Texas to Pay Sportsmen to Hunt Hogs

Daniel Xu | June 20, 2013

There are an estimated five million feral pigs in the United States, half of which are located in the Lone Star State. Texas already spends $7 million on their hog management programs but experts say that is not enough to prevent the population from tripling in the next five years. To keep the pigs under control, the state will have to eliminate nearly 66 percent of the swine every year. For comparison, hunters and trappers accounted for over 750,000 pigs harvested in 2010, only 29 percent of the population.

However, Texas does have a few cards up its sleeve, and the foremost of these is boasting one of the largest and most dedicated hunting cultures in America. Hunting hogs has not only become a Texas tradition, but now a necessity.

Many hunters bemoan the fact that while hogs are undoubtedly detrimental to the land, many landowners still charge a fee for hunting on their property. With the addition of equipment and ammunition, these hunts can become very pricey. Now the state is offering an extra incentive in the form of bounties. The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) will be partnering with county governments to launch the 2013 County Hog Abatement Matching Program (CHAMP). The initiative will encourage counties to match state funding dollar-for-dollar up to $30,000, which will be then paid to hunters.

In order to receive state funds county governments will have to apply for the program by July 1. The Cove Herald reports that several counties have already signed up for CHAMP including Milam, Falls, Bell, and Hamilton counties.

Feral pigs can be destructive enough on land, but the animals are also having a significant impact on the state’s waterways. In the Leon River Watershed alone there are an estimated 26,000 pigs. Their destructive behavior and fecal matter pushed the watershed into the “impaired” rating by the Environmental Protection Agency. The abundance of bacteria introduced by the pigs is also affecting native wildlife and flora.

“One of the biggest things I can do to control the feral hog impact is to help the counties get more funding for feral hog abatement,” said Mike Marshall, coordinator for the Leon River Watershed.

Hogs are also found on farms, golf courses, and residential areas in every one of the state’s 54 counties. The animals have caused an estimated $500 million in damages. Part of the reason for their success is how adaptable pigs are in the wild. Capable of producing one-and-a-half litters per year, pigs are growing far faster than they can be destroyed.

“The feral hog population has exploded in the last 20 years, and our ability to control them will depend on two primary factors,” TDA Commissioner Todd Staples told the Southwest Farm Press. “First, our efforts must be coordinated across all public entities and private landowners. Second, we must focus on the most low-cost, high-return methods when investing limited taxpayer dollars into this effort.”

In 2010 the department created the Hog Out Challenge that encouraged hunters to harvest pigs, leading to a high number of pigs removed. Texas is once again looking for a similar low-cost, results-producing strategy.

“This is both an urban and rural problem that directly impacts our economy and the future of Texas agriculture,” Staples added. “We need to step up our efforts to thwart these dangerous creatures, and CHAMP does just that.”

(Image courtesy Texas Parks and Wildlife Department)

Copyright © 2013 OutdoorHub

Complete waste of state money. Ridiculous.

Gato, while I agree completely with you from you being a state taxpayer, as a hunter, if I can get some however small reimbursement on my upcoming hog hunt, I may very well kill one or two more. I have no knowledge of the value of that. I plan on shooting 3-4 as it sits, if everything works out anyway.

I'd like to hope that the folks running this within the State of Texas will keep a good handle on it. But I suspect it will create more 'gubmint workers'. Along with creating costs for forms, office space, studies, administrative things, worker benefits, etc. A small percentage of the tax money will actually go to getting feral hogs dead, and a bunch more will go for the bureaucracy it creates.

I remember years ago when Boulder, Colorado was going to control the number of prairie dogs chewing up their 'green zone' property. They were spending a grand+ per little critter captured and re-located when kids with .22's and prairie dog shooters had been doing for free.

All I can envision is the program turning into a cluster. How is anyone going to be able to prove that the hogs were actually killed within the borders of any of the counties involved?

It is a reasonable concept, but from my experience, unless all counties are involved, once enough pressure is put on the hogs in the counties enrolled in the program, the hogs will simply move to other areas. Just my opinion.

