Wild hogs rooting up KY. This is only about an hr from me.

[powderman]

Wild pigs rooting up big problems; people trucking them into Ky. to hunt         by Chelsea Rabideau WHAS11.com Posted on January 12, 2012 at 6:11 PM
Updated yesterday at 8:16 PM        BETHLEHEM, Ky. (WHAS11) -- As Randy Kelley looks over his land, he can’t believe the damage. Herds of wild pigs have torn up his farmland, leaving a mess behind.
Here’s the problem with wild pigs in a nutshell: they damage land and they spread disease to animals and people.
“This is an animal that we don’t want to manage, as a game species. We want the animal gone," said Steven Dobey of the state Fish and Wildlife Department.
Wild pigs are not native to Ky. Biologists say people are trucking them into the state and releasing them into the wild, hoping to hunt them later. Dobey says two people were prosecuted last year for doing just that.
Now, the pig population is soaring into the thousands across the state.
“They’re tough to estimate, only because their reproduction is phenomenal,” said Dobey.
Kelley caught the pigs rooting up his farmland at night. He has pictures of the pigs from a trail camera he set up. The pigs are costing him time and money.
“Like I said, it’s getting old. I spent $1500 liming this and then I spent probably $300 reseeding back where they were and now, here it is again,” said Kelley.
Randy says the state helped him set a trap to draw the pigs in, but pigs are smart. Once a pig is trapped, the rest of the herd moves on to new land.
“Because of the reproduction potential of these animals, management action needs to be taken quickly and that primarily means going in and establishing an intensive trapping routine. These corral type traps where the pigs walk in and trigger a door that closes and then we can catch large numbers at one time,” said Dobey.
Dobey also wants to remind people that it is legal to kill wild pigs in the state of Ky.
Bernheim Forest, just about 20 miles south of Louisville, has been trapping the wild pigs for a couple of years now. Their success is being studied by others in an effort to stop the problem from growing.
Click on the video player above to see WHAS11's Chelsea Rabideau with more.

[Conan The Librarian]

See if you can hunt them. It's fun. Should not be done alone. Meat can be very good. Take the smaller ones, like about 150 pounds for best flavor and texture. Use a repeating arm instead of a single shot.

[GeneRector]

   Howdy! It ought to be a crime for anyone to bring in hogs and let them go anywhere in the state. Once hogs get established, you can't seem to trap or shoot enough of them to make a big impact. Hogs will eat almost anything. As long as there is a water source and a food source, there will be hogs. Here in Texas people have hunted, trapped, and shot hogs so much for so long that it is not "fun" anymore. The only good thing that happened during our drought was that water sources in some places were scarce and thus the hogs moved on to where they could find water. I hope your state, Kentucky, takes the hog problem very seriously and takes action to stop the invasion.  Always, Gene
 
 

[rdmallory]

Now, the pig population is soaring into the thousands across the state.

I wonder where they are getting this information?
I know about 10 guys that would love to help with the problem but can't find a place to hunt. I have contacted forrest rangers around the major wildlife areas and was told it has been years since they have seen a wild hog.

We have been going out west shooting prairie dogs in the past but most of the larger towns were killed off last year by the plague. Tribal land you now have to pay for a "guide" to hunt which can get expensive fast.

There are a few places we found yo can pay to hunt "wild" hogs but if you do the research they are pen raised and turned loose before the hunt. Or they are in a fenced "containment area" and fed daily. Kind of like fishing in a rain barrel.

Doug

[Rock Home Isle]

We were planning a hog hunt to Texas for this spring, but with the drought....looks like the hunting will be a bust.
 
Kentucky???...That might be an option. 

[Conan The Librarian]

RDMallory:
 
Excellent point! That's exactly the experience I had when it was reported that there's a hog crisis in Wisconsin. I did some checking and nobody wanted people hunting on their land. My checking wasn't casual either.
 
About the fence hunts, I think they're a great way for a beginner to learn some basic hunting skills and have some success. So they have a good place for that.

[powderman]

I've seen no evidence of them close to me. Where they are trapping them is about 60 miles or so as the crow flies from me. Don't want them here. POWDERMAN. 

[rockbilly]

Left alone they will take over, they breed so fast it’s very hard to stay ahead of the game and keep them at a manageable level.  Soon you will see a marked reduction in your wild turkey and quail population, the deer will also be a target as then eat the fawns as well as domestic animal young.

I shoot and/or trap all I can off my place but my problem is neighbors.  There is a large property (about 3800 acres) adjoining mine on the North as well as a 900 acre  heavily wooded area on the West where NO HUNTING is ALLOWED, they seem to seek these areas out and cross onto my place at night and root and mess up the creek.

My advice, try to rid Kentucky of the pigs as quickly as possible!!!!!. 

[Conan The Librarian]

Here in Minnesota we have canada geese as a major pest specie. We call them sky carp or sky rats. It's illegal to harass them in any way, so every golf course and park you go to is covered with goose waste.
 
 

[BUGEYE]

according to the old farmers almanac, you have to kill 75% of them to keep the population static.
and if hoof-and-mouth disease ever gets into pigs, it will be impossible to eradicate it.

[powderman]

WE haven't been to Bernheim for about 3 years now, time for another visit come spring. We usually go there every fall for all the beautiful colors. Lots of things to see. They charge on the weekend so we go thru the week for free. Usually take a couple of sandwiches and eat in the park by a creek or wherever else strikes our fancy. Sorry to see they are there now. POWDERMAN. 

[dukkillr]

Here in Minnesota we have canada geese as a major pest specie. We call them sky carp or sky rats. It's illegal to harass them in any way, so every golf course and park you go to is covered with goose waste.

I've never heard "Sky Carp" or simply "Carp" refer to anything other than snow geese...  Grew up hunting near Squaw Creek in Northwest Missouri, one of the peak stops in their migration... They would be overhead all day, and when you closed your eyes at night to go to sleep you could hear them behind your eyes...
 
Picked up 500 carp decoys yesterday... Done the spring thing a few times over the years with friends, but never had my own spread, until now...

[Spirithawk]

Here in Southern Missouri they have become a real problem. I'm only about 35 miles from the Arkasas line and they too are having issues. Both states want them gone. It's a shoot on sight, no license needed situation in both states. Any hog without an ear tag is fair game!