Wild Hogs

[Doc Holliday]

some people do harvest them, some don't. I am one of the ones that don't, due to what I've seen them eat on (other dead pigs, week old rotting cows, pretty much anything smelly). I do eradicate them off our farm as they are a nuisance, but if you let them lay even the turkey vultures won't eat them.

Same here. When the buzzards ignore them, you know they are nasty. I have also noticed when I leave one there dead, the others will disappear for a couple of weeks at least, and get thinned out by my neighbors before returning. I have the densest cover around with 4 year old loblolly pines planted @ 600 seedlings per acre......when I planted we didn't have hogs. I'd say there are 20 on the property now. One big black boar hog that only moves between midnight and 3am.

I started running boss buck feeders a couple of years ago....the big black boar showed up first, then the others. I took down the feeders last year but they won't leave. And they wreck my foodplots.......only takes them a night or two to make it look like a B-52 came over and dropped a bunch of cluster bombs.

 

[JFK]

It’s become a big business here in Ca. Guys charging $800-$1200 for pig hunts. Just a few years ago it was “only” $500-$600. Problem is that guys pay it. Ranchers and guides test the waters and raise their prices and guys keep paying it. It’s insane but I guess I can’t blame them. Some of these ranches have so many pigs you might see 50-100 a day. I’ve hunted them a fair bit and it is a lot of fun since there is no season. It’s pretty big country where I hunt and it’s lots of glassing, then stalking into position to get a shot. Not sure I’d enjoy hunting them over a feeder. The ones out here taste really good since they pretty much live off barley crops, acorns and wine grapes, so they are good to fill the freezer with. Public land hunting for them is very tough, only really productive in the winter months when they come off the private, and even then it’s much harder than private. It’s pretty nuts what guides are charging but not really any worse than what guys pay for guided antelope hunts.

 

[Brendan]

Here's how I look at it. I'm primarily a DIY and public hunter when it comes to Deer and Elk (so far anyways) but I'm looking at hunt options now for the February - March timeframe. Pretty much my only options are things like Hogs, Auodad, Exotics. Paying for access to shoot a handful is probably what's going to happen.

But - I don't think you can really control them by hunting. You have to trap.

I have been exchanging services to hunt a ranch doing all kinds of repair/remodel/building. Yeah, people here spend some bucks for the opportunity to hunt pigs, as public land pig hunting here is tough as nails. For example, I know of a fantastic public land pig hunting spot, except for the fact that it is 15 miles in, to where the pig hunting just starts to get good. I no longer have horses (for years now), so that spot in not exactly a viable option.

A backcountry pig hunt sounds a little strange, but also sounds like it could be really fun...

 

[wyosteve]

Funny, I feel about antelope in Wyo. as you do about pigs in Texas. But people pay good money to shoot an antelope while I think they are close to varmints!

 

[Glendon Mullins]

I drive 12 hours to Georgia to hunt them every year, first on public land then we got access to some pretty decent private land. We pay a small fee to hunt there, but it's more for lodging and the guy who owns it's his mom fixes us dinner every evening etc. It's something different, and something nice to do in the "offseason"

 

[JRMiller]

I’ve been to Texas several times to visit friends and set up hog hunts a couple times.
The local landowners/farmers opinion on ferral hogs is interesting.
Half say theyre pests and would love to be rid of them.
The other half say no way, we make too much money selling hog hunts as people are actually paying us to exterminate our pests...

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Around here if you get access to private and you see them and don't shoot and the LO finds out then chances of losing you access is good. In my experience running with dogs on a consistent basis is the only way to keep them off your land. Got a buddy with some well trained Dogos...he stays busy helping out the local farmers around here...

 

[CApighunter]

Yep, pigs are basically a private land game in CA. I pay a trespass fee on a ranch every October and while it’s been tough hunting recently, I’ve punched my tag 5 of the last 6 years. Headed back in January for a guided hunt with hounds on the same ranch.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

I live in Austin and chase them a lot on public land with my recurve. They are crazy hard to get a shot on if they've been pressured much. Sounds like you need to host a Rokslide hog hunt on your place!

