super_hunt54

We have 4, sometimes 6, pretty large ranches across Texas that allow us to come bust as many hogs as we can whenever we can come down. BUT, they know us well and know we are very professional and never leave a mess. We even try to pick up every piece of brass behind ourselves. And we also have standard waivers/release forms printed up to remove any and all liability from the landowner or his insurance if one of us was to injure ourselves on his property. Those ranchers have SERIOUS problems with hogs. Some with hay fields that look like a dozen four wheel drive monster trucks had a mudding contest. And they still wont allow just "anyone" to come kill hogs. Landowners over the years have become "gunshy" from all the liability lawsuits from idiots on their properties. And you really can't blame them for charging a moderate trespass fee. But this poisoning crap is pushing things too far. Absolutely too much risk with secondary poisoning as well as the dangers of people eating the meat from hogs that MAY have gotten a non terminal dose or just hit the poison before shot. Personally, I think this idea will backfire as too many folks that DO hunt them presently will be afraid to now because of the risk. Lotta hogs are taken by hunters throughout the year. Take those numbers down drastically and this poisoning idea will get hammered.

falcon

Texas Hog Hunters has gotten a temporary injunction against the poisoning of hogs.


https://www.change.org/p/texas-hog-h...PdflJslNEds3bU

falcon

Federal subsidized crop insurance pays for hog damage. Yep, US taxpayers pay about 60 percent of the cost of crop insurance.



https://farm.ewg.org/crop_insurance_analysis.php


Welfare for big time farmers/ranchers is alive and well in the USA.

MudderChuck

I've seen Hogs seriously tear some stuff up, $800 worth of Wheat at harvest time, in one night, for a moderately sized sounder isn't unusual.

One twenty Hog sounder destroyed ten acres worth of Strawberries, after the harvest, in crates, waiting to be picked up the next morning. Hogs are smart, they raided those Strawberries right in the middle of a serious thunder storm, raining so hard visibility was feet not yards.

Our basic strategy is to keep the numbers down, hunt them often so they keep on moving and don't settle into one area. Kind of spread the damage around so no one farmer gets seriously hammered.

Here the Green party and animal rights people messed up the balance. Mostly through regulating hunting to death. And the same as much of the U.S., the farmers, foresters and land managers think they are sitting on a gold mine charging to hunt Hogs.

The down side to charging too much is that many of the hunters don't spend enough time learning to hunt, aren't very good at it and don't have the free time to pursue it seriously. You either have the money or the time, rarely both.

falcon

MudderChuck is right: Hogs do some serious damage to crops and the environment. The potential for far greater damage exists: Imagine an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease spread by wild hogs.

Hogs may be responsible for the spread of E Coli to a spinach field in a case where three folks died. E. Coli spread by wild hogs has gotten into pristine streams.

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/13/12/07-0763_article



i don't hear a lot of complaints abut hog damage from my numerous OK farmer/ranchers friends. They are more concerned about drought, green bugs in the wheat and boll weevils.

There is one big problem in attempting to control the wild hog population; the states don't talk to each other. There seems to be little or no state to state coordination.

MudderChuck

The same thing going on here, all kinds of hunting has been politicized. Politics drives the regulation, not common sense. Sixteen states in Germany, two have a Hog hunting ban.

It really isn't funny but I laugh when I hear some of the stories coming out of the Hog friendly states. One kind of sticks in my mind, a little old lady went shopping on her bicycle, a Hog knocked her off her bicycle and ate her groceries, pretty much the definition of a mugging. Hogs seem to have a thing about bicycles, especially the young boars, a lot like dogs, some go after them. The same people that write pages of leash laws for Dogs think Hogs running wild through town are a good thing.

Another state wants to enlist the military to help control the Hog population. The politicians think a bunch of soldiers running through the woods with automatic weapons is the answer.

My State is biting it's own tail, getting a hunting license here can cost $2000, the test is 1600 questions. Mostly a spin on gun control, they make it so hard to get a hunting license getting a gun legally is near impossible. The reasoning being if you aren't a hunter what do you need a gun for? Locally they advertised for hunters in the newspaper to help with the Hog problems. The state forest managers charge way to much for a Hog hunt. Policy is seriously fragmented and there seems to be no coordination, long range planning or forethought.

For hundreds of years there was some sort of balance between the number of hunters and the Hog population here. Since it got politicized, for various reasons, things have gone way out of balance. All the states have hog problems, in some it is totally out of control.

The latest brainstorm is to reintroduce wolves to control the Hog population. All I have to say about that one is FUBAR. People see these videos if people interacting with semi tame wolves and think they are all like that, cuddly wolf toys. While in some towns in Russia people don't go outside unarmed because of the wolves.

In England since the Fox hunting ban there have been numerous instances of Fox chewing on babies in their cribs. Mange is a plague. And the people feeding the Fox and thinking how cute they are have no idea how many parasites that a Fox is spreading around in their gardens.

I honestly think things are going to get way worse before they get better.

falcon

Probably.


i've got to take a couple hog traps to an organic vegetable farm. Years ago the couple who own the place thought the striped pigs were cute and they fed a couple sounders. Told them to stop feeding the hogs and kill them. You would have thought i was a convicted ax murderer.


Then the hogs tore into the organic sweetcorn. In a panic they called and asked me to trap the hogs.


The couple laid down guidelines for my hog trapping. The hogs must be re-located. Told them hell no, the hogs would be shot in the traps. They were horrified but faced with a threat to their livelihood they acquiesced.


When hogs are trapped the couple calls me and they leave until
my dirty work is done.

TN Lone Wolf

My home state of Tennessee actually outlawed hog hunting in the traditional sense and created a statewide hog eradication program. Turns out some [redacted] were trapping hogs from infested areas then transporting them to their properties to start their own populations to hunt. What the TWRA did was eliminate the year round season. Now, landowners, as well as a list of up to designated individuals of their choosing, are the only ones allowed to kill hogs. In order to do so, they must report how many hogs are killed and by what method. They can also obtain an exemption to use normally illegal methods, such as baiting, year-round trapping, or hunting at night with night vision equipment. I don't think you can use dogs to chase them, though. Additionally, WMAs usually allow hogs to be taken incidentally during big game seasons, but they have their own rules regarding killing wild hogs otherwise.

falcon

Yes, Tennessee made some drastic changes in hog hunting. Hope it works out well.


Oklahoma is coming around. After several high profile cases of people re-locating hogs to new areas and the illegal importation of hogs from Texas to stock a hog "hunting ranch" things are changing.


1. It is illegal to keep wild hogs. Any trapped hogs must remain in the trailer until they are transported to slaughter or sale to a hog "hunting ranch".


2. Persons transporting wild hogs must be licensed. Additionally, they must obtain a wild hog transport permit that is good for 24 hours. Permit information includes departure point, destination and number of hogs being transported.


3. No new hog "hunting ranches will be licensed.


4. Each client at a hog "hunting ranch" must buy a $25 license.


OK landowners here can now kill wild hogs at night.