uncle matt

I went ahead and set this article for everyone to read. For deer hunters it is a MUST READ.

When you are done reading be sure to go to the link at the end to get some stats from the chart in the article. Looks like trouble ahead – BIG TROUBLE. I would think with meaningful and effective actions by state natural resource departments this could be handles and controlled. But we all know the bureaucracies that they all run with. Maybe USFW needs to be involved to implement some kind of all-encompassing blanket policy? IDK.

DEER HUNTERS FACE UNWANTED COMPETETION AS FERAL HOG EXPLOSION THINS HERDS

Deer hunters are facing competition from a source that is mean, relentless and out of control.

The explosion of feral hogs across the U.S. is threatening the deer population -- spreading disease, dominating the food chain and even, on occasion, killing and eating fawns. In Louisiana, where there are an estimated 700,000 wild hogs, hunters and wildlife officials say they are taking a toll on the whitetail deer herd.

"They are in the marshes and beaches of Louisiana all the way up into the hills and piney woods and swamps," Jim LaCour, state wildlife veterinarian for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, told FoxNews.com. "They’re in every habitat in the state."

"They’re very adaptable and also highly destructive," LaCour said.

LaCour described the feral pigs, which can weigh up to 500 pounds, as "opportunistic" eaters -- omnivores that feast on anything crossing their path, including deer fawn, other piglets and dead animals.

LaCour said hogs carry many diseases, such as leptospirosis, which can infect or kill other animals, like deer, as well as humans.

"Hogs are the sport utility vehicle for disease and parasites -- they move them across the landscape," he said. "That bacteria [leptospirosis] can cause abortion in the deer – and it can kill adult deer or people."

Their presence is also detrimental to the land, forcing wildlife officials to carry out aerial gunning in certain areas "because they tear up the marsh and that leads to coastal erosion."

Hogs were first introduced to North America by Spanish settlers. The breed most commonly seen in Texas is a mixture of those hogs and Russian boars brought over more recently for sport hunting, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Some speculate the population boom is due to relatively recent cross-breeding in the wild. Others, like LaCour, say the popularity of hog hunting in the 1980's and early '90's led humans to move the feral pigs from confined, geographically isolated areas into places they had never been before.

Wild hogs can reproduce by the time they are 6 months old. Feral sows can have two litters per year averaging six piglets per litter, according to wildlife experts. Statisticians have determined that 75 percent of the population must be harvested to maintain a static population -- prompting Louisiana and other states to adopt liberal hunting policies when it comes to killing the hogs. Texas has the highest rate of feral hogs to date, according to environmentalists.

For deer hunter Justin Lanclos, the very sighting of a feral pig means trouble.

"If you start to see hogs in your hunting area, you are absolutely not going to see deer," said Lanclos, a 33-year-old bowhunter from Sulthur, La.

"Deer are extremely smart and elusive," Lanclos told FoxNews.com. "They just don’t like to occupy the same area as hogs."

Lanclos, the owner of retailer Louisiana Bowhunter, said he recently received a photo showing a herd of hogs -- or sounder -- running off with a whitetail fawn. The image, believed to have been taken in Louisiana, has since gone viral on social media.

"We’ve got other photos of feral hogs carrying fawns," noted LaCour. "If the hogs are coming through a field and they happen to come across it, they’re going to eat it."


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/03/31...ins-herds.html

super_hunt54

This is nothing new really Matt. It's just getting bad enough now for Hunters to really take notice since the hog population has soared over the past 10 years. I noticed the drop in Deer population 2 years after Tennessee decided decades ago that it was a smart idea to populate Russian strain hogs to the Catoosa WMA. Stupidity at it's finest. Wherever hogs were, deer weren't. But, like most folks around there, we enjoyed hog hunting and Tennessee had a pretty liberal limit on hogs at that time and a hell of a lot of deer. But now the hogs have proliferated so deeply into the state it's getting ridiculous. And if I remember correctly, in 2011 I believe, the allmighty stupidity of the TWRA decided to stop the hog hunting and try to trap and relocate!!!! I swear the officials just seem to get stupider as the years go by!!! Hogs are some seriously smart and wary animals and they pick up on traps quicker than just about any animal on the planet. All it takes is one lead sow picking up on the traps and you will have a whole generation of hogs being educated by her. It's a well known fact that trapping hogs doesn't work over the long run but all these tree hugging saps just can't seem to get the message. The ONLY way to get rid of a hog infestation is extreme hunting pressure and killing every last one. There can't be a "controllable" population since they can reproduce so young and so many piglets with each litter up to 2 times a year.

Champlain Islander

Once released into the wild pigs are tough to eliminate. For that reason among others Vermont outlawed canned hunting operations which is the usual way they escape into the wild. I think there is a wild pig population now in western NY which came from a game farm. I understand the F&W department wanted trapping rather than shooting to eliminate them. I understand that pigs are very smart and hunting actually makes them more wary and harder to kill. I believe their plan was to locate, trap with nets and kill the whole herd. I haven't heard of the results but expect they still have pigs. I would think they should just make them a predator with an open season, allow night shooting and no limits. Put a bounty on them would probably save money in the long haul.

Valentine

It was fun for hunters, until it starts competing with our deer population.
Something to the rescue soon.

Oldtimr

Nope, nothing new at all, perhaps the article writer just woke up. Hogs will eat anything that doesn't eat them, fawn deer and turkey eggs are in their menu.

olsaltydog

Think for most hunters it is out of sight out of mind. We have hogs here in NC, but I have never seen one here in eastern NC where I hunt. If they show up though I will put them down just as we do yotes, don't care if a deer is near or not.

Bocajnala

I always read about the terrible hog problems, and I believe it I know how pigs can tear stuff up.... Back in 2012 I attempted to be able to go somewhere and shoot some. Made some craigslist adds in known hog areas, called some friends in Florida and Oklahoma to see if they knew anyone who would let me hunt. Everybody wants to charge to hunt hogs.... And I get it, you don't want strangers on your property etc etc liability and all that.... But I would think if they were such a problem you'd be happy to have someone that wants to spend a week trying to shoot some. The only responses I got from craigslist was hog hunting farms/ranches that were selling hunts. I'm not against paying, but just wasn't able to at the time. I'll eventually get to hunt them somewhere. Thankfully where I'm at we don't have a hog problem... Just coyote.
-Jake

flags

Yep. It is easier to make a list of what a hog won't eat than it is to make a list of what they will eat.

muzzlestuffer

If there's that big of a population maybe public land hunting would work ? I would call the game and fish where you want to go hunt them I'm sure they will put you onto some public land or even private landowner spots it's worked very well for me with deer hunting. Just a thought.in a way I wish we had a hog problem here in az but after seeing this post I'm glad we don't !

Champlain Islander

I want to take this opportunity to add this since it is related to the problem of having an invasive pig population in the wild. We here in Vt do not have a wild herd of pigs but both neighboring New Hampshire and New York do have a small and resilient population due to the seed animals escaping from captive hunting operations. These animals, while probably fun to hunt, cause a loss of habitat and spread diseases which affect the native wildlife wherever they take hold. Many concerned sportsmen in this state lobbied the F&W department to rule against any captive hunting within our state. Now that law has been enacted and the 2 grandfathered facilities have been closed we should be in much better shape to lessen the chance of invasive species or diseases from arriving within our State border.