It never ends! We just got rid of one sounder, now (a month later)….there is a new group. This is just one area they have rooted up in the pasture (there are others): I have managed to get this group baited into a “lane” between our property and the neighbor. For now…there is no more damage to the pasture….but the destruction (so far)… is probably 3-4 acres in total. Because of the confined area these hogs are in….I will not be able to “shoot out” this bunch. Time to assemble the hog trap I guess. IH8HOGS!
Dr. Tad wrote: Believe me.....you don't. Yeah, they're fun when they first appear in an area...but they quickly become a nuisance. Perhaps from a hunter's perspective...they could remain a novelty, but you will be hard pressed to find a land owner that finds them desirable. They are considered "four legged fire ants" around here.
To locate a herd? Or do you mean the practice of using an estrous sow kept in a pen to attract boars?
Everyone always says that. NO, I do. I wouldn't tire of having year round hunting of large ungulates which are tasty to eat - I have no crops or anything of the sort. I promise, I would do nothing but enjoy their presence.
Oh I would love to shoot some hogs. They may be pests but at least they are delicious, unlike coyotes and skunks and such.
Ah, good ol' feral pigs! We don't have them in Minnesota (at least not to my knowledge), but when I vacationed in Florida this past March there were times you could see them in the ditches just milling about. People from other states have told me that there's no season for 'em. Apparently they're an invasive species, and supremely adapted to survival - hence the fact that they multiply like crazy and get everywhere.
Last I heard Flint wasn't able/willing to bring people in to hunt them, but if he ever changes his mind, I'm in
40 years ago when an occassional wild hog was considered a prize on our hunting grounds I would have agreed with you. Or if you could limit their range to "your hunting grounds only" I might still agree with you. But knowing what I know, I 've got to agree with Flintknapper on this one. Hogs are like a fire you can't put out or a plague you cant cure. They affect everything they come in contact with, crops, land, wildlife, negatively. The thrill of hunting and killing them fades quickly and you can only consume so much pork. Yet you're still left with this ever growing, ever destructive, eating machine.
Do not wish for these pests. If all you wanted to do was just hog hunt then maybe you would like having them on your place. But they spread like wildfire and will compete for resources with other game species on your land. They will eat anything including the eggs of a turkey nest if found. The sows can have multiple litters per year. It is also pretty unbelievable how badly they can tear up the ground on your land. The photo at the top of this thread is mild. We have one field that has some type of roots they like to eat. It now looks like a firing range for 155 milimeter Howitzers. Seriously, it's that bad. Hundreds of holes that are 3 feet wide and nearly knee deep. We consider them a shoot on sight plague.
A lot of places in fl are overrun with these critters. You can kill as many as you want all year round, no size limit as long as you're on private land. The game and fish comission is even having special hunts on selected management areas to thin them out. I suspect this trend will continue.
Man I'd love to go hog hunting! We don't have any of the four legged hogs here in MD...about 60 miles south of here they have hundreds and maybe thousands of the TWO legged variety.
Lets see what happens...... Hog trap is in place and baited out but NOT set. The hogs will need to get used to it for a few days...hopefully they will start going into it soon. The doors are propped open so that the hogs can come and go freely. As soon as I see activity inside the trap, I will move the game-camera over there to determine how many of the hogs are going inside. The little ones will be the first to go inside (they don't know any better). Once the bigger hogs go inside and start rooting up the "bait hole", then I can set the trigger. The hogs are bedding close by and are fairly comfortable coming into the lane right now. Hopefully, they won't be disturbed before I have a chance to trap them. Ideally, a "teardrop" trap would be wider and longer...but the narrow confines of the "lane" just don't allow for it. As long as they don't feel too "crowded" they may go ahead and go inside. Maybe I'll be rid of these "four legged fire ants" pretty soon.
Yes, Kiwi (how you doing Charlie) is correct. These hogs are on my Father in Laws place and he does not allow anyone except family hunt it. Such are the litigious times we live in. Once they come over to my place...that is a different story. For the most part... my Daughter and I are charged with dispatching as many of these demons as we can. Actually, I have her do most of the shooting, I am primarily a bowhunter. In this case...it just makes more sense to trap them.
flintknapper it apears you need a claymore or two, one on each side of your trap should pretty much do it. I haven't seen any in oregon yet but the fish and game says they are pretty much shoot on sight just like coyote.
Back, I dunno, maybe forty years ago, ranchers around Leakey had trouble with feral/Russian hogs. Lost lambs and kids from their sheep/goat herds. Some of those ranchers had relatives at Fort Hood, which provided a source for booby-trap fuses. Ya with me? So, they'd find where the hogs had rooted under the sheep/goat fence, and set up a booby trap with a couple of sticks of dynamite. Rough on the occasional coyote, but it would definitely spread hog parts around the countryside.
I think I can trap these out…without having to “blow them up”. They have already started going into the trap. In a few more days…if it looks like they are going straight into the trap…I will set the trigger and see how many I get the first “go round”. I repositioned the trail-cam this morning to get a better shot of the inside the trap, so I should have a pretty good idea of the hog activity tomorrow. Ideally, I’d like to catch this medium sized boar that is with the group (the boars are most difficult to trap).
