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Texas awards $60K in contest to kill hogs .Print printEmail Email this article|MORE MORE!X DiggDeliciousTumblrLinkedInStumbleUponNewsvineReddit Associated Press Posted on March 6, 2013 at 4:35 PM LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — State agriculture officials say more than 7,150 feral hogs were killed as part of a competition to curb their numbers and limit the hundreds of millions of dollars in damage caused to crops and ranchland every year. The Texas Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that Sutton County in West Texas won the $20,000 first-place prize in the Hog Out Challenge. The contest ran from October through December. Five other counties will share the remainder of the $60,000 in awards. The results were based on a formula that considers the number of animals killed and participation by ranchers and others in educational programs. Since the challenge began in 2010, 23,684 hogs have been killed. An estimated 2.6 million hogs cause $550 million in damage annually in Texas. "We Don't Rent Pigs !" | ||
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Yep, and as hog numbers escalate, so will the other number... | |||
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I'm doing my part!  GWB | |||
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There is a lot of whining about the damage but I think it is basically land owners wanting someone to pay them money. If the damage was bad enough they would let responsible hunters wipe them out. When I inquire of someone complaining about too many hogs it always turns out they are trying to make $100 a pig ---- so they get to keep their pigs and all the damage they complain about. | |||
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SR, have you been here? Did you grow up here in TX? Didn't think so... I have lived here all of my 58 years, and I will explain exactly how we got to where we are: Too many slobs, in a word. Too many people that think nothing of "plinking" at T-posts put in the ground as fenceposts, people leaving gates open, people shooting calves at dark "because it looked like a pig", etc. Need I go on? I don't blame landowners a bit. You are just like any other jackleg "hunter" from another state that thinks the state of TX owes you the right to go kill pigs because we are infested with them... That landowner doesn't know you from Adam. Prove to me you are a "responsible" hunter by paying for the right to trespass on my property first. Prove yourself, and then we will talk. I will offer you this: Will you pay for the last guy that left the gate open and let the landowner's $8500 Chianina brood bull get out on the highway and get hit? Will you help with the lawsuit that followed because the driver of the automobile that hit the bull thinks it is the landowner's fault? Will you pay for the fence that got knocked down because of the posts that were shot to nothing? Not so simple (or cheap) in those terms, is it? Makes a pig per C-note a bargain, doesn't it? | |||
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As Doubless has stated improper and unsafe actions by "guest" hunters is why not only in Texas, but in other states as well many land owners have closed their lands to hunters they do not know. In Texas many ranchers do allow people to lease hunting rights on their land. Many of these "leases" go on for years, I have been hunting on the same lease for over 15 years. The land owner knows WE take care of the land and the game. DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY | |||
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As to the Pig problem in Texas. YES, it is a BIG agriculture problem. However, at the risk of being Tarred and Feathered, I will say that I think Pig hunting is even more fun than deer hunting.  In Texas you can hunt pigs 264/265 days a year, 24 hours a day,8 days a week, with light at night, basically by any means necessary... And I like wild pig meat, even better than deer and elk meat...  DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY | |||
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I am no longer a landowner, now a leaseholder. Let me amplify what both Doubless and N E 450 No2 have said. Maybe Gatogordo will see this and put in a word as he currently is a landowner. As you may or may not know, much of the land in Texas is private. The 50,000 acre low fence ranch on which our group has a 1,700 acre trespass leases both the hunting and grazing rights. The owner, recently deceased, was the largest single private landowner in Texas. Conseqently we did not deal directly with him, but with a sub-lesse about three levels down. We have an annual lease. That means our group has the exclusive right to trespass on the land for the purpose of hunting. No other person other than those in our group or our invitees may hunt this land. While some leases are seasonal, this is a type of lease that is in play in many areas in Texas. Hogs are smart and very very very fecund. I say smart, in that it don't take long or much pressure for hogs to go completely nocturnal. Only ranging at night cuts down significantly on the number taken by hunters. I say fecund three times because, feral hogs can have up to 3 litters per year IIRC, and can breed at six months. Once they get up to 100 lbs or so they have very few natural predators that take them down. At up to 13 shoats per litter, three times per year, and say a 40% survival rate, one could plot the population explosion. Time: In congruence with the liability/slob issues, a big factor is time. I'm self employed, always have been. Time is my most precious commodity. I can get more material and supplies, I can get more labor. What I can't do is acquire more