It wasn't that long ago -- eight years or so -- that feral swine were a novelty here. They were only in a few counties and there were few enough of them (or so it seemed) that an unscrupulous landowner could claim them on "public" land if a hunter shot them.

Now they're a plague.

I shot these three this past weekend on my family's 240-acre Ponderosa in Push County:





I shot this one on the same place about a month ago:

quote:

Now they're a plague.

Yep, they are there to stay. The plus side is they do give you something to hunt year round. Nice shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by scottfromdallas:

quote:

Now they're a plague.

Yep, they are there to stay. The plus side is they do give you something to hunt year round. Nice shooting.

and they are good to eat as well.

+1

Best

GWB

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:
and they are good to eat as well.

+1

Best

GWB

But not good to clean. I could lose my taste for pork real quick if I cleaned too many. I've recruited people for that nasty task.

I shoot quite a few. Many times I will cut a swath down the back side from the shoulder to the hams, about 4" on either side of the backbone, then skin out the hind legs. I'll take the back-straps or loins and then proceed to separate the hindquarter from the body at the ball and socket hip joint. This will give me the two hinds and the two back straps and takes about 10 minutes from start to finish. Toss those on ice. Keep them packed in ice for 3 5o 5 days then put up in freezer paper.

Best

GWB

Miles, Geedubya gave some really great advice there. It may seem like a waste of meat the first time or two that you do it that way, but it really is the best way to handle pigs if you are shooting them on a regular basis.

Congratulations on your kills, those are good looking oinkers.

One other thing, even if you don't have good access to running water. Take a gallon insect sprayer fill it half to 3/4 full of water and put in a squirt of liqid dish washing soap. Agitate and pressure up the sprayer. Spray the soapy water on the hogs coat. It seems to inhibit the fleas ability to jump of the hog and onto you. Dispose of the carcass or at least move it away from where you will be as the fleas will start jumping off the cooling body and will ambush you when you come by.

Best

GWB

This is how the spotted boar was handled -- butane torch:



I did this with the two sows as well.

Miles

As Geedubya said, if you don't like cleaning them,
that is the way to take off a fair bit of meat without going through the gutting process.

You can also take the shoulders / neck as well
if big enough. I see you have dogs, no point in
it going to waste !

Are the hogs confined to the South East Oklahoma, only?
Are they spreading to, or have spred to the places like Caddo and Beaver County?

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by arkypete:
Are the hogs confined to the South East Oklahoma, only?
Are they spreading to, or have spred to the places like Caddo and Beaver County?

Jim

I can't speak for the panhandle counties like Beaver, but most of Oklahoma's other counties seem to have them. I know about 20 years ago when I worked in Anadarko, I heard of feral hogs near Ft. Cobb and I have a co-worker who's killed a few in Stephens County near Waurika Lake and another who lives near Perkins in Payne County who hunts them and has shown me several pictures captured on game cameras where he lives.

Miles
Thanks for the reply and info. I've got relatives in both counties might prove a good excuse to go visit.

Jim

Miles

Well done. Nice looking rifle, and good to see that the bolt is on the correct side.

Great work ,hogs are increasing their population all over the world .

From the USDA:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wild...aging-feral-pigs.pdf
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publ...sion/feral_swine.pdf
http://128.192.20.53/nfsms/index.jsp

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:
One other thing, even if you don't have good access to running water. Take a gallon insect sprayer fill it half to 3/4 full of water and put in a squirt of liqid dish washing soap. Agitate and pressure up the sprayer. Spray the soapy water on the hogs coat. It seems to inhibit the fleas ability to jump of the hog and onto you.

Isopropyl alcohol also seems to work decently for this.

I have never seen hogs on our places in Alfalfa county (north of Hwy 11), but I have heard of sightings just south of Cherokee and around Salt Plains lake.

I have enough trouble with them on our places here in Texas. I am not looking forward to having to battle them up there too.

I live In OK and have been on two hog hunts; one in South Central OK and one in far SW OK and have never seen a hog. We are planning another hog hunt for later this summer in SW OK. Hope our luck changes. However, I have hunted deer in the fall in these same areas, and have seen several hogs. Go figure! I would hate to screw up a good area and miss out on a deer trying to get a hog.

With a little luck, they will change the hunting regulations in OK to allow the night hunting of hogs, without the depredation permit.

quote:

Originally posted by analog_peninsula:
With a little luck, they will change the hunting regulations in OK to allow the night hunting of hogs, without the depredation permit.

