Author Topic: Discouraging or Incouraging? (Read 1833 times)

Land_Owner · « **on:** June 21, 2009, 01:28:24 AM »

I have not seen a hog at my place since late November 2008. While sitting on stand through early 2009 deer hunting and March/April turkey hunting seasons, I could hear hogs on the 20 acres to the east of me and wondered why they wouldn't eventually wander over. Friday night I found out why.

Friday night, with tractor key in hand, I locked myself out of my truck with the cell phone inside. But I disced the fields first under the afternoon threat of more rain.

To find a phone I jumped the fence and headed to the neighbor's home, which I have not visited in years. Turning the corner near their house I see four hog pens approximately 60' x 60' in total and 20 or so hogs of varying sizes. The lady of the house says they are domestic pigs raised from farm brood. They look just like the pigs I shoot in the wild.

She tells me the local butcher would not touch them for slaughter calling them "feral" and that they could not convince the butcher otherwise. Now I wonder whether the man is trapping them and if so, is that keeping the others from approaching the area?

Ordinarily, that would not seem so bad to this deer hunter. However, I have grown to like year round hog hunting and miss that opportunity when the deer/turkey seasons close.

Dee · « **Reply #1 on:** June 21, 2009, 01:56:26 AM »

I suspect he's trappin'em. I don't know particularly what your feral hogs look like in Fla. but here in North Central Texas, they don't look anything like domestic other than some color variations. Here some are black, some red, some spotted, some even have a Hamp strip across their shoulders but, not many.
I have read articles of boars and sows hanging around domestic pens I suppose for the company, or wanting to breed. I haven't personally seen this, but it makes sense.
Sounds to me, like your neighbor may be "intercepting" your hog hunting, and maybe SELLING those hogs to canned hunt ranches

, and coverin his tracks with hunters like you. Maybe, maybe not. Is it legal to transport feral hogs in your state?
Per his butcher, there are a myriad of diseases feral hogs carry, with sudo rabies just being one. I would not gut a feral hog without rubber gloves on, but in the last few years I wouldn't a deer either. I mean you can get tape worms by eating under cooked beef cattle.

Land_Owner · « **Reply #2 on:** June 22, 2009, 11:17:49 AM »

They all look like feral hogs to me, which is what the butcher probably said. I suspect the neighbor pens the hogs in 3/4 of the area, opens the remaining 1/4, liberally sewn with corn, and awaits the new comers from the neighborhood. How his "closure system" works is still a mystery to me. I didn't get to investigate the fencing.

In one respect, that isn't so bad to this long time deer hunter. Perhaps the hogs will leave the plots alone and some acorns for the deer. But I do miss the opportunity to shoot and eat good hogs.

45-70.gov · « **Reply #3 on:** June 22, 2009, 11:33:51 AM »

once they wonder onto his property they are his
same as when they wonder onto you land shoot or trap up to you

maybe the pigs you saw were his that escaped and went back home
we can open the gate and have a canned hunt of our own if you want

also his sows in heat may bring in some action

we now have pigs on amilia island....cant wait for them to scare a tourist

rickt300 · « **Reply #4 on:** July 16, 2009, 07:13:28 AM »

If there are hogs that close then I believe you could attract them by filling barrel hog toys ith soured corn. Actually I sour the corn in the barrels. Take a 30 gallon plastic drum, drill three 5/8ths or 1/2 inch holes around the top, fill 1/2 to 3/4th full with corn then cover with water to about 4 inches from the holes and put the plug back in. It will sour a lot quicker if you pour a cheap beer in. Take the old handle off the barrel and wire a ring in the hole. Use a big clip on swivel head, 3 foot or so of chain, then another swivel head with a ring 3 or so inches across to put over a T post. I usually before transporting the barrel pour some of the sour corn juice into containers with good lids to keep the juice from spilling into my truck upon loading and to make the barrel lighter. I also use the juice on regular corn out of the bag poured in selected places. I get back to the cabin, play poker for a couple hours and sneak up on the barrels and corn/juice baited spots, then back to poker etc. I believe a hungry hog can smell soured corn for 1/2 a mile.

Land_Owner · « **Reply #5 on:** July 16, 2009, 09:48:33 AM »

I have a concern that the area hogs were previously wild and "naturally" occurring. They were not pen raised or penned so that they ate continually of their own filth.

Any hogs that escape the pens, they all look alike to me, probably are not going to be as clean nor the meat as nice as before when they had plenty of places to roam and find food. I won't know until I shoot one, take it apart, and maybe even then not really know until it is cooked and an attempt is made to eat it.

Lotta hard work by that point in time to discover a bad tasting pig.

rem700-3 · « **Reply #6 on:** July 17, 2009, 03:11:46 AM »

I can assure you that the things your wild hogs ate is as bad or worse than what they will at in a pen. Hogs will eat what ever they find in the woods but the preferred food in rotten maggot filled meat. Kill a coyote and leave it somewhere with hogs and watch it, They wont touch it till the hair falls off and the maggots are visible and then it will be eaten quickly!!!!!!!!!!

rickt300 · « **Reply #7 on:** July 17, 2009, 05:28:31 AM »

In north Texas where I hunt hogs the ratio of edible pigs to non edible is around 5 good ones to one bad one. There are some pigs too nasty to even handle much less gut and skin.

Oldshooter · « **Reply #8 on:** July 17, 2009, 05:32:38 AM »

I can see that this thread is gonna ruin my love of bacon sammiches!

rem700-3 · « **Reply #9 on:** July 20, 2009, 02:42:37 AM »

Quote from: rickt300 on July 17, 2009, 05:28:31 AM

In north Texas where I hunt hogs the ratio of edible pigs to non edible is around 5 good ones to one bad one. There are some pigs too nasty to even handle much less gut and skin.

I would say its about the same here in Alabama. Some smell so bad I just leave them laying where I shoot them. They love to roll in rotting flesh.

Oldshooter · « **Reply #10 on:** July 20, 2009, 08:24:41 AM »

In Junction where we hunt there is a "bone yard" where we drop heads and bones and skins. It has the smell of death! but when we go there to hunt the axis and hogs we stake out the bone yard from a 60 ft cliff and when they come for the guts(and sweet and sour corn) we get em in across fire. 2 or 3 with rifles on the cliff and 1 or 2 in the brush with shotguns. when we shoot from the cliff they run for the brush where the shotgunners have a field day. We keep em thinned out and the rancher loves it ! Spread a little wet sour corn with grape koolaide in it and you have to kill em to keep em out! We clean and eat the little uns the big uns we leave in the bone yard!

Mohawk · « **Reply #11 on:** July 20, 2009, 04:13:38 PM »

It isn't really a big deal. Rabbits eat there own feces for nutrition and they are still good eating.

Dee · « **Reply #12 on:** July 26, 2009, 08:17:39 AM »

Quote from: Mohawk on July 20, 2009, 04:13:38 PM

It isn't really a big deal. Rabbits eat there own feces for nutrition and they are still good eating.

Farther than that, a doe rabbit in short supply of protein will eat its own babies, when its feeder is full of feed.

Land_Owner · « **Reply #13 on:** July 27, 2009, 11:51:01 AM »

If we knew what goes on in the kitchens of most fancy resturants, we would probably never eat in public again!

I am not gonna stop killing and eating hogs from the neighborhood.

fl.hillbilly · « **Reply #14 on:** October 12, 2009, 03:18:32 PM »

Yeah he s probably trapping them to sell ,most likely to one of the local "trophy" hunt ranches or he can sell them to individuals . Most butchers wont touch wild hogs because of the diseases than can carry . They wont risk losing their processing license over it . If they will process the meat they will label it "not for re sale .
Just my 2 cents

Land_Owner · « **Reply #15 on:** October 13, 2009, 02:25:11 PM »

I don't think my neighbor has found an outlet for his trapped hogs. I would not mind him selling them to "Trophy" hunt ranches. More power to him. I think taking some of them out of the neighborhood is a ggod thing, especially for my food plots, which today are getting hammered by hogs and torn up! So, he has not trapped all of them yet...

rickt300 · « **Reply #16 on:** October 14, 2009, 07:30:47 AM »

There was a guy in Jermyn, Tx that was buying ferals and selling them to Asian resturaunts (spelling?). Very popular with the Vietnamese. He however quit for some reason.

HL · « **Reply #17 on:** October 21, 2009, 03:03:42 AM »

I don't know the game laws in other states, but you can not legally transport feral hogs in Texas, unless it's to the sale for slaughter. If you get caught unloading feral hogs after transport, the fines are pretty excessive.

Especially where they are bad here, I would imagine if neighbors that are having their crops destroyed by these hogs, saw someone unloading a bunch of feral hogs on the place next to theirs, there would probably be some trouble. they're just too big of a problem here, but tasty~!

jmayton · « **Reply #18 on:** October 23, 2009, 01:55:48 PM »

We have a couple of people around Llano county that will buy trapped ferals and ship them up north to be butchered. Apparently, people in Minnesota love "Texas Wild Boar." Apologies to any Minnesotans reading this. Most of the one's I've eaten have been just fine if they are done right.

HL · « **Reply #19 on:** October 26, 2009, 02:23:31 AM »

jmayton,

Isn't there a place in Cherokee that buys the hogs? At least that's what I was told by some guys over in San Saba County.

These guys told me that the big nasty boars were bringing near 50cents/pound and were being butchered and sent to Europe, where they apparently like the strong wild taste.

jmayton · « **Reply #20 on:** October 26, 2009, 05:33:01 AM »

I don't know about Cherokee, I heard it was San Saba, but certainly in San Saba county either way. There was a guy in Art that was paying a bit more and would take the little ones. Someone reported the other day that prices had gone down to about 20 cents a pound for the big ones. There was a time when they were bringing the 50 cents a pound but not right now. I also hadn't heard about the meat being shipped to Europe, but I wouldn't doubt it.

rickt300 · « **Reply #21 on:** October 29, 2009, 05:19:04 AM »

The guy in Jermyn isback in business. I saw his sign back up last weekend.