Hog Invasion.

[FOTIS]

 

[RememberBaker]

I sort of have mixed emotions about the wild pig thing. I know they're bad.... vs.....I know it would be really fun to hunt them! While VT is painted yellow on the map, I think the Green Mountain state is pretty much hog-free.... Darn.

 

[Guy Miner]

Yeah, I think they're a little overboard on how many states have wild hogs...

There were a few escaped hogs here in Washington some years back, but nobody's seen one in years that I know of. Sasquatch got 'em! :mrgreen: Heard he used a Whelen...

 

[Micky80]

My brother and I fly with a helicopter pilot that hires out to thin down the hog population on a 36,0000 acre ranch. Somebody had to pull the trigger, might as well be us. We use AR15s. Here are a couple videos that I made while flying. The first has my brother doing the rifle work. The second is a 14 year old with a shotgun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONhoLJqmuFM&index=6&list=UUIpl4kmUXfdQGoS8-mxON_w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfI7ZGtCe28&list=UUIpl4kmUXfdQGoS8-mxON_w

 

[FOTIS]

Strange thing is land owners still charge an arm and a leg for you to shoot them.

 

[Oldtrader3]

Yeah, I think they're a little overboard on how many states have wild hogs...

There were a few escaped hogs here in Washington some years back, but nobody's seen one in years that I know of. Sasquatch got 'em! :mrgreen: Heard he used a Whelen...

I saw two crossing US 97 in Yakima last year when we were over there, going to eastern Oregon. They were mature, adult hogs and are the first ones that I have seen in Washington.

 

[Guy Miner]

I'll be darned.... Had heard of a few over on the Oly Peninsula some years ago, but those stories dried up fast.

There was another "hunting ranch" down in southern Washington somewhere that went broke a few years ago. Wonder if some of their hogs wandered away...

Guy

 

[DrMike]

My brother and I fly with a helicopter pilot that hires out to thin down the hog population on a 36,0000 acre ranch. Somebody had to pull the trigger, might as well be us. We use AR15s. Here are a couple videos that I made while flying. The first has my brother doing the rifle work. The second is a 14 year old with a shotgun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONhoLJqmuFM&index=6&list=UUIpl4kmUXfdQGoS8-mxON_w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfI7ZGtCe28&list=UUIpl4kmUXfdQGoS8-mxON_w

Certainly some large sounders of hogs. That would be a real hoot.

 

[truck driver]

Maryland is also marked yellow and I've never heard of any being seen or killed here. A friend travels to NC to hunt hogs another friend in Florida hunts hogs for free all the time. Some of the farmers there almost beg for hunters to hunt hogs.

 

[RememberBaker]

I've looked at maps to see where there were hogs, trying to find somewhere not too far away to hunt them. While there are certainly established wild pig populations in many places, it still looks to me like 90% of them are in Texas, Florida and California.

 

[big rifle man]

I believe Florida is no#1 for Hogs. We can hunt them 24 hours a day and 12 months a year but there doesn't seem to be any dent in the population. Go in any field down here and all you see is churned up dirt where they've been rooting. Ranchers/farmers hate them and usually permission with no fee is given to get rid of them. I've seem some that weigh definitely in the area of 400lbs. Food wise their not bad when barbecued although a lot of the fellows down here use a feeder with corn and let them stuff themselves for about two weeks before they prep them with a rifle. The taste of a corn fed hog is next to none.

 

[DrMike]

I've seen feral hogs on a couple of occasions here in northern BC. I don't believe they are able to survive the winter, however. What I have see on a few occasions that may survive are Russian Boar that have escaped into the wild. I've never run into one while hunting, but I have seen them when in the bush for other reasons one several occasions. I should be carrying a rifle at all times. I just barbequed pork ribs (and wild boar ribs) last evening for a grandchild's birthday celebration. This was from a farm-raised boar, however. I can say it was mighty fine eating.

