Hogs in west tn.

[JimFromTN]

Not allowed around here for hogs. Only deer and they are very strict about the rules for those. Shame too! Hog Lobby???? Chinese???? Maybe some Senator is all in on pork bellies,l and has to keep the price up???? None of us will ever know.
Ya Know, on second thought it might simply be that they don't want anyone to find out we could do good and help people with guns. Wow, that would be a shocker if it got out.

Between the wild hogs and asian carp, no one should be going hungry in this country.

Ironically, you mention pork bellies when allot of this started as a result of pork bellies tanking and people releasing their hogs because they could not get enough money for them to pay for the cost of feeding them.

 

[TBell]

Not allowed around here for hogs. Only deer and they are very strict about the rules for those. Shame too! Hog Lobby???? Chinese???? Maybe some Senator is all in on pork bellies,l and has to keep the price up???? None of us will ever know.
Ya Know, on second thought it might simply be that they don't want anyone to find out we could do good and help people with guns. Wow, that would be a shocker if it got out.

I suspect you speaking of donations of the meat? But if you got the Hogs, introducing others to hunting is always a good option. Especially for folks that just can't picture of them selves shooting a sweet little deer, hogs are pretty ugly and a lot less likely to have that stigma of poor little animal. Get them hooked and even the deer will be easier for them.

 

[justinp61]

We don't have hogs yet, but I'm sure we will, they are in the far western counties (KY) and southern LBL. I would like to hunt them but I'm not willing to pay to help eliminate someone else's problem. To me it would be like paying to hunt cull deer.

 

[snox801]

Well once hogs are established in tenn. or well enough in KY I may have a reason. To buy some land in those parts

 

[Big pumpkin]

No, really you missed what I was saying. I'm just not mad enough at them to kill them in the first place anymore unless for the freezer. I've killed so much in my life it just isn't there anymore. I let deer walk constantly just because I don't want to load it, clean and butcher it. I will get in a stand and just enjoy the show. Ducks and geese I still shoot, the kids don't mind cleaning them and they beg me to cook them. Believe me I've killed my share and a whole lot of other folks' share too. I'm almost 64 years old and tired. I'm getting to where I'd just assume shoot clay birds and steel. Just as satisfying anymore and when you put the guns up, you're done. You kill all you want.

No, really you missed what I was saying. I'm just not mad enough at them to kill them in the first place anymore unless for the freezer. I've killed so much in my life it just isn't there anymore. I let deer walk constantly just because I don't want to load it, clean and butcher it. I will get in a stand and just enjoy the show. Ducks and geese I still shoot, the kids don't mind cleaning them and they beg me to cook them. Believe me I've killed my share and a whole lot of other folks' share too. I'm almost 64 years old and tired. I'm getting to where I'd just assume shoot clay birds and steel. Just as satisfying anymore and when you put the guns up, you're done. You kill all you want.

I hear you on this. I'm 62 and have enjoyed hunting since I was 10. I too, dont feel like killing all the time
I really enjoy the scenery and watching the animals when out in the woods. My freezer sure can use some venison this fall though

 

[snox801]

Like I've stated before on here it's hard to hear farmers complain about crop damage when plenty of people like myself are will to spend our time and money to hunt them. But seems they win either way.
Charge hunters an arm and a leg to hunt and help or they claim the lose and the government pays them for lost crops which is ideal because they get market value without having to spend the time or money harvesting the crop.
Years ago in this forum farmers I was asking kept saying no. To much risk they said for damaged items on land. So I offered to purchase a 1 million dollar insurance policy for accidentally shooting livestock or equipment. The conversation abruptly stopped as they had no other excuses.
Just easier to complain and collect tax payer dollars for damaged crops. Then how many more thousands under the table for hunters.

 

[Pro2A]

I may be in the minority on this, but I enjoy having a healthy population of hogs. I'm at a stage in my life where it's all about the kids. Gettin kids involved in hunting. And kids love action. They can shoot a hog every time they see one. Not so much with deer and turkey. So if there's plenty of hogs, that means plenty of targets…..year round. And if their population gets a little to high, my circle and I along with our thermal equipment can decimate, or practically eliminate, if we so choose, the local population.
Win. Win.

Au contraire. Ole Hog Breath. Please share with all how feral hog populations increase the quality of your own personal properties.....your pastures, your crop lands, your wildlife habit. We would so enjoy to be enlightened. Reality consistently proves that hunters do not "decimate, practically eliminate," hog populations. I challenge you to show proof otherwise. Conservation Departments would appreciate your wisdom of such. Hunting pressure rapidly educates and spreads feral hog populations. They are the rabbits of the bovine world with explosive breeding habits. Great for hunting opportunities, but disastrous for the land and other valuable species. Many Texas and OK land owners would like to see a hunting season on hog hunters. Were it politically correct, Missouri Conservation Dept would sorely appreciate that, as hog hunters are the bane of their efforts to protect lpublic and private lands from feral hog devastation.

