[American Finn]

Hello to all!!! I wanted to get some responses in concerns to the feral swine problem here in Michigan. Has anyone seen any of these creatures in the woods lately? Where are they predominantly causing trouble?

I am aware that the Michigan DNR has classified them as a non-game animal, and is requesting that hunters afield shoot them on sight (when carrying a valid hunting license). I have been thinking about trying the Kawkawlin Flooding area of northeastern Midland County to hunt these things. Am I traveling to a good location, or should I look elsewhere in Michigan?

As for "swine" medicine, do you think a .30-30 would suffice, or would a bigger shooting stick be in order?

After reading what sparse information the DNR provides on their home website, these things scare me. To think that they are capable of causing extreme harm to the natural habitat of this state, I shudder to think what could potentially happen to our hunting opportunities in the future if this problem is not dealt with swiflty.

As always, I thank all of the respondents for their input and commentary. :)

[Flyboy]

.30-30 is adequate if you know where to aim and can deliver consistent hits. Pigs aren't built like deer; I'll let somebody else post the pictures, as I can't find them right now, but you don't aim for the same spot on a Porky as you would for Bambi.

Also, choose your bullet carefully. The only .30-30 rounds I've seen at Wal*Mart (and similar) are for light-skinned game. If you don't believe me now, you will after the first time you skin one: pigs are anything but light-skinned. .30-30 is adequate, but not over-powerful, so you'll need an appropriate bullet. Something solid, or at least controlled-expansion, is in order. The rapid-expansion Winchester CXP-2 that you'll find at Wal*Mart is probably to thinly-constructed to penetrate to the vitals and still deliver a clean kill.

Me, I use a .45-70, but I love big rifles, and I wanted to have something that could shatter bone in case of a charge (it's very rare, but it happens, and I've been known to hunt alone--nobody to help me if I get hurt). My buddies use .30-30's, and don't feel undergunned...with me nearby as backup. ;)

[ArmedBear]

Oh... I thought you were posting about your politicians.:D

Good luck getting some wild pork meat!

[chas08]

Hogs are built thick in the front and thin in the rear. Their vitals are futher forward than a deer. A 30/30 is plenty with a 150 gr. soft point if the shot is placed well. Head shots are the norm in my circle of exposure. I've killed more than 200, mostly head shots with everything from a .22lr to a 7mm mag. Boars are much thicker skinned than Sows. But even this don't become much of a factor until he weighs over 150 lbs. I've skinned Boars over 250 lbs with shoulder plates more than two inches thick. And recovered various bullets from their gristle-like armor that never made it to the vitals. Quartering away shots are good if you can put one in the flank behind the ribs angling up into the chest cavity, but it makes a mess of the bowels. For me, I like to stick to head shots, no meat loss, and dead right there. Any more, for eating purposes, I only shoot sows up to about 200 lbs. The rest feed the Buzzards. As an after thought, More than ten years ago, I met a group of hunters from Michigan in the town of Carrizzo Springs,Tx. They were buying a trailer full of wild hogs to take home and turn loose from a local livestock dealer. Don't you wish you could catch and hang those guys? (LOL)

[Flintknapper]

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n92/flintknapper/hog_anatomy_2.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n92/flintknapper/f5d41da3.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n92/flintknapper/neck_shot.jpg



Get after them NOW….before you have this:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n92/flintknapper/tall_athletic.jpg

[kdstrick]

My fellow Texans have done a fine job of providing some good facts and information about feral pigs. Everyone I know shoots them on sight. We eat all we can and the rest feed the buzzards and worms. Now, before the hunting ethicist's jump on and denounce such behavior, consider the facts:

1. At 7 months of age a Sow becomes fertile.

2. An average litter ranges from 4-6 piglets.

3. A feral pig can produce 2 litters per year.

4. A feral pig can live up to 8 years of age.

Now, folks... I am no mathematician. But that means that one pig can produce close to one hundred pigs in it's lifetime.

Now for the bonus question... if one pig can produce 100 offspring in 8 years... how many does that produce when the babies have babies (at 7 months of age) and then their babies have babies... and their babies have babies... etc...

I'd do the math, but I think it would break my brain.

The thing is, they are very destructive critters. They will tear down fences and destroy crops. They eat EVERYTHING. We had a cow die, and buried it with a dozer about 3 ft deep. They dug it up and devoured it. Most folks say they are smarter than dogs. If they get much hunting pressure they will simply go nocturnal.

Be careful what you wish for....

OH... and shoot them in the ear (cool diagram Flintknapper).

The real fun comes when you clean one for the first time! ;):D

One more thing: I used to feel well healed with a .22 pistol or a 9mm in the woods. That has changed since the hogs invaded. 357 is now my minimum caliber for sidearm.

