Feral Pigs

[bigmike]

Originally Posted By: Lurch
Originally Posted By: Panzerman
I am about to start eliminating them.


Please call your local humane about it.


While I won't condone "eliminating" cats, calling the local humane center will do nothing. They quit trapping or coming out to residences a long time ago. If the homeowner traps it, they will come out and pick it up.

However.....

Now their role is to give the cat a rabies shot, neuter/spay the cat, and release it BACK INTO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

I know there has been a great deal of studies done as to if this is beneficial or not - our tax money at work. But, I find it ludicrous at best just judging from a common sense view.

I have trapped many cats. I think the number is well over 20 now, as well as a number of other critters. I live in the suburbs, so there's aplenty of cats. I quit once our mayor signed into law the release program. I trapped them due to them crawling and urinating on vehicles, making noise/nuisance, and my dog chasing them. None of the release program fixes these problems.

As for wild pigs, we've had several in certain areas of the city. They rut in the yards, especially looking for nuts, acorns, etc. They tear up the place. In Georgia, I've had several friends go hog hunting and they use dogs. My dog (pit mastiff) came from a line of hog hunting dogs. They're good at what they do.

 

[Shannow]

In Oz, the pigs and cats (and increasingly dog/dingo hybrids) are a real problem, from a farmer's point of view, the environment, and native species.

Pigs are hunted aggressively (oft with two dogs, and a sharpened section of hacksaw blade if they are going to be sold to the chillers for export to Europe). 30-30 is pretty popular as well.

Cats gone wild are amazing. Locally, "tabbies" have been caught weighing a lean 14Kg (30lb), the locals allegedly being age old Russian stock.

The studies show that the best management system is to catch the Tom, spay it and release it back into the herd(?), but shooting and baiting are mostly used.

 

[Lurch]

They used 2 or 3 big hound type dogs on the TV show to hunt hogs. These dogs were protected with frontal body armor type things and would bite on the hog's ears and make it squeal like crazy, then the men would grab the hog's hind legs and tie them up, then knock it over and put a knee on it to hold it down, then tie the front legs. Then they'd carry it to the truck.

If more of you saw the TV show and saw how dangerous and destructive they are, I don't think you'd feel like saving their lives. At least I don't.

 

[Shannow]

Farmers around here who allow hunters stipulate that if you see a pig, kill it. If you don't they will boot you out.

They are a real problem...

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/aerial-culling-of-8000-feral-pigs-20090706-daij.html

 

[greenaccord02]

I used to have a relative who would hunt with some baying hounds. This is where the hounds corner but do not bite the hog. He would kill the sows - if they were small enough, the meat would be retained - and he would remove the boars' testicles. The boars would be kept in a large pen for several months while he fattened them. Even the very large boars reportedly lost their gamey taste by the time they were slaughtered.

I don't go to all that trouble. If it's small enough to not taste nasty, I'll keep it. If it's not, I let the other animals take care of it. If the pickins are slim in the forest, you can even use the guts from one hog as bait for others.

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Originally Posted By: Lurch
Originally Posted By: CivicFan

Let them be. They don't bother anyone.


If you call tearing up crops, landscapes, lawns, killing pets, Lowering property value, intimidating people, making people afraid to go out onto their own property at night, threatening children, hurting humans, pooping all over the place, contaminating ponds and drinking water with anthrax, brucellosis, pseudorabies, tuberculosis, and other potentially fatal pathogens not bothering anyone, and there many other ways they bother humans that I can't think of. They can wipe out whole dairy herds just by pooping in their drinking water.

If I owned a gun and lived in the country, I'd shoot any/every one of these beasts I came across with no second thought.




People on ATV-s do the same thing. Do you propose to hunt them, too?

The fact is that we live in areas that used to be home to a lot of wildlife. We are the invaders, not them, so we should recognize this.


You missed the point. These are not a native species.

 

[Pablo]

I'm just waiting for the invite.

Have a .44 Mag lever gun. And I love pork.

 

[UncleS2]

"Let them be. They don't bother anyone."
If you believe that, you're living in a fantasy world. They seem to be losing their fear of people here.

Hogs were rooting around in our front yard recently, I suspect for leftover acorns. We have way too many around here in NE Texas, & I have a standing offer from an old family friend- if I kill one, no matter what the hour, call him & he'll come over & help me dress it out!

But the choice remains- do I use the 12 ga, or the recently recovered to the family old Sears Model 54 .30/30?