 

[Darkhorse]

Georgia has an overpopulation of hogs. In my area are a lot of sure nuff Russian boar mixed with feral. This is due to a hunting club on the Ocmulgee river buying a bunch from hunting preserves then letting them escape. Every creek and branch that flows into the river became a highway for them to spread.
The farmers around here complain loudly about the hogs and deer also. But if one offers to go shoot a few and thin them down, you should see them start backing off the complaining.
I don't personally know any farmers today that will allow hunters to shoot hogs for free. I don't even know any that will let you do it for a fee.
I've got all the hogs I need on family property. I've trapped and shot so many I just hesitate to do it anymore as I'm sick of them.
But I can understand the excitement and desire to hunt them. I used to feel the same way.

 

[truck driver]

I can understand the farmers point of view when you let people hunt and they get careless and end up destroying property and you have some outfitters who take advantage of the property owners. Some times we are our worst enemy. People buy a license and think that gives them the right to hunt anywhere they want and when good sports men/hunters ask permission to hunt they get the cold shoulder or even worse.

 

[sask boy]

Here in Saskatchewan the COs are stating they are becoming a real problem in SE portion of the province. I have been hunting that area for almost 35 years and never seen one . I was at a wedding yesterday and my nephew who lives and works there has never seen one. Austin does a fair amount of driving as he is a Farrier & Pro calf roper. I have read a bit about them and understand that they are nocturnal but I think it might be somewhat over blown.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[Darkhorse]

That's not really an overblown fact. They are indeed mostly nocturnal. Until one decides to go feed or move in the daylight, if they didn't we'd never shoot any.
When I was trapping I used trail cameras extensively. I'd say 95% of all hogs that came to the bait were at night. I caught one big boar, around 280 lbs. and he never once came anywhere near shooting light. It took me 3 weeks from the first time he showed up for me to trap him. He wouldn't go in the door. So one day I bought some sugar coated donuts and spiced the bait. That got him, he lost all reserve. I had a string of broken donuts leading into the trap and past the trip wire. (Big trap to catch groups at a time built of 15' heavy wire panels.) So he started going in the trap but his butt was so wide he would hit the door and drop my trip board but instead of running in, he'd just back out and stand at the door just looking at those donuts inside.
After looking at a bunch of photo's and finally setting a camera on video I saw what was happening and made a width adjustment on the door. Caught him that night and he was mad. I thought he might break through the pen trying to get to me. I sold him to a hunting preserve and 3 of us finally got him out alive and loaded onto a trailer.
A huge mean hog inside a pen about 25' across, it took over 3 hours but we finally got him out. Finally using an old trick to load a horse on a trailer, I ran a rope through the pen on the trailer front to back and got him to bite on a slip noose, then I tightened it behind his tusks and he was had!
Other facts are; They are smarter that almost anything you will ever hunt in the U.S. and for sure in the SE. They learn quick and don't stop learning.
They have a much better nose than deer. Doesn't seem possible but it is. And they don't stop and look or snort when they smell you. Before you can shoot they give a sorta woof and they are gone.
They don't run like a barnyard pig. They run like a barrel horse.
They will charge if cornered and only a central nervous system hit will stop him. I always carry my SBH 7 1/2 loaded with hot 240 gr. softpoints and try to aim at the head, neck region, and keep shooting til he goes down. If one gives me the chance that is.
I found some photo's of this boar on my computer. The old guy with the white beard is me. While we were trying to load him he charged me, hit right where 2 fence panels were joined and spread them apart about 10 inches and backed up to do it again. Talk about scrambling with more wire to close the hole!

 

[Micky80]

Great story and photos, Darkhorse. Thanks for sharing. We have trapped a few hogs over the years. They do tend to get a bit peeved.

 

[cloverleaf]

Strange thing is land owners still charge an arm and a leg for you to shoot them.

Yep- and folks will scream and beg the state for predation payments to boot. Sorry no experience with hogs, but a particular ranchers kid in SD used to bi#$@ about deer damage but wouldn't allow us to hunt anymore. Sorry, Hit a nerve.....CL

 

[FOTIS]

I feel you Troy!

 

[sask boy]

We are very lucky here as I do not know a landowner that charges for the privilege of hunting on their land. Most of the hunters know this & really attempt to follow proper etiquette & instructions that the landowners give.

Blessings,
Dan