You must not be familiar with the hunting regulations in Oklahoma.

http://www.wildlifedepartment....013_huntingguide.pdf

From page 31:

"Landowners experiencing damage and depredation caused by feral hogs may contact their local game warden to request a night shooting permit to control the hogs."

The permit is free and doesn't have any bearing on any landowner's effort to remove feral swine from their property. Your post seems to infer a hassle or fee of some sort. That is FAR from the truth.

In my conversation with one of the county game rangers, he indicated that possession or non-possession of a permit is not much of an issue. Their focus is the eradication of an invasive species.

I haven't seen much mention of people using dogs,
be it bailing or holding dogs.

Is it illegal in the US ?

I was sure I had seen photos of it.

Sure way to get the pigs out where you can shoot them, or stick them.

quote:

Originally posted by 505G:
I haven't seen much mention of people using dogs,
be it bailing or holding dogs.

Is it illegal in the US ?

I was sure I had seen photos of it.

Sure way to get the pigs out where you can shoot them, or stick them.

Perfectly legal to use dogs. I just got off the phone with one of the game rangers in the county where I hunt and he advised dogs as being the most effective means at removing them. (Hogs.) My current dog (black mouth cur) is too accustomed to living with A/C to go hunting.

http://www.ag.ok.gov/ais/feralswine.htm

Not sure about the most effective way of removing them, especially IF the dogs are bred to go for the bigger boars.

They are very good at finding them in the thicker scrub and getting them on the run which then gives opportunities to shoot them as well.

Wish I could help!

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:
I shoot quite a few. Many times I will cut a swath down the back side from the shoulder to the hams, about 4" on either side of the backbone, then skin out the hind legs. I'll take the back-straps or loins and then proceed to separate the hindquarter from the body at the ball and socket hip joint. This will give me the two hinds and the two back straps and takes about 10 minutes from start to finish. Toss those on ice. Keep them packed in ice for 3 5o 5 days then put up in freezer paper.

Best

GWB

That's the way I do it also works out very well.

More free-range bacon this afternoon:

I woke up this morning to the sound of my dad smoking this boar out of the side of the house:

One of two I shot this evening with the laminated Ruger:



They were in a group of a dozen or so.

Hi Miles:
Your rifle appears to be a left-handed one. What make and caliber, please.
Alex (Miles) Diner
Gainesville, FL

quote:

Originally posted by conifer:
Hi Miles:
Your rifle appears to be a left-handed one. What make and caliber, please.
Alex (Miles) Diner
Gainesville, FL

It's a Ruger 77 Hawkeye in .223 Remington. It was one of the limited run of stainless and laminated versions that Ruger sold through Davidson's late last year.

Thanks for the info. It's very nice.

Mo' hogs from this past weekend.

I shot this black boar Friday night:



And this tan sow yesterday morning:



I scared the crap out of her.

Here're two more sows I killed over the past month:

Nice work, Miles!

I'm not very familiar w/The Sooner State but 4 or so yrs ago my wife & I attended the Rocky Mtn Elk Convention in Fort Worth. I found a guide who had an airboat on Lake Texoma, we ran that thing so far up a tributary that we were on dry ground! Texas on one side & OK on the other. He "plants" creosote-soaked telephone pole sections about 3 ft deep & 4 ft high. The hogs go nuts rubbing on them, they'll rub that 10" diameter pole down to a nub over time. They work almost as well as a corn feeder!

The hogs haven't quit and neither have I. I managed to shoot this bunch over a 20-minute span this morning with my trusty .223.

Where's the rest of the herd of pups?
They're dying or dead from lack of feed.
George

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:
Where's the rest of the herd of pups?
They're dying or dead from lack of feed.
George

I shot six and recovered four juveniles with the first sow and my dad shot two with the second sow using a .22 pistol he was carrying. I went back to the house and reloaded my rifle as well as grabbed a .357 to return and shoot four more juveniles. I'm hesitant to photograph or post any photos of the juvenile hogs because of the grotesque nature of their wounds and people showing this pestilence sympathy.

What are you shooting in the 223. Seems pretty effective to me. I shoot pigs mostly with a 7x57 but use various 22 centerfires and 6MM's during the summer months.

quote:

Originally posted by Miles Massey:

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:
Where's the rest of the herd of pups?
They're dying or dead from lack of feed.
George

I shot six and recovered four juveniles with the first sow and my dad shot two with the second sow using a .22 pistol he was carrying. I went back to the house and reloaded my rifle as well as grabbed a .357 to return and shoot four more juveniles. I'm hesitant to photograph or post any photos of the juvenile hogs because of the grotesque nature of their wounds and people showing this pestilence sympathy.

Well I guess I really enjoy eating this "pestilence!"