Caught 4 small feral hogs at a time, this morning

[jaxs]

There is a saying here in Texas, "If you don't have a hog problem, you will have."

I am on the river and have one. For years my initial solution was hunting, 120 to 150 per year, but when they didn't stop and I got tired of getting up at night and looking for them, I changed tactics a few years ago. I "let" my neighbor trap on my property then sell the hogs. Doesn't cost me a dime or a minute of my time, except to let him know if there is new activity. Here's how it goes:

Years ago, he obtained 22,000 pounds of corn from a farmer. Dunno, maybe it was bad and given to him. At first he made an open-top round pen, maybe 25 feet in diameter using stiff hog panels, t-posts and a vertical gate triggered by animals. After two years and some reliability issues, he built a new pen that is 30 feet diameter with more formal panel sections that can connect to one another. Cell phone motion-triggered camera and cell phone trigger for the gate. There are open-top pen designs all over utube that can be replicated. My neighbor then collects the animals live the following day and sells to a collector in our county and gets paid by the pound - larger ones get a higher per-pound rate.

https://www.tahc.texas.gov/animal_health/swine/FeralSwineFacilities.pdf

Over the period of time, he has greatly reduced the population, so much that I haven't seen much activity for the past 6 months.

That is a dead give away collector is selling hogs to people that turn them loose. Judging by the numbers in some of the pictures jwmorris' neighbor is probably one of his buyers. That's why as jw said "some spots they seem to keep coming". At slaughter hog auctions as weight increases price per pound decreases but hunters pay premium for large boars. The greedy weasels are making things worse.

What helped us the most was being able to get rid of as many as possible at once so there are fewer remaining to learn from the mistakes of the others.

I use cellular game cameras and a cheap cell phone with a $5/mo plan.

The photos get sent to your phone, when you are ready you call up and drop the gates.

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Then they wait for you to get there.
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And then it’s “fish in a barrel”.

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Some spots they seem to keep coming and other times you might get a couple sets and have to move the trap.

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[jwmorris]

Don’t have to worry about any of mine being released, unless it’s from a “burdens of this world” perspective.

I unzip them and get the part I want.

and support the scavenger community with the rest.

 

[jaxs]

Don’t have to worry about any of mine being released, unless it’s from a “burdens of this world” perspective.

I unzip them and get the part I want.

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and support the scavenger community with the rest.

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As it should be and anyone caught transporting a live one should face a stiff fine or time in jail.

 

[alaarp]

You've brought up a very good question that had never occurred to me but now can't wait to find the truth. I really like the food cooked up by relatives near Huma LA. and like you I've learned not to ask what it is. I have been around domestic hogs since I was born and one thing everyone I know agrees on is boar meat is nearly uneatable. The odor while cooking is enough to make you sick and that applies to young ones not even of breeding age. I wounder if cajuns forgo cooking domestic boar or if they know how to deal with it. I had always left wild boars for coyotes and buzzards until my brother-in-law asked me to help him take the backstrap from one I trapped on his place. About 375 pounds with knockers big as my fists. He explained that Eurasians are different but I had my doubts until I ate some of it. If there isn't enough young gilt meat when i want meat I no longer hesitate dressing a boar. We take as many backstraps as practical and occasionally whole roast one like op caught. Looking at the two side beside one would think the Russian Boar would be the one that stank.

Got friends in NW Florida who have timberlands having feral hog populations for years now. They trap boars primarily and castrate them, then turn them back loose, which accomplishes two things: One, they no longer reproduce and two, they grow incredibly larger and no longer have the strong meat taste and smell when harvested. A few years ago one of the sons shot what he thought was a black bear near sundown. Turned out to me a castrated boar big enough to require a tractor front end loader and chain to lift and transport home. It was not weighed but the picture showed a massive hog, which was butchered and eaten. So, there IS a way to have edible boar meat.
One other thing: some farmers trap the sows and feed them corn for about a month before slaughter. They say it sweetens the meat. I haven't tried.

 

[jaxs]

Got friends in NW Florida who have timberlands having feral hog populations for years now. They trap boars primarily and castrate them, then turn them back loose, which accomplishes two things: One, they no longer reproduce and two, they grow incredibly larger and no longer have the strong meat taste and smell when harvested. A few years ago one of the sons shot what he thought was a black bear near sundown. Turned out to me a castrated boar big enough to require a tractor front end loader and chain to lift and transport home. It was not weighed but the picture showed a massive hog, which was butchered and eaten. So, there IS a way to have edible boar meat.
One other thing: some farmers trap the sows and feed them corn for about a month before slaughter. They say it sweetens the meat. I haven't tried.

I can see potential in castrating and releasing boars for hunters that pay to hunt. I've wondered if a boar was sterilized rather than casterayed his drive to mate would be effected. It's well known that a large boar breeds a disproportionate number of females. If sterile boars didn't lose any drive,they would slow reproduction rate. That's how flies that caused screwworms was eradicated.

 

[jkk04]

First time I tasted small wild pig ribs in my life.

Made instant BBQ pot with broken cultivator disk,

Of course, I have a big BBQ grill and fire pit, not a personal pit...

The tasted is better than expected with only sea salt.

Very tender and smells like a beacon after well done.
Impressed

 

[Renze]

Yup, we aren't doing much better. Looks like our second cut won't be 'til September! And hay, if you can find it, is through the roof.

Everybody round here is hurting. A neighbor up the street has a friend up in NE he bought 16T of corn silage from to supplement this winter. With the cost of fuel, he seriously considered just doing a major herd reduction.

Drought here in Europe too.

Last fall, my friend bought the last cut of silage for 100 euro per hectare, farmers were letting go of it because their pits were already full. Word spread quickly and he got offered quite a few hectare.

This year he is irrigating the home parcel with electric and diesel power, and can just about keep it green. And growing a hectare of grass takes way more than 100 euro of diesel in these temperatures.

Meanwhile, while he isnt much bothered by the low silage yield because he stocked last year while silage was cheap, the price for a hectare of grass went up to 500 euro per hectare...

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

The Pig Brig "It's a Life Sentence" seems to be a very good trap that doesn't require anything extra and can catch multitudes at once.

I'm seriously thinking about getting one of these. I've caught as many as 17 at a time on my trail cameras, and since the camera only does 30 second videos I'm sure there were more in that sounder.

Every now and then you hear about someone killed by a wild pig near their home. When I'm in the woods at my place I carry a S&W Governor just in case.

 

[DaBear3428]

We did not have until 2 years ago but then they were around for 6 months or so. I got them to move on after that, but they'll be back. My little dogs chasing them off help a lot, just like coyotes.

that will work for a wile, but then as the population goes up they get aggressive. 1 aggressive hog will kill a dog in short order. Texas has been dealing with them for a long time, lots of traps and night hunting are the only solutions i know of, they are smart and will usually adapt very quickly, trapping 1 hog teaches the rest not to go into the trap.

 

[Eagle1]

My little dogs are ~150lbs Great Pyrenees-Anatolian-Karakachan, when they want something to leave it normally does or dies. Besides I'm in the woods every day - almost always with a rifle or shotgun and my EDC.