Hogs

[Ky hills]

Haven’t seen or heard of any right around here, but from I’ve understood there have been pockets of them west, north and south of us for a few years.
The most have been south of here in counties along the Tennessee line.
Not looking forward to these hogs eventually spreading to here
https://www.wkyt.com/2023/11/28/invasive-species-wreaking-havoc-kentucky/

 

[Warren Allison]

Haven’t seen or heard of any right around here, but from I’ve understood there have been pockets of them west, north and south of us for a few years.
The most have been south of here in counties along the Tennessee line.
Not looking forward to these hogs eventually spreading to here
https://www.wkyt.com/2023/11/28/invasive-species-wreaking-havoc-kentucky/

I think he is wrong, in this video, advising to not hunt them. Pigs can have several litters of a dozen or more piglets a year. They have no natural predators anymore.. You wont find them in wilderness areas that do have wolf, bear, and cougar populations. Best thing you can do is to regularly shoot any one you see. Or, catch them with dogs, or set up traps. Or best of all, all three. Here in Ga, there is no season and no bag limits on private property. On state WMAs, there is no bag limit, and you can take hogs during any other game season there is. You wont get but a few with dogs or shooting at a time. Those traps are best for getting the whole mob at one time. But it will be a continuous, full -time job, once they establish in your area.

 

[puzzled in oregon]

They may start drifting in from the north also

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...ral-hogs-swine-spreading-through-north-canada

 

[Travlr]

I recently heard that some dumb a** planted Russian boars up in Montana so they could hunt them, and of course there are domestic pigs that have escaped and interbred with them and now they are multiplying. I've seen the same thing with fish and birds being planted by amateurs with no clue about the damages they are doing.

 

[Ky hills]

I think he is wrong, in this video, advising to not hunt them. Pigs can have several litters of a dozen or more piglets a year. They have no natural predators anymore.. You wont find them in wilderness areas that do have wolf, bear, and cougar populations. Best thing you can do is to regularly shoot any one you see. Or, catch them with dogs, or set up traps. Or best of all, all three. Here in Ga, there is no season and no bag limits on private property. On state WMAs, there is no bag limit, and you can take hogs during any other game season there is. You wont get but a few with dogs or shooting at a time. Those traps are best for getting the whole mob at one time. But it will be a continuous, full -time job, once they establish in your area.

We don’t have wolves, but have plenty of good sized coyotes,not supposed to have mountain lions in KY, but a couple have been confirmed with one being killed by a wildlife officer. We do have black bears and in some of the areas said to have hogs are areas that have had bears the longest and largest numbers of them.
Those hogs would have plenty of cover and open land with bottomland crops in some places. It would be a disaster for a lot of people if they get a foothold and hog population grows

 

[tex452]

Hogs are a big problem for me, I have hay meadows hog fenced but the pasture is not, it horribly, I have to travel slow putting out rolls or just driving through with the buggies, I hate hogs.
We trap and shoot them, but it’s not enough.
I don’t care for hog doggers, because they enter my property without permission, and during deer season at that, another reason is that, it is a sport to them, they are not in it to get rid of hogs, they are in it to hunt, if they caught them all they would just turn more loose, what would they need hog dogs for?
Did I mention that I hate hogs.

 

[Warren Allison]

We don’t have wolves, but have plenty of good sized coyotes,not supposed to have mountain lions in KY, but a couple have been confirmed with one being killed by a wildlife officer. We do have black bears and in some of the areas said to have hogs are areas that have had bears the longest and largest numbers of them.
Those hogs would have plenty of cover and open land with bottomland crops in some places. It would be a disaster for a lot of people if they get a foothold and hog population grows

Hogs are like coyote and black bear, in that they can thrive in suburban areas. But black bear and coyotes are not all that detrimental to the hog population. Grizzly, wolves and cougars are, but they can't live in suburban areas...they are killed when they do enter. In wilderness areas where cougars, wolves and grizzlies are protected, you won't find feral hogs. We will find them in WMAs in Ga...because there are none of these natural predators anymore here....but more are found in rural agriculture land. All over the world, the big cats are the major predator of hogs. Lion and leopard in Africa, leopard and tiger in Asia, jaguar in central and south America. The only effective predator of hogs where hogs are found, is man.