Hunting can not, in any measurable form, keep up with the population growth. It's fun. It's Sporting, but not an answer to a hog problem.

The "Hog Out" program paid $10 for a pig tail. Considering that $10 is pretty cheap bounty, I would say it probably does some good. Will it help much in the long run? Hard to say.

Trapping has been the lest expensive method, because trappers sell them. But prices fluctuate wildly and fuel is expensive. There comes a point where its not worth the effort. The $10 bounty was paid on top of what you got at the hog buyers station, so in essence, Texas was subsidizing the trapping market.

Helicopters have been used with good results, but it's expensive and few landowners can afford to go that route.

I agree. I am afraid Texas is throwing good money away.

Crazy

You are correct. Most animals will move
with high hunting pressure, along with food
sources changing.

Wendell
Shooting by itself doesn't work but a combo of
poison, dogging, shooting and trapping will work
in the end, especially if it is co ordinated
so places get hit hard and few escape.

Maybe it's the Idahoan in me, but what possible business is it of the politicians and civil parasites to say there are too many pigs (or not enough wolves) on private land. Also, if a landowner has too many he can solve the problem without dipping his snout into the public trough. Kind of like welfare for landowners ain't it? I've heard Texas will become a purple state in the next decade, say it ain't so.

quote:

Maybe it's the Idahoan in me, but what possible business is it of the politicians and civil parasites to say there are too many pigs (or not enough wolves) on private land. Also, if a landowner has too many he can solve the problem without dipping his snout into the public trough. Kind of like welfare for landowners ain't it? I've heard Texas will become a purple state in the next decade, say it ain't so.

Just a question here. Have you ever spent anytime in Texas?

Why yes Timmy I have. I've hunted the hill country and worked both in both the Ft. Worth and Houston area. I await your blistering response.

If Texas is going to make any sort of headway against feral hogs then the first thing they should do is outlaw feeding them.

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
If Texas is going to make any sort of headway against feral hogs then the first thing they should do is outlaw feeding them.

Somewhere I think that discusson has been had before.

Good luck on that.

Every spin cast feeder in Texas would have to have a hog proof pen around it. Next I guess you could ban the growing of crops. Then.......

where do you stop.

Like the old story about being up to our ass in alligators, well, a few more years and we're gonna be up to our ass in pork.

Best

GWB

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:

quote:

Maybe it's the Idahoan in me, but what possible business is it of the politicians and civil parasites to say there are too many pigs (or not enough wolves) on private land. Also, if a landowner has too many he can solve the problem without dipping his snout into the public trough. Kind of like welfare for landowners ain't it? I've heard Texas will become a purple state in the next decade, say it ain't so.

Just a question here. Have you ever spent anytime in Texas?

***That's a hoot that CHC asks that question when he's the expert on everything coast to coast that comes up on these Forums---just ask him about the Wyoming draw for instance, LOL!!!

Wendell Reich wrote:

quote:

The "Hog Out" program paid $10 for a pig tail. Considering that $10 is pretty cheap bounty,

--

It must have varied by county. Here in Lavaca, they only gave $2 (I had originally heard $10 as well).

I don't hunt them anymore but do snipe a few from the house now and then. So, when the bounty began, we chopped the tails when we remembered. Before it ended, I sent our oldest to turn in a dozen tails from that short period when it was in effect and later got a $24 check in the mail.

$10 each would have been much nicer and bought me more pwoder or bullets...

quote:

I've hunted the hill country and worked both in both the Ft. Worth and Houston area.

Okay, then you have seen first hand that Texas is mostly private land with only a small percentage of Public Land.

It is difficult at best to get Private Landowners to agree on anything that they feel takes the ability to manage their property as they see fit from them.

I feel that the program is doomed from the start and will not last long if it ever gets off the ground.

The numbers I keep hearing thrown around by knowledgeable folks is that 60% of the herd would have to be taken out annually to create something remotely close to managing the herd.

Just my opinion, nothing more, but selling people, hunters/land owners/non-hunters(not anti-hunters) on the concept of just killing hogs and letting them rot, whether there is a bounty on them or not, is going to be close to if not impossible.

