Feral Hogs

[timerover51]

Raider Bill, I would say check with some of the forum members in Florida, like Tom, as it sounds like he is more than willing to see the hog population in Florida reduced as much as possible.

My oldest brother and his son hunt them in California, and have taken quite a few.  The area where they hunt has some that are basically wild boar, as someone bought in some wild boar for exotic hunting back in the 1950s, I think, and of course some of them got loose and mixed with the feral hogs that were there.  They say that the smaller and younger ones are pretty good eating, but the big boars are good only for trophies, and cooked dog food.

Hernando De Soto bought the first hogs to this country in 1539, when he began his expedition to explore the US Southeast from Florida to the Mississippi.  He bought the hogs to serve as a traveling meat supply, and they multiplied very rapidly, and of course, some escaped, and then became feral.  The Spanish also bought hogs, along with sheep, goats, and cattle to California, which also has a problem with feral goats.  My brother and nephew have hunted them as well, and they have a couple of really impressive heads mounted in his study.

Back in the 1950s and 60s, you had a fair number of people bringing European Wild Boar here for exotic hunts, and a goodly number of them escaped into the wild to interbreed with the existing feral stock.  Therefore you have a strong strain of pure Wild Boar in the US feral population.  An adult hog or boar has no natural predators, while the piglets are only vulnerable for a short time before they get too large for anything except a pack of coyote or wild dogs.

There was an article a while back in I think the Shooter's Bible by a man in Florida shooting hogs for the Florida Fish and Game people, and he tested just about every caliber of hand gun from .22 to .45.  He determined that for one shot kills, you needed something that would reliably expand up to about .50 or use a .45 or .44 Magnum with standard ammunition.  My brother and nephew use either a .270 or 30-06 for there hunting, and a friend from Arkansas who has killed a nice number of Razorbacks, while he has gotten them with .22 head and spine shots, thinks that a 12 gauge with slugs or Double OO buckshot is probably the best medicine.  For blackpowder rifles, my brother says a minimum of .50 if using a round ball, .45 if using a Minie ball.  One of these days, I am going out and join them on their annual hunt.

[timerover51]

Hog Trappers Sought.

A training session for feral hog trappers will be held at the Bengel Wildlife Center, headquarters of the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, at 6380 Drumheller Road, Bath, Michigan on May 12 from 6 to 9:30 P.M. MFA has contributed funds for construction
of one trap for this program; it would seem appropriate to contribute a trapper as well. If you're interested, please contact the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy at 517-647-7677 or wildlife@miwildlife.org for more information.

DNRE listserv

Ron, what did they do with the hogs once they trapped them?  Or have they figured that out yet?  You cannot put them in with domestic hogs, and I suspect that no one is particularly interested in having feral hogs relocated next to them.

[Ron Scott]

I don't really know how they are officially disposing of them. I'm sure that they are taking them to a final resting place. ;)  Some may be going to food pantrys as a food source.

[Texas Ranger]

Pig meat spoils rapidly in Texas heat, if you don't kill em and hang em in the cool, they  spoil real quick.  Most of the serious hunts kill them to get rid of em, we have left many for coyote bait.  A 40 pounder can be good, if processed right.

[thecfarm]

Ship them up here. There is a animal park near here,  www.dewanimalkingdom.com  that would love to have them to feed his tigers,lions,hyenas and all of his other meat loving cats. Just last week a neighbor hit a deer and he came and picked it up. Says he gets 3-5 a day this time of year.

[Chuck White]

I watched a show on the Outdoor Channel quite some time ago where they were catching the young boars (usually 100 lb or less) and castrate them and then let them go and after a period of time, their meat shouldn't taste so gamey!

Makes sense, that what hog farms do when the little ones are about 4-5 weeks old.

[Raider Bill]

Hog dusting with 00 buck!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOfCTWy1Xlc

[Tom]

That' s a good video.  It doesn't give you a real good perspective of range. I'll bet that pilot was a lot closer to the hogs than it looks.

In open ground a helicopter seems to work pretty good.  We have hogs in the swamp and the only thing that will make a dent in the population is the alligators.  That is just my opinion, but I've noticed that the population decreases if we can keep them down at the creek.

When I see these "control" videos, I find myself wondering if the pig meat is used for human consumption, used in animal feed, or are the carcasses just buried.  I kind of doubt they would be left in the open for the carrion eaters.

What a bananza this meat would make for homeless soup kitchens.

[Texas Ranger]

I dont think a soup kitchen will take boar hog meat like we get around here, now a young choate, maybe.

