Feral Hogs are getting out of hand

[Phil Lilley]

A topic was started on the Stockton Lake Forum about feral hogs around the lake on Corp ground.  I'm starting this topic to continue that discussion.

[Walcrabass]

OK,

Now they have really done wrong!!!! And I thought selling and leasing land that our dollars purchased was wrong............ this one tops it !!!!!!!!!!

The HOGS !! Can't hunt them on Corps land??? Wow....... and I was just thinking how stupid the political commercials are.................

A few years ago I met a guy at the Ruark Ramp who was unloading a hard aluminum gun case from his boat. I ask what he was hunting. He shyly said that he worked for the FDA ( I believe ) and was after the wild hogs. I ask how many he had harvested. Zero in two weeks was the reply. He was baiting too. My point?? They can't get it done without our help. The hogs are too smart. It will take many, many hunters, and probably dogs to get it under control. A friend of mine rid his farm of them with a professional hunter and well trained dogs. The key?? He got after them when there were only a couple of breeders and a few young ones. That is not the case at Stockton now. They will be epidemic in a few years. Even the campgrounds ( Like Ruark ) will have them. I already know of some being killed just South and East of the campground. They greatest tool known to man to control animal populations is................. well....................... man. The greater the number then the greater the control.

Lets just take it a step further......... like fishing on Corps land............ after all it does have water on top of it................... or Duck hunting on Corp land............

I told you guys a couple of years ago when we found out they were leasing and selling land that our tax dollars bought and paid for to write your Congressmen and ask for just a little of their power to be revoked. Better get it in gear guys. Obviously SOMEONE who is running this " corp thing" is a little bit daft. CAN'T HUNT THEM ON CORP LAND?????

UNBELIEVABLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  NOPE, ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE !!!!!   Bullying is being aggressively eradicated in our children's schools. Wait until they grow up and find out it is perfectly OK to do it to adults !!!

 

Makes me sick..................

Walcrabass

[Ketchup]

Well sald Wal,

 The reasoning that I've read is that people were messing with their traps on public land, and potentially letting the hogs out of the traps to hunt instead of trapping. Another note they mentioned was that the hog hunters in the areas where traps were present were scaring the hogs to other areas.  

Is it just blowing smoke full of excuses by the Corp guys, probably.  As you stated, BAD idea to take away a guys right to hunt a legal game animal on public lands.  The hunter can and will do far more control than the Corp group could ever possibly think of doing. 

[Chief Grey Bear]

If it was true that hunters can do more for hog control on public ground, then why haven't they? If it was true, we wouldn't have the problem we have now. 

But the fact is the MDC trapped and destroyed just shy of 4,000 hogs last year and are on target to meet or exceed that number this year. 

How many have you two shot this year? Last year? 

[snagged in outlet 3]

There was a story about this in the Conservationist I believe.

When they trap them they claim to get the whole sounder whereas hunting just scattered them into smaller groups.

Then those groups got larger.  There was a shoe on a hunting channel down in Texas about a pro hog trapper.  He said the same thing.

[MOPanfisher]

For what it's worth, the COE, didnt really care about hunting on COE lands, but in order not o have different rules in same areas MDC asked the COE to cooperate and the COE has.  Trapping is way more efficient, however it's not unusual to have one or two of a group not go into the trap.  the best approach would be to bait, trap and then put dogs onto the last one or two and then run them down.  problem is pigs don't recognize property lines and the dogs don't either, and as far as I know the MDC doesn't have any trained dogs.  As for the guys in the boat they would have been, USDA.  Dept. of Agriculture, maybe with an MDC person but they seem to like to worm within their agency.  As for leasing of COE lands, what specifically are you referring too?  

[Walcrabass]

MoPanfisher,

Campgrounds.............. remember................. and selling them if they want....................

 

As far as me  killing them??? Nope, I have enough trouble with a 100 pound Deer let alone a hog that was shot a mile from the truck. I have friends that have targeted them though. A small group of hunters ( maybe 8 total) has killed 4 that I know of at Ruark and Table Rock. If this hunting was PROMOTED by the MDC instead of making it "there game only" on these lands I have a very hard time believing that hunters would not line up to help them out. Dogs............. you're right............... don't know boundaries....... I imagine most of the farmers would like to be rid of them too. One thing is for sure.................. we better get with it. We are on the verge of a mass population explosion..

Walcrabass

 

[MOPanfisher]

Parks are closed or leased not sold.  selling of property by coe almost never happens as it requires congressional approval.  leases are a normal mode of business and have been for a long time.  Marina leases, parks leased to city's or counties, Ag leases to farmers, it is a legal way to utilize the property and provide a service that nobody wants the federal govt involved in. Do you want the govt farming ground, or renting you a boat.  Also the monies brought in by those leases, 75 percent are returned to the county in which it takes place, the federal treasury only gets 25 percent. More often than not I find that many of folks dislikes are based on a lack of knowledge, or incorrect information. 

[Mark]

 Is feral pig decent to eat? Agree that they need to be eradicated. I don't hunt, but would think that wild boar would be a challenging hunt for hunters.

Sorry Walcrabass, bullying needs to be addressed in schools. Young kid's brains don't function like adults. Bullying doesn't introduce them to adult life because they will find out that adults get bullied. Do you realize how many kids that get bullied turn a gun on themselves or others? Or the depression a bullied kid goes thru. It doesn't make them tougher. It only hurts them.

[ramman123]

Mark Boar is excellent meat, I think MDC has crossed the line by not allowing people to hunt them on public property. They say they captured 4000 i dont believe that one bit if the hogs are such a problem then y dont we see more of them around