[spartywrx]

Get after them NOW….before you have this:



Hmmmm.....that picture supports my argument that 30 round magazines are "sporting" :evil:

[Flintknapper]

That is only about half of the hogs that were in that "Sounder".

[American Finn]

Everyone has been great with their comments and suggestions. Yes, I wholeheartedly agree: we in Michigan had better do something IMMEDIATELY to end this problem. Flintknapper, I shudder to look at all the damage that these creatures cause, and to think some some real mental midgets from Michigan drove to Texas to bring a bunch back and release them infuriates me. :banghead::cuss::fire:

As for weaponry, I am going to take the Marlin .30-30 that I have with 170 grain Remington RN's into the woods. I feel it will give me great penetration and enough power to anchor these tresapassers. I am going to bring my Kimber .45 ACP for backup as well. My brother and a friend have expressed interest in tackling this problem with me as well. I'll try my best to rid the land of these little monsters. :)

I think I will try out the Kawkawlin Flooding in northeastern Midland County for a day. It is a swampy area that acts as a floodplain for the Kawkawlin River, and according to the Michigan DNR there have been a fair number of sightings there. If anyone has a suggestion of where else to go, please feel free to inform me!!

[hardluk1]

Federal has there fusion ammo. Lead is bonded to the jacket and this would make a very good tough bullet to use. Shots should be short ,under a 100 yards and they have both a 170gr and 150. Try the 170 first to see if you and your rifle like it. Oh , the 30-30 would do great.

[American Finn]

Well, I made it to the area this past weekend. After hiking around in the morning for a few hours, I did come across what I believed to be some hog tracks. I was unlucky in finding any "Porky Pigs" running around in the woods. The good news is I think I found a pretty decent area to hunt for deer this fall. :D

I returned to my vehicle and drove around looking for any other places that might harbor feral hogs. While doing so, I was greeted by a Michigan Conservation Officer. He was very helpful in directing me as to where to look for feral swine in the area, and gave me a couple of helpful pointers. He says that the hogs disappeared from the area for a few years (or so they thought) and have reappeared this year. I am going to write to the local field office and see if they can aid me any further with information on more current sightings, places to hunt, etc. :)

The CO told me that the MDNR is requesting that anyone who sees a feral hog in the woods to please kill the animal on sight, or at the very least report its prescence to their local field office. All that is needed in Michigan is a current hunting license of any type (a small game license will suffice).

Hopefully I will be able to return to the area in a few weeks to try again. Wish me luck!!! ;)

[Fryerpower]

I would say to get a cup of coffee, a nice chair, and read this thread:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=449721

It is a great read and is full of useful boar information, from a Texas point of view.

-Jim

[The Deer Hunter]

Just be careful of the Feral Swine Flu (H1N1F1)

:D

[Birdmang]

Sounds like a cheat code for Doom.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Get after them NOW….before you have this:

Yeah, that really blows, having free fresh pure organic meat on your "farm" for the taking without doing any buying, feeding, water-providing, medicating, branding, breeding, housing, fence-building, etc., etc. Y'all with hogs - your existences must be a living hell. :scrutiny: :p

[MCgunner]

They don't really bother me for the above reasons. I like having 'em, Of course, I bought my land to HUNT in the first place. I don't have any maize fields for them to plunder.

[chas08]

Yeah, that really blows, having free fresh pure organic meat on your "farm" for the taking without doing any buying, feeding, water-providing, medicating, branding, breeding, housing, fence-building, etc., etc. Y'all with hogs - your existences must be a living hell.
Well not for me, I only leased the land I hunted on. I killed over 50 in one year alone and never hurt the population. But I doubt the land owner/ full time rancher would agree after seeing his coastal field that he had planted turned into a "moonscape" He probably wouldn't include the word "free" in anything he had to say about them either. Why don't you bring a trailer down here and hook yourself up to a dozen or so from a trapper and take 'em home and turn 'em loose. Be sure to tell your neighbors so they will know who to properly thank.:p:)

[AndyJ]

"Yeah, that really blows, having free fresh pure organic meat on your "farm" for the taking without doing any buying, feeding, water-providing, medicating, branding, breeding, housing, fence-building, etc., etc. Y'all with hogs - your existences must be a living hell."


Man oh man :) I can always tell where a sounder has been the night before. It looks like a heavy tractor disc has cut the area. They wreak havoc on your expensive landscaping, your manicured and pampered lawn, your crops in the field and your deer plots. Feral hogs kill and eat fawns, young livestock, small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. They will also devour any eggs they find in ground nests. To control a wild hog population, you have to thin it 70% every year! Incredible numbers.