I can remember what it was like before hogs became so numerous. If there was a way of managing the animals it would be great, because they do add an air of excitement having them come into a feeder or doing spot and stalk, or for those that like it hunting hogs with a knife, something I will never try.

As has been said, I think the program is going to fail.

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
If Texas is going to make any sort of headway against feral hogs then the first thing they should do is outlaw feeding them.

Good luck on that. -- GWB

My point is that it serves no purpose to try to exterminate them on the one hand, while so many "outfitters" are deliberately increasing their numbers on the other hand. Too many people in Texas want them running amok so they can hunt them and charge others to hunt them. Those people are willing to feed them and relocate them as much as possible to make it happen.

If we stop doing all supplemental feeding, especially with the draught most of the state is experiencing, we will lose a big chunk of the deer herd, plus turkeys and other stuff that depends upon that supplemental feed.

Not saying your wrong, because in reality your not. The pigs depend on that feed. The feral hog problem in Texas developed over time, but did not gain real momentum, UNTIL, the emphasis in supplemental feeding of the deer herd took off.

Just my opinion, but I do not believe that Texas will ever be able to adequately control the feral hog population. There are too many animals, there are too many mixed ideas on what to try to do and how to go about it.

About the only way the feral hog population in Texas could be brought under "Control", is the introduction of a swine specific disease and the whole herd wiped out.

How many folks want to see that type of "Final Solution"?

I am not prepared to speak for West or Central Texas, but IMO, if there wasn't a corn feeder E of Waco, it would have very little, if any effect on the hog population. They are smart, adapt well and quickly, and can and would outroot the deer, etc on their range. Unlike in W and Central Texas, many, if not most, of the corn feeders in E Tx are not operated much beyond the boundaries of the deer seasons. For many hunters, land owners, and leasees, corn is too damn expensive to feed coons and hogs all year. Unlike in W. Tx. deer don't eat it all that much around here when other forbs are available, late fall and winter are the prime times for corn.

As long as landowners can make money off the pigs, we will have what we have.

What I wish would happen is that the state pass a law requiring landowners that apply for damage reimbursement from feral pigs to be required to allow trespass by any hunter requesting same, strictly for the purpose of hunting feral pigs. I know there are some caveats involved there, and nothing is perfect, but I get tired of reading about all the damage the ferals do and then not be able to hunt them without paying a significant trespass fee.

I feel the landowners want it both ways, in a lot of cases. I kind of hope the pigs carry them off. I will not (and shouldn't have to) pay $500 and up to help them out of a situation.

There are WMAs in TX where the feral pigs will wade through a duck spread in broad daylight during duck season and the hunters are not allowed to kill them. I will readily admit they are federal WMAs and not under state control, but that is pure nonsense. We have a hog problem in this state and it is only going to get worse.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
I am not prepared to speak for West or Central Texas, but IMO, if there wasn't a corn feeder E of Waco, it would have very little, if any effect on the hog population. They are smart, adapt well and quickly, and can and would outroot the deer, etc on their range. Unlike in W and Central Texas, many, if not most, of the corn feeders in E Tx are not operated much beyond the boundaries of the deer seasons. For many hunters, land owners, and leasees, corn is too damn expensive to feed coons and hogs all year. Unlike in W. Tx. deer don't eat it all that much around here when other forbs are available, late fall and winter are the prime times for corn.

CAT,
my friend, you have an uncanny ability to make a long story short.

No offense guys, but......



Since they are here, I'm gonna make the most of the opportunity to trap, snare, and shoot em' whenever and where ever



and convert them.


Best

GWB

quote:

I will not (and shouldn't have to) pay $500 and up to help them out of a situation.

Doubless, you do not have to pay that much. There are folks around the state that can and do offer more reasonably priced hunts.

Not everyone that has hogs tries to soak it to people. Look on Craig's List. Yes I know folks have had bad experiences doing that, but not everyone has had bad experiences.

Many times all it takes is timing the hunt. From Sept. 1 till the last day of Spring Turkey season is not the time to try and do a pig hunt.