 

[Lurch]

Quote:
If you believe that, you're living in a fantasy world. They seem to be losing their fear of people here.


I think some of the repliers here have never seen the Hogs Gone Wild TV show I saw, or have ever experienced wild hogs on their property. If they had, I'd be very surprised if they'd want to protect these beasts.

 

[Lurch]

Quote:

But the choice remains- do I use the 12 ga, or the recently recovered to the family old Sears Model 54 .30/30?


I think I'd go for the .30-30.

 

[JetStar]

I agree that they must be thinned out big time. They are multiplying faster than they can be culled. They are not an indiginous species, especially with the Eurasian breeds. They are destroying the habitat for other species. Otherwise we will see those other species starve and dwindle in numbers. Can also increase the number of unwanted predators. True conservation is about mantaining a balance and these pigs are tipping the scale.
Is it humane to let the deer over-populate and starve and get hit by cars, injure people, etc... Iv'e seen that here in Indiana.

 

[greenaccord02]

If you use the 12, use slugs. Rifled slugs do pretty well in a gun with a fairly open choke. Buckshot may not give adequate penetration through the scar tissue around a boar's head and neck. They get the scar tissue from fighting each other, apparently. It's not uncommon when cleaning a large boar hog to find broadhead arrows and small caliber bullets lodged in this 'shield' area that weren't able to penetrate properly.

 

[onion]

I glanced at the title of this thread and thought it said "Federal Pigs". Thought 'this should be interesting'.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: greenaccord02
It's not uncommon when cleaning a large boar hog to find broadhead arrows and small caliber bullets lodged in this 'shield' area that weren't able to penetrate properly.


So don't swallow the crunchy bits?

I have read similar stories about large bears.

I need a new sig line: Never take advice on feral pigs from someone who lives in Silicon Valley.

 

[bigmike]

Originally Posted By: Lurch

They used 2 or 3 big hound type dogs on the TV show to hunt hogs. These dogs were protected with frontal body armor type things and would bite on the hog's ears and make it squeal like crazy, then the men would grab the hog's hind legs and tie them up, then knock it over and put a knee on it to hold it down, then tie the front legs. Then they'd carry it to the truck.

If more of you saw the TV show and saw how dangerous and destructive they are, I don't think you'd feel like saving their lives. At least I don't.



That's how they do it. Around here, they mostly use pit mastiffs, or similar breeds. Basically a pit bull mixed with a mastiff, but it can be an American bulldog, etc. They're actually called Bandogges, which is what my dog is. Mostly males, ranging from 90-130 pounds. Many dogs get hurt or can be killed, but they're tough as nails. The hunts I've seen or heard of usually use several dogs, but I've known a few guys that only use dogs in tandems where the dogs pin the hog down by the ears.

Some hunters use only knives or blunt force trauma, others use rifles or handguns to kill them. Any of those seem to work fairly well. Whatever kills them quickly would be the best, I'd think, for the sake of the dog's safety.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Feral Pigs - Wild Hogs can create problems in America and Western countries. I bet China and many countries in Asia have no problem with Feral Pig or Wild Hog. They just simply eat them all and any other wild animal.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: greenaccord02
It's not uncommon when cleaning a large boar hog to find broadhead arrows and small caliber bullets lodged in this 'shield' area that weren't able to penetrate properly.


I need a new sig line: Never take advice on feral pigs from someone who lives in Silicon Valley.


Houston is not in Silicon Valley.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Feral Pigs - Wild Hogs can create problems in America and Western countries. I bet China and many countries in Asia have no problem with Feral Pig or Wild Hog. They just simply eat them all and any other wild animal.


Not true, even Hong Kong has wild boars causing trouble in the rural area.

 

[Volvo_ST1]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear


Not true, even Hong Kong has wild boars causing trouble in the rural area.



That looks like a boar in trouble and not like a boar causing trouble. Why didn't they kill the boar if he's such a menace?

 

[Tim]

I have 80 remote acres in Ozark County and I have trail cam pics of 300 pounders!

I have one pic with over 1,000 pounds of pork in it!

I will be up in March to cut wood on my easement. At night, I will put away the chainsaw and grab the rifle!

MO has billboards on the interstate regarding the wild hog problem. They are hoping to avoid it getting as bad as Texas.

My son killed a huge boar last year in TX with his Hornet. Slipped the bullet under the shield and caught the heart. If he had hit the shield, the boar would have been slightly annoyed.