Posted on 04/01/2016 11:58:18 AM PDT by dennisw
Hunters say feral hogs are taking a toll on the whitetail deer population In Louisiana there are estimated 700,000 'highly destructive' wild hogs Feral hogs carry diseases and parasites that can cause abortion in deer They are 'opportunistic' eaters and feed on deer fawn and other piglets
Deer hunters are facing unwanted competition as feral hogs in Louisiana threaten whitetail deer population. Wild hogs are known for spreading disease and killing and eating deer fawns.
Population boom of feral hogs across the US is threatening the deer population as hunters face unwanted competition with the wild beasts that spread disease and kill and eat deer fawns.
Particularly in Louisiana, where there are nearly 700,000 feral hogs, hunters and wildlife officials say they are taking a toll on the whitetail deer herd, according to FoxNews.com.
Deer hunter Justin Lanclos, 33, told Fox that if there are hogs in 'your hunting area, you are absolutely not going to see deer'.
He said that since deer are 'extremely smart and elusive' and they don't 'like to occupy the same area as hogs'.
Jim LaCour, the state wildlife veterinarian for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, told FoxNews.com that the hogs are in 'every habitat in the state'.
'They're very adaptable and also highly destructive,' LaCour said.
The pigs can weigh up to 500 pounds and according to LaCour, they are 'opportunistic' eaters.
They feast on anything crossing their path, including deer fawn, other piglets and dead animals.
LaCour told Fox that the hogs carry several diseases, such as leptospirosis, which can infect or kill other animals like deer.
He said that hogs move diseases and parasites 'across the landscape' and the leptospirosis bacteria can 'cause abortion in the deer'.
LaCour added that the bacteria can also kill an adult deer or 'people'.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
"Prime wild hog, no bag limit."
They do allow bottle neck cartridge, bolt actions in these hunts, right? A nice .308 Win with good placement should make quick work of a hog.
The obvious choice is to shoot the pigs.
Now you’re talking!
We have bobcats and coyotes here, we used to have red wolves but I think they are extinct or so I have been told. No mountains or bears, I am happy to say.
My BIL from CA came out with a couple buddies, He paid for the trip, “company team building” and all that. LOL.
Properly prepared, I think it tastes like lean pork with a bit of gamey to it-but I’ve been eating it for most of my life-I don’t eat any domestic pork that is not local and free range either-the factory farm pork doesn’t have any taste to me.
I like it as BBQ-marinated in red wine or vinaigrette sauce especially for game overnight makes it delicious, too. Some people put out hog traps, capture some hogs, pen up the adults, feed them plenty of what they give their pigs for a few weeks to get rid of the wild taste, then slaughter and butcher them. They sometimes put the youngest ones with their domestic pigs to crossbreed, which produces piglets that are leaner and some say healthier.
Hogs are dangerous, period-wild or domestic-those feral ones just have bigger tusks and more meanness. As a kid on the ranch, I was chased by more than one hog just because it was bored or having a bad day-I’m not fond of hogs-I’m downright afraid of them. My 1st husband hunted feral hogs on foot, with a .44 mag-but he was a risk taker, bigtime-how he was never fatally charged by a feral hog I will never know...
Why does their invasion sound just like MooHAMid invasion?
The coyote population here is also a food source for the mountain lions, the game warden says. No one has had a close encounter of the worst kind with a mountain lion, since they have plenty of food, woods and other wild places and are not crowded and pressured by humans like they are in parts of Cali-I hike a lot in the woods near the river, and if I see tracks of a wild hog or lion, I find another trail to take, just the same.
I’ve heard that there are bears in Big Bend and Guadalupe Mtns park-but I’ve been to both many times and never saw or heard any bears-I’d have been back to camp fast if I had...
I heard they are good eating, and with the price of beef....
There are “real” red wolves in an endangered species breeding program in several sanctuaries-the ones in the wild now are mostly coyote, not wolf-interbreeding between the species after coyotes filled the space left after the wolves got mostly killed off-people didn’t seem to know a lot about healthy balance and wildlife management back then...
North Dakota, Montana, AFAIK, Minnesota and South Dakota, too, remain free of these critters. Folks here would put them in the smoker fast.
We’re starting to see them in VA
Okay, I stand corrected. There are two small populations in ND, and erradication of both is being attempted. The question is how they made it all the way up here when the rest of the states are shown on that map not to have any for over 500 miles. Is someone seeding these things?
I heard they are good eating, and with the price of beef....
and with a glass of Chianti.
Had no idea they have spread so far.
to me, wild pig taste better than deer. i have eaten many of each. of course the pig has to be a sow or a boar that is captured and castrated.
The weather up here does a pretty decent job of keeping the feral pigs away. We get the occasional pig show up and they can make a decent sausage but the meat itself is usually not all that tasty on its own.
Our #1 problem around here is still idiots dropping off domestic dogs and cats in the mistaken belief that us ‘country folk’ have a use for them.
Forgive me if lofty concepts about ‘healthy balance’ involving wolves are lost on me when I see one on the other side of a fence from my kids.
The cold climate has probably kept most of the feral hogs out of your area till now-but they are very adaptable, so the hardiest are able to survive there. One of the locker plants out here makes wild hog bacon that is really good-more meat than fat, very smoky-you bring them the hog-the price is very reasonable.
I hope you get to shoot and eat one!
Map is inaccurate.
No feral swine shown in Washington DC!
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