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Big southeast Missouri landowner to ban feral hog hunting


July 14, 2019 Updated: July 14, 2019 11:58 a.m.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — One of Missouri's largest private landowners is following the state's lead in seeking to eradicate feral hogs by trying to trap large groups of them rather than allowing them to be hunted.

The L-A-D Foundation plans to ban feral hog hunting on its property, the Springfield News-Leader reports. The foundation, dedicated to preserving land once logged too aggressively, owns 147,000 acres in southeast Missouri, much of it adjoining the Mark Twain National Forest.

The Missouri Department of Conservation believes trapping whole groups is the best way to eliminate feral hogs. It once encouraged people to shoot the hogs on sight, but now believes trapping is more effective.

Shooting hogs tends to scatter groups of them, making them harder to eliminate. The Department of Conservation no longer allows feral hog hunting on any of the lands it controls.

Foundation president Susan Flader said feral hogs have caused a lot of problems in the forest it manages, where the animals uproot land and compete with native wildlife for food. She said 86 feral hogs were trapped and killed there last year, and another 29 since April 10.

"We have a lot of border with the Mark Twain National Forest, and feral hogs are getting onto our land from Mark Twain forest," Flader said. "We've been dealing with them for decades."

The U.S. Forest Service recently announced it was considering banning feral hog hunting in the Mark Twain National Forest and planned to rely on targeted trapping of feral hogs to try to eliminate them. The Forest Service has been taking public comments about that policy change before making a decision.

It's illegal to release hogs into the wild, but the Department of Conservation believes some people have released hogs intentionally to develop a population that can be hunted. In Texas and other Southern states, feral hog populations have exploded and become nearly impossible to eradicate.

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Information from: Springfield News-Leader, http://www.news-leader.com

Ahh, in a couple years he'll be wishing he'd
made a different choice. Hope he gets over run
soon.

George

When there were few restrictions on hunting we hunted many species to near extinction.

But we can't do the same with hogs. BS.

The trouble is to many restrictions.

Place bounties on hogs open it 24/7 any place any means.

One well see hog numbers go down.

They need a wall to keep these uninvited immigrants out ...

I think the bigger issue is feral hogs are mostly on private land. I know in my state, MDC, has banned feral hog hunting on state land. I don't have any sympathy though as in early spring this year someone dumped an adult pair of red wattle hogs on some abandoned land a mile up the road from me. The sow pigged. Had seven bacon bits. I let the local MDC agent know about the situation. He said their feral hog director wasn't interested in capturing them. They would have been easy to capture at that time as they were still tame.

No doubt I, and other local landowners, will see hog damage sooner or later. I'm sure that sow has pigged again by now. So when I see all this hype about hunting them ruining the reduction process I get pissed off hearing that and they really don't care about the problem. I think it's just about making jobs for a few people.

86 last year? 86? And that is the statistic to be used to eliminate hunting?

I have killed 15 or so on a 3 day weekend spot and stalk hunting.

3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days is all it takes for a new litter.... give or take a week or so....

I think one problem might be, today too many, I shot one, that's enough "hunters" out there. In Africa they use professional trappers to trap unwanted game animals, as people hunting them not getting the job done. Here in MD, we are allowed 40 deer a year, so many. Bur I only know 2 or 3 people who shoot more than 1 a year. GOT MY deer, type of mentality. So if professional trappers can come in an take them out, can be a good thing. Do agree with the bounty and anywhere anytime shooting. Might do it, but again, not like it was 50 years or more ago, when more folks into hunting. Hope for all the best.

Worms have to eat too.

quote:

The trouble is to many restrictions.

Place bounties on hogs open it 24/7 any place any means.

You know little of what you speak.

In Texas there are no restrictions whatsoever on shooting hogs (other than having a valid hunting license). Shoot them at night, day, any day of the week, any week of the year, all year long. Any weapon, any means of take, use as big a caliber or as large a a magazine as you wish. A suppressor will be fine, too. Over bait, in the headlights, using night vision devices, any way you like. Trap them, too, if you want. Shoot them from a helicopter if you want. Some counties even offer bounties.

None of this has had any impact on hog numbers.

quote:

In Texas there are no restrictions

Except for those imposed by the land owners.

Texas is mostly private land.

How many land owner's are there willing to let you shoot them with out paying.

How many land owner's view hogs as a for profit animal to have around.

I haven't seen any body advertising I have to many hogs please come and shoot them.

I have guns will travel.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

In Texas there are no restrictions

Except for those imposed by the land owners.

Texas is mostly private land.

How many land owner's are there willing to let you shoot them with out paying.

How many land owner's view hogs as a for profit animal to have around.

I haven't seen any body advertising I have to many hogs please come and shoot them.

I have guns will travel.

If the experience of landowners was that shooting would impact hog populations then they would be doing or having a lot more of it done. If your concept is that there are in effect "hog refuges" created by landowners who do not allow hunting, then please disabuse yourself of that quaint notion.

I am located in S Central Tx near San Antonio and am fortunate to have two places within 10 miles of the house and another about 20 miles away in another county totaling about 470 ac and the landowners want me to eradicate their feral hog numbers. I'm trying, and my county currently pays a $5 bounty so I'm making enough $ to cover corn/bait costs. 12 in the last 9 days. But, for sure, most Tx landowners won't let folks on their land w/o $$.

Hunted in the southern part of the Hill Country last year on a ranch that had sheep, cattle, and ran deer hunts. Saw not a single hog. They let paying hunters kill as many hogs in addition to whatever it was they were paying to hunt. On top of that the county hires hog & predator hunters to keep coyotes, foxes, and hogs in check.

Result was, as I said, I saw not a single hog in three days & evenings. It was the least hoggy place in Texas I have yet to visit. According to the rancher, fewer lambs and calves get taken, too.

Seems to be working for them. It is a mix of thick terrain (woods & brush), open spaces, and hills. May not work in wetter, flatter, and more heavily wooded terrain.

OTOH, a relative in southern Missouri traps and then kills them in the pen with regularity. I guess we can see the results of Missouri's experiment in a few years.

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As for the private land owners complaining about hogs in Texas, I stopped feeling sorry for them after I moved here and saw the sorry shape of their fencing. Unless it is a high-fence game ranch, most Texas fencing is in a sorry state. Those fences aren't going to maintain themselves. Good barbed wire fencing and maybe some hot wire would go a long way to keeping hogs off one's land.

They are probably wanting to sell the trapped hogs and try to use it for another source of income. They obviously are not interested in completely getting rid of them.

Grew up in SE Missouri and roamed the creeks, rivers, and woods hunting and fishing. Never saw a hog except in pens at farms. Some counties were still open range then, so driving could be an adventure with stock wandering around.

roo_ster--barbed wire won't keep hogs out---it takes goat fence. I have seen shoats squeeze thru the 4" x 6" openings in cattle panels, so no way a 5-strand fence has any impact.

And, as someone posted previously, the only restriction on hog hunting in Texas is access to the land----I can't ever remember being told no when I asked for permission to hunt or fish, only to be careful and close the gates. That isn't the case in Texas for sure, even though I do have access to 3 places now at landowner request---and that's where I am hammering them as fast as I can, with little indication that I am making a difference except for fat coyotes and buzzards.

quote:

roo_ster--barbed wire won't keep hogs out---it takes goat fence. I have seen shoats squeeze thru the 4" x 6" openings in cattle panels, so no way a 5-strand fence has any impact.

I knew I was forgetting something. Happens more often nowadays.