I know the time left can be really uncomfortable for setting in a stand waiting for pigs to come to a feeder and then if a pig or two is shot it is mid night before a person gets to bed, but a person can find reasonably priced hunts.

quote:

The "Hog Out" program paid $10 for a pig tail.

Where do I sign-up?! If I shoot about 100,000 hogs this year, I can get myself a new Ferrari and a nice long Tanzanian safari to relax after my hard year of work.

This is certainly not the be all, end all to the hog problem. It is just another tool in the box. As far as the Counties being able to administrate it, they never had a problem with coyote bounties. I am sure they will do just fine.

Randall, my point was this: it is an admitted fact that hogs are tearing this country apart, and are a 12-month, year-long menace. Why should I have to pay anything to help get rid of something that is causing a problem? Would landowners charge me to hunt gophers? Probably not... but they cause a lot of problems as well, don't they? And btw, if you have never hunted gophers with a .22, you haven't lived. It is absolutely a hoot!

I will say it again: it comes down to money. As long as landowners can charge to have folks hunt pigs, it will be exactly as it is now, and the hogs will take us (and them) completely over. When that happens and they can't graze cattle in their coastal patches because the hogs tear it up on a nightly basis, I hope they are happy.

As a non-Texan, I have trouble understanding the logic of charging hunters for the 'privilage' of removing nusiance animals.

I do free-lance agricultural deer damage control in my home state of Wisconsin. The landowners here not only don't expect payment, they're very grateful for my time and efforts. Deer do a lot of damage; most regular 'hunters' are only interested in shooting bucks. They're unwilling to take enough does and fawns to reduce crop damage. The farmers appreciate the help of somebody who is both willing and able to fill the out-of-season damage control tags.

And then there was the time when I was hunting in northeastern Montana and struck up a casual conversation with a rancher at a gas station. I mentioned having 2 antelope doe tags and before I knew it he drew up a map of his property and wrote out a permission slip. The rancher told me to "round up a semi truck and don't stop shooting until it was full of those !@#$^ goats." I didn't have to pay for this great hunting opportunity. In fact, I didn't even have to ASK for it.

These are real, working agricultural operations and the damage done by overabundant wildlife is extensive. The landowners are serious about mitigating the damage and welcome my help free of charge. It's a win-win situation for everybody involved (except the animals doing the damage.)

What make Texas different?

I can understand the landowner not wanting to let every "Tom Dick and Harry" run rampant over his place. A reasonable access fee might be a way to weed out the "riff-raff" but I can't quite understand the idea of charging the hunters for hogs "by the head."

One of the misconceptions that I think is being overlooked Doubless, is that not ALL parts of the state are experiencing the same amount of hog damage or hog numbers.

We have fairly good hog numbers in this area at times. Using the time frames I mentioned in my earlier post, during the end of Spring Turkey season until opening day of dove season hog numbers tend to increase in this area, with local trappers providing basically the only deterrent, and only then if hog prices are high enough to make trapping worth while.

When hog prices drop to the point where the trappers are not realizing enough to pay for the fuel they use when checking their traps and hauling hogs to the buyer, the traps are pulled.

During the time when our various hunting seasons are open, the only folks that have access to the hogs are the folks that have the leases and the general public is left out.

I for one can not blame land owners for wanting to get some compensation from a free resource on their land, it does not mean that I do not feel that some folks want too much, especially something that is costing them money.

Ends up the land owner is damned if he does and damned if he don't. I am one of those that can remember when my Dad and I had permission to fish and I could dove and duck hunt over much of Young county.

Land Owners simply cannot do things that way anymore, even with a species such as feral hogs. As I have already said, I don't believe the system will work on at least two levels, no way to prove that the animals were killed in that particular county and with that will be the folks that have leases in counties without the bounty, loading up on hog tails and then taking them in for the bounty.

quote:

I can understand the landowner not wanting to let every "Tom Dick and Harry" run rampant over his place. A reasonable access fee might be a way to weed out the "riff-raff" but I can't quite understand the idea of charging the hunters for hogs "by the head."

What constitutes a "Reasonable" fee and what is the land owner expected to do with all those excess dead hogs on their land.

