Question About Feral Pigs In North Dakota

[Calcoyote]

I will admit that I am no expert on feral hogs, but I was reading where a feral breed of "super" hog is crossing over the border from Canada into North Dakota. The thing that puzzles me is that rather than allow hunters and landowners to shoot on sight, the State of ND has chosen to make it illegal to shoot them unless it is to save property or life. Hunters and Landowners are instructed to call the North Dakota Game and Fish Dept and then let them "deal with it". Recently a feral hog was shot and killed in NE South Dakota which means that the hogs in ND have spread that far South. Why is ND taking this stance? Many of the Southern states have declared feral hogs a nuisance and encourage residents to shoot on sight. Why is ND only wanting government to handle this? I must be missing something.

Edit To Add: I realize the importance of eliminating the entire sounder of hogs. I get that part, but will allowing landowners to shoot them on sight cause the population to grow? Just curious.

 

[KurtR]

I will admit that I am no expert on feral hogs, but I was reading where a feral breed of "super" hog is crossing over the border from Canada into North Dakota. The thing that puzzles me is that rather than allow hunters and landowners to shoot on sight, the State of ND has chosen to make it illegal to shoot them unless it is to save property or life. Hunters and Landowners are instructed to call the North Dakota Game and Fish Dept and then let them "deal with it". Recently a feral hog was shot and killed in NE South Dakota which means that the hogs in ND have spread that far South. Why is ND taking this stance? Many of the Southern states have declared feral hogs a nuisance and encourage residents to shoot on sight. Why is ND only wanting government to handle this? I must be missing something.

I know a lot of people who hunt a lot up there and farm and ranch and pig sightings have been like 5 in 60 years. Been in the turtle mountains for years is the rumor. I would like to see the one shot here I bet it was an escape from the hog farm

 

[Calcoyote]

I know a lot of people who hunt a lot up there and farm and ranch and pig sightings have been like 5 in 60 years. Been in the turtle mountains for years is the rumor. I would like to see the one shot here I bet it was an escape from the hog farm

I was wanting to look a photo of it too. It as shot in Britton. SD fish and game officers said they did not conduct tests on it but that it had all of the characteristics of a feral hog including tusks.

 

[wytx]

They don't want folks moving them or folks hunting them for profit. It encourages folks to release them or move them to fenced areas for hunting and that would lead to a huge population increase.
Best would be to eradicate all of them as they cross down from Canada.

Super hogs make me laugh though. They simply have Eurasian blood in them and survive the harsh cold very well.

 

[KurtR]

I was wanting to look a photo of it too. It as shot in Britton. SD fish and game officers said they did not conduct tests on it but that it had all of the characteristics of a feral hog including tusks.

I got a bunch of friends in Britton and the guy who used to be the game warden that I know over there I will have to do some checking out of it

 

[WCB]

I was wanting to look a photo of it too. It as shot in Britton. SD fish and game officers said they did not conduct tests on it but that it had all of the characteristics of a feral hog including tusks.

Yeah hogs that escape turn feral and can develop tusks and grow their hair. Even their skull or facial structure changes. More than likely an escaped domestic pig (not sure if SD has enclosed pig hunt operations?)

I spend A LOT of time in the eastern half of ND from just south of the Turtle Mountains to the SD border. They haven't "made their way down". I know a bunch of people, farmers, hunters from NE ND over to North Central ND.. none have ever seen a wild pig or sign of them and it isn't even on their radar. A few of these guys up until the last year or two literally hunted Coyotes 4-5 days a week all day cover a lot of ground.

Making it illegal to kill them is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Just outlaw the import or movement of feral hogs in the sate and outlaw fenced hunting of them. Make them an open species and don't allow monetary gain from trapping or killing them. Realistically even with the law not allowing them to be shot...they will be.

 

[Bubblehide]

Obviously they are an invasive species that competes with native species. "Super hog", someone simply used artistic license with that term. My guess is that your dept of game and fish desires to erradicate them, by trapping; as hunters shooting them will result in dispersing them, and likely a population increase... or at a minimum, making it much more difficult to trap them. F&G wants the entire group(s), not one or two at a time.

But, I suggest you write F&G and get their explanation.

 

[WCB]

Obviously they are an invasive species that competes with native species. "Super hog", someone simply used artistic license with that term. My guess is that your dept of game and fish desires to erradicate them, by trapping; as hunters shooting them will result in dispersing them, and likely a population increase... or at a minimum, making it much more difficult to trap them. F&G wants the entire group(s), not one or two at a time.

