MatthewVanitas
Member
One of those "I always hoped the day would come" moments happened tonight. A buddy dropped by for a beer, offhandedly mentioned that a family friend was trying to develop some property, but was having a lot of trouble with excess javelina and feral pig.
Buddy is pro-gun but not a regular shooter, but his da is a competitive shooter. Buddy tossed out the idea that the three of us, with property owner's fervent blessing, could go up and do a weekend-long extermination of the pest species.
Two question:
1) In Texas, is it legal to shoot large numbers of feral pigs and javelina to remove them from land? Do I need to see the landowner's Anti-Depredation paperwork first? Any kind of notification to Fish & Game, etc?
2) I have zero ethical problems with shooting pigs: they're an invasive species and should not be roaming free in the Western world. But javelina are native American animals, so is it wrong to kill them if you're not going to eat them? At what point does javelina property damage warrant killing, if ever?
Depending on answers to the above question, there might be a 3rd: what gun? I'm pretty sure that my 16" AR-15 with HP .223 fodder will get the stinkpigs (if my soul is okay with it), not so sure on the pigs. Okay depending on size, or is this an excuse to spring for a .303 Savage, or Swiss 7.5mm?
-MV
Buddy is pro-gun but not a regular shooter, but his da is a competitive shooter. Buddy tossed out the idea that the three of us, with property owner's fervent blessing, could go up and do a weekend-long extermination of the pest species.
Two question:
1) In Texas, is it legal to shoot large numbers of feral pigs and javelina to remove them from land? Do I need to see the landowner's Anti-Depredation paperwork first? Any kind of notification to Fish & Game, etc?
2) I have zero ethical problems with shooting pigs: they're an invasive species and should not be roaming free in the Western world. But javelina are native American animals, so is it wrong to kill them if you're not going to eat them? At what point does javelina property damage warrant killing, if ever?
Depending on answers to the above question, there might be a 3rd: what gun? I'm pretty sure that my 16" AR-15 with HP .223 fodder will get the stinkpigs (if my soul is okay with it), not so sure on the pigs. Okay depending on size, or is this an excuse to spring for a .303 Savage, or Swiss 7.5mm?
-MV
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