Haven't ever hunted them with dogs, but I imagine that would be a good bit of fun on larger ranches. In Texas, generally speaking, it would need to be on a large place since most Texas landowners take a VERY dim view of folks trespassing on their property, even if in pursuit of hogs, deer, etc.
But we do kill a lot of them during deer season and at other times when the weather is fairly cool. Some of the guys on my deer lease just grind them in with their venison for sausage, instead of letting the custom processor charge an arm and a leg for "pork" that has excessive amounts of fat in it. I've ground them into sausage as well as butchered them myself for the freezer. Small ones are barbecued whole. I can't abide the "shoot 'em and leave 'em lay" mentality.
The landowner on our deer lease also runs 3 or 4 traps at various times during the year IF the price of the live hogs suits him. He has a buyer that sells the really large hogs to the oriental market and also one buyer that claims that what he traps on Texas ranches ends up as "wild boar" in New York restaraunts.
Despite all that, each year there seem to be more and more of them. They indeed are destructive of fences, hay meadows, corn crops, etc. I believe a female hog can breed at six months and they can raise two litters per year. And they are hell on wild turkey eggs and possibly poults, plus they will drive deer away from feeders. Shoot the hell out of them, DR! Regards, Arnold Ziffle
