What Can Be Done To Curb The Wild Hog Population?

[dennishoddy]

Just wanted to say, the folks from the ODW are on our side in wanting to control the hog population, from talking to some.
Remember, the ODW can only recommend, the legislature passes the laws.
If you really want to see something changed, contact your legislator.

 

[crg1372]

Night hunting may not solve the problem but would certainly help.
I have watched lots of video's of Tx hog and predator hunters that go out at night in specially equipped vehicles, and slam the animals on contests.
Ok is rabid on not allowing spotlights and night hunting.
Back in the day, I could understand this reluctance to allow night hunting, as the deer were in a perilous situation, and poaching was rampant.
These days I'd like to see this thinking relaxed.
Deer populations are stable if not booming, and poachers are poachers, and don't care if they are in season or not, so I'd like to see a permit process where hunters could go into an area with a permit to night hunt.
Again, trapping is the answer,but more lax night hunting opportunities would certainly help.

I almost certain we'll never be rid of hogs.

The thinking really does need to be rethought about the night hunting. Like you said poachers are poachers and don't care about the laws. I'm all for paying for a permit. Maybe the income could be used for hiring some more game wardens. I'm sure they could use the help.

From what I see the deer populations are booming in the central and northern parts of the state. The hogs here are crowding out the deer down here. The deer I see are smaller than those I use to see a decade ago. Its not just the deer that are taking a hit down here....I'm not sure how long its been since I've heard a bobwhite down here on public land. The rabbit hunting isn't nothing to brag about either.

 

[crg1372]

Just wanted to say, the folks from the ODW are on our side in wanting to control the hog population, from talking to some.
Remember, the ODW can only recommend, the legislature passes the laws.
If you really want to see something changed, contact your legislator.

True. We had a local senator here...Jay Paul Gumm, a democrat, but is a hunter and is very pro-gun. He helped in bringing LOKI Weapons Sysyems to Coalgate. Unfortunately he was defeated in the last election.

 

[Mark Munkres]

I watched the show "Hogs Gone Wild" tonight for the first time. The way they do it, the hogs will populate faster than they can catch them. Looked very inefficient and labor intensive to me.

 

[A5Sooner]

Helicopters!!!!!

 

[WacosSon]

Havin a way to get in touch with willing landowners for a small fee and maybe a background check would be great!

Is anyone here a website developer that would like to start this process off? Seems like a long shot, but who knows the kind of database that could be developed. Maybe its something that OSA can put its name behind and facilitate the maintenance on.

The way I see it, it could work like this:

One section of the site land owners could sign up to view the site entries. The other section hunters could put in their info, location, preferred means of taking, etc. - kind of like a resume ,viewable only by land owners. Land owners could then have access to the hunters that signed up and could contact them as necessary. I think this is beneficial because it makes it not about the hunters - its not us pushing ourselves on landowners, its them opting to contact us. That way, if they prefer only trapping, they choose a hunter that traps. If they don't mind dogs, they can choose that too. No ATV's? Their choice.

It won't solve the whole problem, but it would help facilitate volunteers willing to work on it.

 

[Swine]

Something I could help out with... Your basically talking about a 2 catagory forum, one for hunters the other for land owners to post what they are looking for?

like any good website...getting the traffic to the site is key.

Any suggestions on a domain name for this?

 

[r00s7a]

I think that is a good idea, and would like to see it work.

I don't feel like you would get an overwhelming number of landowners that would participate in something like that. Majority of landowners (500 acres +) are going to be 50 yrs old at least. Those are a made up set of numbers, but point being, those landowners are typically not going to be the internet savy type to be posting on message boards and stuff. The exception being those that are motivated by money. Land owners that want to lease out their lands or sell hunts are going to work harder to advertise and get the word out. Ol Billy Ray down the road that has pigs in his turnips ain't gettin on "The Innernets" to find someone to get rid of his pigs. He's gonna turn to the locals. Betty Lou Thelma Liz has a boy that traps pigs, I'll call her.

I just predict the main participant land owners to be those that are going to try to sell hunts, or lease, which is fine if that is a part of your goal. But if you're lookin for good ol boys to post their property and pick someone from the "innernets" to take care of the pigs... you're gonna lose out to us local boys 95% of the time.

 

[WacosSon]

Something I could help out with... Your basically talking about a 2 catagory forum, one for hunters the other for land owners to post what they are looking for?

like any good website...getting the traffic to the site is key.

Any suggestions on a domain name for this?

I'm not so sure a forum site would be the best format since the posts are more public. It might invite unprofessionalism and too much spam. I envision it more like a "fill in the blank" application for hunters, and then an account creation for landowners that allow them to see the backend with all the hunter's info. I don't have a copyright on the idea or anything, so anyone can have at it, I'm just trying to think what would be the most productive way to help out landowners, get rid of hogs, and not just create another website for people to post ads. I'm open to brainstorming if anyone wants to PM me though. Would love to be a part of the solution.

I think that is a good idea, and would like to see it work.

I don't feel like you would get an overwhelming number of landowners that would participate in something like that. Majority of landowners (500 acres +) are going to be 50 yrs old at least. Those are a made up set of numbers, but point being, those landowners are typically not going to be the internet savy type to be posting on message boards and stuff. The exception being those that are motivated by money. Land owners that want to lease out their lands or sell hunts are going to work harder to advertise and get the word out. Ol Billy Ray down the road that has pigs in his turnips ain't gettin on "The Innernets" to find someone to get rid of his pigs. He's gonna turn to the locals. Betty Lou Thelma Liz has a boy that traps pigs, I'll call her.

I just predict the main participant land owners to be those that are going to try to sell hunts, or lease, which is fine if that is a part of your goal. But if you're lookin for good ol boys to post their property and pick someone from the "innernets" to take care of the pigs... you're gonna lose out to us local boys 95% of the time.

I agree, and I think anything web based will be a part of that battle, however, if it caught enough fire it might inspire some people to spread the word - even game wardens and local Wildlife Department people. Who knows, maybe some of the tech savvy younger folks will help out their parents/uncles/grandparents/neighbors and help coordinate something. There's nothing in place now, and the idea might tank, but its got to be better than what we have now.

Only other thing I can think of (and it wouldn't solve it, but might bring the problem to light) would be a re-occuring "hog day" at local public hunting areas, where they open it up to all means of taking, and possibly even allow ATV's, just to encourage people to get out there and help.

That's my .02 cents anyway.

 

[dochawg]

I don't know if this will help, but it sure looks fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiHmYsyVniE