TEXAS IS STILL LOSING THE WAR ON FERAL HOGS

[Lloyd Smale]

farm we crop damage shoot on ran into the same thing. For a while they were letting anyone who wanted to shoot deer to do it. They said they tore up fields. left dead deer in the field because they wouldnt put effort into finding them and theyd end up with carcasses and bones in there potato picking machine. They would shoot  bucks when only does are allowed and even trophy bucks. Basically it was hard for them to find someone responsible and with respect so they stopped it all together for a couple years. Today its just my buddy and I and they wont let anyone else even shoot one deer. If a friend wants a deer they ask us to shoot one for them but even thats rare. Yup it seems to the uniformed that they should be letting the public shoot them but that can be worse then even the damage the pigs cause. I dont blame them a bit. quote author=Dee link=topic=292512.msg1099783233#msg1099783233 date=1628808710]

Most of the Hogs in Texas on Private?

Do the Land Owners Let People on to the Land to Kill Hogs?  Or do They Gotta get Paid to let People Hunt?

They used to, but disrespectful hunter broke'em of the habit. They drive on planted crops, leave gates open, dump trash, play on planted crops on four wheelers, and shoot anything moving, including horses, cows, goats,  sheep, farmers stock dogs, pets, and even each other.
Also, anyone injured on private property can sue the owner, regardless of who is at fault, and regardless whether they had permission to be there.
And that doesn't include crossing fence lines onto property where hunting isn't allowed.
[/quote]

[oldandslow]

We don't have them here. They aren't tough enough to endure the conditions we have. Hogs can't sweat and without some means of keeping cool in high heat they will die. We don't have any shade for them, no water sources for them to cool off in, and just grass to eat so no hogs. I am glad we don't. I have seen exactly 4 hogs that I knew were feral in my life and they were in Lynn County, TX. It was a very quick sighting when I pulled up to a little two track road thru some salt cedars and mesquites that surround the spring at the head of Hackberry Draw and they were in the middle of the track. I just had enough time to see they were hogs and they were gone.

[Dee]

I've killed many a big hog and drug them out of a crop planted to a fence row. Took a box cutter and opened the hide up so the coyotes, coons, and possums would have an easier time of it.
Once they get past 200 lbs the meat can be iffy. If you can smell'em (musky) we let the animals have'em.
They are a shoot on sight varmint.

Another oddity is a sow can start littering at 6 months old. She may have 2 litters a year. In a bad year the litters might be 3 or 4, and in a good year with a good  food supply might bring 12 or 13 piglets, TWICE that year.
If something happens to a sow with a litter, another wet sow will let her piglets suck.
In my  part of Texas the average life span of a feral hog is about 6 years. If a sow has an average year every year of her life, she can produce almost 100 offspring. If she has good habitat that number will go way over 100, and her offspring will do the same.

People that don't live here, don't understand the situation. These hogs aren't just destructive to the land, and wildlife.
They are usually nocturnal, their wilder and smarter than a deer, and will get in brush hog dogs, and hunters have a hard time in, or can't get in at all.
I used to GIVE Jack Russell males to guys that ran Black Mouth Curs with Pitbull catchers. In thick brush a big boar will kill a pitbull or cur, but they couldn't catch the Jack Russell, and the little Jacks won't let up.
The hunters claimed those little Jack Russells saved many a good hog dog in the brush.

[Ranger99]

If they have any smell at all
leave em lay or drag em off
for the buzzards
I've had people tell me about
this or that way to save hog meat
for cooking, and none of the
magic potions work, not for me
That menstrual smell is still there.
It's some beautiful meat sometimes,
but if you can smell it it's just not
worth the effort
Me and a buddy cleaned up a 60
quart cooler full of beautiful boneless
hog meat from an absolute hog
slaughterfest one year at a deer
lease, and the whole batch smelled
worse than a cooler full of feminine
products. Not to mention the extra
difficulty skinning and deboning
the things.
They're fun and all that, but just
for a while. When you have to fix
what a few of them tear up, it's
not fun anymore

[DDZ]

I remember a story of a woman that was attacked and killed by wold hogs in Texas a while ago. 

I know here in Pa the state has been spending lots of money to stop wold hogs from multiplying in the state. I haven't seen any here, but they are in parts of the state.

[Ranger99]

If they're not in your region, give a
sincere prayer of thanks

[DDZ]

If they're not in your region, give a
sincere prayer of thanks

From what I have read about their destruction they cause. I'm glad they are not here, but I fear its only a matter of time before they are.

[Ranger99]

People don't/won't shoot em
Coyotes in east Texas were rare
until around the mid 1950's
Now they're everywhere
Nobody wants to trap or shoot them

[DDZ]

I wouldn't mind having some hogs around here to shoot. Although I don't want them around here because it sounds like they can't be controlled by shooting them.  I think they would be more fun to hunt and shoot than ground hogs.  There are some yotes around here, but they have a knack for staying out of sight. Only time I see them is on trail cam photos. Shot one once in deer season. It came out of a thicket at daylight and sat down in the field about 150 yards from me.  It was a nice big one with a nice pelt. I got the hide tanned and its hanging on my wall. 
I have a couple buddies used to go to Ohio to a reserve and pay to shoot a hog. I never had the want to shell out money to shoot a hog. I always told them I could buy pork that was already butchered , tasted better, and was cheaper than what they paid to shoot a tough old pig out there.   

[oldandslow]

Considering what I read about them they can't be controlled at all. They are like coyotes which despite all man's efforts to eradicate them are thriving and extending their range.

[Dee]

The American Indian says the coyote will be the last animal on the planet.

White folks say it will be the cockroach.

[Ranger99]

Depends on who and which
Some say that grandfather coyote
is the messenger and will pass
on wisdom if you know how to listen
Some others say coyote is a
trickster, trying to distract and
fool the mind while the evil sneaks
in from behind

[oldandslow]

The American Indian says the coyote will be the last animal on the planet.

White folks say it will be the cockroach.

It just might turn out to be the lowly hog. Hogs are very intelligent and can eat about anything and get by.

[Land_Owner]

If I find any ground hugging snake on my land (i.e. garter, black, indigo, pigmy-timber-diamond rattler, red-yellow rat, coral, etc.), then I know I have no hogs.  Hog noses can locate the snake musk, which they eradicate like cotton candy.  There were times when I was concerned about driving my equipment in fields as the many irregular holes they dig while rooting for food could easily break a tractor axle.  I shoot them in the head and they are DRT. 

The meat in a 200# pig that has eaten a smidgen of whole kernel corn (yeah I know that is encouraging them) over about a 2 week period loses the grey mesentery in its viscera, which is replaced by a thin yellow layer of fat, and the meat is quite good to eat - provided you drop them in their tracks.  Hogs straight off of the flood plain, meh, the meat isn't as good, with a sort of muddy taste since they eat a lot of dirt, but is still edible.  I would have deer if there were no pigs, coyotes, bear, cougars, or poachers.  In the meantime, I'll take what I can get and I have passed on pigs while hunting deer. 

Like habitat, food conditions vary greatly.  Here there is abundant omnivore food and a rich and diverse riverine habitat.  TX, IDK, but certainly a different habitat and food source, so the meat will vary.  None here EVER found with worms, sores, or diseased (by eye - microscopic notwithstanding). 

After 30+ years of hunting them on small acreage, and eating them, I'm still standing!