We did an excavation job last summer on a 17k acre ranch east of Palestine,TX on the banks of the Trinity River. There most fertile cropland was in this flood plain way on the back side of the property. It was unusable due to the infestation of feral hogs. The previous fall, they had hunted the hogs from a helicopter and killed 400 in 5 days. There was no significant impact on the population.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Why don't you bring a trailer down here and hook yourself up to a dozen or so from a trapper and take 'em home and turn 'em loose.

Believe me, I would if it was legal! :) I don't use the land for anything except hunting, so it doesn't bother me. I guess we've hashed out this issue before.....

[Flintknapper]

Dr. Tad,

You know that I respect your input and opinions on most subjects, but "wanting hogs" is like wishing for syphilis.

You would have to build a "fence to end all fences" around your property in order to contain them. Otherwise they would surely escape, populate the area and begin destroying the area.

I submit you would be something less than "popular" with your neighbors in a very short time.

Much better for you to travel someplace where hogs already exist and get the hog-hunting thing out of your system.

Feral hogs are a scourge with no equal in the U.S.


Flint.

[AndyJ]

I love this quote from a professional hog hunter:

"I have seen first hand the complete chaos feral hogs can bring to a ranch or even a subdivision. If you haven't experienced the wrath of feral hogs, then you might be prematurely forming an opinion. Some people will instantly go from vegetarian to savage cavemen after having their entire yard bulldozed by a herd in one night. However, it is not just about money. Many fear going to their car or outside for a walk in the evening. Some are held at bay in their house for hours because a herd of 30 feasting feral pigs will not leave their front yard. Most people that hire us are looking to save native animal populations and want the destruction of their property to stop."

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

You know that I respect your input and opinions on most subjects, but "wanting hogs" is like wishing for syphilis.

No, I'm sorry, but that is incorrect as a broad general statement. For YOU, that may be true. For ME, it's not. I don't have a yard, crop, or anything else where I hunt - just land. They have their downsides to others, but very little to me. I'm not going to introduce them because it's illegal to do so. Perhaps it's illegal for good reason. So be it. The system WORKED. The system being, laws are passed for the greater good, not the individual. Here, the individual self-interest conflicts with that of the greater good; hence the law prohibiting the release of swine. Fine. Great. I will wait for them, and until then, go seek them out. But it's incorrect to say that I wouldn't be a happier hunter if they were on the land where I usually hunt, because rest assured that I would.

[schlockinz]

They seem cool at first, and they do taste good, but if you get em, just wait, you'll hate them like everyone else (unless you run a hog hunting ranch).

I've noticed very different deer movements, fewer turkeys etc since hogs started coming onto my lease. Quite frankly, I'd rather hunt deer and turkeys than hogs. Also, its always a little unnerving to walk through their "turf" 1 hour or so before light with just a bow.

Syphilis is easily treated, hogs are not so easy...

[American Finn]

I have a question to ask all of my fellow THR members:

Do you believe that a bounty would work to eliminate the feral hog population here in Michigan?

Now, I preface that question with a few facts. According to most estimates by the MDNR, the current feral swine population in Michigan is 3000-4000 animals. They are not localized to one area, in fact sightings are quite frequent in several areas of the state and they have had confirmed sightings in all 83 counties.

If you disagree, please provide us with some alternative suggestions.

[schlockinz]

I don't think bounties would work on them, too prolific to hunt out. Might be able to poison and trap them (ie use of governmental trappers) but I'm not sure that bounties on single piggies will work (besides, I doubt that they'll pay high enough for most people to do more than shoot an occasional one)

[Flintknapper]

AF,

I doubt anything will completely eradicate hogs where they are firmly established (they are great survivalists...and they reproduce too quickly).

However, if anything would put a significant dent in them...I believe instituting a "bounty" on them would be it.

I can not warn strongly enough: Do NOT let hogs get a "foot hold" in your State.

[PT1911]

i have to agree with tad... I look for them... typically unsuccessfully.. I would love for them to be around as you have shown.... cheap meat for everyone.. I know they are a nuisance and more to farmers who grow crop, but I am not a farmer and have no stake in the land. If I could own 500 acres of overrun land I would do so in a heartbeat... and kill a pig as often as i felt like eating chops.

[MCgunner]

Well, it's cooling off and I set the trap the other day. :D

[American Finn]

Flintknapper, I have a question to ask you: Are they affected by cold weather at all? Do they change their feeding and travel patterns when the weather turns icy? If they are affected by the cold, do they become a little bit more predictable?

If I knew the answers to these questions it might help me in hunting them this winter after deer season has closed.

[chas08]

I met a group of hunters from Michigan in the town of Carrizzo Springs,Tx. They were buying a trailer full of wild hogs to take home and turn loose from a local livestock dealer.
When the above occurred I didn't think a Texas Hog could survive a Michigan winter. And there is no definitive proof they did. But here in the Winter you find them in large numbers where the food is concentrated. I can't imagine it being any different there.