Hog heaven review.

[snox801]

Boy how times have changed. So this story starts off several years ago with a hunt purchased for SCI. This was my first experience hunting the ranch and it was great. So great in fact I had my bachelor party/hog hunting week at this place. We returned year after year shooting g no less than 43 pigs and up to 74 I. One long weekend. This place was great for a week like this. Some free range available but mostly pen shooting over feeders.
So as the years went on things started to go down hill. Harder and harder to get dates booked for the hunt. Pigs got smaller and not as many, and the price kept going up.
I tried to keep him happy by bring down double ladder stands and feeders cause all his were falling about and feeders were broke. Owner went through some rough personal stuff so I cut him lots of slack. Finally he told us he had a new lease and it was great so we heading back down. Great new setup but weather hurt us. Again pig prices went up 3rd straight year and my friends were possible g interest in the expensive pigs. I talked with the owner and made it as easy as we could for him. We brought all our own bait stands and utv to get in and out. His guides only had to come in when we called them to come collect pigs and gut them. We even hauled them to the side of the trail for them. Heck one year I even prepaid for $3,000 worth of pigs so we knew we had plenty and didn't put the owner in a bind having to come up with 60 plus pigs on his own. So last spring was a last chance for him. New spot, new guides, plenty of advance notice. He called a week out and canceled saying not enough pigs. If he had to do it they would be $100 more per pig. So we moved to late spring that knocked our group down from 12 to 5. We went down hoping for the best. We got down and he had all the pigs in a 60'x 250' pen. We hunted for three days and never went into it because we said we had no interest in hunting in that pen. Come Friday night I had to go into that place to at least shoot my 3G worth of pigs.
So I just want to warn all you who have heard me talk about this place I. The past that it is not what it used to be. His price went from $125 a pig to over $200 in 3 years. Never any feeders working or corn so we brought our own. Now he's down to trying to get you into a very small pen into get you in and out. Hope he can turn it around but I will not be going back. So many fun years and good trips to turn out bad. Owner is still a very nice man no hard feelings just not getting what we needed anymore.

 

[WildRose]

Too bad. I'm not sure where you are hunting but other than perhaps demand for what he has I can't see any reason for pig prices to be high.

Right now they are only paying .20c/lbs for live trapped wild hogs and there is no premium on big ones around here due to the fact the hogs are just so ridiculously plentiful and in fantastic shape right now.

You could literally buy a semi load of wild hogs right now for about 8k and have them delivered within a hundred miles or so for a total of around ten.

 

[marioq]

Where is this place or who is this guy so we all know where not to go.....

 

[snox801]

Hog heaven hunt preserve. Fort Myers. Florida.
Ya he still pays the same price for his pigs he did years ago. lol I even went with him to pick them up cause he needed help this year. He paid like $30 a pig. I'm just down to shoot I'm not into trophy pigs. I just feel bad cause it was a sweet deal and we always drop a ton of cash. Also made sure his guides all walked away very happy. Considered him a friend. I think he lost his lease and is now relying on his guide slash partners land. I've sent people to him before we went down and he would not even call them back when they were at the airport. They were not sure they could hunt until the morning of when they got the call. Just giving everyone a heads up as I used to talk highly of this place.

 

[snox801]

It's now off to texas for me. I'm looking for a cheap place to shoot pigs. I take 10-15 guys could be cut to eight. Only invite trustworthy guy I know well.
Also still milling around just buying some land. If I could be sure about pigs being on the property it would be easy. But to fly out and look amcan get expensive quick.

 

[PBramble]

I can not wrap my head around the fact that people pay to hunt hogs when they are nuisance animals that most farmers want gone. Back home, we would shoot ground hogs and foxes all summer for free and the farmers would let us deer hunt for free. Now people want 200 a hog, 20 dollars to park your truck, 7 dollar air use fee (you gotta breathe you know), and an extra 10 if it's sunny (but only 7 if it's raining). I have this discussion with plenty of farmers. If you charge me to do you a favor, I will not come. I will kill them for free and dispose of them for you. To the ones who still want to charge, good luck recouping enough to cover the damage they do.

 

[snox801]

That's what I've always thought but when you are from out of state and they know they can get money they will. I can shoot turkeys all day out my window of my house but people pay good money to hunt those if they don't have them.