 

[Ky hills]

Hogs are like coyote and black bear, in that they can thrive in suburban areas. But black bear and coyotes are not all that detrimental to the hog population. Grizzly, wolves and cougars are, but they can't live in suburban areas...they are killed when they do enter. In wilderness areas where cougars, wolves and grizzlies are protected, you won't find feral hogs. We will find them in WMAs in Ga...because there are none of these natural predators anymore here....but more are found in rural agriculture land. All over the world, the big cats are the major predator of hogs. Lion and leopard in Africa, leopard and tiger in Asia, jaguar in central and south America. The only effective predator of hogs where hogs are found, is man.

Yeah, hogs are adaptable, I could see them living in the same areas as coyotes and black bear. They might get a real young pig if the opportunity came about but a big hog would too much for either in most circumstances I would think.
I think the reasoning behind what the wildlife department is saying about not hunting them is that they are trying to say that just picking off one or two by hunting them will make them more difficult to deal with. they probably are hoping to trap them and get more at a time.
My thinking is that the hogs are going to be cautious either way and most rural Kentuckians are not going to want to deal with the dept of wildlife and are going to try to hunt them on their own anyway.

 

[Warren Allison]

Hogs are a big problem for me, I have hay meadows hog fenced but the pasture is not, it horribly, I have to travel slow putting out rolls or just driving through with the buggies, I hate hogs.
We trap and shoot them, but it’s not enough.
I don’t care for hog doggers, because they enter my property without permission, and during deer season at that, another reason is that, it is a sport to them, they are not in it to get rid of hogs, they are in it to hunt, if they caught them all they would just turn more loose, what would they need hog dogs for?
Did I mention that I hate hogs.

Not in the south. People who hunt with dogs do one of two things. Some people are "pig stickers". The catch dogs hold them, and you run up and "stick" them with a very large knife or short spear. Not for the faint of heart...you gotta have a lot of guts and catch dogs you can trust. The most popular are American bulldog/pit bull crosses. Scott has a Cane Corso and a Doggo Argentino he uses. The other dog hunters catch them and either pen them at home and feed them out for a while, or just kill and butcher them when they catch them. If the hogs have been eating your corn, beans or peanuts, they taste ok without feeding them out.

When I was in college, I became obsessed with hog hunting, We did it at night, with no dogs. The University of Ga Ag Dept had thousands of acres of crops, We'd find trails where they were entering the fields, and stake out each one, then send someone in to make a racket so they'd run out. I had one nearly eat me alive one night. When this 400 lb boar came by me, I shot him with my Remington 30-06 semi auto, and it jammed on the first shot. He turned on me, and he took a full clip from my 45 before he finally went down. Layed my left leg open from my calf to my butt cheek. That was 1976, and I have never used a semi auto rifle, shotgun or pistol since. on dangerous game. I use pump shotguns, lever or bolt action rifles, and 44 mag revolvers. You can put a hog down with a well placed 22 shot, if he doesn't know you are there. If you wound one, they go into shock or something, and can take everything you have. That hog that got me? My first 30-06 round took out the bottom half of his heart. Seemed like an eternity, but he really lasted 3-4 minutes before he finally died, after I had broke his back with a 45 round. And a big hog can cut you up in a lot less than 3 minutes.

 

[Logan52]

Years ago, in my part of Kentucky, nearly every hollow and hillside had a young boy with a gun roaming over it, dreaming of shooting something wild. Today they sit in front of a screen of some kind in air conditioned comfort.
When I bought this farm, all my neighbors were active farmers, using every spot of ground for some purpose. Today most of the neighbors are gone and the farms are either sporting new homes on 30 acre tracts or just growing up in bushes. Some of the better ridges grow corn or soybeans while their surrounding hillsides grow up and are seldom visited.
I am not surprised hogs may be moving in. If they do it will soon be a problem.

