Biggest/Baddest on Animal Planet...

[StephyMei1112]

Giant Feral Hogs.

Those things are...scary/gross - it's interesting to see the Curs (at least I think that's what the ones on the show are) working and "baying" the hogs until the hunters come and finish them off. Watch online at Discovery - it's quite interesting.

I know there are a few members on here from Louisiana/Southern USA - feel free to share your experiences with hogs/what you've seen of them on here too lol.

 

[Romy]

I hope pops gets on here and sees this. He's got some pretty epic pictures of the hogs he and his dog have caught and stabbed to death.

 

[StephyMei1112]

Romy why can't one just shoot them? Why do they need to be tied down then stabbed/slit? I'm watching the Animal Planet feature now and it's a very exhaustive hunt....

 

[Romy]

I've never hunted them personally (they're way too scary) but from what I understand they're really cagey, aggressive, live in large groups that are very cooperative when it comes to avoiding predators and live in some hard to navigate terrain. The only ways I've heard of people hunting them are with dog, and by setting up bait stations where they get used to being fed regularly.

Anyway, you can shoot them. They're hard to kill because there are fat and gristle pads that prevent them from bleeding out the way a deer does. My uncle bow hunts them some times and he said it's really hard to get a clean kill shot because of the gristle and the way the ribs are bladed. Pops posted at one point about how quickly they die once you open up the heart with a knife. I don't remember the exact number now, but 8 seconds for the BP to hit zero? Hopefully he'll correct me on that.

 

[Renee750il]

They're around here -- way too many. So many that they are never not in season.

One guy I know who was trying to work a farm and has done a lot of trapping contacted Wildlife Resources to see if there were any regs on trapping them. What he got told was "you gotta kill 'em."

They're not a native species. Bunch of idiot lords and such had them brought over for "sport" back in the day

 

[Airn]

They're our football team's mascot. The Razorbacks. Other than that I haven't had much experience with them. I've heard the same things. Pretty much a kill on site animal. Very dangerous. It seems people would rather have a bear roaming around than a razorback. They're ugly and evil and I'm glad they are generally farther south than me.

In our area, the hogs originated from a couple Spanish explorers who brought the hogs over for a food source. Needless to say, the hogs were not watched over well and ran around making babies. That's what happens when you just expect animals to follow your marching army.

 

[Renee750il]

The idiots who came here imported the Russian/Siberian ones . . . because they were more of a challenge to hunt

Of course, they'd done a good job of thinning out predatory animals that could have taken them, like cougars, and then once the elk were gone, so were the wolves, so there's not much natural predation here beyond the few cougars, and there are easier things for cougars to catch.

 

[-bogart-]

Hogs are horrid. They are in urban areas now to. Well was urban until Katrina washed it away.
We have had bad problems with them rooting up fresh sod on home trying to be restored.
They also live along the river and root at the levees. They get huge and are mean. My sons best friends
Is a wild life removal specialist and was on Nat geo about the hogs in the city.


Fun fact , when we where evacuated to east Texas during Katrina some locals would go hogging by running them over with these HUGE trucks with grills. Run a few over , go back and collect rule and then have a bar d q. They where great guys and had some pretty trucks and helped us out a lot.

 

[Pops2]

the hogs originally got here w/ colonists (ALL the colonists & explorers not just any one group). they were free ranged and rounded up in the spring for ear marking & barring, then again in the fall for slaughter. during hard times they get hit hard, during the great depression in the 30s TX went from about 250-300K to maybe 10-25K free ranged & feral hogs (deer suffered badly too).
why stabbing? well it kills quick IF you do it right (in the armpit to open the heart, instsantly zero BP and stone dead in about 8 seconds). they can be shot but that can be more dazngerous to the dogs than the hogs are. also it depends on your purpose. if you are doing eradication you trap them using repeating pen traps, then you shoot the trap shy ones over bait at night then the really smart ones are left. those you take w/ dog(s). ideally you take one bay dog and a gun and shoot as many as you can until all that is left are smart one that refuse to bay. those you get w/ a baydog and 1 or 2 running catchdogs. TX used to have a processing industry that would slaughter them for the european market (TRUE feral hogs/wildboar cannot be USDA approved and so can't legally be sold in the USA & by the time they would meat USDA standards they would no longer taste wild).

 

[Torch]

I went hog hunting a lot as a youngster in south Florida. It's a challenge and can be exciting to take part in. I never think that taking a life is fun, but hog hunting is a necessary evil. I agree with what all the others have said about how hard they are to kill and how invasive/destructive they are.

I enjoyed hog hunting for several reasons. I loved the outdoors, loved watching my dogs work, and loved riding horses. I learned an interesting skill set and have experiences that will last me a lifetime.

 

[Pops2]

well i'm going to go against the grain a bit.
i feel God made me a predator, i take as much pleasure as any wolf or mt lion. AND i'm not ashamed to admit i enjoy killing the hog as much as any other part. i am sure a large part of that enjoyment comes from knowing the hog could very well kill me instead.

 

[darkchild16]

I went hog hunting a lot as a youngster in south Florida. It's a challenge and can be exciting to take part in. I never think that taking a life is fun, but hog hunting is a necessary evil. I agree with what all the others have said about how hard they are to kill and how invasive/destructive they are.

I enjoyed hog hunting for several reasons. I loved the outdoors, loved watching my dogs work, and loved riding horses. I learned an interesting skill set and have experiences that will last me a lifetime.

I had the same experience growing up except in North Florida. I miss it but I won't be doing it again I don't think. It was part of my old life.

 

[StephyMei1112]

If I ever get into hunting or down to Louisiana you'll be my hunting mentor Pops =D. We'll need a couple of Catahoulas/Plotts and Curs for baying. I'll be kitted out like a Hirogen from Star Trek lol - knifes, gun, rope, weapons etc...

This is vile, vile prey. I'm not one for the taking of life - but with these creatures....

 

[PlottMom]

I'd love to GO hog hunting... with someone else's dogs lol I'm not brave enough to put mine after hogs or bear (not that that has ever stopped her :/ )

 

[Laurelin]

We just bow hunt them. We have a big group running on our property- or at least last year. Haven't seen them this year but all the guys go out and hunt 'em. My dad knows tons of bow hunters and they all want to take a crack at em.

 

[Pops2]

If I ever get into hunting or down to Louisiana you'll be my hunting mentor Pops =D. We'll need a couple of Catahoulas/Plotts and Curs for baying. I'll be kitted out like a Hirogen from Star Trek lol - knifes, gun, rope, weapons etc...

This is vile, vile prey. I'm not one for the taking of life - but with these creatures....

sorry about the delay, i just got in from a couple of days camping on everyone's (but mostly Utah's) tax dollars. THANK YOU EVERYBODY.

Stephy
I would be THRILLED. honestly in the last decade or so i've legged more hogs for other people than i have for myself. i prefer to run one bay dog & two running catch dogs. Sonic will catch & think Olive would too if given a chance. all i need to do now is: find a houlaXplott bay dog, find the gas money to drive to where the hogs are . but NO GUNS, i don't allow ANYONE to shoot hogs around my dogs.

on a serious note, when i am back in good dog hunting country & have a pack up & running, i will post an open invitation to everyone.

 

[~Tucker&Me~]

I can't say I would get enjoyment out of killing something but I certainly recognize that it's the nature of the food chain and that in cases of alien/invasive species, they ought to be exterminated for the good of the flora and fauna of the area they invaded. Having said that, I like to think that everything that is hunted/killed is done so as humanely as possible.

Nothing CHOSE to be born a pest.