Is the land owner supposed to hire a bulldozer and dig a trench to bury all those hogs in?

Is the land owner supposed to just leave dead hogs laying around their property, bringing in coyotes, or just let them lay around rotting, allowing who knows what to end up washing into the local water supply?

The feral hog problem in Texas has no easy answers, no easy solutions and will probably never be solved.

I wished there was as do most Texans but I simply don't see it.

quote:

What constitutes a "Reasonable" fee and what is the land owner expected to do with all those excess dead hogs on their land.Is the land owner supposed to hire a bulldozer and dig a trench to bury all those hogs in?Is the land owner supposed to just leave dead hogs laying around their property, bringing in coyotes, or just let them lay around rotting, allowing who knows what to end up washing into the local water supply?

The answer to these questions is simple: Free access, and the stipulation is that you make a sincere effort to retrieve anything you shot. Anything you shoot, you remove. It is okay to field dress and skin the animals if it is done in a designated area, as other vermin will readily take care of everything except maybe the hide. Even the skull will eventually be partially eaten by squirrels and rats looking for calcium.

If I as the landowner find multiple carcasses (two or more), I file charges. Period.

Straightforward and much more simple than you make it out to be.

Just an opinion but in looking at the comments that have been made on this thread and the ones that have been made in the past on threads covering this subject.

It always ends up in a circular argument, with the Land Owners being the bad guys. It is a situation that will never change in Texas, too many land owners have been bit in the ass too many times, even by family and friends over just this issue alone.

It would be great if you could actually count on people to live up to what they promise, but too many times in real life it just does not work out that way.

Sorry.

quote:

What constitutes a "Reasonable" fee and what is the land owner expected to do with all those excess dead hogs on their land.

Those are good questions.

I don't know what would constitute a "reasonable" fee. Personally, I only have so much time and money to spend on hunting and going to TX to shoot pigs is very low on the budget / priority list. I might pay a couple of hundred $$ to get access on a place to shoot some hogs but I sure as hell wouldn't pay by the head. The situation reminds me of another Montana story. A guy and his young son saw a big herd of mule deer on a ranch. They went to the landowner's house and asked about permission to fill their "B" (doe) tags. The landowner said "Sure, for $300 apiece." The hunter said "At that price I think we'll just go back on the road and videotape the deer eating your crops." Under other circumstances the hunter might have been happy to pay $600 for a good hunting opportunity but pricing it like buying meat by the pound in a supermarket changes the dynamics. It's a case of letting the market decide.

People go to the Dakotas to shoot prairie dogs, often on private land. I wonder how that's handled?

Dealing with carcasses is a real problem. Lots of guys would be happy to pull a trigger but being willing to clean up the aftermath is another thing altogether. Just last week I had 2 deer down and had to make some late night calls to find somebody to take them. That was just 2 deer; I can imagine that getting rid of a bunch of nasty hogs on a steamy Texas afternoon would be a real problem.

I guess it's up to the landowner to decide if the hogs are more of a nusiance dead or alive and act accordingly.

If the hogs are to be eradicated a lot of carcasses will have to be disposed of, no matter how they're killed. What do they do with hogs killed by trapping or helicopter shooting? Since this is such a major issue, what about having the state set up a disposal program and provide collection sites?

I have let a fair amount of people hunt for hogs or deer on my land for free but it was ALWAYS people of my choice. I can tell you this, there would have to be so many hogs on my land that they would have to line up to take a ticket to wait for the next acorn to fall before I'd let the general public roam my place(s). Normal hunting, and I include night vision, etc, etc. won't make a serious dent in E Tx hog populations. People who aren't around them can't understand how smart they are. I used to see hogs in a certain area ALL the time, just about any morning or evening until I killed a couple of them there. I didn't see a hog within 300 yards of that spot for years. Pressure them, they move, become more nocturnal, etc.

In addition, unless you have corn feeders going, the chances of killing a hog this time of year on my place as an example are damn slim. We've had lots of rain and the weeds and grass are higher than the hogs. They're here, and in numbers, but killing them ain't nearly as easy as you'd think, especially if the hunters are not experienced hog killers.

