Feral Hog Damage

[stravis]

I've got a huge pig problem on my place. I can't stand pigs, but my land is theirs as well and I don't mind a few being around. Particularly if they stay in the woods and don't tear up the pastures, I will leave them alone. I know they run off the deer and turkeys, but if it is a smaller population, I'm ok with it. Problem is, they have absolutely BOOMED in population. They did some damage last year to my middle pasture, but it was mostly in one area. This year, the entire middle pasture looks like a strip mine. Now they are moving to my front pasture. I've had it. I've started a very aggressive campaign to rid them or at least get them to a manageable population. I've started trapping and am going to get my control permit from the Georgia DNR.

My question to you all is about the damage already done. The middle pasture is literally so full of 12"-18" deep 5' - 20' diameter wallows that I can't run the tractor across it to mow. I'm going to have to remediate the field in some way. What is the best way to do this? I can run the box blade across it and do my best, but I'm sure there it won't be as smooth as I like it. I could harrow the bad areas and grade with the box blade, but it still won't be smooth and I will kill a lot of the grass I have. Worst case scenario and the one that I think I'm going to have to go with is to plow the whole thing over, disc harrow it and grade it smooth then re-seed. Just start over from scratch. I hate to do it, but I can't think of another effective option.

I know some others have dealt with damage from these critters before. What did you do?

 

[jayste]

I think your last option is closer to getting it done. Though I think you'll not have to plow it. Smooth in out (you might have to get some top soil to fill with first), disc it, drag it, sow (not pig) it and seed it.

STINKIN' PIGS. Rabbits ain't got nothin' on 'em! All they do is eat, sleep and breed. Kill, kill, kill. Take out the "wet" sows and the pregnant ones. Sounds cruel but erradication is the name of the game hear. Of course, I guess I'm preachin' to the choir here, huh? BTW, 50lb dressed weight gilts are pretty good eatin'!:thumbsup:

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Pigs are just now starting to become a problem in my area of TN. I haven't seen any on my property in Stewart County, but they are definitely there. I have seen pictures of ones that were on the wrong end of a high powered rifle. The wildlife agency is so worried about them, they allow you to shoot them 365 days a year without a license, however I think it is only a matter of time until they become a real problem. I for one will shoot on site. Those critters will do a lot of damage to property.

 

[Stimw]

I don't get it???? I've worked with dozens of hunter wanna-bee's. One guy EVEN took his new wife hunting for their honeymoon!!! These guys dream of Killin' and Grillin'. Why is it so hard to find someone to harvest these animals?
Couldn't there be harvest and have church social/cook outs. Or club harvest and cook outs??? Who would turn down a pig roast with a free pig??

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

I don't get it???? I've worked with dozens of hunter wanna-bee's. One guy EVEN took his new wife hunting for their honeymoon!!! These guys dream of Killin' and Grillin'. Why is it so hard to find someone to harvest these animals?
Couldn't there be harvest and have church social/cook outs. Or club harvest and cook outs??? Who would turn down a pig roast with a free pig??

It's not hard at all to find hunters that want to harvest the critters. It's just a fact that the harvestors aren't nearly as efficient as the harvestees. They are very proficient reproducers.

 

[stravis]

I'll take some pictures of the damage and post it. It's unreal. They have literally ruined about 8 acres in the last month.

Finding hunters isn't a problem. I'm a hunter myself. The problem is that the most effective way to hunt hogs is dog hunting. I'm not a real big fan of hunting pigs with dogs for a couple of reasons. First, the dogs get hurt and killed often. Very often. I have a hunting dog, it's in my avatar actually, and I'm not against hunting with dogs, but I would never put my dog in a situation where I know there's a 50/50 chance he's going to get cut badly. I understand it happens, and it's even happened to Benelli (my lab) but I would never ask him to go into those kind of odds. Second, dogs don't know property lines. The way they hunt hogs with dogs takes a lot of land. I'm a STRONG supporter of private property rights. Dog hunters tend to turn a blind eye toward property lines also. I only have 110 acres and I don't feel like that is enough to contain the dogs and I'm not going to be responsible for turning a bunch of dogs and hunters loose on my neighbors property. Hunting them from a stand is fairly ineffective. You can spend a lot of time and only get one or two while they are breeding by the dozens. The most effective way of shooting them is with a control permit which allows you to shoot them over bait and by spotlight. I plan to get that permit, but it is a last resort.

