Hog wild

[journeyman713]

I always hear about the Wild Hog problems down south, hopefully it stays down there.
What I never hear is, 'Free Open Hunting' of these pests. Those States pay to control them, exterminate them, and landowners suffer.

I've been on a couple hog hunts and only shot one each time, because I had to pay, and why waste money shooting more. I would have taken more, maybe even given the meat away if there was too much.

Why is there not something like a Fishing derby (but for Hogs), in every County? Every month. Seems it's in everyone interest to donate prize money.

Maybe there is, and I just haven't heard of it yet?

 

[WoodBow]

They do have pig tournaments here in Texas.

In my personal opinion, in 99% of places, they are not even close to the problem they are made out to be. More like really not a problem at all. I know someone will argue with me on this. I am just sharing what I have observed. Pigs don't always root up the ground to feed. That is a very labor intensive way to eat. Most of the properties I hunt, there is little signs of pigs being there until you are looking at them. Yes they can really tear up a field quickly if they get a mind to. That just seems to be an exception more than a norm. If you want to shoot more pigs, apply for a public draw hunt in Texas and be ready to walk all day.

 

[KenLee]

South Carolina doesn't pay anything to get rid of them. On public land, there's no night hunting and weapon usage is restricted to the legal weapons for whatever is in season. Often rimfires, shotgun #4 and nothing for many months.
Some of the many reason the population is booming.

 

[KenLee]

If hogs played in the road like deer, the auto insurance companies would have the state legislature and the Dept of Natural Resources all over thinning them out.

 

[Azone]

Hogs are very valuable to landowners in certain places now. When someone from the city is willing to fork out a couple grand to shoot a few no one is gonna want them wiped out. Some people will complain about anything, ranchers/landowners being pretty close to the top of this list in my experience. I personally would be pretty bummed out if people ever did succeed in totally eradicating them. They provide something fun to hunt all year long and at times prove to be excellent table fare. A hog derby would be awesome but I imagine legality and liability prove to be a big factor in why they aren’t more common.

 

[Jbogg]

The hogs are outcompeting the other Big Game in the mountains of North GA where I hunt. Black Bear numbers are good, but the Deer and Turkey populations are abysmal. The hogs were not the cause of the decline in our deer herd, but they definitely are making it more difficult for the deer numbers to recover. We’ve got some bigguns.

 

[S-3 ranch]

 

[KurtR]

I would suspect they could be tough on the ground nesting birds like turkeys.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I'm still looking for the "infestation".
Havent found it yet.

 

[Rob5589]

They aren't as big a problem as they are extra cash in landowners pockets. 850 per hog is the starting price here in CA for those "destructive beasts."

 

[Beendare]

The issue in most places I’ve hunted is;

landowners would rather deal with hogs than having a bunch of hunters they don’t know wandering around on their property.

 

[journeyman713]

The issue in most places I’ve hunted is;

landowners would rather deal with hogs than having a bunch of hunters they don’t know wandering around on their property.

Understandable. What about the hunters they do know?

 

[journeyman713]

They aren't as big a problem as they are extra cash in landowners pockets. 850 per hog is the starting price here in CA for those "destructive beasts."

Interesting perspective I've not considered, thanks.

 

[journeyman713]

View attachment 536666

This is exactly what I was talking about!
First I heard of one of these programs, thanks.
After hearing about paid snipers in helicopters and such, I'm surprised there aren't more of these.

 

[TSAMP]

I'm sure it's searchable here but besides the notes above, I'll add that in most areas with a true problem. Hunting is not the most effective method and can be counter productive to trapping efforts. Which is generally the best management tool.

Add in the fact that 90% of the time if someone hears I hunt pigs the first thing they ask is if I did it from a helicopter. I'd say the secrets out on these critters.

I've hunted the same general area for 7 years in Texas and witnessed the ups and downs of the hog populations there and how quickly they react to hunting pressure.

 

[Dave_]

In Texas at least there's too much money to be made. Trappers remove from one property and sell to operators that run day hunts or helicopter or night thermal hunts. Not legal but it definitely happens alot. Or Trappers sell live by the lb to legal meat buyers. Or some counties have a $ bounty per tail or ears. Then there's no reason to trap "all" the pigs. Leave some to trap in the future.

Unless your a peanut farmer or something the vast majority of landowners/hunters you talk to like having some around to hunt. As long as they are not being toooo destructive. Hunters and amateur trappers just make pigs smarter and harder to kill. Like mentioned before most landowners don't want to deal with the liability or drama with hunters without getting paid. If you know landowners that dont have currently have land leased out it's not hard to get permissions.

I went to grad school with one of the former top state researchers, worked alot on poison options, deployment methods, and potental other species effected... He always said if you were serious you would ban all recreational hunting and trapping, then do a state wide multi method eradication program with large remote trigger coral traps, helicopter shooting, and poison, etc. But then again that's impossible because we're 97% private. So it's just extra hunting and $ opportunity.



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[Sccritterkiller]

South Carolina doesn't pay anything to get rid of them. On public land, there's no night hunting and weapon usage is restricted to the legal weapons for whatever is in season. Often rimfires, shotgun #4 and nothing for many months.
Some of the many reason the population is booming.

They been here for a long time...since before the DNR was established..they aren't worried about them. I do like the fact you have hunt then on private 24/7 365. To be honest public land habitat in SC isn't the same quality as private so it doesn't hold the same number of animals.