 

[Warren Allison]

Yeah, hogs are adaptable, I could see them living in the same areas as coyotes and black bear. They might get a real young pig if the opportunity came about but a big hog would too much for either in most circumstances I would think.
I think the reasoning behind what the wildlife department is saying about not hunting them is that they are trying to say that just picking off one or two by hunting them will make them more difficult to deal with. they probably are hoping to trap them and get more at a time.
My thinking is that the hogs are going to be cautious either way and most rural Kentuckians are not going to want to deal with the dept of wildlife and are going to try to hunt them on their own anyway.

You are probably right about the dept of wildlife's reasoning, but hunting them won't make them leave an area. I bet that first year in 76, we got 50 out of the same fields, hunting every week or so. They gonna stay where they have food. They will stay in the most inaccessible swamps and thickets during the day, and do their crop-raiding at night. That's why you have to use dogs to hunt them in daylight. My advice, and it just my opinion is you should kill every one you can if they start coming around your place.

I was a Fish and Wildlife Biology major in college, and took part in a few studies or projects. This was back when coyotes first appeared in north Ga. Farmers claimed a lot of calf losses were due to coyotes, when actually they were hog kills. Same with fawn kills. Coyotes mostly fed on the remnants of those kills. And coyotes. as well as foxes, bobcats and hawks were blamed for diminishing quail, rabbit and turkey populations. Which common sense would tell you is BS, because they had all lived here for centuries before America was discovered. Loss of habitat is the number one cause of diminishing game, but hogs are the number 1 predator of young quail and turkey, and their eggs, and of young rabbits.

 

[greybeard]

We trap and shoot them, but it’s not enough.

Exactly. They reproduce faster than hunters/trappers can deal with them. The going consensus is that even tho a LOT of them are killed and trapped each year, Texas would have to increase their harvest from 35% of the total pig population to nearly 75% of them....... Just to keep a stable and non-increasing feral hog herd.

 

[Warren Allison]

Years ago, in my part of Kentucky, nearly every hollow and hillside had a young boy with a gun roaming over it, dreaming of shooting something wild. Today they sit in front of a screen of some kind in air conditioned comfort.
When I bought this farm, all my neighbors were active farmers, using every spot of ground for some purpose. Today most of the neighbors are gone and the farms are either sporting new homes on 30 acre tracts or just growing up in bushes. Some of the better ridges grow corn or soybeans while their surrounding hillsides grow up and are seldom visited.
I am not surprised hogs may be moving in. If they do it will soon be a problem.

Down here, north of Atlanta, they are putting 4 houses to the acre, on what used to be farm and pasture land.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Haven’t seen or heard of any right around here, but from I’ve understood there have been pockets of them west, north and south of us for a few years.
The most have been south of here in counties along the Tennessee line.
Not looking forward to these hogs eventually spreading to here
https://www.wkyt.com/2023/11/28/invasive-species-wreaking-havoc-kentucky/

Pray you don’t get them.
I trap 200 a year and don’t dent them.
Problem is one neighbor and I are the only ones working on them.
If you have 100 hogs you have to trap 80 to stay at a 100.
Top picture they are partying in my neighbors pasture.
Bottom these we’re trapped in mine.

 

[Travlr]

Down here, north of Atlanta, they are putting 4 houses to the acre, on what used to be farm and pasture land.

Human beings are pretty stupid. We cover up the best bottomland first with buildings, asphalt, and concrete, and over time spread out into the next best farmland continuously covering the ground we use to feed us. And then we move into the hills that we can't grow crops on, advertise it as view lots, and charge the big bucks for that ground. And then... we buy those view lots and the first thing we do is plant a bunch of trees so we have privacy and no longer have a view.

 

[Warren Allison]

Pray you don’t get them.
I trap 200 a year and don’t dent them.
Problem is one neighbor and I are the only ones working on them.
If you have 100 hogs you have to trap 80 to stay at a 100.View attachment 37670View attachment 37671
Top picture they are partying in my neighbors pasture.
Bottom these we’re trapped in mine.

