https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/...g-500-pounds-trappingexpert-15070694.php
All it took was one shot for Joel Dudley and his friend Mike Huckabay, of Tarkington, Texas, to take down a nearly 500-pound feral hog in Liberty County Saturday.
Dudley, 47, frequently hunts feral hogs on ranches, farms and in Liberty County subdivisions through his business, Nuisance Wildlife Removal. His latest hog hunting excursion near the Trinity River in central Liberty County resulted in the capture of a 488-pound feral hog, a record for Dudley, who is an experienced, professional trapping expert.
"We knew this one was big but we couldn’t tell exactly how big," Dudley said. "I've been doing this my whole life [and] by far this is the biggest pig that I have literally seen myself."
Huckabay, who Dudley said is a veteran and marksman, made the one-shot kill. The pair uses thermal imaging to hunt the hogs at night, a time when their senses are at a disadvantage.
"With a thermal scope, you can actually get up to five yards (away from) them at night time," Dudley said. "Pigs have a poor sense of hearing and poor eyesight...the only thing they have is a sense of smell, so you have to kind of work the wind. If you work the wind right, you can walk right up to them."
The pig was so massive the pair had to bring in a tractor the next day to tow it off. That night Dudley and Huckabay shot six other pigs, each weighing a minimum of 200 pounds. Dudley said he sometimes offers the pigs he catches to families in need or arranges for other organizations to come and pick up the animals.
Feral hogs are considered an invasive species in Texas and have been significantly increasing in population around the state. The plague of these pigs can be seen across Houston's suburbs, where area residents report they cause severe damage to property, dig up lawns and frighten the elderly and children. In one rare case from last year, a 59-year-old Anahuac woman was killed by hogs outside a home along State Highway 61 in rural Chambers County, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Dudley said similar to what other Houston-area suburbs are experiencing right now, the massive pigs he hunts in Liberty County also wreak havoc on area residents and their property. It is estimated feral hogs cause $52 million in agricultural damages every year in Texas, according to the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute.
"You are never going to make a dent in the population," Dudley said. "As soon as you shoot them, the next day or two you are going to have another 15 or 20 [pigs] on the ground... The population is just getting out of hand."
Dudley credits suburban development as the driving force behind the pigs encroaching on residents.
"The farther you move out into the country, you are actually pushing these animals from their natural environment," Dudley said.
A hunting license is required to hunt feral hogs, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Dudley said anyone that decides to hunt the pigs themselves should "go for it," but warns they can be dangerous.
Dudley, along with his personal friend and country singer Jason Allen, also runs the Wicked Water Warrior Project. The organization helps arrange dream hunting trips and outdoor adventures for veterans and children battling life-threatening conditions. Dudley said Hurricane Harvey put the organization's operations on hold for the last two years, but plans are in the works to get it up and running again.