time. And having said that it may seem incongruous, but I don't mind "wasting" time as long as I'm the one who makes the decision how it is wasted. The amount of time and effort necessary to manage the details of acquiring and dealing with hunters that don't know the lay of the land in general, much less my property can be significant. Being a "reformed" landowner that used to get calls from folks I never heard of, taken with the fact that I've been in a particular community for almost 40 years, and to a degree socially involved with the human race, I'll get asked or volunteer to take different individuals or small groups to hunt hogs with me, but that's another story. It's just not worth the time and effort. I can't imagine wanting to be a "hog" outfitter or leasing out a property for "day hunts". Best GWB PS: Like N E 450 No2, I do believe I enjoy shooting, trapping, snaring hogs more than whitetail hunting. As he says, I can do it 24/7/365, its a target rich environment. We typically have wild pork on the menu weekly. In addition, my daughter makes some of the best Cilantro lime pulled pork you've ever wrapped you lips around. PPS: To add to my hog hunting equipment I recently availed myself of ELT's fully automatic feeder light system. I plan to put it in use when I head up either next week or two weeks from now. This should make night hunting much more productive. http://www.elusivewildlife.com...uctMore&iProduct=340 | |||
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It is certainly as challenging. Now if some of those AGGIES can figure out how to hybrid.... get a pig to grow...... never mind. As for the whiney farmers someone mentioned, this year seed corn is over $165.00 for 50 pound bag. Those that I live near have finished planting corn this past week. Last night just before the rain came through, I had spotlighted four, maybe five in one of his fields. How much of the 165 dollar a bag seed corn would pigs have to eat before a farmer gets whiney? Oh, and another thought, how much time does it take to re-plant? How much diesel? How many more bags of the $165.00 seed do they have to buy? Last year my friend RE-PLANTED 44.8 acres and he was lucky as it has been worse in the past. With that, maybe you can understand a little better why some are so whiney. I just introduced a friend to a farmer who welcomed he and his son to hunt pigs on one of his farms. Did not charge him a thing to hunt, just make sure you leave the gates like you found them and don't shoot any cows. The farm backs up to some Govt land that is in a watershed area and no hunting allowed. It is also a target rich environment. I forgot, it is 0433 here and I am headed out again to see if I help get rid of some pigs. "We Don't Rent Pigs !" | |||
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Good on ya there Swifter!  Best GWB | |||
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Quite simply, it's a matter of liability and risk. It's just not worth the risk to let strangers hunt on your place anymore. Plus, hunters do little to reduce the numbers, maybe shoot one or two, if they are lucky. Trapping is the only real way to put a dent in the pigs numbers. Most ranchers will let a friend come and trap, but will not let a stranger come and hunt. | |||
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It does have its drawbacks on several levels. Time involved maintaining feeders and blinds, hog movement, making sure hunters know where the property boundaries are, the weather conditions, recovering animals that have been killed, tracking animals that have been shot and lost, corresponding with potential clients, showing hunters where the properties are/where the stands-feeders are located, lining the hunters out on which gates to go thru and either close or leave open and which gates get locked and which don't. It does have its share of fun, especially when you have repeat customers that prove to be really low maintenance and respect the land and the conditions set in place for hunting the properties. We take some chances letting hunters loose on their own, these are our repeat clients, but they have proven themselves trust worthy. Robert and I enjoy having hunters come out for hunts and we have became aquainted with some really good folks. One of the hardest situations to deal with, is or can be the uncertainty of hog movement. It is really hard to explain to folks, even on the $100.00 or less day hunts, that even though there is a tremendous amount of sign, we simply cannot guarantee what particular time during the day pigs will be active or the size of the pigs that may be seen. Even the rocks don't last forever. | |||
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Randall, I guess I was being facetious, as I can actually imagine what it's like. I've escorted enough folks and even been on a few paid hunts. That's one of the reasons I don't do it. Plus, hunting is my avocation and obsession. And as to not guaranteeing seeing and taking hogs. Here is a perfect example. The second week of February, I went with the son one of the guys on my lease for a quick overnight trip to our lease. His extended family had planned a family reunion of sorts. Seems the three first cousins and their 7or 8 offspring who were now in their mid twenties to early thirties had not got together for 15 years or so. They wanted everybody to be able to do some hog hunting among the other mayhem that was planned (shooting tannerite bombs mainly). Kyle and I roll up the 300 miles and get there that afternoon. Course the first thing I do is jump on my ATV and head to my honey hole. Now mind you no-one had been at our lease since the first week-end of January. So all was quiet and peaceful. I shot the two porkers that came out that evening where