Amen. A sow can breed at 8-10 months old. The gestation period is 112 days. They will have an average of 8 piglets, They wean at about 24 weeks. Sow will breed back in 5 days after weaning. You are 100% correct. Leave 20 out of the 100, and 10 of them are sows, you gonna have 80 piglets in 4 months or less...and you are back at 100 hogs.

 

[greybeard]

Down here, north of Atlanta, they are putting 4 houses to the acre, on what used to be farm and pasture land.

Don't get me started on THAT! In my son's relatively (less than 5 yr old) subdivision, they put 8 houses/acre. 1/8 acre lots. Can't put 10 because of utility easements, sidewalks, streets etc. Used to be a big Arabian horse ranch and before that, cattle and before that, some kind of cropland, probably cotton or beans. That land was probably valued at $7000/acre as an ag land, but now, with 8 $300,000 houses on an acre is tax valued WAY higher. The short term winner is the guy that sold it to the developer, and sort of, the new homeowners with a 20 year mortgage, but the long term loser is AG, as that landwill never produce another bale of cotton or another calf or horse. The BIG winner, is the county tax asscessor/collector. In 2021, I took about an hour speaking on why my county needed more ag and less developers, explaining all this and more in front of about 100 farmers and ranchers and a panel of county appraisal district board,the appraisal district chief appraiser, the appraisal district's ag advisory board, and I lambasted he tax asscessor/collector who was also up there on the panel when she interrupted me to say 'the county needs revenue". Texas 1D1 law (Ag exemption legislation) specifically spells out that ag exemptions shall be approved regardless of how much revenue a county needs. I had the Texas Comptroller's Ag Appraisal manual in front of me and read that part to them chapter and verse. They didn't like it.

 

[Ky hills]

@greybeard you are right about loss of agriculture land and the winners and losers as a result.
We are seeing that here too, my understanding is most lots sold here have to be an acre for a house and 10 for trailer. Some close to city limits can get zoned for cluster homes as the call them and they put several close together or duplex or apartments.
Sad to see all the land growing houses even the small acreages are primarily useless unless the new owners let somebody cut it for hay.
Our county has went downhill ever since they decided agriculture was bad because it didn’t bring in revenue. The town has slowly died ever since as many people used to come here to do business with the local stockyards and tractor dealer. Now we have neither and those people that came here would often go to other stores and shop and eat but no more.
I’ve debated back and forth with people that come here from other places after the ag decline they don’t know what we had and lost they only see what it is now and say oh well we already tried the farm thing and it doesn’t bring in the revenue.
They say we need affordable housing first to grow a workforce. Apparently they think build houses and the jobs will come. Problem I see is the affordable housing crowd don’t really want to work, and without work who is going to move into an area with just a handful of small factories, that maybe here a few years or may decide to close up shop and move on once their incentives are gone.
It worries me, because to me food is a security issue as well as a necessity, yet everybody takes it for granted and villianizes agriculture.
We pay an acre to two acres worth of property taxes every year and over 60% of that goes to the school board.

 

[Brute 23]

The Buck 119 with 6" blade is more than adequate for taking any pig.

It's going to be a culture shock when pigs hit certain areas that aren't use to them. You have to definitely adapt some practices. Equipment work is one of the biggest things it will effect. The rooting is hard on equipment and the operator. I can spray or shred or what ever for about 2... 3 days max. By the third day my back and fajitas will be pretty soar. That's 5mph or less also. You can loose a hay field or crops over night.

 

[Ky hills]

The Buck 119 with 6" blade is more than adequate for taking any pig.

It's going to be a culture shock when pigs hit certain areas that aren't use to them. You have to definitely adapt some practices. Equipment work is one of the biggest things it will effect. The rooting is hard on equipment and the operator. I can spray or shred or what ever for about 2... 3 days max. By the third day my back and fajitas will be pretty soar. That's 5mph or less also. You can loose a hay field or crops over night.

You right on that it would be a culture shock for sure, I haven’t seen it or dealt with wild hogs first hand, but I know what hogs can do to ground and wild ones running loose going where ever they want is gonna be a mess,