Texas Law allowing Hog Hunting without a License

daddyflea

Active member
My Letter to Governor Abbot on allowing Hog Hunting without a License

I am reading where Law Makers are considering making it legal to kill and hunt Hogs without a Hunting License. I am a tenured Police Chief and an avid Hog Hunter. I personally kill 4 to 5 hundred a year, so I am well versed at anything to do with Hog Hunting. I am concerned about this Law because I know who is pushing it to pass. This Law is being proposed by persons who hunt from Helicopters. These people sell these hunts for large fees and are therefore under pressure to provide Hogs for their wealthy Clients to shoot at. These Clients are often out of State Persons with almost no Hunting experience who do not possess a Texas hunting License. This law would also allow them to skirt the requirements for a Hunter Safety Course needed when obtaining a Hunting License. In Texas we do not need wealthy Non Hunters who may not be experienced in handling firearms flying overhead blasting away at anything that moves. Since the Helicopter Pilots are under pressure to provide targets for their Clients, they will fly very low over Land they do not have permission to hunt and try to herd or direct Hogs onto Land where they have permission to hunt. These low flying Helicopters are a nuisance to persons living in the area and often will scare Livestock to the point they run through fences and cost Landowners money and time where they do not have permission to hunt. While this practice is illegal it is very hard to prosecute. I urge you not to sign this bill if it is passed.
 
Just watched your video on hog hunting. Lots of fun and shooting. "Didn't recover any"????

It seams hog are are nuisance in most places, and the heli hunts do a [beeep] good job of getting rid of them. Near eradication is what is needed.
When you come to my state. You can hunt non game animals without any license. Your taking away my fun here, but they need to be killed.
I don't see your problem any different. Your loosing your private fun. Heli's are just a tool too get rid of hogs.
Keep the pilots licensed and permitted. They at least try to pick up their kill and do something with them.
 
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A hunter safety card must be possessed while in the field, not at the time of purchase. While I have no desire to fly around and shoot pigs, I don't care if others do. Quite frankly if a helo owner/pilot wants to have an untested/unlicensed green horn with an assault rifle in his bird 50 feet off the ground doing 75 knots, more power to him.
The areas I hunt are too thick and the rewards would not justify the means.
@Wyoming Winchester- Come on down and I'll let you gut, skin, and process all these stinking pigs you want. They are parasite infested and it is a true health hazard messing with these things. I have been back in Texas a little over a year now and I'm sure I have killed between 75 and 100 of them. I only touch the ones I have to drag off the road. And seeing a pile of pigs in a photo does not mean they are "cleaning" them.
 
My apologizes for the offense. Warning, no filter between brain and mouth! I'm sure there are too many too keep, or deal with. It was a plug for that type of killing.
I leave a lot of vermin for the scavengers also.
 
Originally Posted By: Wyoming WinchesterJust watched your video on hog hunting. Lots of fun and shooting. "Didn't recover any"????

It seams hog are are nuisance in most places, and the heli hunts do a [beeep] good job of getting rid of them. Near eradication is what is needed.
When you come to my state. You can hunt non game animals without any license. Your taking away my fun here, but they need to be killed.
I don't see your problem any different. Your loosing your private fun. Heli's are just a tool too get rid of hogs.
Keep the pilots licensed and permitted. They at least try to pick up their kill and do something with them.

I have to differ. The Pilots here rarely pick up any dead animals period. I do not think hunting should be a rich mans game either. Putting all that aside I know the Game Warden is working two cases where the Pilots were buzzing property where they should not have been, but also shooting at hogs they should not have been shooting at. Landowners here are very upset because they are running their Cattle through the fence and in one County Cattle are being shot constantly. One Land Owner even told me in confidence he was going to try to down one of the Birds if all else failed. We actually do not count hogs unless we recover them. Sometimes I forget my phone and sometimes I just forget to take pictures. I think Texas just passed a Law where you could shoot Hogs from a Balloon. Now who shoots Hogs from a Balloon. Actually the Helicopter Hunters get me more Hunting Permission because a lot of the Land Owners hate them and the Hogs are learning not to leave the Woods. You are making fun of my post but imagine if you were out Varmint Hunting and one of these Helicopters flew over you shooting at everything that moves. By the way they also kill Coyotes. Not sure if that is legal but I know they do.
 
Originally Posted By: Wyoming WinchesterJust watched your video on hog hunting. Lots of fun and shooting. "Didn't recover any"????

It seams hog are are nuisance in most places, and the heli hunts do a [beeep] good job of getting rid of them. Near eradication is what is needed.
When you come to my state. You can hunt non game animals without any license. Your taking away my fun here, but they need to be killed.
I don't see your problem any different. Your loosing your private fun. Heli's are just a tool too get rid of hogs.
Keep the pilots licensed and permitted. They at least try to pick up their kill and do something with them.

By the way if you go to Youtube and type in "Danny Krumnow" you will get my channel with a bunch of Videos.
 
I think that helicopter stuff should be watched a lot more closely than it is. The last time I went to Texas my buddies had a helicopter fly over while they were varmint huntin. They didn't shoot but I doubt they knew those guys were on the ground. I've also seen them shoot pigs off of ground we had permission to hunt on and they did not. 20+ hogs dead out there and no they didn't pick any up. We normally shoot 30+ every time we go so we don't eat everything we shoot. We drag them off and put them in a big pile so I'm not doggin on anyone for not picking them up. But that's not the point of shooting them out of a helicopter anyway. They're out there to reduce numbers. And as daddyflea mentioned they don't let coyotes slide either.

I'm neither for or against it. I see both sides of the argument. I've seen the helicopters in action numerous times so I'm just throwing in my 2 cents. They're extremely good at eradicating groups of hogs. But they need to respect others and have designated places they can fly because it could be a safety issue. That's really the only negative thing I can point out.
 
Hogs have recently started showing up around my place. Haven't shot one yet as all ive seen so far is track & sign. A nearby hunting lodge accidently let some get away a few yrs back & I have seen them over 15 miles away from the point of release dead in the highways. Since I now have several grand kids, my interest is growing to get rid of every single one I can. Been doing some very informative reading here on the forums & web. So can they be called? Is it easier just to bait?
 
Originally Posted By: Coyote#1 Hogs have recently started showing up around my place. Haven't shot one yet as all ive seen so far is track & sign. A nearby hunting lodge accidently let some get away a few yrs back & I have seen them over 15 miles away from the point of release dead in the highways. Since I now have several grand kids, my interest is growing to get rid of every single one I can. Been doing some very informative reading here on the forums & web. So can they be called? Is it easier just to bait?

I have not seen anyone call them reliably. I have called a few in myself but hard to say if it was curiosity or actually coming to the call. They are surely reactive to bait.
 
Originally Posted By: Coyote#1 I can. Been doing some very informative reading here on the forums & web. So can they be called? Is it easier just to bait?

ASK GUESS ABOUT CALLING HOGS
grin.gif
He da man!

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/for...534#Post3201534

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/for...550#Post3198550


Regards,
hm

 
@coyote1, buddy you have the makings for a real disaster at your front door! You maybe in a position now to control by firearm, but don't get your hopes up. Trapping willbe your most reliable means to get numbers at this point. There are numerous youtube vids from TX on hog traps, I would study up on them and see what you can apply to your area. What I will add is don't "low ball" the project, do it right or don't do it. These critters are not overly smart but they learn quick and will become very leary.
If firearms are your only choice, then bait is your best option. Pick you a good spot, hopefully from a treestand. Use the prevailing wind and setup accordingly. Try mixing some orange flavored Koolaid in the first batch or 2, that little added smell seems to help get them in to start. With the trees fully leafed out my gun of choice would be a 12 gauge with 00/000 buck in a 3" shell. If you have an open field any good deer round will tip them over.
A trail cam at EACH bait sight will save you lots of wasted time setting and waiting. Once they come in regularly you can just about set your watch by them. After about 2 shootouts they will probably go nocturnal on you. Check into elusive wildlife technologies out of Conroe, TX. They make a light called the blindsider. An excellent night hunting light, 4 D cell batteries will last months.
If you have any questions, I'll certainly try and help just drop me a private message.
 
I went down to Texas this February because I have a buddy who's uncle lives down there and knows a ranch manager that allows us to hunt ferral pigs private ground. You wouldn't have believed the number of people who a) thought we had a screw loose to come all the way from Nebraska to shoot pigs and b) who tried to talk us OUT of buying a non-resident nuisance permit (or whatever they were called) for $50 or so. They told us not to bother. Well, I wasn't going all that way and get in trouble with the Texas Department of Fish and Game for a measly $50 tag.

