no hogs in Virginia yet.

I might have to come out to OK and check out that action.

[Floppy_D]

Been to back bay? :D

[XDKingslayer]

Nope. I don't eat dirt pig.

[nathan]

If they look healthy , you got a good chance they are okey to eat. Always check the liver and other internal signs of disease. Always pick the fat pig.

[coop4u2c]

the bigger they are the more sausage you make! yum-yum

[CommyHunter]

I've heard lots of credible sources tell me that they are living in abundance down in Mesquite, NV along the riverbanks of the Virgin River. I'll take one if I ever see one.

[barnetmill]

It is interesting that pigs seem to be spreading about the country. They have probably been loose in NWFL for hundreds of years. First spanish tried to settle this area in 1659. They probably do damage some farms and lawns. But one does not hear too much about it. I live next to a wooded creek bottom that drains to Escambia Bay and River that does have pigs. They do not seem to over running the place. Once people know that there are pigs they start hunting them. I have never seen one on my place, although I do know that years ago one was sighted nearby. If they show up I will set out some corn with a light and my shotgun. Will have to use small buckshot and hope for a headshot due nearby neighbors.

I did go hunting with a fellow a month ago for hogs north of Crestview, FL, but due to high water we called off the hunt. Swinming flooded creeks at night is not fun. It was at night with a cur dog to trail and a bull dog to catch and no guns. The hogs were to be killed by sticking with a pocket knife or be trussed up and taken back to be fed and killed after a week or so.

[gimlet1/21]

We used to break in our new "butter bar" lieutenants, on the Big Island of Hawaii, by taking the fresh fruit from our hot dinners and taking a bite of it then roll it into his hooch. Watching with the NVG's(night vision goggles), we'd place bets on whose guard duty would the pigs rut him out of bed. ( usually screaming like a little girl) Sorry LT if your on THR.

Hawaii is over run with wild pigs. Its very unusual to have to sit in the dark with a rifle loaded with blanks and watch the pigs circle you all night.

Here in South Carolina they hunt them with pitbulls and handcuffs to take them alive, and sell for bar-b-ques. The dogs will run em into exhaustion, and pull their heads down by their ears, then somebody has to jump on it and handcuff it above the knee. they `knife the large ones for sausage, and the smallish ones go live to the party.

[MCgunner]

Best way I've found to take 'em is a trap. The trap does the hunting, 24/7. I just go check it. I don't set it this time of year because I can only check it 2 times a week and they'll die in the trap from the heat in summer.

From what I understand, 6.5 x 55 sweede is the smallest round really to go hunting with them, me, I am thinking that hunting them with a mosin would be a cheap way to hunt them.

Bunk. I've shot 'em with .357 magnum. .243 is a good round. Anything I'd use for deer will work. I'd stay away from .22 centerfires, but 6mm and up and a good enough bullet. The really BIG 350+ ones I don't want anyway. Best eating is under 200 lbs and it don't take a big caliber gun to kill 'em. I'll use my bow on 'em if I get a chance.

Big thing about hogs, and what makes it hard for the bow hunter, is that all their vitals are under the shoulder. With a bow, best to wait until you have 'em quartered away and set it just behind the shoulder. Tough to make a shot with a bow on a hog.

[svtruth]

in Vermont?

[longdayjake]

Oh theres plenty in utah. Pine Valley Mountain and the West Mountains are full of them. No hunting season though that I know of. Utah is dumb that way.

[Double Naught Spy]

In part of Texas, Feral Hogs have already replaced Whitetail Deer as the primary species.

I know you don't mean as autotrophs, but "primary species" of what? Do you mean game species? Large mammal species? Most non-human mammalian biomass?

Farmers and ranchers hate the beasties, yet charge hunters to hunt them. Fair-enough, as long as prices are not ridiculous. $150 to shoot a hog is a stiff price for something they'd like to get rid of at any price or cost.
If they can get it, why should they charge less?

Feral Hogs are different than deer, in that one never should shoot a Hog behind the front leg. A Pig is all stomach just behind the shoulder. The pig vitals reside forward of the front leg by a smidge.

I don't know how you can get the vitals forward of the front leg by a smidge. They occupy an volume much larger than a smidge. It isn't that they are forward of the front leg, but somewhat directly behind it from the shooter when the pig is standing broadside to the shooter, some both fore and aft of the leg from the shooter's perspective.

It isn't that shooting behind the shoulder is bad, so long as the shot is very close to the shoulder.

[MCgunner]

Yeah, people gripe about the costs of hog hunting, but look at what they're getting for exotics or big deer. Hey, hogs are a bargain. And, despite Obama's best efforts, at least in Texas, capitalism still rules and private property rights are still held sacred.

[LeonCarr]

The slogan for Blue Bell Ice Cream is, "We eat all we can and sell the rest".

The slogan for Feral Hog Control should be, "We eat all we can and shoot the rest" :).

Hogs are very good to eat, especially if dressed and put on ice as soon as possible after being shot. Preparation is the key.

Kill them all. For folks in states that don't have wild hogs, buy a lottery ticket because ya'll are very lucky.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

[GodGuns&Guitars]

Hogs as opposed to dogs. Just wanted to make sure I had this right. SW Arkansas has lots of wild hogs and are on the timber company's number one worst enemy list. Shoot on site. They will destroy wildlife habitat for more popular game animals. I've shot quite a few of them in my day some pretty large but on the average around 200lbs or less. Like the ones around 60 to 70 the best but who cares. We use to hunt an old farmers land and he seemed to know what he talked about. After shooting one, field dress it, then if you had a ways to go to get it out, stuff it with pine straw to draw the wild taste out. I have no real idea that this worked but we'd give him the hog, pine straw and all, and in a few days he would bring us sausage, chops and roasts from the hog. Some of the finest eating there ever was. We dressed a few out on our own to, and they will dull a knife in a hurry. The meat we got from the farmer I favored over venison when he did it. The largest we ever took on our hunting lease weighed 454lbs. Had probably six inch tusks. The guy that shot him said it looked like a buffalo coming through the woods when he first saw him.