 

[just country]

morning, I live in tx. the ranchers here charge $100 for a 100lb. pig. a dollar
a lb. over $100. the big thicket in east is crawling with hogs. very bad problem
long highways and tearing up land. TX has a 1,000,000 acres of free hunting.
just buy a grand slam hunting license, get a map from TP&W and go hunting.
during the year the state hunting preserves, have dove, quail, pigs, squirrels
and varmint hunting. get a map, call the TP&W. they will tell a hunter
when and where to go. rattlesnakes, snakes, pigs, cougars, and other
vermin a person will have to put up with. certain snakes r protected by
law. KNOW THE HUNTING LAWS.
IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE. GBOT TUM

 

[WildRose]

I can not wrap my head around the fact that people pay to hunt hogs when they are nuisance animals that most farmers want gone. Back home, we would shoot ground hogs and foxes all summer for free and the farmers would let us deer hunt for free. Now people want 200 a hog, 20 dollars to park your truck, 7 dollar air use fee (you gotta breathe you know), and an extra 10 if it's sunny (but only 7 if it's raining). I have this discussion with plenty of farmers. If you charge me to do you a favor, I will not come. I will kill them for free and dispose of them for you. To the ones who still want to charge, good luck recouping enough to cover the damage they do.

If you want farmers and ranchers to put up with strangers it's going to come at a cost.

My neighbors around here are more than happy to have me shoot their pigs but they also know they'll never have to worry about a shot cow, gate left down, fire in a pasture due to carelessness etc.

They accept a lot of risk by allowing anyone on their property in addition to struggling from year to year to make payments and pay the taxes and every little bit helps.

The hogs also have a retail value and they could make more money just allowing people they know to trap and sell them on the halves than they can from hunters as well.

 

[WildRose]

It's now off to texas for me. I'm looking for a cheap place to shoot pigs. I take 10-15 guys could be cut to eight. Only invite trustworthy guy I know well.
Also still milling around just buying some land. If I could be sure about pigs being on the property it would be easy. But to fly out and look amcan get expensive quick.

If you haven't got a place lined up shoot me a PM. There are a few places around here I can recommend.

 

[WildRose]

morning, I live in tx. the ranchers here charge $100 for a 100lb. pig. a dollar
a lb. over $100. the big thicket in east is crawling with hogs. very bad problem
long highways and tearing up land. TX has a 1,000,000 acres of free hunting.
just buy a grand slam hunting license, get a map from TP&W and go hunting.
during the year the state hunting preserves, have dove, quail, pigs, squirrels
and varmint hunting. get a map, call the TP&W. they will tell a hunter
when and where to go. rattlesnakes, snakes, pigs, cougars, and other
vermin a person will have to put up with. certain snakes r protected by
law. KNOW THE HUNTING LAWS.
IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE. GBOT TUM

You don't need a grand slam, all you need is a basic hunting license since pigs are not a game animal.

 

[trumperman]

I can not wrap my head around the fact that people pay to hunt hogs when they are nuisance animals that most farmers want gone. Back home, we would shoot ground hogs and foxes all summer for free and the farmers would let us deer hunt for free. Now people want 200 a hog, 20 dollars to park your truck, 7 dollar air use fee (you gotta breathe you know), and an extra 10 if it's sunny (but only 7 if it's raining). I have this discussion with plenty of farmers. If you charge me to do you a favor, I will not come. I will kill them for free and dispose of them for you. To the ones who still want to charge, good luck recouping enough to cover the damage they do.

Totally agree with you, paying such exorbitant money for hunting hogs is ridiculous. The price increases is just outside my comprehension. Plus $7 air use charges hahaha.

 

[PBramble]

If you want farmers and ranchers to put up with strangers it's going to come at a cost.

My neighbors around here are more than happy to have me shoot their pigs but they also know they'll never have to worry about a shot cow, gate left down, fire in a pasture due to carelessness etc.

They accept a lot of risk by allowing anyone on their property in addition to struggling from year to year to make payments and pay the taxes and every little bit helps.

The hogs also have a retail value and they could make more money just allowing people they know to trap and sell them on the halves than they can from hunters as well.

It doesn't have to cost. that's the part I don't understand. I hunted a farm in western OK and that guy didn't know me from Adam. Verbal agreement. Responsibilities were laid out up front. Don't follow the rules, don't come back. It's really simple. Written agreements are better, naturally, as there is a paper trail of responsibility with legal repercussions available to the land owner.

As far as the struggling bit, if a couple of thousand dollars is going to make or break an operation, they should probably consider selling the farm and finding a 9-5.

The states don't feel that the hogs have a retail value (they cause billions in crop damage and insurance pays for that) and at the rate things are going, most will end up following Missouri's lead. I know that Oklahoma is considering it and at least one state that didn't have hog issues has already banned hunting them. Hunting them for profit will go by the wayside as states are starting to regulate the movement and release of wild hogs. In any case, those who profit from it don't want the hogs eradicated as it cuts into profit margins and that's not in line with the reasons land owners want them gone.

 

[geo4061]

What has Missouri done? Ban hunting them? Come on. How much more is that going to cost us?