Creating a Lake

[weldingisfun]

Eddie, I may be wrong, but a wild boar is not considered a game animal in Texas. The rules should not apply.
Anyone out there know anything different?

 

[EddieWalker]

Yes and no. Hogs sort of fall into their own category, but you still need a hunting license to shoot them. Unlike coyotes, which you do not need a license to shoot. A landowner can get a depredation permit if he can show that the hogs are causing damage to his land and shoot hogs without a license, but he has to have that permit.

Just to complicate things, wild hogs are also classified the same as domestic hogs to eliminate the sale of them to hunting ranches and slaughter houses. People do it all the time, but if you catch a wild hog in a trap, you have to prove that it has all the shots that a domestic hog has if you want to sell it. The process, in my opinion, was created to eliminate any loopholes that people were using in selling wild hogs for profit and saying they were domestic pigs.

Even hiring a trapper to come in and trap them has issues. I don't know of anybody enforcing them, but I do know of some trappers that are trapping the hogs for free to avoid the regulations that come with the sale of wild hogs.

It really comes down to whether you think the risk of getting caught outweighs what you can make off of selling them. And if you have a Game Warden in your area that is looking for a reason to see what you are up to. The wardens have almost unlimited power, they can do pretty much what they want without a warrent. I try to avoid dealing with them and sure don't want one curious about what I'm doing.

In my years of hunting, I've been stopped and checked by them dozens of times. I've never been issued a fine or written warning, but have been advised a time or two that I was doing something wrong. There are too many laws to know them all and they hold all the cards.

Eddie

 

[scott_vt]

Yes and no. Hogs sort of fall into their own category, but you still need a hunting license to shoot them. Unlike coyotes, which you do not need a license to shoot. A landowner can get a depredation permit if he can show that the hogs are causing damage to his land and shoot hogs without a license, but he has to have that permit.
Eddie

Good Mornin Eddie,
In Vt I believe you need to have a license to shot coyotes, unless they are threatening to kill any of your livestock. I know the sheep farmer up the road from me has shoot coyotes trying to get into his chicken coop and he has no license.

Youve got to love the 22/250 for that job !

 

[rox]

Eddie, that restriction may be county-by-county or our local game warden has decided he will not enforce the requirement. Last year, the game warden told my wife that you do not need a license or permit of any kind to shoot feral hogs on your own property. Perhaps that is not true if it is a guest doing the hunting. Since I wasn't present when she talked to him, I don't know the specifics. I was very surprised to learn that it is open-season on hogs with or without a license.

I guess I'm not surprised, but then I ahve never hunted and actually all my knowledge of hunting comes from TBN and a LOT of it from Eddie. It's a shame Steph doesn't like the taste of it. My brothr in law swears by cooking it over a wood fire. He has a home built outdoor kitchen with brick grill. He swears that by cooking it over a low wood fire, wehre the fire dies way down then you bring it back up again with fresh wood is what makes the mea tender. Kind fo the Heat/cool down cycle. But I do understand that Steph has 2 kids a job and a hubby and so probably doesn't have the time at this point in her life to experiment around. She might experiment with it more when her kids are older and less in need of so much one on one time, as all young hildren need.

 

[EddieWalker]

...It's a shame Steph doesn't like the taste of it...

Rox,

It's not that she doesn't like the taste of it, she absolutely refuses to even try it. She likes pork, steak and just about every meat that you can buy at the store. She just doesn't want to eat anything that she saw alive or knows was walking around on our land.

She's kind of the same way about the fish in the pond. After two years of catching them and about a dozen parties with friends and family coming over for fish fries, she finally got up the nerve to eat some of the catfish from our ponds. It was really good and everyone was raving about how good it was, so maybe the peer pressure got to her?

Maybe the same will happen one day with the hogs?

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

...It's a shame Steph doesn't like the taste of it...

Rox,

It's not that she doesn't like the taste of it, she absolutely refuses to even try it. She likes pork, steak and just about every meat that you can buy at the store. She just doesn't want to eat anything that she saw alive or knows was walking around on our land.

She's kind of the same way about the fish in the pond. After two years of catching them and about a dozen parties with friends and family coming over for fish fries, she finally got up the nerve to eat some of the catfish from our ponds. It was really good and everyone was raving about how good it was, so maybe the peer pressure got to her?

Maybe the same will happen one day with the hogs?

