Feral hogs in Texas

[MCgunner]

I had an early morning encounter with a huge boar in a pot hole once. I was tossing out decoys, gun was left in the grass. Big hog comes splashing along, thought it was somebody's Labrador at first. It stopped about 15 yards from me in the pot hole and stared at me. I could see huge tusks gleaming in the light of the flare stack of a local chemical plant. I had no gun, stood frozen for a minute, then just jumped and waved my arms and hollered real loud. He grunted and went on his way. I now carry my shotgun on a sling and never leave it in the grass when I'm hunting down there. LOL! I don't know if steel 4s would stop one, but if he's a few feet away, it probably would, and it'd deter him if he was further I'll bet. I really don't care about killing one out there, just keeping him away from me.

The only injuries I actually know of from folks and hogs is hunting incidents. I know a guy with a gash across his belly where he was laid open by a hog. But, I can't blame the hog. If you had two dogs holding your ears and a guy with a knife trying to cut your throat, you'd be a little POed too, I reckon. I don't think hogs are dangerous to humans unless you're being dangerous to them. I do prefer shooting them from a stand to stabbing them on foot. Call me a wimp, I don't care.

 

[El Tejon]

O.K., now my only contact with Texas in going to gun skul there once or twice a year and my martial arts clan in Fort Worth, so this is going to be seen as a stupid Yankee, smartalec question, but it is not meant that way:

If these pigs are such a threat to Tejas, why doesn't the state pay a bounty for them??? Or, in the alternative, why don't the farmers band together and offer bounties for pig heads? Or, if they do so much damage, then why don't the farmers' insurance companies offer bounties?

When I was a kid living on my uncle's farm here in Indiana during summers, my uncle paid me for pigeons, woodchucks, coyotes, crows, etc. Why don't y'all do the same?

Isn't that the way to handle this? Heck if I was 14 again and could bring my dad's or uncle's guns down, I'd have that critter problem licked in a summer.

 

[Greybeard]

ET -

State paying a bounty on 'em might create deficit pretty quickly! One of the other biologists was quoted as saying something to the effect of "A sow can have a litter of 6 - and 8 of them survive!"

Yea, although Texas is known for some expensive hunting leases, I've had some hunter ed. students tell me that their landowners having starting paying them "bounties" on both coyotes and hogs. Example: $20 apiece up to $1000 a year. And no problem if they chose to just leave 'em lay. (They'll eat each other.)

 

[LAK]

"Shooter and three companions were in a hunting competition hunting at night for hogs. Shooter mistook victim for a hog about 30 yards away and despite two warnings not to shoot from a fellow hunter he carelessly shot his rifle. Victim was wearing a white cowboy hat and tee shirt. The bullet struck victim through both buttocks."

Well that'll teach him; maybe next time he'll wear pants as well.

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http://ssunitedstates.org

 

[MCgunner]

One of the other biologists was quoted as saying something to the effect of "A sow can have a litter of 6 - and 8 of them survive!"

Obviously an Aggie. ROFL!

Hell, they don't have to pay me a bounty, just let me hunt the danged things! I know a guy with dogs, have been out with him, that hunts 'em for land owners, no guns. They like that and dogs are the best way to erradicate hogs. I also know a local that traps coyotes for land owners, all he does for a living. Of course, his idea of a living is spending what time he isn't checking his traps at "Rita Joe's", a local tavern.

 

[AStone]

And no problem if they chose to just leave 'em lay. (They'll eat each other.)

So that leads to another question. Pardon my naivete' on this ... haven't read much about hogs before this...

Is anybody - that is, humans - eating these hogs? Are they tasty or not ?

I'm sure they at least taste different from farm raised/fattened hogs that get fed corn and such, but still...

Seems like down south, where BBQ pork rules (I grew up in Me'omphis), this could be a real boon to BBQ cooks if the meat is good. Surely, somebody could come up with a decent recipe...

Anyone?

