Guys,

Am heading to Houston for a couple of weeks. My buddy there has not been able to contact the person who owns the land where he usually hunts pigs.

Any one have a lead that might be helpful in finding a place to hunt there?

thanks,

mike starling

Dogpile and type in "houston hog hunting" or something similar and you'll find some "commercial" places. Sorry, can't offer anything more personal than that. Good luck with your pig quest! Shooting pigs in Texas (not Texan pigs - another thread...) is one of my all time favorite hunting activities.

In case you didn't know, a law was passed this summer here that removed the requirement for out-of-stater's to buy a hunting license to shoot hogs. Good news, huh?

RSY, I believe that law only applies to land owners that have hogs doing damage. Sport hunters still need a hunting license.

RSY, Walker is right about that.

Walker and CoonDawg:

This is from the legislative update in the most recent issue of the TSRA magazine:

"SB 236 by Senator Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) and Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp (R-Lampasas) allows property owners and agents of property owners to hunt feral hogs without a Texas hunting license on their privately owned or managed property. This bill was effective on June 20."

Looks pretty inclusive to me, and specifies no residency or damage requirements.

RSY

[ 08-29-2003, 17:58: Message edited by: RSY ]

The entire text of SB 236 follows below. It contains some glaring drafting errors, but its legislative intent seems clear: No hunting license is required of anyone, resident or non-resident, to hunt and kill feral hogs so long as the landowner says that the killing is for the purpose of preventing "depredation". I question whether a game warden would accept that a commercial hunting operation which charges hunters, some of which actually import and release hogs, would fall into the category as hunting to prevent "depredation". On the other hand, if a landowner give a hunter free access to hunt his land for feral hogs, it would seem not to require a hunting license of the hunter.

It will be interesting to see how the folks at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, who depend heavily on license fees for their operating revenue, deal with this new statute.

S.B. No. 236

AN ACT

relating to a landowner's taking of depredating feral hogs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 42.002, Parks and
Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 42.002. RESIDENT LICENSE REQUIRED; EXEMPTION.
SECTION 2. Section 42.002, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to
read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (b) and
(c) of this section, no resident may hunt any bird or animal in this
state without having acquired a hunting license.
(c) A resident landowner or the landowner's agent or lessee
may take feral hogs causing depredation on the resident landowner's
land without having acquired a hunting license.
SECTION 3. Section 42.005, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (f) to
read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (f), no [No]
nonresident may hunt any bird or animal in this state without first
having acquired a general nonresident hunting license, a
nonresident special hunting license, or a nonresident five-day
special hunting license.
(f) A nonresident landowner or the landowner's agent or
lessee may take feral hogs causing depredation on the nonresident
landowner's land without having acquired a hunting license required
by this chapter.
SECTION 4. Subchapter H, Chapter 43, Parks and Wildlife
Code, is amended by adding Section 43.158 to read as follows:
Sec. 43.158. LANDOWNER PERMIT EXEMPTION. Nothing in this
subchapter prevents a landowner or the landowner's agent or lessee
from taking depredating feral hogs on the landowner's land without
having acquired a permit under this subchapter.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.



______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 236 passed the Senate on
April 3, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays 2; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 29, 2003, by the
following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 2.

______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 236 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 2, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 137,
Nays 0, two present not voting.

Ok, I give I can't remember where I read all of this before where did you find this info?

Yes, you need a regular resident hunting license to hunt exotics in Texas.

For out of state hunters, the non-resident 5-day special hunting license is $45, and the annual non-resident special hunting license is $125.

Bob

Well, then, I guess feral hogs are just, well...feral.

Up until a few years ago, it was necessary to have a hunting license only to hunt "game" animals or birds. Species such as rabbits, skunks, coyotes, etc., along with all non-native exotics and feral animals were not classed by law as "game" animals. All "native" animals and birds belong to the state. Non-native animals belong to the property owner upon which they are found.

As the hunting of non-native or feral animals became more popular, TPWD found it was loosing out on a significant source of license revenue, so the law was changed so that even though the non-native animals are still the property of the landowner, an individual must have a hunting license to hunt them.

In many areas feral hogs are a significant problem for landowners. So much so that in 1991 the Legislature provided for a nuisance permit to shoot them from aircraft. Apparently, some landowners lobbied the recent session of the Legislature to open up hog hunting without a hunting license in the case of "depredation", based on the premise that you shouldn't have to buy a hunting license if your goal is to get rid of introduced noxious animal pests. I suspect that the law was worded the way it is to allow this licenseless "pest thinning" but still require licenses for purely sport hunting. Maybe or maybe not, we'll just have to see how TPWD interprets it.

At any rate, the TPWD hunting regulation booklet has not yet acknowledged SB 236 in any way that I can find. Here's what the current publication says:

A hunting license is required of any person, regardless of age, who hunts any animal or bird in this state, except an alligator hunting license is required to hunt alligators. A hunting license is not needed to hunt furbearing animals if the hunter possesses a trapper's license. Non-residents under 17 years of age may purchase the Special Resident Hunting License

This is copied straight from the TPWD publication (you can view it at www.tpwd.state.tx.us) and certainly lends the impression that both residents and non-residents have to have a hunting license to hunt ANY ANIMAL OR BIRD. If I were coming from out-of-state specifically to hunt feral hogs, then I would contact TPWD for a clarification and try to skip the license fee.

I think that there was an article in the San Antonio Express Newspaper sunday in the sports section, but it went out with the recycle today

Mike there are a few Hog hunts on e-bay in the $200 range also not that far from Houston since you'll be down this way.

[ 08-30-2003, 01:46: Message edited by: CoonDawg ]

I think it would be best to purchase the five-day nonresident license. You will be a lot less likely to get any hassel. As for places to hunt; have your friend do some homework. There are numerous Type II areas (requires an additional ($35- I think?) fee) that offer excellent hunting opportunity. If he checks with the local game warden, I'm sure he can locate some promising places. And, they wil be accessable for under $100 during your five-day license. $100 is about standard fee for one, or maybe two days hog hunting on private ranches. Good Luck!>>>>Bug.

I forgot this site:
http://www.texasboars.com/index.html
There is a lot of info on hog hunting in Texas.

I have some great hog hunting on 15,000 acres in south Texas. Drop me a line if you would like me to send more info, or go to the specials section of my web site. The ranch is also loaded with Javelinas and predators, as well as huge deer.