I was sitting. We filled feeders that night. I hunted the next morning at another location and nailed another one. I was jazzed as during the month of December I had hit a pretty good dry spell. We finished that morning and came back to town. We got back on a Thursday. One week later we go up again. The gang got in on Friday. Bunch of gook looking young men. Of course being young these days, semi auto black rifles seem to be requisite. So they break out a couple apiece and set up do some target practice. They ended up shooting for about three hours and finalized with blowing up a gallon jug of tannerite. Kinda like blowing up dynamite. Explosion, concussion, and you can feel the earth tremble They wait till after dark, then take off in two trucks and three or four ATV’s with spotlights. Gone for a couple hours. You could here numerous bursts of semi auto gunfire during the period. That went on through the night. Next day, more target practice, then move to another area to shoot skeet and blow up tannerite bombs set at distances between 200 and 450 yds by igniting them through the impact of high power centerfire bullets. Between Thursday evening and Sunday noon, only three hogs were shot. All three by the same individual who got a double and a single about a minute apart. No one else including me saw hide nor hair of a porker. Just because you may have baited the critters don’t mean they are going to show up at your buffet. Can be a lot of external influences. Best GWB | |||
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You logic is pretty stupid. Now you are saying knowing about all of the problems that "outsiders" cause that you would still let them on the place for a mere $100 a hog? Like I said it is just the land owners pity party attempting to shake down the state for crop damage compensation. | |||
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You can not WIPE pigs out by hunting them. It is even on the difficult side to control them by hunting them. These other guys list the pain and liability it is to have hunters but fact of the matter is that it just does not work. Helicopter shooting is the only effective way to control a population. Possibly pen trapping but that is relying on the pigs to cooperate. Perry | |||
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They stay pretty wiped out on my place, that is not to say more do not come in from time to time. | |||
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Just fer shitz n giggles here is a short vid. I took a while back of boys misbehaving. LOL IIRC the barrel is about 200 yds. in front of the camera and one gallon of tannerite is employed. Decent sized hog. Notice the hang time. Some of the guys talk about setting a tannerite bomb in a pile of corn under a feeder and when a sounder of hogs come in, touch it off. Nobody has done it yet, but it would be a sight to behold. Best GWB | |||
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...that was awesome. As if the pot were'nt already stirred up. In your defense I am sure that is your method for tenderizing them.Perry | |||
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Perry, like I said earlier, I try to do my part. Best GWB | |||
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You really shouldn't respond when you have been drinking... your sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling all go to pot. You sound like a bitter old man. And a know it all to boot. FWIW, I have spent my share of time on ranches I paid to lease just like you did. And I, too, have picked up litter others left, but it was because it was the right thing to do, not for fear somebody would pick on me. Poor, poor, pitiful SR 4759. He got blamed for something somebody else did... How unfair...  And the statement about the bull? The gate was SUPPOSED to be locked, idiot. That is the point: it was left open! Finally, YOU brought up the $100/pig number; I didn't. Welcome to my ignore list. You are in good company. | |||
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>>>>>>>>>>>>> 8.5 <<<<<<<<<<<<<< That is all for distance GW, not form.  Did not see any pigs this AM, I did get my friend just after daylight and we drove to one of his fields, the pigs had hit it sometime between 0200 and 0630. With binos, it looked like they had rooted up an area maybe fifty feet by fifty feet. I will have to wait until it dries up some to go through another pasture to get to the area. After an inch and a half of rain, it may be 3-4 days before it dries up enough. It looks like pigs are here to stay. No matter how many one takes off of a piece of land, there will be another dozen waiting to move in. "We Don't Rent Pigs !" | |||
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Geedub, that tannerite always produces the same reaction. Laughter. I don't think if ever shot it that people didn't laugh their asses off. Great fun. Wonder why you guys didn't see much?  | |||
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One of the "boys" (and I use the term as one of endearment) that was there was an ex Army Ranger Captain that was in charge of a artillery company of say 150 guys. Spent some time in the sandbox if I understand correctly. He loved making things go "pow" and "boom". Best GWB | |||
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I don't take it as you being facetious, you were merely stating facts. I enjoy meeting folks and seeing them have a good time and be successful on a hunt. This is going to be misconstrued by some, but after almost 45 years of hunting, I still enjoy killing stuff. The hunting aspect has became less of a factor. Unless I am able to do spot and stalk, hunting for me, only means something when I am helping someone else achieve a kill. I pick up one of my rifles and I am going to kill something. I guess that is a sick way of viewing things, but that is the way it is. Guiding hunters allows me to enjoy a hunt and meet some really great individuals, but it does come at a price, one at this point in time in my life that I do not mind paying. Even the rocks don't last forever. | |||