 

[MCgunner]

Ain't much different from farm raised if they're eating out of grain fields. They're quite tasty and a good meat for the grill since they're not as lean as most game meat, though they tend to be a lot leaner than a slaughter house pig. The big boars ain't the thing to eat, but the smaller hogs 200 lbs or less is the best table fare.

When I hog hunt, I'm after meat. I care nothing about having a feral hog mount and a big hog is a royal PITA to clean. Heck, it's a royal PITA just to get out and home to START cleaning. Would help to have a 4x4 truck with a winch. I shoot the smaller ones for the table.

 

[Plink]

If farmers really wanted 'em hunted, they'd quit charging hunters to do it.

I agree. I've never understood the logic of that. The farmers are the ones hurt the most by the hogs, but they let their greed take over their common sense! Hunters could control them, if they had more access to them.

I have friends and family throughout Texas and I hunt hogs regularly on their land, so I guess I'm "luck". Considering it's a pest species, nobody should have to feel lucky to be able to hunt them.

On the good side, for the last 15 years or so, I've been using them as a more realistic way to test defensive handgun loads. I've shot many hundreds of them with most handgun calibers and loads and made some interesting discoveries along the way, though nothing that hunters haven't known all along. Such as Marshall and Sanow's "stopping power" based on velocity is outright BS, pure and simple.

 

[Greybeard]

"dogs are the best way"

Having several hundred hunter ed. students come though home study completion classes each year, I hear quite a few stories. Guy a while back said he had a friend whos "hog dogs" had become famous in the (east Texas) area. He said one farmer invited them out to go after a bunch of "big hogs" down in his creek bottom. Went in with five dogs. Came out with two.

 

[Caimlas]

I am utterly fascinated by hunting hogs; some day I'd like to get down to Texas to do so - both with a rifle, and with a pike. Or maybe meet somewhere in between and use something like an SKS with a bayonet. Heck, the idea of warm-weather hunting is almost just as appealing on its own!

As far as I know, there's no population in SD to speak of. Maybe its the cold winters which deter them. But, what with how warm it's been the last 5 or so years, I'd not be surprised if they started showing up eventually. (Or, maybe they exist and I just don't know about 'em - I don't think they were in the GFP handbook, at least.)

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

Hog hunting is fun, challenging, and rewarding; the smaller pigs are great eating.

One of the things I think is fun about it is that you never quite know what'll turn up--maybe a bunch of smaller oinkers, or maybe a half-ton boar.

 

[El Tejon]

I'm really confused by this Texas-sized logic of whining about hog damage then charging hunters to hunt hogs??? That really happens???

Not wanting to solve the problem? Are we sure this isn't some kind of bearthread that has turned into an insurance scam or something?

 

[Charles S]

Hog hunting is fun, challenging, and rewarding; the smaller pigs are great eating.

One of the things I think is fun about it is that you never quite know what'll turn up--maybe a bunch of smaller oinkers, or maybe a half-ton boar.

Nathanael_Greene summed it up well.

I must add that with proper preparation and aging the large ones make great sausage and ground meat, but it is essential that the meat is processed quickly, chilled quickly, and aged appropriately.

 

[MCgunner]

I'm really confused by this Texas-sized logic of whining about hog damage then charging hunters to hunt hogs??? That really happens???

Not wanting to solve the problem? Are we sure this isn't some kind of bearthread that has turned into an insurance scam or something?

In Texas, lease hunting is a tradition. There is very little public hunting here. A land owner's first thought is not "how can I get rid of these pests that keep tearing up my corn?" but, "man there's a lot of hogs here, I can make a fortune day leasing for 'em." It's just the way it is down here. You wanna play, you gotta pay. I own a few acres I hunt on, but I've also taken a few day lease hog hunts. They're at least cheap, more hogs than people wanting to hunt 'em to this point. On game ranches that get many thousands of dollars for a deer or an exotic, you can often take meat hogs for fifty bucks a day hunting privileges. So, at least it's affordable to those that want to do it.

