Feral Hogs.

[Skillet]

Has anyone actually seen one this year? For all the talk about them, I never hear anyone actually report seeing one. I know DEC has decided they're off limits to shoot. But, you're supposed to tell them right away if you see a pig. Yeah, I'll get right on that. I'd rather have my whole property rooted up, than invite DEC to come take a look. I saw in the Outdoor News, that they now want to close a "loophole" allowing preserves to keep domestic breed pigs for hunts. Wonderful. Feelings about high fence aside, let's all agree that it's a great idea to make it even harder, for yet another business to succeed, in the People's Republik of New York.

I got off on a tangent, sorry. Anybody seen one?

[Curmudgeon]

APHIS - USDA's hired guns - killed a bunch of Eurasian boar in Delaware County in 2014. This was just outside the hunting preserve in Hancock that someone ripped apart in a another thread. I heard they got one on camera that APHIS missed.

 

Someone I know said there were feral domestic pigs around Greek Peak. He saw them while deer hunting 2 or 3 years back. I assume DEC had APHIS go after them too.

 

If no one is seeing them, that is a good thing.

[BKhunter]

I'm happy I'm not seeing them I hunted those things down in FL last year and headed back this year for another hunt. Those things are nasty and can cause some serious damage to both you and the landscape.

[Skillet]

Yeah, I lived in southern Oklahoma for a year. They were around & did a lot of damage, but you rarely saw them. I never got one, despite going out pretty often.

[philoshop]

I've never seen one, and I've never hunted them.

I spent the summer of 2007 building a barn in Kentucky, and the owner took me out for some coyote hunting. We had a blast, by the way.

On the second day out I asked him who had taken a plow and disc to his property over night. He said it was feral pigs/hogs. Almost 2 acres of alfalfa/clover mix gone in less than 12 hours.

 

He called the local 'hog hunters' when we got back, to take care of the problem for him. Apparently these guys knew their chit, and they killed almost 3 dozen in one night! I had to get back to NY, but I certainly would have gone along to watch that.

[Doc]

So, is the new DEC ruling against using hunters to control feral hog populations working? Has the fact that hunters have been banned from dispersing hogs so that the DEC can successfully hunt or trap them been working? How many hogs has the DEC removed from the landscape. Where are the numbers? How many man-hours has the DEC devoted to the control of this invasive species? ....... Any??? Is the plan for eradication really working? Where's the story? How about it NYON, any plans for an investigative report to follow up on this story? Just wondering.

[Skillet]

Got some news for DEC:

 

 If I see a pig, I will probably kill it, & you'll never know. If I don't kill it, I certainly won't be telling you about it.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Skillet

[growalot]

From this past. NYODN..DEC .....there are no more breeding wild pigs in NY...That is why the farm hunting of euration (sp)hogs was banned...but there was a loop hole In the law...and farms are offering domestic pig hunts....

Edited December 10, 2015 by growalot

[philoshop]

A farm-raised pig that escapes captivity can be a problem. Two of them can become a devastating nuisance in a hurry.

Some of them are tame enough to be brought back to captivity before they become feral, but some of them aren't.

They're smart, tough, omnivorous and mean-tempered.

[The_Real_TCIII]

I killed a couple at a ranch, it's unreal the damage they do to a field. As cool as it would be to hunt them, we don't want them!

[turkeyfeathers]

I saw Ted Nugent and some other guy hunting via a helicopter. Sweaty Teddy had full auto AR and other guy had 12 bore with double oo buck. I think they shot 43 in a few hours. Mmm....bacon !

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Only fixed pigs allowed.  DEC saying there are wild pigs causing problems holds as much water as them saying there is no deer problems in the state. Riiiight.

[The_Real_TCIII]

I saw Ted Nugent and some other guy hunting via a helicopter. Sweaty Teddy had full auto AR and other guy had 12 bore with double oo buck. I think they shot 43 in a few hours. Mmm....bacon !

But the hunt was still brought to you by the Glen's Deer Handle!

[nyslowhand]

They're smart, tough, omnivorous and mean-tempered.

... and breeding machines! 