I'm not a resident of Texas, but I sure share your concern. I know they are overrun down there, but I will say that we only shot one hog in 3 days. The weather didn't cooperate and it was actually raining there most the time. We walked out a tree grove and my buddy laid the wood to 5 piglets with buck shot, but other than that didn't see much.

We aren't high and mighty, but the LAST thing we want to do in ANY state (we hunt Wyoming a lot) is to do something that encourages residents of the state to not tolerate out of staters.

I live in a great area for hunting prairie dogs, and I bring friends and family up to shoot them. I've had SEVERAL requests from people on this website as well as FB pages that want to give me money to take them to shoot prairie dogs. I decline their offer. I tell them if they are ever in the area, look me up and if I have time I'll take them there free of charge. I hate that this is what has become of shooting animals that are an absolute pain. The thing is that the LANDOWNERS need to help put a stop to paying to shoot. I get that they are making money off an issue, but I am not going to feel sorry for a landowner that has hundreds of acres being decimated by hogs or prairie dogs because they want people to pay to come hunt them.

My suggestion to the landowner would be to go through a very thorough process and choose a very trustworthy person who wouldn't ever take advantage of the situation and have them help the landowner by reducing the number of vermin. Somebody that communicates well and knows that they have a good thing going and to not mess it up by inviting a million people to shoot the same property. A good person will help with cattle brandings, fix fence and report anything that is amiss on the property.

sorry for being long winded.
 
Update The law passed so now what can the Game Warden do when he catches a guy sitting in a Deer Stand during Deer season who tells him "I am not hunting Deer I am hunting Hogs so I don't need a License."
 
Nothing. He may be.

No different than predator or hog hunting at night. How does he know if you are shooting deer? If he catches you with a deer.

Quote:This law would also allow them to skirt the requirements for a Hunter Safety Course needed when obtaining a Hunting License.

My understanding is that hunter education requirements still aply.
 
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Originally Posted By: daddyfleaUpdate The law passed so now what can the Game Warden do when he catches a guy sitting in a Deer Stand during Deer season who tells him "I am not hunting Deer I am hunting Hogs so I don't need a License."

This statement bothers me. As a "tenured police chief" do you view every driver as a DWI, speeder, stop sign runner, ect.? Every CCW pistol packer as an armed robber or active shooter? Why would you assume a hunter would be breaking laws? Ever heard of "innocent until proven guilty?" Everybody isn't a bad guy.
 
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Originally Posted By: GCOriginally Posted By: daddyfleaUpdate The law passed so now what can the Game Warden do when he catches a guy sitting in a Deer Stand during Deer season who tells him "I am not hunting Deer I am hunting Hogs so I don't need a License."

This statement bothers me. As a "tenured police chief" do you view every driver as a DWI, speeder, stop sign runner, ect.? Every CCW pistol packer as an armed robber or active shooter? Why would you assume a hunter would be breaking laws? Ever heard of "innocent until proven guilty?" Everybody isn't a bad guy.

No but this is kinda like allowing Hemp to be grown in Texas. Almost all of the Marijuana laws are now unenforceable because you can not prove it is Hemp or Marijuana.

This was geared to allow Helicopter Operators to fly in out of State Clients, shoot Hogs the same day and go home. This had nothing to do with allowing Farmers to protect their crop.
 
Marijuana will be legalized nationwide within a decade. Agree or disagree it's going to happen. I'm not disagreeing with you about your Texas state laws. About that I know nothing of or have an opinion about. I just don't like a mindset that is willing to sacrifice the freedom of all because of the transgression of a few. Sound familiar?
 
Originally Posted By: GCMarijuana will be legalized nationwide within a decade. Agree or disagree it's going to happen. I'm not disagreeing with you about your Texas state laws. About that I know nothing of or have an opinion about. I just don't like a mindset that is willing to sacrifice the freedom of all because of the transgression of a few. Sound familiar?

I have no idea what you are talking about but I do not like big money Lobbyist getting Laws passed for a few that can shed a bad light on hunters in general very quickly.
 
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