Eddie

 

[Bignoles]

Eddie,
Just wanted to let you know, I am a new member here and have read this entire thread already. Thanks for starting and following thru with this awesome project. I am already thinking of ways to improve my own ponds thanks to you. The satisfaction and pride you have in your work is evident, as it should be when a job is done well.

Nolan

PS - what a difference 1 hours drive makes in trees, I'd trade some of those pine trees for ALL of my mesquites

 

[EddieWalker]

Hey Nolan,

Thank you. We always enjoy hearing that somebody actually read through the entire thread and took the time to say hi. It's always appreciated.

Not being from East Texas, I'm still amazed at how quickly the terrain changes when driving between here and Dallas. Seems like there is line somewhere around Canton where the pines just stop growing. On one side of the line, it's all scrubby and dry looking. On the other side, it's thick, lush and almost tropical.

One of the things I like the best about my pine trees is how green they are when everything else is brown in winter. Now, things are starting to green up, but we're still probably a month away from the real changes.

Here's a few pics from my place that show off some of my trees.

Eddie

 

[charlz]

It's not that she doesn't like the taste of it, she absolutely refuses to even try it. She likes pork, steak and just about every meat that you can buy at the store. She just doesn't want to eat anything that she saw alive or knows was walking around on our land.

I know a few people that have issues like that with bones in their food... they don't like to be reminded that it was once up and walking around

One of them is a girl I work with and she was telling me about these 'boneless beef ribs' they got at the store

 

[rox]

Eddie, for some reason I had a flash thought when I say your topic in my subscribed threads. I know by far the majority of the work is done creating your lake and you are busy independently doing contracting jobs. Therefore (here is where the flash idea comes in) shouldn't you close this thread and instead start a new thread in Projectes called... drum roll please.. Creating a bank account

 

[EddieWalker]

Hi Rox,

While the actual pond itself is done, there is still allot more to do to it before I consider it done. In fact, this past weekend, I started putting my brothers drill press together for work on the first dock that will go on the pond. He bought a brand new Grizzly drill press that I want to use for making my brackets.

While this could be a separate thread, I think it's part of what goes into creating my lake and finishing it off.

To me, this thread is my diary of what I did and when I did it. Having it all in this one thread allows me to find what I want about it. I've started creating a picaboo photo album ( Picaboo - Photo Books and Cards )on it and have been going back and forth just to figure out what order the pictures are supposed to be in. We used three different digital cameras for our pictures, and they all didn't download in the proper order. I also misspelled Marabou for awhile there and got allot of pics out of order in my folders.

And lastly, I'm just a little proud of how this thread has taken on a life of it's own, both is size and views. Allot of people helped out in making it what it is, and the bigger it gets, the more amazed I am at everyones interest and support. Hopefully you and the others wont mind my indulgence in continuing to add to it with the finishing touches that I feel it needs to turn a pond into an attraction. Something that will draw people here to stay in the RV Park and take pictures of it to share with others. A place where they want to be and are willing to spend money to do so.

Eddie

 

[john_bud]

But I do repsect the GW and his job. He is the only officer that can block a road, search your vehicle without a warrent. I always make sure my papers are in order!

I'm sure that was told to you by a game warden. But there is a little thing I like to call "The Constitution" that prohibits the government from exercising illegal searches and seizures.

The GW can be prosecuted for warrantless searches and for stopping a vehicle with out probable cause. That's why they are called "illegal"....

 

[rox]

Eddie,
I feel bad! I really didn't want you to close this topic. I thought I was being funny with the line, "Creating a bank account" Please do continue this topic as you are not done yet. I also think it is an excellent record of the entire project, which is immense. It was a poor choice of words on my part just an intro into "Creating a bank account" which I take it you did not find so funny after all. My apologies.

 

[EddieWalker]

Hi Rox,

Don't be silly. I didn't realize that you were making a joke, I thought you were serious and offering a suggestion. I took it that way, and replied in kind. LOL

Eddie

 

[RobJ]

Close THIS thread??? NEVER!!

 

[clenhart]

Hi Eddie

I read thru this whole thread. Quite a project... I have some extended family not to far from you in White House TX. He ran a small construction company for many years there and has built many a tank, pond, lake in that area. I guess I never really thought about all the planning that has to go into a project such as this in order to ensure a successful outcome. Thanks for taking the time to document the process.