Seems there is more to our feral hog situation here abouts than a couple "escapees" reproducing in the wild and these offspring making a nuisence of themselves...
I attended a seminar yesterday down on the banks of the Red River near the town of Leon, OK. One of the side topics was a demonstration of a few examples of feral hog traps along with a talk by one of the Gov gents involved from the Gov side. Seems the Gov chipped in along with 5 land owners and they rented some helicopter hours ($580/hr) and the Gov dude shot and killed 160 hogs in a day on those 5 land holdings.
They have been trapping dozens of hogs, shooting them and dropping them off in gullies (the coyotes and buzzards are eating, dare I say it?, HIGH ON THE HOG!)
Before anyone gets upset at the waste of meat... roughly 1/2 or more of these animals tested positive for swine brucelosis. Although the meat can be safely consumed by humans if cooked properly, none of the packers will take the feral hogs anymore out of concern for liability should anyone manage by any means to get sick. The pork, like venison used to be donated charitably.
It seems that one of the reasons the feral hog problem is spreading so fast is that there are folks who like to hunt "wild" hogs so they release porkers in areas they want to hunt and let nature take its course (albeit with more than a gentle nudge.)
Oklahoma is either 4th or 5th in beef production and swine brucelosis will jump from pig to beef. Oklahoma is #5 in pecan production and pigs (as well as crows) have a devastating economical impact on pecans corn, peanuts, etc. The hogs ruin well tended land with their rooting and are dangerous to people.
My neighbors have all begun to spot signs of rooting and wallowing so it looks like I'll end up in the feral hog game. I had hoped the numbers woiuld be such that we cold shoot the occasional hog but they are prolific breeders and traps seem to be the intelligent approach. I still want to get a few in my crosshairs but they are mostly nocturnal and you have to have a letter in your pocket authorizing you to shoot hogs at night to be out at night with a rifle and be able to fend off charges of poaching.
What next, some frustrated big game hunter will release leopards and Cape Buffalo?
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]