re feral hogs

[VThillman]

In my part of the country feral hogs are approximately non-existent, so I know zilch about them. I've read about pioneers in Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas releasing young hogs into the woods for later harvest as razorbacks, but that wasn't a candle to what the deal is now, right? What happened?

 

[Surculus]

I've read about pioneers in Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas releasing young hogs into the woods for later harvest as razorbacks, but that wasn't a candle to what the deal is now, right? What happened?

Well, what happened is that 200 years of population growth, urbanization, expansion of farmland into formerly wilderness areas and the extermination of wolves and other apex predators to keep the high natural reproduction rate of wild hogs in check.

It was a new [& different] world then , but it's an old, settled world now. :banghead:

Oh, yeah, & there's a LOT fewer hunters today than there were even a generation back.

 

[Stony]

My grandfather was an East Texas guy and when they wanted a hog, the normal way for them was to just go shoot one. A lot of the guys notched the ears on the ones they turned loose as a mark of ownership. He had a pretty good sized smokehouse where they hung them to cure.
Those guys thought nothing of the future problems that would arise from they way they farmed out their hogs. They just looked at the economics of letting the hogs forage the woods vs. having to pen them up and feed them.

 

[Paul7]

My grandfather was an East Texas guy and when they wanted a hog, the normal way for them was to just go shoot one. A lot of the guys notched the ears on the ones they turned loose as a mark of ownership. He had a pretty good sized smokehouse where they hung them to cure.
Those guys thought nothing of the future problems that would arise from they way they farmed out their hogs. They just looked at the economics of letting the hogs forage the woods vs. having to pen them up and feed them.

The problem began a long time ago when the Spanish released the black pigs. They sure are good to eat.

 

[alsaqr]

Several things happened.

1. In some parts of the country there was an infuson of Eurasian boar blood from boars imported for sport hunting. IMO: This a biggie, many of the feral hogs in this area have Eurasian boar blood. Those hogs often refuse to bay when chased by dogs. They simply keep going until the dog tires out. One evening last week i saw a sounder of about 40 wild hogs about 100 yards away. Shot at one with my muzzleloader. Those hogs did not scatter at the shot, they bunched up tight and took off.

2. Here in OK folks are releasing hogs into the wild. They often trap wild hogs in one area and transfer them to another area that has few hogs.

http://newsok.com/panhandle-man-acc...ased-feral-hogs-into-the-wild/article/5377286

3. Most deer hunters refuse to shoot hogs.

4. In some states, like OK, it is illegal to hunt wild hogs at night with a gun. Here in OK we are not allowed to use a centerfire rifle to hunt hogs in the WMAs outside of deer season.

5. The proliferation of so called hog "hunting ranches": Escapees from these facilities are common. In order for a fence to be "hog proof" the chain link must be buried at least two feet into the ground. IME: None of the "ranches" have adequate fences and no one ever checks them.

6. During a good year when when acorns and pecans are plentiful the hog population really takes off. The sows have bigger litters.

7. i'm a hog trapper and hunter. We give away an average of 150 field dressed wild hogs each year. You get one chance to catch wild hogs. A hog that has been trapped and released or escapes will very seldom enter a trap.

 

[j1]

Do the descendants of the spanish released hogs speak spanish? Interesting.

 

[VThillman]

Several things happened.

1. In some parts of the country there was an infuson of Eurasian boar blood from boars imported for sport hunting. IMO: This a biggie, many of the feral hogs in this area have Eurasian boar blood. Those hogs often refuse to bay when chased by dogs. They simply keep going until the dog tires out. One evening last week i saw a sounder of about 40 wild hogs about 100 yards away. Shot at one with my muzzleloader. Those hogs did not scatter at the shot, they bunched up tight and took off.

2. Here in OK folks are releasing hogs into the wild. They often trap wild hogs in one area and transfer them to another area that has few hogs.

http://newsok.com/panhandle-man-acc...ased-feral-hogs-into-the-wild/article/5377286

3. Most deer hunters refuse to shoot hogs.

4. In some states, like OK, it is illegal to hunt wild hogs at night with a gun. Here in OK we are not allowed to use a centerfire rifle to hunt hogs in the WMAs outside of deer season.

5. The proliferation of so called hog "hunting ranches": Escapees from these facilities are common. In order for a fence to be "hog proof" the chain link must be buried at least two feet into the ground. IME: None of the "ranches" have adequate fences and no one ever checks them.

6. During a good year when when acorns and pecans are plentiful the hog population really takes off. The sows have bigger litters.

