Hunting Hogs in PA
12-29-2005, 05:25 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Pocono Mountains
Posts: 59
Hunting Hogs in PA
Last year I read a newspaper article that somewhere in southwestern PA there was a game farm where russian boars got loose and established themselves. I also heard some people were hunting them. Game Commission does not regulate since they are not native to PA. Has anyone hunted theseboars and could you give me a location of where i might be able to find them.
01-08-2006, 02:54 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location:
Posts: 1,233
RE: Hunting Hogs in PA
The hogs you are mentioning escaped from Big Mikes..
Big Mike's Hunting & Fishing Preserve
2540 Cardiff Road, Ebensburg PA 15931
Big Mike's Hunting & Fishing Preserve
2540 Cardiff Road, Ebensburg PA 15931
Pennsylvania worried about wild boar escape
By Judy Lin
[/align]Associated Press — Mar 17
[/align][/align]
PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvania game officials are concerned that a handful of wild boars that escaped from a game preserve could survive the mild winter, reproduce and pose a threat to wildlife, crops and humans.
[/align][/align][/align]The boars, which are aggressive by nature, have left a small, but noticeable, trail of destruction, namely uprooted earth just yards from some homes. Officials from the Pennsylvania Game Commission have received requests from hunters to shoot the animals, which officials believe may be reproducing.
"We don't have a clue how many animals are out there," said Mel Schake, southwest regional supervisor for the Game Commission. "We are monitoring (the boars') affects on game lands and any habitat destruction. We'll determine later if there's some course of action we need."
Although some biologists don't expect the animals to thrive in large numbers, there is concern they will begin making a new home for themselves in the forests of Cambria County, about 75 miles east of Pittsburgh.
In response, one legislator has drafted a bill to prevent exotic animals from being brought into the state.
"They're not that many, but they're loose and they're populating," said state Rep. Tom Yewcic, whose district in Cambria County includes the area where the boars were sighted. "They need to be nipped in the bud before they establish."
As many as six wild boars, which are native to Europe and Asia, escaped last May from private game preserves where hunters pay to hunt game fenced in large swaths of land, Schake said.
Big Mike's Hunting and Fishing Preserve, where the most recent escape occurred, did nothing illegal because there are no laws regulating the animals, Schake said. Owner Michael Comisac said he believes he has rounded up all the escaped boars and even took preventive measures by installing steel grates over a drainage pipe where the boars got out.
"I'm doing everything I can to prevent this from ever happening," Comisac said. "You have to understand, these animals cost me money. It's like insulation on a home, you don't want the heat to get out. And I don't want my animals to get out."
Game preserves, which stock a variety of common and exotic animals, deer and elk among them, have grown increasingly popular in recent years.
"There's a market for people who just want to shoot something," Yewcic said.
Yewcic's bill would ban hunting or killing exotic wildlife for a fee, which would essentially put an end to hunting preserves in Pennsylvania.
State biologists say it's unlikely the wild boars will grow to great numbers, citing other breeds of foreign swine that have barely managed to survive in Tennessee, North Carolina, New Hampshire and an island off California.
"The impact is going to be minimal," said Jerry Hassinger, a Pennsylvania wildlife biologist. "Similar things have happened with other species and nothing large ever seems to adapt."
Hassinger said the wild boars, which are highly adaptable creatures that can grow to weigh up to 300 pounds, can root up land in search of roots, tubers and bulbs. And because of their indiscriminate diet, they may go after small animals, farm crops and residential gardens.
North Carolina wildlife officials say their feral hogs, which are genetically the same as wild boars, are regulated by the hunting season. The state lacks Pennsylvania's problem because most of North Carolina's 205 private preserves are stocked with small game birds and foxes, not boars or hogs.
Other biologists believe wild boars can pose the same problem as feral hogs, or wild hogs. Even feral hogs will begin to take on characteristics of wild boars, such as darker skin and longer snouts, the longer it remains wild, said Rick Taylor, a Texas wildlife biologist.