[The_Real_TCIII]

Yeah the ranch we were at told me they breed three times IN THE WINTER!

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Yeah the ranch we were at told me they breed three times IN THE WINTER!

One would think if this is truly the case and we had any pigs in Ny then people would see them by now. After all...How many years has the DEC blown this sh!t up our butt's?  Dont believe much i hear or read from DEC..Like the old saying goes...No Pic..It didnt happen!

[Doc]

So now the way the law reads, if you happen to come across some pigs that are  ripping up your yard, crops, shrubs, or food plots, all you can do is wave at them and wish them well and send them on their way to breed and multiply and become a real problem, while the DEC sits in their office unaware that there is anything to worry about. It is amazing to hear them cry poverty about their shortage of manpower and all, and out of the other side of their mouths comes the claim that they have time to conduct personal trap and hunt activities that hunters could help with. Well, my question is, that if they really do have the resources to conduct such trapping expeditions, where are the numbers that show that they really are capable of exterminating these invasive critters. I don't want to hear some years later an apology for over-estimating their abilities to handle the situation without hunter help. That shrug of the shoulders and embarrassed expression on their faces is not going to put the genie back in the bottle if they are wrong.

[philoshop]

A pig on my property is going to be bacon in my freezer, in a hurry.

[Curmudgeon]

One would think if this is truly the case and we had any pigs in Ny then people would see them by now. After all...How many years has the DEC blown this sh!t up our butt's?  Dont believe much i hear or read from DEC..Like the old saying goes...No Pic..It didnt happen!

 

There are plenty of pics. Some appeared in Adirondack Explorer. They use game cameras to monitor them. DEC doesn't release many but do a FOIL request and your bandwidth will be filled in a hurry.

 

Here's some - http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/70843.html

 

Here's another - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/nyregion/feral-pigs-plaguing-upstate-new-york.html?_r=0

 

Good map - http://www.nyis.info/?action=invasive_detail&id=18

Edited December 12, 2015 by Curmudgeon

[Four Season Whitetail's]

There are plenty of pics. Some appeared in Adirondack Explorer. They use game cameras to monitor them. DEC doesn't release many but do a FOIL request and your bandwidth will be filled in a hurry.

 

Here's some - http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/70843.html

 

Here's another - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/nyregion/feral-pigs-plaguing-upstate-new-york.html?_r=0

 

Good map - http://www.nyis.info/?action=invasive_detail&id=18

Now come on. You post up stuff thats 3-4 years old and then its said they are a breeding machine and will over run an area. Breeding 3 times a winter?  If this were true and the case there would be sightings by hunters and campers and there would be road kills. Not to even say that they would have bred from Cortland to Watertown by now.  I say Hogwash. Pun Intended!

[Curmudgeon]

Hopefully, all those pigs photographed 3-4 years back are dead - killed by APHIS. Like I said, do a FOIL request and you can get many photos and more recent photos -esp from Hancock where one survived. Hopefully, it will not find a mate.

 

If they breed 3X a winter in Texas - as someone said earlier - even if this is true, which I doubt, it does not apply in NYS.

Edited December 13, 2015 by Curmudgeon

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Hopefully, all those pigs photographed 3-4 years back are dead - killed by APHIS. Like I said, do a FOIL request and you can get many photos and more recent photos -esp from Hancock where one survived. Hopefully, it will not find a mate.

 

If they breed 3X a winter in Texas - as someone said earlier - even if this is true, which I doubt, it does not apply in NYS.

And do tell why a pig would breed more in one state than another?  We are told that they have no problem with the cold weather so what would change their breeding?

Bottom line is that they cant be to bad of a problem because people just dont see them. Blown way out of style.

[Doc]

I do wonder how likely that it is that northern states will ever see over-running populations of wild hogs given our climate. There has to be some reason why they haven't simply migrated here on their own and established themselves to the extent they have in the southern states. I am not questioning their abilities to live in this climate (Russian Boars live in Siberia), but perhaps that wild out-of-control breeding cycles or successes are impacted in some way by the colder climate..... Just wondering

[Andy 3F]

With December weather like this they might decide to come pay us a visit.