The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

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Swampbuck
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby Swampbuck » Fri Dec 22, 2017 3:39 pm

BA-IV wrote:
Swampbuck wrote:
BA-IV wrote:They can be a HUGE problem, but a lot of the pictures you see with the fawn in the mouth of a hog is an already dead fawn not to mention they are hogs in other countries. They are scavengers and do not go out of their way to kill fawns at all, maybe in extreme circumstances, but 99% of the time they're just opportunistic feeders.

They can definitely tear up a hay field, crop field, and food plot fast, but I've seen the hog population managed quite well with great success all over East Texas, and Western Louisiana.



How would you know that they are already dead 99% of the time?

I don't kno either way but I suspect a fawn is a pretty easy opportunity. Pretty safe bet that the hogs are quite nearby when they are born


No different then being easy for a coyote I reckon. If the hog population was such fawn killers, with the amount of hogs in Texas, the deer population wouldn't be able to sustain itself.


I don't disagree, just don't see how one could tell they are already dead


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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby BA-IV » Sat Dec 23, 2017 12:14 am

Swampbuck wrote:
BA-IV wrote:
Swampbuck wrote:
BA-IV wrote:They can be a HUGE problem, but a lot of the pictures you see with the fawn in the mouth of a hog is an already dead fawn not to mention they are hogs in other countries. They are scavengers and do not go out of their way to kill fawns at all, maybe in extreme circumstances, but 99% of the time they're just opportunistic feeders.

They can definitely tear up a hay field, crop field, and food plot fast, but I've seen the hog population managed quite well with great success all over East Texas, and Western Louisiana.



How would you know that they are already dead 99% of the time?

I don't kno either way but I suspect a fawn is a pretty easy opportunity. Pretty safe bet that the hogs are quite nearby when they are born


No different then being easy for a coyote I reckon. If the hog population was such fawn killers, with the amount of hogs in Texas, the deer population wouldn't be able to sustain itself.


I don't disagree, just don't see how one could tell they are already dead


You're right you can't tell, just call it an answer based off experience I guess.
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UntouchableNess
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby UntouchableNess » Sat Dec 23, 2017 3:22 am

IkemanTx wrote:TPWD (our version of a DNR) is currently devoting those resources to researching bovine specific poisons and developing more efficient trapping techniques.


You mad at the cows, too? :lol:
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby dan » Sun Dec 24, 2017 1:49 am

I was at a work Christmas party and a group of hunters gathered around me. One of them is retired and travels around a lot hunting. I asked him if he got down south this year and he said no, but he really wanted to go to texas and shoot wild pigs, just too dang expensive. He told me most ranchers want more for you to hunt pigs than whitetail ranches up here. Might be an exaggeration, but several people in the group of Wisconsin boys said they wanted to hunt pigs in the south cause they keep hearing about the problem but its just to expensive when they looked into it....
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby Twenty Up » Sun Dec 24, 2017 8:32 am

dan wrote:I was at a work Christmas party and a group of hunters gathered around me. One of them is retired and travels around a lot hunting. I asked him if he got down south this year and he said no, but he really wanted to go to texas and shoot wild pigs, just too dang expensive. He told me most ranchers want more for you to hunt pigs than whitetail ranches up here. Might be an exaggeration, but several people in the group of Wisconsin boys said they wanted to hunt pigs in the south cause they keep hearing about the problem but its just to expensive when they looked into it....


Outfitters are seriously cashing in with the hog hunts, especially the Helicopter hunts... There's other places besides Texas, too. Whole SE is overrun

Here in South GA my farmer buddies have resorted to:
Running hog dogs
Leaving hog dogs GPS penned in certain fields
Hiring crews with thermal cameras/guns
Traps

As well as killing every hog they see while out there. But yet still they are out of control
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IkemanTx
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby IkemanTx » Sun Dec 24, 2017 2:24 pm

UntouchableNess wrote:
IkemanTx wrote:TPWD (our version of a DNR) is currently devoting those resources to researching bovine specific poisons and developing more efficient trapping techniques.


You mad at the cows, too? :lol:

Hahahahaha, I meant swine.
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Sun Dec 24, 2017 5:03 pm

dan wrote:I was at a work Christmas party and a group of hunters gathered around me. One of them is retired and travels around a lot hunting. I asked him if he got down south this year and he said no, but he really wanted to go to texas and shoot wild pigs, just too dang expensive. He told me most ranchers want more for you to hunt pigs than whitetail ranches up here. Might be an exaggeration, but several people in the group of Wisconsin boys said they wanted to hunt pigs in the south cause they keep hearing about the problem but its just to expensive when they looked into it....


That’s because the people promoting these Texas Hog Wars are the same ones selling these high dollar hunts! I have a buddy who for a livin traps hogs and sells them to these same ranchers to keep the inventory up and the hog war epidemic alive and booming. To those interested in actually hunting wild hogs most farmers who have a legit problem with hogs will grant permission to anyone who asks them. Also a lot of our public grounds are loaded with em, from what I’ve seen on public the best method is a hog push.
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby Hatchetman » Tue Apr 17, 2018 12:50 pm

Ikeman,
Anyone that you know of ever try using snares?
I would think when you'd figure out the right cable and lock set up you could take a bunch out of the program in a hurry... ??
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Wed Apr 18, 2018 2:12 pm

Some are starting to show up in west Tennessee and its illegal for us to harvest them.

