buckeye dan said:
GG
Are there seasons or bag limits for hogs? I have read so many horror stories about how destructive they are to natural habitat. We have a very small population in a few isolated pockets here in Ohio. The ODNR wants full and complete eradication of them before they get a foot hold in our forests and farm lands. I have never seen one but they are dangerously close to my hunting lands. If they manage to spread to my area I plan on shooting every single one I see. The fact I have never seen one leads me to believe we have the problem in check I hope.
I was just curious how Texas viewed hogs.
Texas has 3 million hogs and 2 million of them are wild. They do not ever have a limit on hogs as they are catagorized as exotic (non native) We hunt them 365 days and nights a year, any weapon you want, and a friend of mine who was a state legislator helped pass a bill that stated you didn't even have to posess a hunting license to harvest them unless it was a commercial hunt. Parks & Wildlife sure didn't like that, so they worded in their regulations something different so I told her about it and she sic'ed them. There point was if the approached someone shooting after dark, they wanted to be able and ask for ID. So, in Texas, anything goes with wild hogs.
The original bloodlines imported were Russian or European, but of course they cross bred with domestic hogs and no bloodlines are pure anymore. People let their hogs rome free for the most part in the old days, so of course there were ferral hogs. They're like dogs about coming home and checking in. The discoverers of America brought some with them, and then the King ranch imported them into south Texas for their hunting operation in the early 1900's. That's why we have so many here, and in Florida. There's also no good way to keep hogs penned up since they are a very strong animal, and use the snouts to work things. Example: I have a female 500 lb hog that was caught and I raised for the past 6 years. I keep her feed in a metal trashcan with a bungee cord ( rope, wire, etc) across the lid, and all tied to a post. If I neglect to feed her, she destroys the trashcan by beating it with her head until it rips the seam open or the lid shifts and treats it like a Pinata. She will not go hungry! So, if I'm gone hunting and I don't feed her to her liking, she takes care of it herself. Much better than a dog will do. Occasionally, I find the feed barrel in the pasture where she's broke the wire from the post and rolled it to the pasture trying to get it opened, and she does always. I always have a large tank with water because if she gets thirsty or hot, she'll be out the fence or the gate into the river. I live on a river. What keeps her in check with that is she's scared to go to new areas alone. Sows run together in groups, where boars run solo as they are too mean to be with others. If a boar is in a group of hogs, it's because one of the sows is in season. He'll only be with them till she's over it, then they ditch him quick! He takes over everything including all the food sources. Where the term "Men are pigs" came from. Have no doubt that she can be just as mean when she wants to be bred. I have trouble with mine chasing men when she's in season. We call it "Piggys in her mood" and everyone has to be aware of her for a day or two.
( which happened to be this past Sunday and my nap was rudely interrupted by my 28 year old step son banging on my back door to get me to call the pig off of him while he was working on his boat.)
They are treacherous on fences. Can't fence them in, can't fence them out. They can be a very determined animal. PIG HEADED, another term you could say came from that source. Texans do not like wild hogs, but they aren't going anywhere. Why I hunt for free offering hog removal services in a state where hunting always cost you money, unlike Ohio. I'd say to the lawmakers concerning hogs everywhere, No limits, no seasons. Shoot on site.