Feral hogs can be found in 24 states, with roughly half of the nation's estimated 4 million feral hogs found in Texas.
"Nothing seems to be slowing them down," Taylor said. "It doesn't matter how hot it gets or how cold it gets. They'll be around."
In Pennsylvania, there are no laws regulating wild boars, and it is not illegal to shoot them.
By Judy Lin
[/align]Associated Press — Mar 17
[/align][/align]
PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvania game officials are concerned that a handful of wild boars that escaped from a game preserve could survive the mild winter, reproduce and pose a threat to wildlife, crops and humans.
[/align][/align][/align]The boars, which are aggressive by nature, have left a small, but noticeable, trail of destruction, namely uprooted earth just yards from some homes. Officials from the Pennsylvania Game Commission have received requests from hunters to shoot the animals, which officials believe may be reproducing.
"We don't have a clue how many animals are out there," said Mel Schake, southwest regional supervisor for the Game Commission. "We are monitoring (the boars') affects on game lands and any habitat destruction. We'll determine later if there's some course of action we need."
Although some biologists don't expect the animals to thrive in large numbers, there is concern they will begin making a new home for themselves in the forests of Cambria County, about 75 miles east of Pittsburgh.
In response, one legislator has drafted a bill to prevent exotic animals from being brought into the state.
"They're not that many, but they're loose and they're populating," said state Rep. Tom Yewcic, whose district in Cambria County includes the area where the boars were sighted. "They need to be nipped in the bud before they establish."
As many as six wild boars, which are native to Europe and Asia, escaped last May from private game preserves where hunters pay to hunt game fenced in large swaths of land, Schake said.
Big Mike's Hunting and Fishing Preserve, where the most recent escape occurred, did nothing illegal because there are no laws regulating the animals, Schake said. Owner Michael Comisac said he believes he has rounded up all the escaped boars and even took preventive measures by installing steel grates over a drainage pipe where the boars got out.
"I'm doing everything I can to prevent this from ever happening," Comisac said. "You have to understand, these animals cost me money. It's like insulation on a home, you don't want the heat to get out. And I don't want my animals to get out."
Game preserves, which stock a variety of common and exotic animals, deer and elk among them, have grown increasingly popular in recent years.
"There's a market for people who just want to shoot something," Yewcic said.
Yewcic's bill would ban hunting or killing exotic wildlife for a fee, which would essentially put an end to hunting preserves in Pennsylvania.
State biologists say it's unlikely the wild boars will grow to great numbers, citing other breeds of foreign swine that have barely managed to survive in Tennessee, North Carolina, New Hampshire and an island off California.
"The impact is going to be minimal," said Jerry Hassinger, a Pennsylvania wildlife biologist. "Similar things have happened with other species and nothing large ever seems to adapt."
Hassinger said the wild boars, which are highly adaptable creatures that can grow to weigh up to 300 pounds, can root up land in search of roots, tubers and bulbs. And because of their indiscriminate diet, they may go after small animals, farm crops and residential gardens.
North Carolina wildlife officials say their feral hogs, which are genetically the same as wild boars, are regulated by the hunting season. The state lacks Pennsylvania's problem because most of North Carolina's 205 private preserves are stocked with small game birds and foxes, not boars or hogs.
Other biologists believe wild boars can pose the same problem as feral hogs, or wild hogs. Even feral hogs will begin to take on characteristics of wild boars, such as darker skin and longer snouts, the longer it remains wild, said Rick Taylor, a Texas wildlife biologist.
Feral hogs can be found in 24 states, with roughly half of the nation's estimated 4 million feral hogs found in Texas.
"Nothing seems to be slowing them down," Taylor said. "It doesn't matter how hot it gets or how cold it gets. They'll be around."
In Pennsylvania, there are no laws regulating wild boars, and it is not illegal to shoot them.