7. i'm a hog trapper and hunter. We give away an average of 150 field dressed wild hogs each year. You get one chance to catch wild hogs. A hog that has been trapped and released or escapes will very seldom enter a trap.

Re:

1. The 'bunch up and run' maneuver cannot be genetically inherited, it must be a learned response - just possibly from association from European pigs. Pigs are at least 'dog-smart'.

7. Because pigs are at least dog-smart.

Thanks for the info, alsaqr. Maybe you are the person to ask: is there any association areawise between the feral pigs and peccaries?

 

[Art Eatman]

Not many feral hogs west of the Pecos River in Texas, but some. There is quite an overlap of feral hogs and javelinas in the brush country in south Texas. Say, mostly south of US 90 and west of I-37 on west toward Del Rio. (Approximately.)

 

[alsaqr]

is there any association areawise between the feral pigs and peccaries?

i can't answer that one. Have seen only one javelina in this area. That was at a pond on Quanah Parker range, Ft. Sill, OK years ago. Folks have told me that javelinas have been killed around Snyder, OK and west. There are wild hogs in that area.

 

[alsaqr]

i've spent many many hours observing wild hogs, mostly from stands: They are interesting critters. Numerous times i've been sitting in stands and have detected the presence of waiting sounders long before they came in to water or a food source.

You will usually hear widely spaced low grunts. Sometimes there will some loud squealing just before the sounder comes in: The big hogs have just appointed a pig to lead the sounder. The point pig is usually a young boar.

Sometimes scouts go out ahead of the sounder looking for food and water.

Some wild sows have a distress call. i watched a sow and her pigs being hassled by a bobcat. A 175 pound boar came barrelling in and killed the cat. i wounded a sow that went into a plum thicket: i followed. The sow made her bloodcurling distress call, a boar answered that call and came at me.

 

[41 Mag]

For quite a few years we put the hammer down on the feral hogs at my friends property. We learned as they did along the way. They are smart, and can see a LOT better than folks give them credit for being able to.

As we got into really setting up to work on them they learned that if they run straight away then they didn't make it, but the ones which turned and moved different ways as they fled the shooting usually did. After a couple of years I swear they were zigzagging across the pastures instead of just hauling straight out away from the gunfire. In fact some of them would almost come to a complete stop, then turn, then take off again making shots on them not impossible but not real easy either.

As for the trapping thing, yep, once they are schooled they don't forget. I have seen them come into a trap area full out to get on the bait corn or whatever, then come to a sudden stop and look things over real slow then turn around and simply walk off. Same thing under a feeder we have shot them at, they come running once it goes off, but will seemingly realize "wait a minute, we get shot up there", then head off into the brush until way after dark when they feel safe.

 

[Choctaw]

Pigs-I hate them

Anyone who farms and/or ranches in Texas understands that hogs are nothing but destructive vermin. We kill them every chance we get. This is what they did to the front yard of our ranch house.

We aren't sporting about it. We just kill them.

 

[ElevenBravo]

Anyone who farms and/or ranches in Texas understands that hogs are nothing but destructive vermin. We kill them every chance we get. This is what they did to the front yard of our ranch house.

We aren't sporting about it. We just kill them.

Sad thing is that I have to pay for the privilege of coming out and help reduce the hog population.

 

[Patocazador]

I understand why land-owners charge to kill wild hogs ... It's for two reasons: 1) Because they can. Meaning if the desire to hunt is there, then why not recoup some of your previous losses. 2) Most "hunters" don't know enough about hunting and killing hogs to be trouble-free. Stupid people with guns are more trouble than the the hogs.

 

[Choctaw]

Well, we don't charge for hunting, but the only people we allow to hunt are friends and family who know what they are doing. Gates left open, roads rutted out, a calf killed, a water trough shot up and trash left behind was enough for us to ban strangers. It would take an army of occupation to stop the hogs.

 

[alsaqr]

i forgot to add what may be the predominant factor in the spread of wild hogs: Folks buy or trap hogs and release them in other areas.

Recently an OK man was arrested and charged with the illegal importation of wild hogs. Kudos to the good citizen who turned the guy in.

IDABEL, Okla. —

A Broken Bow man has been arrested and charged with illegally transporting 117 feral swine from Texas to Oklahoma.

The Tulsa World (http://bit.ly/1CBGK1M ) reports that 65-year-old Samuel E. Richards is accused of attempting to transport the swine to the land he owns in Broken Bow on Sunday. More than half of the animals had diseases that have been eliminated in Oklahoma's domestic livestock population.

