Feral hogs

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TinMan
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Feral hogs

Post by TinMan »

Just some info for those of you that may wanna take up the sport........we need all the help we can get.

"Feral swine are a harmful and destructive non-native and invasive species. Their geographic range and populations are rapidly expanding across the U.S. The population is currently estimated to exceed more than six million animals. Experts believe that in 1982 feral swine were found in only a few counties in 17 States; in 2012 they had been found in at least 38 States (Figure 1). They are now known to exist in 41 states. Feral swine also occur in Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands."

And please note, the map shown is from 2012. These things breed like demons and are now in 41 States. If you do go looking for them....kill every one that you see.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/a ... e%2Fct_eis
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Re: Feral hogs

Post by f100cleveland »

A hog hunt is on my bucket list now that I'm retired. Fuel prices are down so a trip south would be practical now too. Just need a place to hunt. Whats the best time of year to try for?
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Re: Feral hogs

Post by Ranch Dog »

f100cleveland wrote:A hog hunt is on my bucket list now that I'm retired. Fuel prices are down so a trip south would be practical now too. Just need a place to hunt. Whats the best time of year to try for?
Kind of depends where you are looking. Here in South Texas by the end of March it would be too hot to hunt for someone from up north, mid 80's everyday. Doesn't cool down until mid November.

I remember a late September hunt on my place with VTDW, the fellow that owned MarlinOwners at the time. We only started hunting at sunset and everyday when we started it was over 100°. Even I was miserable.
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Re: Feral hogs

Post by f100cleveland »

We do get some heat up here with high humidity and I have worked outside my whole life so The heat up to a point would be bearable. I spent most of one summer in Louisiana and that wasn't to comfortable for this northern guy. Maybe i'll plan it for when the snakes and other biting things got to sleep.
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Re: Feral hogs

Post by NavyDoc76-80 »

TinMan wrote:Just some info for those of you that may wanna take up the sport........we need all the help we can get.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/a ... e%2Fct_eis
If you are interested in the governments solution to this problem, then you gotta read this. It's interesting if nothing more then to get into how they think. The aphis report is 550 pages. As far as documents go, it is well written and no stone is left unturned. The highlights I thought, were there recommendations on removal. You can read the disposal methods, but the harvesting was eye opening. Nighttime shooting using night vision and suppressor equipped. This is for the government boys only. Civilian bounty hunting is not approved due to a test program that turned up falsified reports for money. Noted a thirty year bounty program in Austraila that hadn't reduced the population. Report even went so far to say that hunters make the problem worse. To save space you'll have to read the details. So, once again, the government is smarter, more honest and better equipped to deal with this. Gee, I can't wait for Hillary to get in and get all these hogs to market. Which according to the report, to qualify for eating, a member of the USDA must be present for the kill, field dressing and processed at a USDA facility before it can be allowed to be distributed to soup kitchens and the like. Why? Because common folk don't know how to do that. Well, I don't know how we would survive without government oversight.
Ok, I know many feel better now.
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Re: Feral hogs

Post by Ranch Dog »

NavyDoc76-80 wrote:
TinMan wrote:Just some info for those of you that may wanna take up the sport........we need all the help we can get.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/a ... e%2Fct_eis
If you are interested in the governments solution to this problem, then you gotta read this. It's interesting if nothing more then to get into how they think. The aphis report is 550 pages. As far as documents go, it is well written and no stone is left unturned. The highlights I thought, were there recommendations on removal. You can read the disposal methods, but the harvesting was eye opening. Nighttime shooting using night vision and suppressor equipped. This is for the government boys only. Civilian bounty hunting is not approved due to a test program that turned up falsified reports for money. Noted a thirty year bounty program in Austraila that hadn't reduced the population. Report even went so far to say that hunters make the problem worse. To save space you'll have to read the details. So, once again, the government is smarter, more honest and better equipped to deal with this. Gee, I can't wait for Hillary to get in and get all these hogs to market. Which according to the report, to qualify for eating, a member of the USDA must be present for the kill, field dressing and processed at a USDA facility before it can be allowed to be distributed to soup kitchens and the like. Why? Because common folk don't know how to do that. Well, I don't know how we would survive without government oversight.
Ok, I know many feel better now.
Thanks for the synopsis as I found it just too much to bear.
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Re: Feral hogs

Post by Wyowind »

I wish we would get a few of them up here in Wyoming. I think there's enough lead in this state to keep them from over-populating yet provide some good sport. Are they any good to eat ?
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Re: Feral hogs

Post by GasGuzzler »

You don't want them anywhere near property you care about.

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Re: Feral hogs

Post by Wyowind »

Gas guzzler,

I don't doubt they can be very destructive. You would think people that have a problem with them would welcome hunters instead of charging several hundred $$$'s to take care of the issue.

I don't believe they would be as invasive up here as in milder climates with better soils. Food scarcity would be a limiting factor. The wide open country that provides advantage to rifle hunters would also help keep them in check.
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Re: Feral hogs

Post by Archer »

Wyowind wrote:I wish we would get a few of them up here in Wyoming. I think there's enough lead in this state to keep them from over-populating yet provide some good sport. Are they any good to eat ?
They put a couple folks in jail out here for releasing a few semi locally. Not sure what the sentence was but I seem to recall something like 10 years.

Last I heard Texas was pretty much all you could shoot and no bag limit but you had to pay for the bullets and if you used it the helicopter rental / fuel was also something you had to pay for.

From around 2007:


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