greybeard
Well-known member
He## NO! Hunt them dang water rats to extinction! I hate 'em.Around here there is a bounty and trapping program for beavers, it's good business practice to leave a few for seed no sense working yourself out of a job!
He## NO! Hunt them dang water rats to extinction! I hate 'em.Around here there is a bounty and trapping program for beavers, it's good business practice to leave a few for seed no sense working yourself out of a job!
The powers that be in KY on this have two different views on hogs and coyotes.@Travlr ... I was not referring to which were the more prolific... it was someone on here that said you could pick them off more effectively if you shot them from the end to the front; if you shot the "leaders" as they ran, then the next ones in line would scatter... whereas if you picked them off from the rear, they would continue to run in a straighter line so to speak.
I have no experience with them and hope I never do.
Yeah, the animal rights dumba$$es will give them more rights just like they do to the wolves being released and the coyotes moving into the suburbs and killing pets and trying to drag off toddlers....
That really doesn't make any sense. Regardless, most of the trappers are hired by the government. Its not the suits out there trying to trap critters.Can't see government employees getting rid of anything by trapping, they don't have the hate /kill mentality needed to eradicate them, and pay comes by regularly win, loose or draw.
Around here there is a bounty and trapping program for beavers, it's good business practice to leave a few for seed no sense working yourself out of a job!
I see hogs almost every day late in the afternoon. I had a fellow trap hogs destroying my have. He caught 77 and I lost 25 rolls of hay. You can't get rid of them no matter how many you kill.I see their point, but in over 50 years of hog hunting, I have never seem them out at daylight. They are nocturnal whether hunted or not. And the hog traps work well at night, so no reason for the officials to not trap at night. Only time I have seen hogs in daylight, is when you hunt them with dogs. Bottom line is, you will never eradicate them. Best approach would be for the WMD to go at the trapping plan full tilt, AND allow year-round hunting. Then maybe you can get them down to a manageable level.
Yep kill 5 and 10 are born that weekI see hogs almost every day late in the afternoon. I had a fellow trap hogs destroying my have. He caught 77 and I lost 25 rolls of hay. You can't get rid of them no matter how many you kill.
Bob cats and coyotes are not their predators. Might could take a piglet if they can get by the sow every now and then. From the time this country was settled, all of the 1700's and 1800's, up to the mid 19o0's or so, most people let their hogs run wild, and didn't pen them. With all or nearly all of domestic pigs back then running feral, you never had the problems you do now, mainly over-population. This was because there were predators to keep them in check back then. Bear, wolves, cougars and jaguar in North America...which are no longer present.You have to learn to live with them like any other varmint. Kill off their natural predators like bobcats and coyotes will only make the problems worse. Like buzzards, take a shot at them even if they are to far to hit to let them know they are being hunted. Folks using deer feeders are your worst enemy. They feed 30 and may shoot one or two. Keep your hay stack away from areas they frequent.
If you see them late in the evening during the summer, they are most likely going to water. Grab a couple beers and go sit under a tree upwind from the area for a couple evenings about a hour before dark. They follow the same route/trail every day until they get disturbed.
The habitat. If you were to irrigate 1000 acres and turn it into lush pasture, row crop land, or just the kind of habitat you find here in the east, then their numbers would multiply dramatically, and they'd concentrate on those crop fields instead of trying to find the occasional prickly pear to eat.I had a sow with piglets and one disappeared. I found him dead maybe a 150 feet from the pen in some tall grass, his sides raked open in long slices from his belly to above the midpoint on his sides. We had a tall snag out back across the creek and midway up the hill where eagles would roost. I suspect an eagle tried to carry the piglet off, it struggled and was dropped, and it died from the fall.
Pigs are tough. I wonder why the wild desert pigs, Javelina, haven't bred in numbers to be a problem. What keeps their numbers down?
If deer feeders are your worse enemy then where do farmers rank? They plant hundreds or thousands of acres of feed for hogs.You have to learn to live with them like any other varmint. Kill off their natural predators like bobcats and coyotes will only make the problems worse. Like buzzards, take a shot at them even if they are to far to hit to let them know they are being hunted. Folks using deer feeders are your worst enemy. They feed 30 and may shoot one or two. Keep your hay stack away from areas they frequent.
If you see them late in the evening during the summer, they are most likely going to water. Grab a couple beers and go sit under a tree upwind from the area for a couple evenings about a hour before dark. They follow the same route/trail every day until they get disturbed.
We have a lot of them and seeing them in daylight is not unusual, they will come out of the edge of a field and if it's hot come to a tank for water. They are hard to get rid of. The part about shooting is usually correct, if you shoot they will go away, but only temporarily that will be determined by where they find a food source. The best way is to trap them from a remotely set large trap that you can watch and trigger by cell phone but you do have to be patient and watch and wait. If you are you can catch an entire sounder. A buddy of min in Abilene has one of those traps and has caught up to 30 at a timeI see their point, but in over 50 years of hog hunting, I have never seem them out at daylight. They are nocturnal whether hunted or not. And the hog traps work well at night, so no reason for the officials to not trap at night. Only time I have seen hogs in daylight, is when you hunt them with dogs. Bottom line is, you will never eradicate them. Best approach would be for the WMD to go at the trapping plan full tilt, AND allow year-round hunting. Then maybe you can get them down to a manageable level.
It's easy enough to bait them and kill them but almost anything you use will kill a lot of animals you don't want to kill. Antifreeze and corn will destroy a group of hogs but if deer, cattle, horses or dogs get to it, it will kill them too. A & M supposedly created a hog only poison but I don't know anyone that uses itWe are in difficult country here and shooting opportunities on pigs are very few. We were having a lot of pig problems until about 10 years ago a big property just south of us did a 1080 baiting program very successfully and we haven't seen one since.
Ken
Coyotes have to find a small one separated from the others from what I've seen, most coyotes won't tackle a full grown one and the sows are pretty protective of the little ones. Farmers do plant crops but that's not the issue, the hogs are. You don't even hve to plant crops, I've got about 50 or 60 acres of low land that will get real wet in a storm , after that the hogs will root up the mud and make massive holes looking for grubs and roots. I can't take my cab tractor back there after that because most of the ground is so rough when they ge done. We have a real heavy and long old Case 930 that can go back there but the mess they make is incredibleIf deer feeders are your worse enemy then where do farmers rank? They plant hundreds or thousands of acres of feed for hogs.
I have personally watched coyotes running down piglets and catching them in the daylight. I was very conflicted after that about killing coyotes.
Has anyone ever trapped some hogs, sorted out the leader and spayed her, and then turned her out to become a "Judas" to lead others into traps? Turn the leader out before killing the rest of the trapped pigs and they would think they are just coming in to get a good feed?It's easy enough to bait them and kill them but almost anything you use will kill a lot of animals you don't want to kill. Antifreeze and corn will destroy a group of hogs but if deer, cattle, horses or dogs get to it, it will kill them too. A & M supposedly created a hog only poison but I don't know anyone that uses it
Hogs are pretty smart and figure out the trap deal pretty quickly, I think she would be the one that helps keep them out of a trapHas anyone ever trapped some hogs, sorted out the leader and spayed her, and then turned her out to become a "Judas" to lead others into traps? Turn the leader out before killing the rest of the trapped pigs and they would think they are just coming in to get a good feed?
Might be fun to experiment with...