“Based on the experiences in other states, from the standpoint of eradication, intention hunting or pursuit of breeding groups is the worse thing you can do,” she said. “Anyone hunting or harboring groups of these animals is not doing themselves or other sportsmen a favor in the long term.
This it total unadulterated bull crap: i fully expect this kind of trash from a fish and game weenie employed by the state. Oklahoma is over-run with hogs because of this exact same idiotic attitude. The hunting of hogs does not "scatter" them. Hogs "scatter" themselves because they are prolific wide ranging animals in search of food. Pretty soon those NY farmers will be screaming for the state to do something because the hogs are tearing up their corn and soybean fields. i've seen what a big sounder of hogs can do to a soybean field that is ready for harvest and its flat amazing.
Hunting wild hogs is my hobby. i hunt the suckers at least two days per week 12 months of the year. Wild hogs in OK are having a very adverse impact on the deer population. Have seen hogs run the deer off game plots, out of wheat fileds, away from feeders and away from water holes. In a year when mast is scarce, the hogs will thrive while the deer starve.
i have seen sounders of hogs with well over 100 animals in them tearing up on OK wheat fields. Despite all the damage that wild hogs do in OK we are not allowed to hunt them at night. OK does not allow one to hunt hogs with a centerfire rifle in the WMAs outside of deer gun season. Yet the OK F&WD folks shoot hogs from helicopters in those same WMUs.
One of these days there is going to be an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease in the wild hog population and the states will then get serious about wild hogs.