[Tom]

Granddad said they are OK if you shoot them while they are asleep.  :D

This might be a good job for illegal aliens.  You could send them into the field with a sharp knife and give them credits for every pair of pig testicles they turn in.  Get enough credits and they can turn them in for a free seat in an American Citizenship class.  More and they can get tutoring. More and they are guaranteed seating in a citizenship test and maybe even get moved up the line a bit.  All this while being immune to incarceration for sneaking across the border while working for the Government in this capacity. (instant green card that is re-upped, by the month, for castration credits.  The Government could have a new CCC, castration credit compensation) What a New Deal! :D

That way, we would benefit by getting a bunch of sincere immigrants, a decrease in pig procreation and sweet meat for the table.  :P :D

[Raider Bill]

Hear Hear for the Distinguished Gentleman from North Florida!!!  8)

I will gladly throw my share in to this program.

[WildDog]

Thanks for putting the video up R B

The last 2 aerial pig shoots the neighbouring authority I work for conducted, was across 3 shires Brewarrina, Wanarring and Bourke and resulted in taking 5500 feral pigs.

These aerial shoots are a very effective tool for us as the control authority for feral pigs. In 2009 we lost the use of CSSP phoshine baits for pigs and now rely on 1080 poison. It takes a whack of 1080 to kill a pig if he doesn't regurgitate it 1st, as an example for Wilddogs/Dingos we use .2ml per bait, with pigs its 15ml per kilogram in another words 75 times more in a pig bait to a Wilddog bait or 150 times more than a fox bait.

We just started our annual aerial baiting program this week and so far in 2 days we put out 14500 meat baits for Wilddogs/Dingos from helicopter with plenty more to go.   

[WDH]

What a bananza this meat would make for homeless soup kitchens.

If a soup kitchen was homeless, it would probably be glad to get a hog  :D.

[WH_Conley]

I like Tom's way of thinking.

[SwampDonkey]

If your hungry enough, them hogs will do fine. ;)

[Ianab]

If your hungry enough, them hogs will do fine. ;)

The young-uns, and the sows, make for good eating. Never been hungry enough to need to eat an old boar though, and hope I never get that close to starvation.  :D

Best cooked in a traditional earth oven, hangi in these parts, or Umu in Hawaii. Some corn and sweet potatoes cooked up with them, right tasty.  ;D

The local ones don't run around in the open like that though, they in hiding out in the back country where it's steep and tree clad. Need a team of dogs and some serious bush bashing skills to hunt them down here.

Ian

[SwampDonkey]

I was just thinking back over the history of man-kind in the last century. You'd eat it, I assure you. :D

[Ianab]

I was just thinking back over the history of man-kind in the last century. You'd eat it, I assure you. :D

Don't know, even if I was that hungry I'd still be tempted to throw that old boar in the river and try to catch some much more edible eels   :D

The smell would have them swarming in from miles downstream  ;D

Ian

[Mooseherder]

People are eating them.  One Meatcutter working for us also has a side business with a friend of his.
They are processing wild game and have a shop set up West of Fort Pierce.  He told me a few days ago they have a buyer of Wild Hogs out of Miami coming up with a trailer when ever they get at least 20 Hogs.  He won't make the trip for less than 20.  They have 8 right now his sons have caught and got them penned up until they catch more.  A lot of the Orange Grove owners will let them trap on their property.  I think he said they are getting 40 cents per pound live weight.

[Magicman]

I wonder what kind of recoil pad he is using  ???

[Chuck White]

After watching the video, it makes me wonder why outfitters across the south charge so much for people to come in on their hunting leases to hunt hogs.

I realize that a good portion of the cost is for food and lodging, but it still seems high!

It seems like the locals would practically beg people to come in and take out a few hogs!

[Magicman]

Actually hunting wild hogs is an iffy situation.  Their sense of smell is very acute, and they are virtually nocturnal.  That means very careful planning regarding wind direction, and an early stalk or a late wait.  They are so heavy and compact that retrieval is often difficult.  They also can be so muddy that they have to be hung and washed before skinning.  This makes hunting them very labor intensive which I'm sure affects fees.

Here they are not classified as game animals so no hunting license or bag limits apply.

[treefarmer87]

there arent any here yet. my friend was deer hunting @ my mother-in-laws and he had a black pig walk right under his stand, he didnt shoot it though. he thought it came from a nearby farm.... he told me about it and i told him there arent any people who own pigs on this road. it had to be a feral hog

[WDH]

Like Troy on the History Channel Show, Swamp People......."Shoot em, Elizabeth, shoot em!!"

[Warren]

I wonder what kind of recoil pad he is using  ???

I kinda wonder the same thing for the guy shooting the 12 ga.  One of the yuotube videos shows a guy dumping 8 or 10 boxes of high brass 00 buck into a shooting bag that he can reach into to reload.  I would have to imagine that could wear on your shoulder over the course of an afternoon.  I understand the AR is fairly low recoil.  But the buckshot seems to really roll them.

One question tho...   Where do all the hulls and casings go ?    What keeps the pilot from getting a face full of brass or hulls since all of the semi auto's eject to the right rear ?  What keeps all the junk from piling up underthe pedals ?

Just a thought....

Warren