I don't know about W Texas but hog carcasses aren't a problem around here. We have portable janitorial services, buzzards (both kinds), coyotes, and possums, not to mention crows. 100 dead hogs on 1000 or even a 100 acres.....big fing deal. I mean, no one wants a dead hog laying in their backyard or barnyard, but otherwise I think "carcass disposal" is a complete red herring.

"Just an opinion but in looking at the comments that have been made on this thread and the ones that have been made in the past on threads covering this subject.

It always ends up in a circular argument, with the Land Owners being the bad guys. It is a situation that will never change in Texas, too many land owners have been bit in the ass too many times, even by family and friends over just this issue alone."

It's not really a matter of the landowner being the "bad guy." It's more of an issue of the perception of landowners seeming to want it both ways. The hogs are either a costly nusiance to be eradicated by any means necessary or they are a valuable trophy. Which is it?

"It would be great if you could actually count on people to live up to what they promise, but too many times in real life it just does not work out that way."

Ain't that the truth! The farmers here complain about guys who ask for damage tags and then don't show up to actually fill them. It would take a lot of dedicated, long-term effort to shoot a significant number of hogs and I can imagine that most guys probably quit once the novelty wears off. Damage control is different from sport hunting.

quote:

Normal hunting, and I include night vision, etc, etc. won't make a serious dent in E Tx hog populations.

That's probably the most important point of all!

Deer, elk etc. populations can (mostly) be controlled by hunting. "Hot spots" can be effectivly dealt with by special seasons, damage permits etc. but hogs are literally "another animal."

What is the answer?

Reminds me of a few years ago some farmers here in Texas wanted the state to pay for high fences so the deer would not eat their crops. But same said farmers would not let anyone hunt on there property.

quote:

Originally posted by tractorred:
Reminds me of a few years ago some farmers here in Texas wanted the state to pay for high fences so the deer would not eat their crops. But same said farmers would not let anyone hunt on there property.

Some landowners don't want the liability of having people they don't know running around their ground. It's sad but we live in a sue happy society and you never know if common sense will prevail

While I can agree that nature will take care of the carcasses without any problems, there will still be land owners that will bring that into the conversation.

We have an area set aside where we haul what ever is left over after a hunt is over, and between the coyotes and buzzards it is amazing the amount of stuff they can consume in just a few hours.

With us, it is part of the price of doing business, and the coyotes and buzzards got eat too.

The other side of that coin however is that we have 1000 acres with the nearest neighbor close to a mile away.

Other folks don't have that much area to dispose of remains.

I honestly do not believe a workable solution that will satisfy all parties will ever be worked out. JMO.

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
If Texas is going to make any sort of headway against feral hogs then the first thing they should do is outlaw feeding them.

Somewhere I think that discusson has been had before.

Good luck on that.

Every spin cast feeder in Texas would have to have a hog proof pen around it. Next I guess you could ban the growing of crops. Then.......

where do you stop.

Like the old story about being up to our ass in alligators, well, a few more years and we're gonna be up to our ass in pork.

Best

GWB

Feral hogs are going to eat (and usually eat well) whether there are feeders or not. You'll never eradicate them, but you can try to control their population.

Deadly piglet virus spreads to nearly 200 U.S. farm sites
http://www.reuters.com/article...dUSBRE95N1DR20130624

Intentional or not, this virus might be on it's way into the feral pig population.

quote:

I used to see hogs in a certain area ALL the time, just about any morning or evening until I killed a couple of them there. I didn't see a hog within 300 yards of that spot for years. Pressure them, they move, become more nocturnal, etc.

I hunted a ranch in central TX for years sure after the first couple of days they were no longer walking around in the open.

After that we would just go into the brush root them out. I shot hogs in the same places and areas year after year, Some times I shot a hog in the same place I shot some the day before.

I guess you just have smarter hogs where you live.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

After that we would just go into the brush root them out. I shot hogs in the same places and areas year after year, Some times I shot a hog in the same place I shot some the day before.

I guess you just have smarter hogs where you live.

That depends a lot on terrain. There are areas that hogs bed down that are not penetrable by humans and forget about getting off a shot.