My plan is to trap as many as possible. First because it is the most effective way to thin the herd. Second because trapping them live will give me the opportunity to feed and water them while I find people who want to eat them. I hate to kill something and let it lie. I have no interest whatsoever in eating a filthy feral pig. (I hunt and eat what I kill, but feral pigs are disgusting, disease ridden filth, IMO). While I hate to kill something and leave it, I will if it comes to that, but I'd rather trap it and make some phone calls. That way they can come, kill and process it themselves.

I think I have the getting rid of them part somewhat sorted out. Who knows if it will work, but it's typically effective. We trapped 11 in one night at another piece of property a few years ago. My concern is once I've run them off (and that's a big assumption, I know) how do I remediate the fields? I'm hoping not to have to go through the time and expense of starting completely over, but I really see no way around it.

 

[stravis]

I don't get it???? I've worked with dozens of hunter wanna-bee's. One guy EVEN took his new wife hunting for their honeymoon!!! These guys dream of Killin' and Grillin'. Why is it so hard to find someone to harvest these animals?
Couldn't there be harvest and have church social/cook outs. Or club harvest and cook outs??? Who would turn down a pig roast with a free pig??

In addition to my last post, I'm also a little picky about folks hunting my property. I'm leary of folks in this "sue everyone for everything" age. I can't bring myself to turn a pack of folks I don't know loose on my property with guns and dogs when my horses, dogs and wife are on the property as well. I have to know someone and trust them pretty well before I turn them out on my property. Bird hunting with me on my property is one thing, rifles are another (they go a little farther than a shotgun).

 

[CDsdad]

I know this sounds cruel and unethical (and I'll probably get bashed), but even if you can't make a clean kill shot, a gut shot will accomplish the same thing, it's just not as sudden. The point being you can usually get a couple of clean kill shots from a stand and then the herd is gone. With a good semi-auto rifle you can get "any" shot on 4-5 pigs from the same stand (I'm sure some folks have rifles that could do much more damage, AKs and ARs). I would resort to this if I was having the trouble you are.

A mature sow can have 3 litters of pigs a year and I've seen them have as many as a dozen. That's a lot of pigs to get rid of. I agree with getting the wet and pregnant females, but killing the boars seems to go farther around here. No daddy, no babies. And the pigs will do much more damage if left to their own means than anyone can do by eradicating them. Fortunately, we have gotten a handle on the wild/feral pigs around here, and it was by killing any and all on sight.

One more thing. Anyone who turns pigs loose into the wild is way more irresponsible than anyone who kills pigs on sight. These animals have no natural fear of man. Kind of a scary thought if you have young children.

 

[EddieWalker]

According to the State of Texas Biologist that I spoke with last year, the most effective method that they recomend to land owner to get rid of hogs is trapping. You have to make the trap really big, and bait it for a few days so they you get most of them into the trap when it closes on them.

Off the top of my head, it needs to be somewhere around 30ft wide by 60 ft long. He had two trap doors that he said work good. One closed from the top and the other from the side. Bot will allow more hogs to get in if they want, but none will get out.

He said that a trap like that will get most of a group in it, with 20 or more not being uncommon.

There are two basic groups of hogs. A family group of two adult sows, two or three generationsof piglets and a boar. I've personally seen groups just like this many times and counted over 30 in the biggest group, but 20 is more common.

The other group is a bachalor group of males. I've never seen more then four with two or three being more common. The bigger boars are either with the sows or on their own.

To control the numbers, you really need to be trapping those family groups year round.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[stravis]

CDsdad: After the initial nausea from your avatar I was able to read your post. Although that isn't my prefered way, if it comes down to it, I won't rule anything out. I'd rather make a clean kill when I can, but if I have an iffy shot at one that I think I can connect with, I'll likely take it. I hate to say that, but they need to be dealt with. War Eagle, by the way!

EddieWalker: Right now I'm running two traps. I've got a smaller 4x4x6 trap with a vertical "guillotine" style door. My other one, which I am more hopeful about, is about 10 x 20 and again has a guillotine style door. This is the trap in which we caught 11 one night (two sows and nine piglets). Although the spring type doors you describe would be better, I have built an extra panel in this one where if I catch some one night, I can separate them and reset the trap to catch more. If I have to build another, I intend to basically build a fence around an acre of so with a spring door and corn the crap out of it.

Right now I am just letting them get used to the traps being there. Neither are set. I'm putting corn out tomorrow and will let them start getting to the corn for a couple of weeks. I have to go to WV for the weekend in about a week and a half. I figure right when I get back, I'll set the traps and possibly build another the following weekend. I'll post pictures of what I catch, if any.

Next step is to corn the ground outside the traps, get a control permit, and put a camera on the corn. That way I can time when they are showing up and I'll just go out about an hour before and take care of what I can.

It's a multi-faceted approach.