 

[JimFromTN]

Well once hogs are established in tenn. or well enough in KY I may have a reason. To buy some land in those parts

They were all over the plateau around Monterey and Jamestown. I have heard some people say they killed over 200 hogs in a single year. I don't know if its still that way but I came across this article saying TWRA has beat them back through trapping

Wild hogs used to be a problem in Tennessee, here’s why they aren’t anymore

Wild hogs are not native to Tennessee, but up until about five to six years ago, they were a major problem for farmers in the state.

www.wkrn.com

Land on the plateau is cheap

 

[snox801]

Au contraire. Ole Hog Breath. Please share with all how feral hog populations increase the quality of your own personal properties.....your pastures, your crop lands, your wildlife habit. We would so enjoy to be enlightened. Reality consistently proves that hunters do not "decimate, practically eliminate," hog populations. I challenge you to show proof otherwise. Conservation Departments would appreciate your wisdom of such. Hunting pressure rapidly educates and spreads feral hog populations. They are the rabbits of the bovine world with explosive breeding habits. Great for hunting opportunities, but disastrous for the land and other valuable species. Many Texas and OK land owners would like to see a hunting season on hog hunters. Were it politically correct, Missouri Conservation Dept would sorely appreciate that, as hog hunters are the bane of their efforts to protect lpublic and private lands from feral hog devastation.

First I wouldn't trust any wildlife department. Second he has a point he may not beat them but hunting will take the numbers down. The problem lies in the fact they just need a adjacent land to hide. Many ranches in Texas have success with helicopters that are paid for by hunters.
Hunting works and is proven. What is the real issues is hunters themselves. We all know of bad ones. Heck I've had to kick several off our farm because they can't follow simple rules. It only gets worse if you don't know the people.
So if I'm a farmer it's tough to allow access. I would in fact make them get insurance for damage then have at it. Hogs are a fun game animal to hunt. In fact probably my favorite.
They may indeed improve his land. They would mine. If I could hunt all year that's a huge improvement for me. So he's not entirely wrong.

 

[jessej]

Reality consistently proves that hunters do not "decimate, practically eliminate

I think my comments were taken differently than I meant. Let me clarify. Hogs are Vermin and we kill them every chance we get. I enjoy having them to hunt year round. The kids love it also.
And I CAN eliminate all hogs from our 2000 acres in about 3-4 nights. (Longer when vegetation is lush) Then it takes a month or so for the neighboring properties to spill their population overages back on to us.

 

[jessej]

And. No pastures, no fields. Biggest field we have is a 3 acre food plot.

 

[JimFromTN]

First I wouldn't trust any wildlife department.

Why? Just curious. I almost went into wildlife management and I know several people who work for the TWRA. I have no reason not to trust them.

 

[DUCKMAN11]

When you see a hog chewing on a calf or a fawn ...tell me that's an improvement to the land. They are an invasive species and can produce a litter of 6-14 babies every "3 months+3weeks+3 days". Now get out in ecosystems like west Texas where there ain't much to eat in the first place and add an omnivore that will literally eat anything. Heck the rattle snakes out here don't rattle for fear of being eaten by a hog.
What's real "fun" is having a sounder of 30 come out of a ditch when you are pulling a trailer down a 2 lane highway in the dark. I've had friends killed in automobile accidents after hitting a 250# hog on motorcycles and in 1 ton pickups.

That being said and in my opinion...
I absolutely love having another "big game" option while sitting in the stand, but if I could flip a switch and make hogs go away I would. The hunting opportunities don't outweigh the land damage.
They still deserve the respect of a quick death with good shot placement. Kill as many as you can in an ethical way. I'm not a fan of the "field jumping" method where 4 guys with thermals spray and pray 60 rounds into a sounder......but thats my opinion. Im not trying to detract from the guys who do it....its just not my thing. Do whatever you want with the meat, be it eat it or donate it or let nature reclaim it. A Mexican family I know makes some pretty awesome tamales from them. I get 4-5 dozen a couple times a year from bringing them a half dozen 75# pigs.

 

[snox801]

Why? Just curious. I almost went into wildlife management and I know several people who work for the TWRA. I have no reason not to trust them.

Mainly because of the history they have with cwd. They were a big part of the spread.
They became to political. I'm fact we had to pass a law that made them follow science based programs. If feel they don't look out for the best interest of the outdoorsman. Not saying all states are the same but Michigan is pretty bad. Wolves are destroying everything. Then they ban it. While spending money to reintroduce elk and what not only to have them taken out by wolves. They have some serious policy that help spread cwd.