 

[Azone]

Have rifle, will travel.

 

[Bulldawg]

It's really funny, because I lived in Texas for a while and everybody talks about how terrible the hogs are and they're tearing everything up they're everywhere. But I will say, it is much difficult to kill a hog than a deer in Texas, and the density of hogs is nothing like it was when I was hunting in South Georgia. It was the opposite down there, much easier to kill a hog than a deer.

 

[SaltySailor]

If I visited Texas again I would jump all over an opportunity to shoot pigs for free on someone's land, but if I had to deal with them after the kill I would only shoot one or two. If it was an extermination issue, and I could whack and stack as many as I wanted whilst not having to deal with any of them afterwards, I would pay money for that - maybe a few hundred bucks. If you had one of those operations that set up over a field at night with supplied thermal guns, and I could whack and stack without having to deal with them afterwards, I would pay a lot more...….
After watching a YouTube video on it the other day, I'd pay a few grand to do one of those Helo shoots where they fly you over massive groups of them and its like shooting fish in a barrel.

 

[LostArra]

Hogs are a target of opportunity while deer hunting for me. Last year I saw zero hogs. This past Saturday evening I saw maybe three waves of 20, plenty of little shoats. I was able to arrow two sows.

 

[rkcdvm]

Question:
Does anyone in Texas harvest any of the pigs ?
Is the Meat bad ?
The one good thing I can see is if all heck breaks loose
and the stores are empty you have plenty of easily harvested meat to smoke. jerky and can.

I normally keep one per year. For chops they are ok. The bacon sucks. They are loaded with parasites in the summer. If i see one while deer hunting I will take him to the processor and they are loaded with bugs they will just toss it.
Most get left for the scavengers though.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Question:
Does anyone in Texas harvest any of the pigs ?
Is the Meat bad ?
The one good thing I can see is if all heck breaks loose
and the stores are empty you have plenty of easily harvested meat to smoke. jerky and can.

I won't eat rutting boars, or pigs that have been eating dead stuff..you will know by the smell when you get close. My preference is 150-200 pound wet sow or some 75-80 pound whole roasters.

 

[Coupe de Gras]

It's really funny, because I lived in Texas for a while and everybody talks about how terrible the hogs are and they're tearing everything up they're everywhere. But I will say, it is much difficult to kill a hog than a deer in Texas, and the density of hogs is nothing like it was when I was hunting in South Georgia. It was the opposite down there, much easier to kill a hog than a deer.

They're a little tougher to kill than deer, but it's mostly because they are hunted year round and day/night. Shooting them scatters them all over vs. trapping them and getting the whole group of 20+ that people see. Population also varies on where in Texas you are at, on deer and hogs.

 

[Hogguts]

Hogs are running me over here in south texas.

 

[spedwards]

Hogs are running me over here in south texas.

Same here, near kingsville Tx. I believe all the rain from the hurricane earlier in the year really set them off.

 

[tallbuchholz]

We trap them really hard (game changer trap) but they just keep coming. Killed close to 100 last year and about 40 this year. This week I saw about 40 on trail cams though so I don't think our population is any lower than when we started. I do love to eat them when i'm in the mood to butcher.

 

[wytx]

Throwin Darts folks up this way are looking for something to do down south come February and March to get away from the cold.
We go down to family place in N Texas every spring for a hog hunt and always have folks that want to go along.
If I were you I would offer some trespass fee hunting and let folks go after them in early spring. Hunting them that time of the year doesn't seem to affect the deer hunting other than helping with the rooting issues in your pastures.
We bring 'em all back for the meat. It's lean and tastes great.
They are a challenging hunt after they have been "educated". Thermals are a blast to use as well.