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Randall, I've no problem with killing, never have (almost sounds like a line from a movie). I don't make apologies for it. I kill animals, skin them, dismember them, burn their flesh and eat them. I think I killed my first rabbit at six. Been killing things ever since. I will turn 62 this year. Folks that know me seem to think I have a knack for it. The Dominion Covenant.......... Genesis 1:25-28 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Best GWB | |||
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Woah, cool your jets. No reason to take a discussion in this direction. Discuss without calling one another names. "Ignorance you can correct, you can't fix stupid." JWP If stupidity hurt, a lot of people would be walking around screaming. Semper Fidelis "Building Carpal Tunnel one round at a time" | |||
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Wild hogs breed prolifically. It has been said that you must kill 75% of any given population a year to stay even. "Ignorance you can correct, you can't fix stupid." JWP If stupidity hurt, a lot of people would be walking around screaming. Semper Fidelis "Building Carpal Tunnel one round at a time" | |||
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My son and I will be at the 888 ranch in December whitetail hunting If any of you guys know of someone that needs a bit of help keeping the pig population down we will try to do our part to help out-and we will shut the gates like any responsible hunters would | |||
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did you grow up in Albany? My family has been ranching around in the area since the 1890's, you guys north of town?? Not so many pigs around us. Drought got alot of them..got to go towards Throckmorton, or up around Dickens to get into alot more pigs. Ed DRSS Member | |||
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I will also throw my hat into the ring. I am a land owner in northern Wis. Grew up on a farm been hunting 45 plus years. Hunted on ranchs all over wyoming and montana. Always been invited back. I know how to shut or leave gates open just like I found them. Never shot anything I wasn't surpose to. So if any body needs a responsible hunter or two to kill some pigs,varmints I know where to get them. Been known to go into the thick stuff and root those hogs out. | |||
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I have heard from TP&W biologists, 60% to 75% annually to make a real impact. The down side, depending on anyone's view, is that taking out that many animals, it will mean fewer hunts offered due to fewer animals. Even the rocks don't last forever. | |||
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CH, given the numbers of the feral pigs in the state which are for the most part just guess-taments, I do not see the numbers of pigs taken to make a dent in the populations. There are some around here that have built some elaborate traps, big enough to hold 70-100 pigs and they have trapped as many as 60 in a week. They have taken the traps down after going pigless for a month or two and less than a year the pigs are back. I have not seen a decrease in the numbers where I live even though they do not seem as bad as in the past. I am saying this from just here-say from some reliable farmers and ranchers I personally know in the area. "We Don't Rent Pigs !" | |||
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Yes, it is doubtful that unless some form of mass method of removing all of the hogs over an entire region is developed, the most that many would experience would possibly short term reductions in numbers, that would disappear as animals from other areas moved into the vacant habitat. Here are some pictures I took on the day after our last group hunted with us. The total area rooted up covers about 2 acres and there are 3 or 4 such spots located in that pasture.    Even the rocks don't last forever. | |||
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In January I took my son on a paid night hog hunt. January means deers season was ongoing and therefore the feeders were in operation. I heard several stories about how much damage the hogs were doing and how last year they busted up feeders, scared away the deer, etc. Over the course of the night we saw several deer but zero hogs. We didn't even find hog tracks though we did see plenty of rabbits. The fella was kind enough to extend the invitation for my son and me to return, after the crops were in, until we got a hog. I think the hog problem is worse in some places than others and all but non-existent in some. I also think that the problem is made worse by the practice of deer hunting as well. Continuous feeding and the establishment of food plots with the intent of growing bigger deer with bigger "horns" also helps sustain and draw in the hogs. We all hear the stories about problem hogs but are think there a several cases to consider. The first is the hunt scenario I encountered. The next is the guy that repeats the story and then charges you $500 per animal. This is the guy that perpetuates the story in an effort to promote his business. I understand the liability and time issues but if hogs are a problem for this guy then charge me a flat price whether I shoot 1 or shoot 10. If I shoot more hogs his liability increases or I become less of a responsible hunter somehow? And then you have folks