Forget trophy deer hunting down here unless you own controlling interest in Exxon oil or something. That's why I shoot a scrawny 8 point and am happy with it. :banghead: But, you never know, save one buck tag for the highly improbable, but possible muy grande. Otherwise, you can't eat the horns. If the big ranch next to me would start managing I'd be in big deer heaven in a decade or so, but it ain't gonna happen I'm afraid. I'm a poor man, shoot what I can get. Hogs are a great way to change your scenery for a few bucks in this state, not have to hunt the same old stand and watch the same old feeder all the time. Frankly, I'm just danged happy I own a small place I can hunt deer on that's full of deer. Lots of folks don't have it that well here and leases keep going up, even not so good ones. I've got hogs there, too, just they're nocturnal and I'm not. One of these days I'm going to sit down there after dark with some bait out when it's wet just to see what comes out. There's plenty of wallows and sign down there. I set a trap out once, but some one ripped it off. So much for THAT idea. I might build another trap sometime, I don't know. Trappin' ain't huntin, but the meat still eats.

 

[ArcherandShooter]

TX hogs are VERY good eating

if you don't shoot one of the 400-pounders. See, they're omnivorous, and the bigger they get the more they eat meat (including each other) as opposed to veggie-type crops, and that surely has an effect on the taste. I saw one once up north of Austin that looked as big as a VW Beetle. No WAY would I taste that monster.

Springmom and I each shot a smaller one on a small ranch north of Houston a couple of months ago, and we've got enough tasty pork in the freezer to keep us in BBQ, ham, and chops for months. 185 pounds and 135 pounds on the hoof got us almost 150 pounds of first-rate organic meat.

We see lots of hog sign in the national forest where we hunt deer, including some that was so large we felt that our pair of 1911 sidearms were not enough gun for self-defense. (Hence Springmom's new .44 Mag SHR)
And yes, they can be dangerous. The boar I shot, who is now mounted on our living room wall, was charging me at 20 yards when I put him down, and he meant some serious business with those very sharp tusks of his. Part of the problem with hunting them is they can be VERY hard to kill, and as someone mentioned a while ago, just wounding them will only p##s them off, and may not even slow them up very much right away.

But like the article says, they are lots of fun to hunt - knowing they'd shoot back if they could makes things much more interesting.

 

[sturmruger]

Someday I am going to go down there and hookup with a landowner to do some hog hunting.

From what I can tell there is a fair amount of public hunting ground if you look on the TX Fish and Game website, but maybe you have to sign up to hunt on it.

We now have wild hogs being shot here in WI, and even in MN I am sure they will be in SD before too long.

 

[ArcherandShooter]

TX public hunting land

Sturm,

Yes we do have lots of public hunting land down here - over 1 million acres, I believe - some in the national forests, lots of corps of engineers land, and quite a bit of private land ownded by timber companies and the like who lease the hunting rights to the state, who makes them available to the public.

The way it works is, in addition to your license, you buy a $48 annual public hunting permit, which gives you access to ALL this land. Once you've done that, they send you a book with maps to all the areas and of the areas, with a list of method restrictions, species and bag limits, and seasons. Some of the areas are archery-only, for instance, others allow baiting for hogs but only after waterfowl season is over. You really need the book to know what's what on any given parcel of land.

All that for $48. Cheapest lease in Texas. Come on down sometime and Springmom and I can show you some of the places near Houston.

 

[MCgunner]

The hunting is tough on that east Texas land unless you live there and know the lay of the place. There's a parcel up on the upper end of Toledo Bend Reservoir that allows hog hunting year around, bow, black powder, or shotgun only. I've been wanting to go up there and try it, but getting loose for a few days has been a problem and it's 7 hours up there, primitive camping only. I'm thinking maybe February, maybe, after deer season is over.

 

[Kontiki]

Anybody have any suggestions for hogs in California. I've been wanting to do this for some time but have no idea where to go.

 

[JohnKSa]

Hogs are a nuisance even on golf courses...

If you've ever seen what a bunch of hogs do to the greens on a golf course you'd realize that you hit the mark. Saw a picture once--I don't golf and it still hurt me to look at the destruction. As far as shotguns go, people kill hogs with anything they've got. Shotguns probably make more sense than rifles on a golf course.