Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Good News (?) For All Who Complain About The Cost of Hog Hunting in Texas

That just amazes me. Back East, the early farmers/settlers would release hogs, let them reproduce and every now & then round a bunch of them up and drive them into town for slaughter. But the East doesn't have 1/2 the problem with ferals that Texas does. In most of the East, there aren't any. Apparently they were wiped out after the free range days.

Why is it so much harder to get rid of them in Texas?

That just amazes me. Back East, the early farmers/settlers would release hogs, let them reproduce and every now & then round a bunch of them up and drive them into town for slaughter. But the East doesn't have 1/2 the problem with ferals that Texas does. In most of the East, there aren't any. Apparently they were wiped out after the free range days.

Why is it so much harder to get rid of them in Texas?

When the whitetail deer population began explode here in the late 1980's, a lot of farmers were claiming crop damage, and I know it did happen, although probably not as much as some of them said. Anyway, the KDFWR's answer was to tell the farmers to allow hunters to come in and kill the deer. That did not suit too well with most farmers, as most of them did not want to open up their land to hunters, unless they knew who it was. I was farming back then, and had experienced some crop damage myself, and being a hunter, I figured if the problem got serious enough, I'd thin the herd out myself.

My point in this.........2 things.......the state's wildlife people look to make money first, and that means that if one wants to hunt, one must pay. Same thing with most landowners, as they are looking for something out it too. Out of state hunters coming into Kentucky and leasing land to hunt on has driven the price of hunting up here, and the days of free hunting are long gone, unless you're lucky enough to have family who own land.

As a landowner, I can't blame someone for making money off their land, as that's their right to do so. BUT......that landowner then should not complain that animals are causing them a problem, when they are making money off that animal. Same way with the state, if they're going to make a big deal out of the damage that hogs are causing, then they need to ease the restrictions on hunting them.

You ever been to Texas? I mean real Texas ,not Austin, or SA. Though there are a lot of swine in both those cities.

It ain't just Texas.

I know they can and do survive in a lot of different places, but I'm thinking there's a reason they do so much better down in Texas,Florida and places like that. Montana or Alberta aren't Texas/Florida, and while they can certainly survive here it's going to be a much tougher go. I see articles posted out here too about this wild boar "emergency" strangely enough always written by some guy or group that is "researching the problem" and probably needs a few more years of government funding to complete the study.

I've seen exactly one wild boar in the 12+ years I've lived here, and that's one more than most have seen. I think I'll hold off panicking for a little while longer.

We recently left our lease in Breckinridge, Tx for another area. Ferals there will and have nearly destroyed the place. We spent the better part of the last two seasons killing pigs...deer have moved on. No more turkeys and deer on game cams are rarely seen. Ranch owner is aged and stopped raising cattle so pig population is incredible. I killed six the last weekend there and I was by myself. Worms and buzzards gotta eat too!

Hey Hanco,
I have a bucket list hunt to shoot a hog.
How about letting me come down and help you thin some out ?

One of my former coworkers was working as a peace officer in central Alberta. Over coffee,, she stated that her county had placed a bounty on wild hogs as they had a problem.

Because people are so tight lipped about where the hogs exist, I volunteered myself to help out. If she heard from a landowner with an actual problem, she was to contact me. I've heard nothing from her.

Hogs are here, just very localized and almost completely nocturnal.

If locals hear of hog escapes, they have free pork in the freezer. SSS is their MO. Escapees, at least in Southern Alberta do not last long.

There was a place here that I used to coyote hunt on. Farm was sold, and new owners were city folks, who told me they didn't want anyone shooting the animals. They got them some chickens, ducks for the pond, goats for the pasture, and some little bunnies to hop around the yard. A year later, I get a call........................we'd like you to come and shoot some coyotes, as we don't have anymore rabbits, chickens or ducks...........the coyotes done ate them all.

If hogs get bad enough, and someone wants them gone, they'll get serious about doing it.

I get a kick out of the guys who said the cold winters would protect northern climes. Ever hear of Russia, bonehead? GD