[Double Naught Spy]

Yeah, people gripe about the costs of hog hunting, but look at what they're getting for exotics or big deer. Hey, hogs are a bargain. And, despite Obama's best efforts, at least in Texas, capitalism still rules and private property rights are still held sacred.

Right. I have never understood the attitude as in the OP that just because I don't like something, that it therefore has no value and I should allow others free access to it. Obviously, hunting wild hogs has value to hunters and hence have a value to a land owner even if the owner doesn't like them.

Furthermore, many folks don't like the idea of people "hunting" on their land, especially strangers. I know I don't want to give free passes to strangers to crisscross my land and shooting at things. There is some real liability risk that comes into play. With that in mind, there are a couple of outfits in north Texas where I have land that will come in and trap hogs on your property and will make arrangements with you about when they do their work such that you know when they are coming and going. Many folks are happy to let these trappers do their thing because they are still get the hogs but are 1) not shooting, 2) work on a schedule, and 3) only go to specified locations.

[Flash!]

the last two hogs I shot got it right behind the shoulder...... that 7mm rem mag dropped them both within a few feet of where they were standing.....I got some great smoked hams, pork chops, and sausage......

[qajaq59]

I shoot them and I eat them. They're a pig whether they are in a pen or the woods. The only difference seems to be that no one is filling them up with chemicals in the woods.
Just my 2 c.

[Art Eatman]

DNS, for all that I agree that the landowner should get paid all the traffic will bear, it doesn't deal with the problem: The Texas population of a destructive pest is expanding much faster than present hunting methods are dealing with. What is needed is more hunters and more killing--and trapping. The only way a free market can deal with that is to reduce the cost.

[Double Naught Spy]

Well Art, I never argued that it dealt with the problem. By comparison, eradication of hogs does not deal with the problem of liability and damages either.

I got the impression from cliffy, as with from several other posts in the past on THR, that folks are put out by the fact that they would have to pay for the privilege of doing the landowner the favor of getting rid of his/her unwanted pests. cliffy and many others don't understand that hogs have not become enough of a problem yet for many landowners to allow hunters to hunting willy nilly on their properties. In other words, the damage caused by the hogs is still less than the risk posed by hunters, or that is what is perceived.

It only takes a few prize cattle being shot by "mistake" or hunter shooting another before the liability issue becomes huge.

As a landowner in Texas, I have had the benefit of seeing what so-called good hunters can do to a property. Some are 100% good stewards of the land and when they leave, all that is left behind are some entrails for the buzzards and tracks. I have seen where others trash properties, loot historic and prehistoric sites, and are generally as parasitic to the property as are the hogs.

So landowners need a vetting and references system in place to keep from getting screwed by free-lance pig eradication hunters who are so willing to do the landowner the favor of killing off hogs.

The free market may deal with the problem when the destruction caused by hogs costs the landowner more in money than the landowner perceives or knows to be the cost risk in liability of allowing hunters to hunt on his land in order to get rid of the problem.

In all honesty, trapping seems like the way to go. Much less risk to the landowner. Fewer trappers need be present on the property to yield the same result. Traps work 24/7 (hunters don't, as noted above). However, you don't hear many folks complaining on a gun board that people in Texas won't let them come down and trap hogs for free. They complain that we won't let them come hunt hogs for free.
make money for the landowner.

I don't see hunters in other parts of the country where there is a lot more public land actually going out and doing their part to eradicate hogs. It isn't just a problem with private lands and hunters not willing to pay to hunt private lands.

[hotlead]

I like some good Yellow Fin.......

[Girodin]

Oh theres plenty in utah. Pine Valley Mountain and the West Mountains are full of them.

I am not saying it is untrue but this is the first claim I have ever heard that there are wild hogs in Utah.

[joeg26er]

When I brought this to the check station and others crowded around, I heard someone say,"Now THAT'S how you kill a d**n hog!"
yeah just whisper in his ear...

[rizbunk77]

We are just starting to get them in Nebraska, but Game and Parks forbids anyone to shoot them.. Makes alot of sense huh? They say they don't want a population but banning the public from shooting them doesn't seem like a logical step to me. On one hand they say that deer herds have to be managed or we will hunt them off the face of the planet then in the same breath they say that public hunting of wild pigs will not do anything to fix the problem. I guess I should not be so perplexed since this is the gov we are talking about.

[MCgunner]

On one hand they say that deer herds have to be managed or we will hunt them off the face of the planet then in the same breath they say that public hunting of wild pigs will not do anything to fix the problem.

While I agree that the Nebraska game management folks seem to have their heads where the sun don't shine regards to hogs, you must understand that you CAN hunt deer out of existence. These are two completely different species with completely different natality rates, habitat requirements, food requirements, etc. It's apples and oranges and this is why game management agencies spend so much time studying different species to learn how to properly manage that particular species.

What works for deer doesn't work for hogs and vice versa. Simple deal is, though, feral hogs are NOT game species, they're escaped livestock gone wild. Nebraska's biologists can't be THAT stupid....:rolleyes: Trust me, though, if hogs are taking hold there, it won't be long before there's a no limit open season policy, once they figure out what TP&W already knows.