NFOA MEMBERS FORUM
General Categories => Hunting and Fishing => Topic started by: Hardwood83 on February 01, 2012, 02:38:49 PM
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I went down to Dixie last week and shot me some hawgs. The one on the right is a 300lb sow and the other a little over 200lbs. They were actually black but dragging them through the red Georgia clay makes them look orange. Used Remington R-25 .308's with Thermal scopes (not night-vision but thermal) supplied by http://www.jagerpro.com/videos.aspx (http://www.jagerpro.com/videos.aspx) check out some of those videos and you'll get a good idea of what I experienced. I honestly have no idea how many pigs we shot, but we only brought back these 2 for processing. The farmers dispose of the rest, since the USDA forbids the selling or donating of wild pigs- they go to waste.
Actually 'hunt' isn't accurate, it's really pest-control. The hogs are numerous and very destructive and costly to agriculture and everything else. The first group we came upon was at least 40 pigs feeding on a peanut field. Gets kinda wild when you open fire and pigs are running everywhere! At another location we shot 2 more- and they had shot 18(!) there the night before. Spotted several deer as well, nothing can hide from those thermal scopes.
I have hunted hogs several times using dogs, over feeders and now using high-tech optics. All are a lot of fun but this was definitely unique.
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I'd love to go do that. How did you get hooked up with a place to "hunt"?
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That would be a lot of fun, I had no idea you couldn't donate the meat, seems like a waste.
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I'd love to go do that. How did you get hooked up with a place to "hunt"?
The guides (Jager Pro) take care of all that, train you how to use the scopes, drive you around and scout for the hogs (they have thermal spotting scopes) load em up, etc. It's a pretty slick operation. Check that website link in the original post.
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wow. thats awesome. we NEED to do an NFOA hog hunt. it could be a fund raising possibility.
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wow. thats awesome. we NEED to do an NFOA hog hunt. it could be a fund raising possibility.
Gotta wait until I have my can!
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Are Hogs off limits in Nebraska ? I thought I heard that could only spot and report, then the G&P would go shoot them from helicopters......
Supposed to be hog populations around Truman Lake in Missouri. My nephew lives just outside of Warsaw on the east side of Truman Lake and said that he has not seen any around his property yet.
Does look like a great time. :P
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it is illegal to hunt hogs in NE.
i know someone who lives and hunts hogs in Texas, but he lives at the very south and west part. way too long of a trip for me.
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2 things on my bucket list:
1. Blackbear hunt with a handgun
2. Hog hunt with a handgun
Wish I knew where to find people down south that want them taken care of. Everywhere I have seen wants you to pay THEM to eliminate THEIR problem... More of us Yanks would help if they didn't charge for help down yonder...
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I would be willing to pay a reasonable fee for hog hunting, but an awful lot of the ones I've looked into are outrageously expensive.
I may have a contact down in Texas through my job. My boss and I were thinking about going last year but it didn't pan out. Hopefully we can make it work this year.
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2 things on my bucket list:
1. Blackbear hunt with a handgun
2. Hog hunt with a handgun
Wish I knew where to find people down south that want them taken care of. Everywhere I have seen wants you to pay THEM to eliminate THEIR problem... More of us Yanks would help if they didn't charge for help down yonder...
Yes, it sure does seem that way, I've thought the same thing. There probably are places where that (no fee) is an option but would require a lot of legwork to find. Believe it or not, on that recent hunt in Georgia the guide told me that some local guys that run dogs get upset with him for killing so many hogs, shrinking the pool for them. Idiotic, but we're all selfish, for instance I want lots of big deer around and I don't think much about the car accidents or crop damage caused, etc.
To answer your question, I suppose there are a number of issues that play into that: 1) Casual hunting really doesn't do much at all in controlling the hog numbers so why bother. You can google the specifics, but I believe you have to kill something like 75% of the population annually just to keep it level. They are prolific breeders especially in favorable environments. So popping a few hogs occasionally isn't statistically relevant to controlling them. 2) It's not likely anyone will open up their property to strangers with firearms. Liability reasons, etc. 3)Most important, enough people are willing to pay, so why not? Those of us up north without local hog populations or all those urban southerners in Dallas, Atlanta, Orlando, etc. helps the hogs pay for the damage they do.
Also depends on what kind of hunt you want- merely access to land that has pigs or a guide, lodging, feeders/dogs, etc. Obviously those cost something. Ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
I have hunted hogs a number of times since 1997 and am willing to pay since it is much more convenient and successful then trying to arrange a DIY hunt in a strange place.
Btw first pig I shot was a big sow in a sugarcane field near Lake Okeechobee in South Florida. The pig ATE SUGAR for a living. It was the best meat I have ever tasted.