But, I suggest you write F&G and get their explanation.

ND G&F alludes to them becoming nocturnal if hunted and an article posted on the G&F site mentions scattering them buy hunting. But also mentioned they don't want people shooting domestic pig that may have escaped (which makes no sense because they turn feral if not captured).

 

[Blowdowner]

If the govt rounds them all up in a month or two the shooting ban is acceptable. If they don’t wrap it up quickly then we should immediately consider sinister motivations.

Pigs are a biological weapon against family level farming especially if you can’t shoot them.

Remember when everyone started gardening during Covid and all retailers from Home Depot to grocery stores were ordered to take seeds off the shelves?

“Crazy” or “stupid” government plans are rarely explained by “idiots in charge”.

 

[yfarm]

Trapping the entire sounder at once is the preferred control measure, I have seen hogs disappear completely in a 8 square mile area from trapping with one well designed radio controlled feeding corral. Feed them regularly until they become accustomed to the trap drawing more sounders in and close the gate. No lost pigs to educate others not trapped. Hunting clearly educates the hogs, especially with helicopters. They are smart animals. TPWD sent out a survey a few years ago about using sodium nitrite to kill hogs, never heard any follow up so I suspect that control method was not well received. Instead of using the term poison, it was referred to as a toxicant, while accurate was just an example of using language to obfuscate a topic.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/research/highlights/taxa/publications/Foster_2011_SodiumNitrateSwine.pdf

 

[Chumsnagger]

Trapping the entire sounder at once is the preferred control measure, I have seen hogs disappear completely in a 8 square mile area from trapping with one well designed radio controlled feeding corral. Feed them regularly until they become accustomed to the trap drawing more sounders in and close the gate. No lost pigs to educate others not trapped. Hunting clearly educates the hogs, especially with helicopters. They are smart animals. TPWD sent out a survey a few years ago about using sodium nitrite to kill hogs, never heard any follow up so I suspect that control method was not well received. Instead of using the term poison, it was referred to as a toxicant, while accurate was just an example of using language to obfuscate a topic.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/research/highlights/taxa/publications/Foster_2011_SodiumNitrateSwine.pdf

Exactly!, hunters would kill a few and educate the rest causing a never ending population explosion

 

[Jason Snyder]

They don't want folks moving them or folks hunting them for profit. It encourages folks to release them or move them to fenced areas for hunting and that would lead to a huge population increase

This.

Maybe super hogs are like super wolves.

 

[william schmaltz]

ND is wide open. Once reported, action is taken very swiftly and effectively. Farm Bureau $ and Big Oil $ pulls the levers in the state. USDA Wildlife Services has a very effective crew and their sole purpose is protecting agricultural interests from wildlife/feral wildlife. I know most of them and they love what they do. They can’t get in the air quick enough once something is called in and I assure you they’re much more effective than Ole and Lena scattering hogs all over the place.

We had several wild hogs that lived along the railroad tracks in Emmons county in the mid 90s. We would see them all the time in Linton. They’ve also removed several from Standing Rock land in ND.

 

[Billogna]

Missouri used to have unlimited open season hunting on feral pigs. All it served to do was disperse them into neighboring areas. They've since outlawed hunting pigs on public land, preferring to trap the as many of the local population in one go as they can. So far it appears to be working MUCH better than relying on a niche group of hunters and chance encounters for controlling the population. Private lands are still open season though.

 

[mtmiller]

https://invasivespecies.mt.gov/montana-invasive-species/Squeal-on-Pigs-Fact-Sheet-24-0129.pdf

 

[wapitibob]

Odfw worked with landowners to keep the public from hunting hogs up here. They would trap a male hog and collar it, it would then find other hogs and they’d shoot all but the collared male, which would then go find more hogs. This was when we didn’t have many feral hogs and it’s stayed that way.

 

[flathead#2]

Been hearing about the Feral Hog infestation / takeover and a "Super Breed"
for years.
Still waiting.

 

[KurtR]

Winter time 4 feet of snow no where to hide on the prairie. Every one has thermals now if there were more than just the random pig it would be known

 

[mtmiller]

Fear the pigloo.

 

[Fatcamp]

Winter time 4 feet of snow no where to hide on the prairie. Every one has thermals now if there were more than just the random pig it would be known

Ya, I don't know about anywhere else but SD is about a denuded landscape once the crops are out.

No comparison to the large forests of Canada and the overgrown Texas areas.

From my understanding hunting of pigs for profit is the problem. Once they can make money at it its far more complicated.