The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

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IkemanTx
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The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby IkemanTx » Sun Apr 03, 2016 9:10 am

http://www.wideopencountry.com/texas-lo ... paign=TxHC

Just a bit of perspective on how bad our biggest vermin has gotten. Scariest statistic in there... 7 of 10 pigs must be killed ANNUALLY to halt the growth of the population.

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

Unread postby IkemanTx » Sun Apr 03, 2016 9:14 am

Pretty big factor in fawn recruitment as well.
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby matt1336 » Sun Apr 03, 2016 10:17 am

Wow, is that bottom pic one of a Texas pig? Living in WI, I can't really fathom how big of an issue those pigs are and why they're so hard to control.

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

Unread postby IkemanTx » Sun Apr 03, 2016 10:47 am

Their gestation period is 114 days, so that's just shy of 3 litters a year if you include some down time between litters. Each litter can easily be as high as 12 piglets. So That's going from 1 pregnant sow to 37 pigs in just over a calendar year (including the original sow).
Oh, and by the time momma is on her third litter, her female piglets from the first one are already breeding age.

Assuming 50% of births are females, and 50% overall recruitment of young, a single sow can turn into 145 pigs (including the original sow) in 6 litter cycles (just over 2 years), 55 of those would be breeding age sows

Now obviously, hunters keep this rate slower than the "possible" math. but if even a small fraction of their breeding potential is realized, an area can get absolutely overrun and destroyed pretty quickly.
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby matt1336 » Sun Apr 03, 2016 11:05 am

Wow. That's like an all out war. Outfitters make people pay to shoot those things? It sounds like there should be a bounty and other incentives for outa staters like myself to travel south an throw some lead at some pigs

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

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Sun Apr 03, 2016 11:07 am

That is amazing! I can see how it almost seems like an impossible task. Is it bad enough that private landowners will let hunters on? Or is it all pay to play?

Texas should bring in some Wisconsin wolves to help out. :lol:

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

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Sun Apr 03, 2016 1:08 pm

Our Texas pigs would eat those wolves :). I see 50-100 pigs for just about every deer I see in a lot of spots. Its gotten crazy for sure. I've been charged twice already this year.

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

Unread postby headgear » Sun Apr 03, 2016 1:59 pm

Wolves take down moose and elk without too much trouble, I can't imagine a pig putting up that big of a fight. Now if there are 100 of them it could get interesting but it might be worth an effort. Do these pigs have any natural predators?
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby IkemanTx » Sun Apr 03, 2016 3:26 pm

headgear wrote:Wolves take down moose and elk without too much trouble, I can't imagine a pig putting up that big of a fight. Now if there are 100 of them it could get interesting but it might be worth an effort. Do these pigs have any natural predators?

No, no predators after the early infant stage. And they do more damage in the environment they decimate than they do on fawn recruitment. They have a tendency of taking over and destroying any good bedding near water. Deer just won't tolerate their presence. Once hogs move into an area, deer either change their patterns drastically of vacate for a while.

Edit: they also do a number on pastures and crops. It isn't unusual for them to ruin a half acre or more of crops/pasture in a night. Try driving a tractor through some of the holes they root. You could tip one over if you aren't too careful.
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Last edited by IkemanTx on Sun Apr 03, 2016 3:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Sun Apr 03, 2016 3:27 pm

You missed the :). Wolves would not put a dent in the herds. Coyotes, bobcats do take out the small ones but once they get to 150# plus they don't have much that gets them down except hounds and hunters. The problem with pigs is how many each sow produces each year.

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

Unread postby IkemanTx » Sun Apr 03, 2016 3:40 pm

You know it is bad when you can literally shoot them out of helicopters with fully automatic weapons with night vision/thermal at night....
Any caliber, any method, any time of year, and colleges are getting state funding to develop swine specific poisons.
All of this, and we are still easily losing against the population spread.

They are 150-250 lb Norwegian Rats. (Historically speaking)

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

Unread postby hunter_mike » Mon Apr 04, 2016 1:12 am

That is terrible i hope we never get hogs.

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

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Mon Apr 04, 2016 1:17 am

The other white meat:)

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

Unread postby cbigbear » Mon Apr 04, 2016 2:04 am

Ground resembles a bomb attack after hogs.
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Re: The Texas Hog Wars... We're losing

Unread postby Stanley » Mon Apr 04, 2016 5:27 am

:o
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.


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