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/health-fitness/article15417551.html

The guy has to be nuts. That area of OK is pretty much over-run with wild hogs.

 

[Choctaw]

No kidding. That guy was an idiot.

 

[Dean1818]

Do the descendants of the spanish released hogs speak spanish? Interesting.

Now that's funny.....

 

[Bexar]

Anyone who farms and/or ranches in Texas understands that hogs are nothing but destructive vermin. We kill them every chance we get. This is what they did to the front yard of our ranch house.

We aren't sporting about it. We just kill them.

Choctaw...here in SE Texas the suburb homes around Houston are having their yards torn up like that. There is a suburban church that couldn't keep their playgrounds from looking like a disker had been run through it.

Thing is the meat is awesome!!! I'm surprised they haven't been wiped out for that reason alone. They will kill fawns and destroy nests and ruin a cattle tank within hours.

I'm not telling you anything just sharing the post.

 

[Bexar]

http://www.click2houston.com/news/wild-hogs-cause-problems-across-houston-area/28214760

Ibid. "This is perfect weather for us and them," said Griffin. "But we're sort of losing the battle when it comes to hogs right now because the rain's driving them into our backyards, and they'll push over a fence in a minute."

 

[Tirod]

MO had a shoot on sight policy they recently amended. It was year round and somebody decided that either the problem wasn't as big as all that, or they didn't like the results.

So, it's still legal, but there is a definite anti-hog hunting culture, as expressed on the MDC website:

Why is hunting for them discouraged?

Although it seems a contradiction, hunters who target feral hogs interfere with efforts to eradicate them. For example, weeks may be spent conditioning a group of hogs to come to a specific location so they can be eliminated in a single control action. If, during that time, a hunter kills one or maybe two of the hogs, the rest of the group moves to a new area, which means that the lengthy and expensive eradication process must begin again at a new location. Because the goal is to eliminate feral hogs, the Conservation Department seeks to discourage the hog hunting culture. If you want to hunt specifically for feral hogs, you should do so in another state, not in Missouri.

Sums up the results posted here. Too many hunters have a free for all and the results are minimal with the group moving on, more educated. That makes it even tougher.

What little I hunt I see turkeys, not hogs. Hopefully that's an indicator the old sounders in the hills aren't spreading into the flatlands too much. Like turkeys, high deer populations seem to help control hogs as they compete for some of the same forage. Unlike hogs, tho, they don't eat the others young.

If a MO hunter does see one they are to shoot them on sight - safely - the result hopefully is that landowners checking their crops and cattle can be the focus. Most here don't allow just anyone access to their property anyway, some deer hunters spoiled that a generation past.

From posts on the 6.8 forum hogs even get used to suppressors - they link the sound of impact to the hog going down, it's all that it takes. Even with night vision it's getting harder for the experienced hunters to work.

If helicopters are one way to do it, I can see drones being used . . .

 

[Officers'Wife]

Back in the 90's when the hog market dropped to a little more than nothing there was a - ahem- gentleman who lost his farm to mortgage and had a temper tantrum. He destroyed his outbuildings so the bank couldn't "take" them and released over 500 head of hogs. It took a concentrated effort to destroy them all and their descendents, an effort that took almost 15 years. Other than losing his credit rating- which would have happened anyway - the - gentleman had no legal or civil penalties.

 

[Patocazador]

What little I hunt I see turkeys, not hogs.

Hunt at night and you'll see many more hogs.

 

[alsaqr]

Why is hunting for them discouraged?

Although it seems a contradiction, hunters who target feral hogs interfere with efforts to eradicate them. For example, weeks may be spent conditioning a group of hogs to come to a specific location so they can be eliminated in a single control action. If, during that time, a hunter kills one or maybe two of the hogs, the rest of the group moves to a new area, which means that the lengthy and expensive eradication process must begin again at a new location. Because the goal is to eliminate feral hogs, the Conservation Department seeks to discourage the hog hunting culture. If you want to hunt specifically for feral hogs, you should do so in another state, not in Missouri. [

This statement from MDC is malarky. It is typical of the kingdom builders who run many state wildlife agencies. They claim the ability to solve the hog problem single handed if they are given more money and are allowed to hire more people.

Some state wildife agencies would have us believe the same agency that allowed the hog population to get out of control while they "studied" the problem will now solve the hog problem.


i've often killed one or two hogs of a sounder to have the sounder come back the same feeder or water hole within an hour or two.

 

[anothernewb]

dang. those things are destructive.