Texas is Losing the War on Feral Hogs

Originally Posted By: ChupathingyJust so we're clear. In your opinion this is typical behavior of texans? Or were you making a funny?


Chupa

It's a joke. I already stated I have family in Texas.

But I will say that I have lived and hunted in the east, mid-west, Texas, and the western states. I have never once met a landowner that had the kinds of complaints listed here regarding hunters. Chitting in a hole on the ground? Cutting down trees? Good God. Who are these people and where are they from?


Travis
 
Originally Posted By: coyote_reaperIn a sarcastic way, ninehorses does bring up a quite valid point. Liability for landowners is tremendous especially when they are charging someone to hunt. There have been some neighbors of mine get sued by people they let hunt for free. One idiot busted his ankle getting out of a tree stand. He filed a lawsuit for pain and suffering as well as lost wages from work. He won. Cost my neighbor five figures because he was nice and let that guy hunt.
Scouteyes, look at it this way: if a different person whom you don't know came by your home and wanted to watch football every time there was a game on what would you say? Then let's say you - for whatever reason - allow them into your home. Almost every time the person leaves he has raided your fridge, drank your beer, thrown the cans on your living room floor, punched a hole in the wall when his team lost, and then just walked out and left.
How many times would you keep saying "sure come on in!" when the doorbell rang at kickoff time? Generalizations do suck. The problem is they all have their roots somewhere in truth.

Where did this take place?



Travis
 
Originally Posted By: rio7lets talk about time, as a long time ranch owner in s.tex. at one time or other we have had some intresting times with hunters, you have all heard about gates, fences, trash, shot up property,lets talk about the time it takes to talk to these wanta be hunters, about the time it takes to tell them where to hunt , the time it takes to pull them out when they get stuck,the time it takes to find the ones that get lost, and dont know how to get back to headquaters,the time it takes to take them gas when they runout,and give them gas to get back to town,lets talk about the time it takes when they call all excited and tell you i just shot the biggest boar in the world!!! but cant find him, will you bring a couple of your ranch hands and help me out? or i killed this big pig and cant load him up by my self will you come help me out. and where do i gut him out ? what do i do with the guts? do you have any ice? its a long way to town.my time list could go on and on, after all a rancher doesnt have anything to do, but sit on the couch and watch ophra and drink sweet tea. OH! and its all supposed to be free out of the goodness of my heart. B.S.rio7

Are we going coyote hunting together, or not?



Travis
 
Travis,

You need to try and not assume that all post are aimed at you. They are aimed at making a point in the general discussion. Also there are so many options on leases in Texas, no two are alike.

What I think about hogs is...

Hogs have been here, for over a hundred years, on my ranch. They are a source of food, recreation, and income. They are not the huge problem here, as in some places, it's just too dry for them to raise big litters like they do back East. The farmers have learned to use electric and barbed wire to keep them out most of the time. The biggest problem that I see is every deer hunter seems to pour out feed by the ton. The hogs get rolling fat on corn, and are able to make it through the hard dry times living off this extra fat. They used to die off in droves, before all the feeders hit the pastures. Good luck trying to stop deer feeders. I make my hunters put up two foot welded wire panels to keep the hogs out. I also shoot every hog that comes easy, and have probably culled around 20 this year. My hunters will take around 15-20 every fall. I'm not over run with hogs, but I could go out early and find one without too much trouble.

Leasing has caused Mason County to have more deer than many have in the whole state. 125-150 class deer are common. Many hunters see having hogs as a bonus. So yes, leasing has helped the feral hog. A landowner has to manage all resources.
 
ninehorses, you are right about the corn, we wont let anyone put out corn on our ranch, almost all deer hunters down here think you cant shoot deer with out corn, we have proven them wrong.. rio7
 
We had to put up feeders out of self defense. Seems the neighbors weren't happy with killing all their deer, they wanted to lure my deer over the fence to kill them too!
 
Travis,

No worries..

Post at will.

You might flip the selector switch off of full auto back to semi.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: HucksterOriginally Posted By: deflaveLived in south Tejas for six years. Conversations go like this:
"These GD hogs are just destroying everything."
"I'd be happy to come out and kill and trap all of them for you."
"Well, the hunters that lease this place like having them around."
"Ok."
Travis

Sounds like the farmers in WI. Complain constantly about deer damage. Farmers get govt checks for deer damage. Farmers get kill permits for deer. Farmers don't let anyone in to shoot the deer. Land is leased to hunting and the leasees wont shoot nothing but big rack bucks. No small bucks, no does, no fawns. I know this from first hand experience as my wife's family is part of the problem in Buffalo Co.

But deer hunting out there sure is something else! Hunted that area for the first time last year, I saw more antlers in one season than I have my whole life of bowhunting MN. I cant wait untill this season!
 
As far as Deer or more to the point Hogs are concerned.. There are ways to deal with things, like hogs.
If the will is really there, they can be culled. But to the ranchers point, they are trying to make a living and if leasing brings in additional funds and helps them get by.. More power to them.
 
Rio, ninehorses, et al;
1 Every landowner has the right to protect his property and decide what he will put up with on it, and how he can make a living off of it.

2 There are alot of idiots in the world, they breed faster than pigs.

3 The frustration we have is with people who scream about the pig problem (or any problem) but aren't really trying to do anything. They just want to whine. I hate useless noise.

4 I'm sorry about the bad experiences that you have had, I know they are real.
Please understand, though, that I have never been asked not to return to anywhere I have been given permission to hunt or fish. I acted responsibly and I'm welcome to come back. I don't like being viewed as one of the idiots, but I realize you don't know me. Maybe we'll meet one day and you can see the kind of man I am.
 
Originally Posted By: ninehorsesTravis,

No worries..

Post at will.

You might flip the selector switch off of full auto back to semi.
smile.gif


I'm gonna compromise and go 3 round burst.



Travis
 
i am sure there are a great many responsible hunters out there, but the time and effort it takes to weed out the good ones from the bad ones, just is not worth the effort, it is our responsibilty is to manage the wild life on our land,and to manage the land. if we dont take care of our land , the land wont take care of us.if we are over run with preadtors its our fault because we are not doing our job, predator control is part of our job,dealing with human predators is not our job.rio7
 
Originally Posted By: deflaveLeasing has drawbacks.



Travis

I would say so. No one in Texas wants to let anyone come down to kill hogs without paying out the [beeep]. Everything else is tied up in lease. I guess that's just tough Texas.... Deal with em
 
To all you Free Hunting guys...

Why would a rancher let anyone hunt for free, when there's people standing in line with a handful of cash willing to pay for a good place to hunt.

Why don't you just give me your old truck, oh wait, you think it might be worth something.
 
At the same time...

Don't whine and cry about a rancher being over run by pigs, but charging people who are willing to deal with the problem.

Be like me sending my plumber a bill for being allowed to fix my shower.
 
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