Repairing Hog Damage in a Pasture

[rockinbbar]

Spent 12 hours dragging a 12' ridged harrow yesterday, repairing damage done by feral hogs.

The pasture had to be repaired before the spray truck could get on it today to apply fertilizer and weed herbicide ahead of the upcoming rain forecast.

Do you have feral hogs where you live? They do much agricultural damage?

I much prefer to deal with them before the damage occurs!

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I have had the best luck with a rotary tiller fixing where hogs have rooted, I will go over it a couple of times and then usually roll with a roller, but it is very frustrating dealing with them.

 

[rockinbbar]

I have had the best luck with a rotary tiller fixing where hogs have rooted, I will go over it a couple of times and then usually roll with a roller, but it is very frustrating dealing with them.

Most of the damage I deal with down here is large scale damage to pastures or hay fields.

I agree the tiller does a great job. But as I said, the damage I deal with is large scale, and I use an offset disc, and that 12' harrow to cover more ground than I could with a tiller.

 

[EddieWalker]

When the Lockdown happened, a buddy would come over every night and sit in my deer blind with a thermal scope to shoot hogs. His best night was 14 hogs. He has had several nights where he got a dozen. He shot about 140 the first year. Second year it was less then half that. This year he's only shot a few, and it's very rare to see them, or any sign of them on my place. He still has several game cameras out, and we do too, but so far this year, we've only seen one hog on our game camera. I didn't think it was possible to shoot enough of them to make a difference, but thankfully, I was wrong!!!!

 

[rockinbbar]

When the Lockdown happened, a buddy would come over every night and sit in my deer blind with a thermal scope to shoot hogs. His best night was 14 hogs. He has had several nights where he got a dozen. He shot about 140 the first year. Second year it was less then half that. This year he's only shot a few, and it's very rare to see them, or any sign of them on my place. He still has several game cameras out, and we do too, but so far this year, we've only seen one hog on our game camera. I didn't think it was possible to shoot enough of them to make a difference, but thankfully, I was wrong!!!!

Yeah, I hunt with thermal for other folks who farm. They can't resist those fresh plowed fields.

We get many, many more than most people can imagine... But here on my ranch, like your place, I've pretty well eliminated them.

I've had one sounder of hogs in the past 3 1/2 years, and I got 7-8 out of it, including that huge boar that had no ears...

 

[1 Old Man]

I hate feral hogs. They tear up my hay pasture. Last Fall I had a group that tore up my front yard. I caught them crossing my back yard in the middle of the day, stepped outside and shot the big sow. Haven't seen them since. But hogs here kind of migrate. I'll see them in early spring and early or late Fall. I no longer put out deer feeders because the coons and hogs tear them up.
I have actually had to add fill dirt to a few deep hog holes, but I use a chain harrow, and if the holes aren't too deep I have used a flail mower. Yep, a flail mower. I busts up the dirt mounds around the rooting hole and kind of smooths it out. Deep rooting holes will throw you out of your tractor seat and make it tough to get hay cut and baled. You can't ever kill to many feral hogs.

 

[Texasmark]

How do you dispose of them?

 

[rockinbbar]

How do you dispose of them?

When hunting to rid agriculture areas of hogs, myself and a partner can knock down 15 hogs at a time from one sounder.

We look into the fields we hunt and find a likely sounder with wind direction, distance, etc., and then stalk (walk) out to them quietly. We usually set up 30-40 yards from the group. Rest our rifles on tripods and target an animal, and give the signal. When the group runs, we take any we can hit on the run.

We then walk back to the pickup and drive around gathering the hogs and loading them. At a predetermined location with the land owner, we stack them up.

We do that 2 or 3 times in a good night's hunt. So you are talking about lots of hogs... Nobody could possibly butcher that many hogs. Now and then someone will keep a young sow for meat, or take lions, etc. But for the most part, they go back into nature's food chain.

 

[1 Old Man]

How do you dispose of them?

.300 B/O, .270 Win and sometimes a 5.56. Depends on what I have with me. I prefer to call it hog relocation.

Now and then someone will keep a young sow for meat, or take lions, etc. But for the most part, they go back into nature's food chain.

This exactly.

 

[rockinbbar]

.300 B/O, .270 Win and sometimes a 5.56. Depends on what I have with me. I prefer to call it hog relocation.

This exactly.

I'm using an ar10 in .308. Not as quick on followup shots, but it sure anchors them.

Had several occasions where I line them up and get more than one per shot.

 

[1 Old Man]

I'm using an ar10 in .308. Not as quick on followup shots, but it sure anchors them.

Had several occasions where I line them up and get more than one per shot

 

[1 Old Man]

I like the 2fers.