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Damn, illegal here? I'd love to go hog hunting.. coyote hunting would be cool as well.
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Sugar fed pigs :o... Sounds incredible
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I would be willing to pay a reasonable fee for hog hunting, but an awful lot of the ones I've looked into are outrageously expensive.
I may have a contact down in Texas through my job. My boss and I were thinking about going last year but it didn't pan out. Hopefully we can make it work this year.
Hey Koenig, forget little Texas pigs, we should go hunt Russian boars: http://www.boarhuntingtn.com/russianboar.php (http://www.boarhuntingtn.com/russianboar.php)!
They look almost like what I imagine Wargs to look like in Correia's MHI books.
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Ok, but only if we can hunt them with spears.
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Sissy. Real men hunt them with rocks. Rounded, blunt rocks... ;)
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I once had a guy from Texas tell me that real men hunted them with nothing but a knife and a pack of dogs.
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bkoenig
That's what they did in SE Missouri when I wuz a kid. [The Hillbillies; not me.] They still do it today. Shows you can have fun without dangerous guns.
Get a pack of rangy hounds to track down the hog. Dogs hold it by the ears. Hog stands there, squealing and pulling. Dogs hold it at bay. Great Big Hoo-Raw!!!
Hillbilly comes up from behind, grabs the hog's hind leg, lifts it up, takes out his Pigsticker, stabs deep into the hog's abdomen, pulls the Pigsticker back along the abdomen, bowels come tumbling out.
It's a helluva mess. There are some videos that can be Googled which show this method. See here: Hog Hunting - 8 Year Old Boy Kills Wild Hog With Only Knife (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnPEiKu5crM#)
Guess that's why those big Bowie/K-Bar type knives are called Pigstickers down in the Ozarks.
sfg
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ill stick to my guns.
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ill stick to my guns.
Good choice. I did this once, it is very exciting running with the dogs, then when they had the hog by the ears grabbed his hind leg knocked him over, put my knee behind its ear and stuck him in the heart- well pretty much how it happened in the video for that kid, although I was a little more assertive (I hope). Nothing 'wrong' with it but was distasteful to me and I wouldn't want to do it again. Same reason I don't bow-hunt, there are limits to how sporting I will be :D It is exciting though getting up close and personal with your (potentially dangerous) game.
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it is illegal to hunt hogs in NE.
Hogs are not a "huntable" species because statute specifically states that "wild" or "feral" swine are subject to extermination. Game & Parks is working to bring about the "complete elimination of this species in the wild." The relevant statute (http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=37-524.01 (http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=37-524.01)) states the following: "It shall be illegal to knowingly engage in, sponsor, instigate, assist, or profit from the release, killing, wounding, or attempted killing or wounding of animals of the Families Tayassuidae and Suidae for the purpose of sport, pleasure, amusement, or production of a trophy. The commission shall destroy any feral swine and may authorize any agents, including landowners, to destroy and dispose of any feral swine." [emph. added]
The same statute defines feral swine as "swine whose reversion from the domesticated state to a wild state is apparent or an otherwise freely roaming swine having no visible tags, marking, or characteristics indicating that it is from a domestic herd, and reasonable inquiry within the area does not identify an owner."
G&P's strategic plan for '11-'16 describes their intentions regarding wild pigs in Nebraska:
Objective 9.
Continue efforts to ensure feral pig populations are not established in Nebraska.
ISSUE 1. Feral pigs are non-native and pose an economic and ecological threat.
Strategy 1. Identify feral pig populations in Nebraska.
Tactic 1. Investigate and document reports of pigs living in the wild in Nebraska.
Tactic 2. Request observations of feral pigs and pig sign during deer check, Expos, through surveys or the media.
Strategy 2. Eliminate feral pig populations upon discovery.
Tactic 1. Create a feral pig response and eradication plan that provides direction and the tools necessary to eradicate newly discovered populations of feral pigs.
Tactic 2. Work with landowners and district staff to carry out a feral pig eradication program in any area they are discovered.
(http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/admin/commission/pdf/Focus_on_the_future2011-2016.pdf (http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/admin/commission/pdf/Focus_on_the_future2011-2016.pdf))
G&P doesn't want people profiting off of the sport-hunting of pigs in Nebraska because they don't want anyone starting to manage populations in a way that would further establish feral pigs in the state. But if you know that feral pigs have moved onto your land, contact Game & Parks about it (402-471-5174). I'm betting that their response will be "swing for the fences," although they may want to come out and get some samples to test for pseudorabies and other diseases. They are supposed to be working with people to wipe these suckers out, and I bet they do it.
I think your biggest obstacle to shooting feral pigs in Nebraska is going to be finding them.