trying to maintain and manage their lands and stay in business. These multiple cases are what causes what appears to be conflicting views of the hog problem. A couple of thoughts/observations. Who introduced the Russian boars into the mix? What would happen to the hogs if the big dollar deer hunting businesses stopped? Were hogs a "big problem" 20 years ago? Did the deer "industry" make the problem worse and now those how do not reap the benefits are paying the costs? If the demand for $10,000 bucks dropped would the need for the corresponding food plots and feeding regimes drop and therefore magnitude of the hog problem decrease? If they guy next to you is drawing in the hogs by his efforts to make "big deer" why should you or I pay the cost? No, I'm not a land owner but I do get tired of hearing about the problem and then having to fork out trophy animal prices just to take my son on hunt. NRA Benefactor TSRA Life DRSS Brno ZP-149 45-120 NE | |||
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You bring up a lot of good points, and some of them are pretty accurate. Some areas do have more total numbers of hogs than others, some areas have localized concentrations of hogs that range over a fairly large area that cause damage for a while till pressured or trapped out and then may not have hardly any hogs in the vicinity for weeks. As for the connection between the increase in hogs and the demand for trophy deer, in my opinion there is a direct correlation between the two. Before I moved from the Archer/Young county area in 1982, there were few if any hogs and deer numbers were low, with many areas of both counties having very few if any deer. People do not like talking about it, but from my observations there is also a direct correlation, at least in this area between the increase in deer numbers and the decrease in quail numbers. I firmly believe that all of the various forms of supplemental feeding that takes place have helped with the spread and increase of hog numbers. Also the lease system has aided, in that the general public, especially in the more rural areas have lost access, both hunting and fishing to farm and ranch lands that in prior years they could access simply by asking in many cases. All of the above are just my opinions based on my personal observations. Even the rocks don't last forever. | |||
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I think that they were a problem back then. I hunted on a ranch SW of San Antonio 25 years ago. The man also farmed along the Medina River. Corn and Pima Cotton. Seems like every other year he had to break out pig medicine to get a bunch at one time. He told me that he hated to do that, but when hunting and trapping did not get the results, he opted for more drastic measures. They had to or the hogs would have ruined him financially. At that time, there were no feral hogs up here around Waco where I live. They moved into this country around fifteen- seventeen years ago and went unchecked for far to long.
Sorry to hear that. If the pigs are such a problem there, I just don't understand why someone would want to charge a "TROPHY" size fee to shoot them. I think the big money trophy whitetail hunting has ruined South Texas. Just look at what the King Ranch charges for a sure enough trophy, free ranging, low fence hunt. If a rancher is charging a large fee for pigs, they should treat them like deer. Put up feeders, keep them going year round. Put you up in a house and feed you three squares and even have one of the VAQUEROS, skin and quarter your game. The friend of mine I introduced to a farmer I know got a heck of a deal. He can hunt for free. The farmer told him that he would even keep an eye on his feeders to make sure they were working just to hopefully help keep the pigs out of his fields. Of course, with the shooting lights he is putting up and the nice pig stands, I told him that I would check in on them from time to time to make sure everything was working properly. I would not even charge him for my services. "We Don't Rent Pigs !" | |||
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Swifter220, I have to say that is right neighborly of you to lend a hand and volunteer to look after your friend's set up and for free on top of that. If you need someone to spot you on occasion let me know. NRA Benefactor TSRA Life DRSS Brno ZP-149 45-120 NE | |||
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Eleeton, Being in CC, you are not far from Kenedy, well as the crow flies. I have a close friend who lives there and he is a pipeline whelder. He has been all over south Texas whelding for the past three years and the worst area he has seen for pigs is in that country north of Beeville. He sent me some images a couple of years ago of a trench that had been opend up for a new 16" pipe. There were three 60-70 pound pigs that had fallen in over a weekend and could not get out. A bunch of the hands were standing around looking down in the trench when the Big Man drove up, starting chewing some butt about standing around doing nothing, costing them money until he saw the pigs. Don told me that he looked at them for a minute then asked how long it would take them to build a pit big enough for a couple of pigs..... and now you know, what they had for dinner. "We Don't Rent Pigs !" | |||
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That sounds like a luau in the making. All they needed were a few grass skirts. I used to live in Beeville. The doves were pretty fat up there as well. NRA Benefactor TSRA Life DRSS Brno ZP-149 45-120 NE | |||
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I seen some of the gals that work on the pipe lines and grass skirts do not come to mind. | |||
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