 

[EddieWalker]

If my wife or I shoot one, and it's in the 100 pound range, we'll usually pull the hams and backstraps off of them because it's quick and easy. When my buddy shoots them, I might pull the hams and backstraps, but it depends on how long they have been dead. He pulls them to an area that we call the bone yard and leaves them there as bait for coyotes. If he can shoot a coyote instead of a hog, that's even better!!!!

We use the meat to make dog food in the crock pot. Our dogs love it!!!

I've never used a thermal, and all the hogs that I've shot have been in daylight. My best ever was getting three of them out of a group. I've also shot two with one shot, but that took longer then I thought it would for them to line up just right.

With all hunting, I've found that it's more fun for me when my wife gets one.

 

[big bubba]

wish i had assistance from some of the posters here. i like to see as many of the beasts decimated as possible. as it stands, to shoot a few would be pointless in my situation unless i had mass tactics as described in this thread.

 

[rockinbbar]

wish i had assistance from some of the posters here. i like to see as many of the beasts decimated as possible. as it stands, to shoot a few would be pointless in my situation unless i had mass tactics as described in this thread.

It's not really pointless to reduce the numbers, as a dead hog cannot breed more hogs. Once it's out of the picture, it's gone forever.

One thing I've found in years of dealing with them not only on my ranch, but others as well, is that persistence pays off when trying to rid an area of them.

Just keep after them. They are VERY smart, and will avoid an area they get hammered in.
I was overrun with them. Now I just have lone boars coming through now and then looking for other hogs.

 

[EastTexCowboy]

Spent 12 hours dragging a 12' ridged harrow yesterday, repairing damage done by feral hogs.

The pasture had to be repaired before the spray truck could get on it today to apply fertilizer and weed herbicide ahead of the upcoming rain forecast.

Do you have feral hogs where you live? They do much agricultural damage?

We had a hay farm near Rusk back in the early 2000s and the hogs were a nightmare. Up to a couple hundred in one herd and they could destroy a half-acre in one night. I went through the same thing just trying to get it level enough for the truck to put out fertilizer. We trapped a lot of them but it didn't seem to make much difference. At our place here near Livingston I saw a few signs when we first looked at the property but haven't seen any since or had any issues. We did have a coyote problem for a while but thermal works well on that too. The original fencing was about half woven wire with two strands BW on top. The place is small enough that it wasn't too bad to go around the rest of the perimeter fencing and add woven wire a couple of years ago. I haven't seen a coyote since and still haven't seen a hog. And I hope it stays that way.

 

[1 Old Man]

Commented in this thread yesterday....and so it goes: While eating dinner last night my wife came in and said there were 2 black dogs in the pasture behind our house. She was concerned because we have a 4month old shepherd and didn't want it to follow or get hurt by strays etc. However none of my neighbors have any black dogs. There are heelers, a pit bull and a couple of LGD's and one old setter. Anyway, I took the Mule and did a quick ride around but saw nothing. As I sat down to finish eating my wife said the black dogs are back...I stepped out, ha, those aren't dogs Honey those are damn hogs. Grabbed a.270, walked out on my front porch and shot the only one I saw (not sure where the other went). Dropped it about 70 or 75 yd away. I guess they're passing through here for the late spring/early summer season.
I don't take pictures of everything I do, but I did take one because of the timing of the thread comments and Bingo, another dead ass pig.

 

[big bubba]

on the subject.... can someone make an accurate list of all the pathogens & parasites contagious to human handling & improper ingestion for these beasts? worthy of consideration for those in contact, even with the dung.... regards
worm in the brain? not far off with tapeworm i understand

 

[gsganzer]

I have a 2700 acre lease in the TX hill country. I've killed 23 hogs so far, for this year. Last year I got 59. I typically use an AR-308 with a suppressor. It's still plenty loud, but not loud enough to require hearing protection, which was the point. My suppressor also has a muzzle brake, so the recoil is less and allows for quicker follow up shots. The pasture if pretty dense with brush and such, so you're hard pressed to get more than a few shots at running pigs, as they scatter.

My lease is a working cattle and goat operation, so no crops other than 2 hay fields that the hogs will occasionally root. The big issue with the hogs, for the rancher, is the hogs dispersing prickly pear and turkey pear seeds. In the fall, the pigs will eat the ripe purple prickly pear fruit and later in the season the turkey pear red berries. You can see both in their scat.

In regards to diseases that feral hogs can carry, here's a list from TX A&M.

Feral Hog Diseases

 

[masseyrider]

We don't have them here in southern Ontario Kanuckistan.
However they are developing range out west.
I would love to go up with the Pork Choppers.
I'm not into killing anything just for the hell of it but controlling the hog population has to be done.
Would be a rush from a helicopter.
They should be collected for pet food or fertilizer...