Hopefully the Texas issue doesn't spread to surrounding states.
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby Wannabelikedan » Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:07 pm

Hatchetman wrote:Ikeman,
Anyone that you know of ever try using snares?
I would think when you'd figure out the right cable and lock set up you could take a bunch out of the program in a hurry... ??


Snares aren’t legal in OK and I doubt they are in TX either. One snare only catches one pig and catching them one by one is inefficient at controlling numbers. The best method I’ve seen at controlling numbers is large corral style trapping. Hogs are very social so typically you find one you find more. Remote triggered corral traps focus on catching the entire sounder. Only problem is these traps run a few grand a piece and when you factor in bait costs few can afford one or enough to do justice.

Honestly, if state agencies were really about dealing with the problem they would ban sales/transport and outlaw baiting. Stop allowing activities that hinder the whitetail and cost farmers and ranchers more dollars at the end of the day.
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IkemanTx
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby IkemanTx » Wed Apr 18, 2018 11:57 pm

Hatchetman wrote:Ikeman,
Anyone that you know of ever try using snares?
I would think when you'd figure out the right cable and lock set up you could take a bunch out of the program in a hurry... ??

The only really effective way to control a population now is trapping. The swine specific poisons are not approved for use just yet, and hunting just doesn’t get enough of the sounder. The problem with most traps is it triggers with a good portion of the sounder outside the trap, simply educating the pigs who don’t get caught.

About the best system I have seen is a remote controlled trapping system by a company called “Jager Pro”, but it is PRICEY. Not an investment a landowner can justify for one or two sounders.
https://youtu.be/85uvN5ZwvYM

One animal that is benefiting from the pig population explosion is the mountain lion (or cougar, or puma, whatever you want to call them). There have been more and more confirmed sightings back in their original ranges where they haven’t been seen in decades.
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Thu Apr 19, 2018 12:11 am

IkemanTx wrote:
Hatchetman wrote:Ikeman,
Anyone that you know of ever try using snares?
I would think when you'd figure out the right cable and lock set up you could take a bunch out of the program in a hurry... ??

The only really effective way to control a population now is trapping. The swine specific poisons are not approved for use just yet, and hunting just doesn’t get enough of the sounder. The problem with most traps is it triggers with a good portion of the sounder outside the trap, simply educating the pigs who don’t get caught.

About the best system I have seen is a remote controlled trapping system by a company called “Jager Pro”, but it is PRICEY. Not an investment a landowner can justify for one or two sounders.
https://youtu.be/85uvN5ZwvYM

One animal that is benefiting from the pig population explosion is the mountain lion (or cougar, or puma, whatever you want to call them). There have been more and more confirmed sightings back in their original ranges where they haven’t been seen in decades.

Ike, in my area dogs are the most effective thing I've seen. They set out a pack of hounds and afew catch pit bulls and really get some numbers. Even the ones they don't catch after a time or 2 of close calls move on to greenier pasture. It's a big time hobby in my area, they don't do this in your part of the state?
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IkemanTx
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby IkemanTx » Thu Apr 19, 2018 12:18 am

Boogieman1 wrote:
IkemanTx wrote:
Hatchetman wrote:Ikeman,
Anyone that you know of ever try using snares?
I would think when you'd figure out the right cable and lock set up you could take a bunch out of the program in a hurry... ??

The only really effective way to control a population now is trapping. The swine specific poisons are not approved for use just yet, and hunting just doesn’t get enough of the sounder. The problem with most traps is it triggers with a good portion of the sounder outside the trap, simply educating the pigs who don’t get caught.

About the best system I have seen is a remote controlled trapping system by a company called “Jager Pro”, but it is PRICEY. Not an investment a landowner can justify for one or two sounders.
https://youtu.be/85uvN5ZwvYM

One animal that is benefiting from the pig population explosion is the mountain lion (or cougar, or puma, whatever you want to call them). There have been more and more confirmed sightings back in their original ranges where they haven’t been seen in decades.

Ike, in my area dogs are the most effective thing I've seen. They set out a pack of hounds and afew catch pit bulls and really get some numbers. Even the ones they don't catch after a time or 2 of close calls move on to greenier pasture. It's a big time hobby in my area, they don't do this in your part of the state?


Most hog doggers here are recreational, and not effective in actual overall numbers reduction. Also, hog doggers seem to be like deer doggers in other states.... they do more ticking off surrounding landowners and hunters than anything else. With most sounders being in the 25-30 pig range minimum.... hog doggers will get 2-3 of them. They may apply pressure to certain pieces of ground causing pigs to avoid it for a couple months, but they don’t effect the numbers. They also apply a ridiculous amount of stress on the deer population. You get doggers on a place once or twice after July or August and your mature bucks will either be gone or purely nocturnal.

Heck, most of these hog doggers will castrate and release the young males hoping to eventually get to harvest it as a fat adult. That’s not very helpful.

It may sound bad.. but I have gotten to the point where I will take any and all shots I get on a pig, even if I have no plan to attempt a recovery. It is worth a lost arrow to make one die.
Go where none other dare to go, and there you'll find success.


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