Texas to feral pigs: It's time for the 'hog apocalypse' to begin

Yahoo ^ | February 22nd, 2017 | Maria Gallucci

[Duchess47]

I have cousins in California who would go done and make a sizeable dent in the hog population, given an incentive. They hunt them in California for fun.

[RandallFlagg]

Are they good eatin’?
If it didn’t cost so much for the trip, I’d love to head down there and fill my freezer.

[Mariner]

What, exactly, is incorrect?

[Duchess47]

sigh - done = down

[yarddog]

Around 1994 I killed a medium sized boar near my parents home.

Mother and Daddy grew up on farms and were both expert butchers. The meat was really pretty especially the bacon.

Unfortunately it had a gamey taste. Not so bad you couldn’t eat it but almost that bad.

[Zap Brannigan]

I’m gonna do my part. Just bought a SCAR 17S and IR Defense thermal scope. My colleague has a ranch here in Texas being overrun and wants them eradicated.

[Redcitizen]

You’ll have your choice of ham, spam, shredded pork or bacon sandwiches for bagged lunches. :)

[reasonisfaith]

It sounded like you were assuming it accumulates in the environment as though it were a toxic metal.

[chajin]

Most Texans are probably boared by the issue.

[umgud]

The problem with overpopulation of pigs everywhere is that property owners either won’t let you shoot on their property or they charge you an arm and a leg. I like the bounty idea.

[TADSLOS]

Feral hogs are out of control here in Texas. There is an open season with no bag limit. All you need is a hunting license and landowners permission. A sow will typically give birth to 4-6 in each litter and can reproduce twice a year. They are destructive to crops and livestock feed plants. We even have hog damage on the three golf courses here in my community.

I have a friend who operates a hog hunting business from helicopter here in central Texas. He will typically kill up to 30 hogs a day, go out the very next day to the same locale and repeat. Local ranchers are more than happy to work with him in clearing out their hog problem. Most of the hogs he kills are either too far into the brush and marsh to retrieve or the meat becomes tainted from adrenaline from running under the helicopter.

[sockmonkey]

*** This is a bad idea. People eat hogs. ***

I had some feral hog sausage a friend made. It was really lean, quite tasty.

A guy in the TX Hill Country who traps them caught 34 a few weeks ago. He was begging people to take them. In a small town, that is a lot of hogs to try to give away.

[lacrew]

Several co-workers travel To Texas to hunt pig. They get shoulder, thighs, butt, and backstrap. No fat bacon bellies. I think most of it is best ground up into sausage or mixed with beef.

Ten years ago, they paid money to hunt on people’s land. Now they get free access.

[deadrock]

What rifle and ammo are they using? Any idea?

[farming pharmer]

My last hog hunt I used a 458 Lott with 350gr bullets at ~ 2100 fps. I've seen guys shoot them with 30-06, 357 mags, etc. Whatever works for you and your skill.

I will say the adults can soak up a lot of lead. Watch that their buddies don't come after you, either.

[reasonisfaith]

Hunting for meat is not the only kind of hunting.

What animal rights people don’t understand is that farmers hunt the animals destroying their crops. Always have. Without this kind of hunting, vegans would never eat.

[deadrock]

What is puzzling is it almost looks like a shotgun shell being ejected. Weird.

[matthew fuller]

I’m not for this poison, but open hunting ain’t working.

[Kellis91789]

Hogs are close to humans biologically. Can you trust eating the wild ones ? Farmed hogs eat a controlled diet and are safe to eat, but wild hogs could carry trichinosis and many other pathogens common to humans.

[Kommodor]

AR-10 in .308 is pretty popular.