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Texas: The hogs are winning

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GunnyGene
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Texas: The hogs are winning

Post by GunnyGene » Wed Jun 05, 2019 2:24 pm

The only thing that Texas hasn't tried is putting a bounty on the damn things. If people could recover the price of their ammo, etc. they might be more willing to go get 'em. Same could be said for MS and other States. This isn't about "sporting hunting", or food for the table. This is about eradication - or at the very least, substantial reduction in numbers. Hogs are dangerous, destructive critters, that carry a wide variety of communicable diseases. People need to understand this and stop thinking it's just another fun thing to shoot.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2019/ ... eral-hogs/

Despite years of intense hunting and trapping, Texas is losing the war on feral hogs.

Since the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) first began removing feral hogs in 1982, the hog population in the Lone Star State has dramatically increased and there are now more than ten times as many hogs in the state as there were then. Unfortunately, the evidence is clear: Texas is losing the war on the destructive critters.

Texas has very permissive regulations regarding hog hunting, and hunters may pursue hogs all year long with no bag limit. They may be hunted over bait, trapped, hunted at night and from aircraft. As a result, it’s estimated that over three quarters of a million hogs are taken by hunters, trappers, and TPWD each year in Texas.

Unfortunately, it’s not enough.

Even though hunters and trappers are killing approximately 30 percent of the hog population in Texas annually, hog numbers are still growing by about 20 percent each year. Biologists and wildlife managers estimate that 70 percent of the hogs in the state will have to be killed annually just to maintain current population levels and even more must be taken to actually reduce their numbers.

You read that right: 7 out of every 10 hogs in the state must be killed just to keep their numbers where they are now.

So why are wild hog populations experiencing such explosive growth in this portion of the United States?
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Re: Texas: The hogs are winning

Post by Mistered » Wed Jun 05, 2019 2:35 pm

So why are wild hog populations experiencing such explosive growth in this portion of the United States?
I am no Wildlife Biologist but I would say the environment is obviously very favorable to them as opposed to other areas where they are NOT flourishing - such as Oregon.
Other than man they probably have no natural predators to keep them in check.
The hunters, trappers, and TPWD that account for the 3/4 of a million taken are probably a minority rather than a majority - kind of like the standard factor of '10% of the hunters take 90% of the game'
Another factor could be the relatively small amount of public land in Texas available for people to hunt on. I am sure the big landowners are very selective about who they allow on their land to hunt OR they are profiting from it by charging to hunt or are working with guide services.
Last edited by Mistered on Tue Apr 07, 2020 2:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Texas: The hogs are winning

Post by JEBar » Wed Jun 05, 2019 2:42 pm

just curious .... I know that in our part of the country, the meat from smaller the wild pig the better the meat .... is that true for the strains they have in Texas as well .. :?: .. do they have any programs where hunters can donate harvested meat to organizations that would be able to use it
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Re: Texas: The hogs are winning

Post by GunnyGene » Wed Jun 05, 2019 3:17 pm

JEBar wrote:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 2:42 pm
just curious .... I know that in our part of the country, the meat from smaller the wild pig the better the meat .... is that true for the strains they have in Texas as well .. :?: .. do they have any programs where hunters can donate harvested meat to organizations that would be able to use it
MS has pretty much the same problem and policy as TX regarding hogs. Meat can be donated in MS - IF the donor has the hog butchered by a licensed butcher. And most of them won't. Don't know about TX in that regard.

Hunting won't even make a dent in the population. Trapping is expensive and of limited usefulness since any hogs that don't get trapped but see their buddies get trapped won't go near another trap again. The only real solution is poison, and lot's of it, but I don't know of any State that allows that. Poisoning also comes with more than couple downsides. A 300lb hog corpse lying in a field can do serious damage to a variety of farm equipment if it's hit.

The thing is that as long as hogs are only a problem for "flyover country", nothing serious will be done about them. But when they start tearing up the White House lawn or Central Park, you can bet there will be cries to "do something". But by then it will be too late. :x

Btw, a hog population nearby is a real good reason to carry a large caliber handgun when you step outside your house. They will sometimes attack if surprised, or just feeling ornery. :)
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Re: Texas: The hogs are winning

Post by Mistered » Wed Jun 05, 2019 3:32 pm

Hunting won't even make a dent in the population. Trapping is expensive and of limited usefulness since any hogs that don't get trapped but see their buddies get trapped won't go near another trap again.
Ditto this ^
Bounties are useless as well.
We have a similar problem in Oregon but with coyotes.
It doesn't equate to the hog problems but they are loosing their fear of humans and are starting to move into more populated areas and are even being seen in large city areas such as Portland.
I know a rancher who tells me they run freely on his property and approach him closely and don't show much fear.
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Re: Texas: The hogs are winning

Post by GunnyGene » Wed Jun 05, 2019 5:12 pm

Mistered wrote:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 3:32 pm
Hunting won't even make a dent in the population. Trapping is expensive and of limited usefulness since any hogs that don't get trapped but see their buddies get trapped won't go near another trap again.
Ditto this ^
Bounties are useless as well.
We have a similar problem in Oregon but with coyotes.
It doesn't equate to the hog problems but they are loosing their fear of humans and are starting to move into more populated areas and are even being seen in large city areas such as Portland.
I know a rancher who tells me they run freely on his property and approach him closely and don't show much fear.
Speaking of annoying critters, my wife put a potted plant in a large planter on the front porch a couple days ago. Last nite one of our resident nuisance animals decide to explore it for tasty grubs or whatever, and just about emptied the whole thing on the porch. She found it this morning and you don't wanna hear what she said. :shock: :shock:

Probably a coon or possum. So today I had to put all the dirt back in it & ring it with 4'tall chicken wire. We'll see if it works.
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Re: Texas: The hogs are winning

Post by BrokenolMarine » Wed Jun 05, 2019 10:36 pm

VA has fairly liberal laws for nuisance critters. The list includes squirrels, fox, bobcat, possums, raccoon, beaver, coyote, and several others. The law applies to land owners or their agents on private property and for most nuisance critters, exempts seasons if any. What you can't do, is trap, transport, and release at another location. They consider that dumping the problem on someone else. We don't have a feral pig problem, thankfully, but coyotes are on the increase, and deer are becoming an issue; but require a special nuisance permit.
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Re: Texas: The hogs are winning

Post by Vaquero » Thu Jun 06, 2019 2:22 pm

Mistered wrote:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 3:32 pm
[quoteI know a rancher who tells me they run freely on his property and approach him closely and don't show much fear.
If it were my ranch....
Each one would only do it once. :o :shock: :lol: :lol:

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Re: Texas: The hogs are winning

Post by 220 » Thu Jun 06, 2019 4:43 pm

GunnyGene wrote:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 2:24 pm
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2019/ ... eral-hogs/
So why are wild hog populations experiencing such explosive growth in this portion of the United States?
It is fairly simple they are omnivores so can survive on just about any food source, a sow can have 10 or more young each pregnancy and multiple pregnancies a year. Throw in a mild climate and lack of predators and the question may as well be why did it take as long as it has for the population to explode.

For over 50 years we have been trapping, shooting, dogging, poisoning and using just about any means possible to control them here in Aus. They are from coast to coast from the alpine snow in the south east to the tropical rain forests in the north and desert areas in the west. Eradication is a pipe dream simply controlling numbers to a manageable level is a year round job. I did work one place where they poisoned annually, estimated they got around 200 each time. Change of ownership and they stopped, 18 months later I drove past a trap with over 40 in it, gave them a call and they informed me they had emptied it the day before and taken over 60 out.
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Re: Texas: The hogs are winning

Post by ESquared » Thu Jun 06, 2019 6:44 pm

Hog hunting is illegal in Missouri, with the Dept of Conservation depending (betting?) on trapping as the most effective means of eradication. This article, published 6 months ago, doesn't cite any data on their success, but it lays out their strategy and funding levels. Would really be interesting to see how it's going, but they do refer to success with this approach in Tennessee.

https://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2018-12/closing-feral-hogs
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