Why So Many Hogs?

[RifleBowPistol]

Not being argumentative,but there were a helluva lot more coyote hunters 30 yrs ago,than there is now(Ellis co./N.Johnson Co.)I've never participated in a varmint roundup,but myself;and my brother killed at least 100 on the way to school in the mornings.I used to know guys that would ride all night,and kill em for the heck of it.I still do.But none of those same fella's do.I'll kill em all weekend..Long winded,sorry..I've never seen a coyote,fox or bobcat eating on a live pig,or piglet.I could be wrong,no doubt.

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Really depends on the area, when I was a kid, there were not many guys in the areas we hunted, that hunted predators. Some of the ranchers would shoot coyotes on occasions, but they did not kill many. It was a big deal to kill one, take it into town to sell it. Now days, I see there are a lot of guys that get pretty serious about killing coyotes and some get into shooting cats also.
I can see coyotes killing younger pigs, can guarantee it happens, more so, now that coyotes hunt in packs, back 35 plus years ago, coyotes did not hunt in packs anywhere, their numbers were too low. But they have been for quite some time. A single coyote can easily kill a 70 lb. pig, but it's not often that a 70 lb. pig is buy it's self, so it would normally be a little risky for a single coyote to kill a 70 lb. pig. But with a group of five to seven coyotes, they could easily pick out a single pig, from a group and kill it.
Coyotes and bobcats I am sure kill their share of pigs, when they can, some areas, they likely kill pigs all the time, some areas, they likely hardly ever kill pigs, it would depend on both the pigs and the coyotes and bobcats in the area. Different areas, the animals both game and predators, do things a bit differently.
In the areas where there are still some cougars, cougars will kill pigs regularly. Then in areas where there are gators, pigs I am pretty sure, become the main food source of gators. Whiteman bringing pigs to North America, then releasing them in the gulf coast states, has made many gators big and fat.
The native predators are a factor with wild hogs, but at this point in time, there are too few predators and way too many hogs in some areas for the predators to be much of a factor. If we had a much higher cougar population and or large numbers of wolves, then you would see a noticeable drop in the spread of pigs. But nobody is going to say, lets release a lot of wolves to help with the hog problem. I can guarantee a healthy wolf population would put a noticeable dent in the pig population in a few years.
Then I would also bet, that any area of the country, where there is still a decent population of cougars, as hogs try to move into those areas, their numbers will not grow very rapidly, they will be kept in check, you won't have a pig population explosion, like what happens in most areas they move into.

[Muddy Bud]

Though hogs, have been around for along time in certain areas, and probably get roasted for this but I have seen it first hand. I believe a lot of the dispersion of swine happened a lot in the late 90s with the big hog dog craze. Lots of ranchers thought they were doing the right thing by taking out the beasts anyway they could and dogs were effective at catching and then being dispatched by the handlers.

So the intention was there at the beginning. Then there was a small market for hogs, so they started catching hogs and selling them. Lots of folks with dogs saw this as a small cash crop and started catching and releasing some of the swine into areas where they were not as plentiful in hopes of getting access to new territory years later. Well the market slowed to an almost staggering halt but the sport didnt.

So hogs continued to be caught and released to other areas, even other states. Now they are having to cope with the problem. I personally know people in Texas and Louisiana who did this for years. But to be honest and fair we all share in responsibility for their prolification. Trappers, hunters, and hog doggers. Hunters supply the feed and lack of interest for taking them like we should, a small European market created a cash flow for hog doggers and trappers.

We as hunters need to take more hogs, and ranchers need to assure that no hog leaves their property alive if they allow trappers and dogs to be run on their property which a lot are now doing.

[BuckSmasher]

Though hogs, have been around for along time in certain areas, and probably get roasted for this but I have seen it first hand. I believe a lot of the dispersion of swine happened a lot in the late 90s with the big hog dog craze. Lots of ranchers thought they were doing the right thing by taking out the beasts anyway they could and dogs were effective at catching and then being dispatched by the handlers.

So the intention was there at the beginning. Then there was a small market for hogs, so they started catching hogs and selling them. Lots of folks with dogs saw this as a small cash crop and started catching and releasing some of the swine into areas where they were not as plentiful in hopes of getting access to new territory years later. Well the market slowed to an almost staggering halt but the sport didnt.

So hogs continued to be caught and released to other areas, even other states. Now they are having to cope with the problem. I personally know people in Texas and Louisiana who did this for years. But to be honest and fair we all share in responsibility for their prolification. Trappers, hunters, and hog doggers. Hunters supply the feed and lack of interest for taking them like we should, a small European market created a cash flow for hog doggers and trappers.

We as hunters need to take more hogs, and ranchers need to assure that no hog leaves their property alive if they allow trappers and dogs to be run on their property which a lot are now doing.

Yep. I agree with your premise that it isn't just one thing but a perfect storm of factors. Since originally posting this I have been doing some googling. It looks like:
1. Introduction of wild genetics into high fence hunting preserves and the escapees, which increased surviveability;
2. Transport of the hogs illegally/legally into areas that didn't have them;
3. And, increased feed from whitetail hunting, along with changes in agriculture.

[Hayek'sPupil]

Not to pull away from the conversation but say I trap 20-25 hogs and murder them - will a processor take them off my hands?

[Aggiehunter08]

Cause they breed like democrats.

[Traildust]

Is this a joke?

[TXHUNT3R]

Obama


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for sure!

[MASTERS]

Cause they breed like democrats.

Yessir!

[Aggiehunter08]

Yessir!

[DRettele]

No doubt several factors have contributed to their explosion in recent years.
I am dealing with another factor near me. I have a neighbor just down the road that I have received confirmation from delivery drivers and contractors who have been on their property that this neighbor has created a sanctuary for the wild hogs.
When I say sanctuary I mean that she feeds them and they feel safe enough that they let her walk up and pet them. Power company lineman told me he witnessed her petting a ~400lb sow with TONS of younger pigs around. This neighbor doesn't keep them penned and her perimeter fence on her ~200 acres is a joke.
This neighbor is about 1/4 mile from my property and won't speak to me because I am a hunter.
I am on 7 acres with good fencing and we keep our gate closed and luckily they have not made it onto our property. A good neighbor on 50 acres behind me and another good neighbor on 15 acres in front of me are not problems and both have approached me to try to help control the hogs on their properties.
I have been shooting about 2 a week for quite a while and would shoot more if I had the time to spend. I have been using an AR15 with the ATN X-SightII scope and recently added an IR Sniper Hog Light. Planning on getting a good hog trap in the future.
I am afraid I am fighting a losing battle.

[JeffK]

Unleash the bacon salt and warfarin!

[BuckSmasher]

No doubt several factors have contributed to their explosion in recent years.
I am dealing with another factor near me. I have a neighbor just down the road that I have received confirmation from delivery drivers and contractors who have been on their property that this neighbor has created a sanctuary for the wild hogs.
When I say sanctuary I mean that she feeds them and they feel safe enough that they let her walk up and pet them. Power company lineman told me he witnessed her petting a ~400lb sow with TONS of younger pigs around. This neighbor doesn't keep them penned and her perimeter fence on her ~200 acres is a joke.
This neighbor is about 1/4 mile from my property and won't speak to me because I am a hunter.
I am on 7 acres with good fencing and we keep our gate closed and luckily they have not made it onto our property. A good neighbor on 50 acres behind me and another good neighbor on 15 acres in front of me are not problems and both have approached me to try to help control the hogs on their properties.
I have been shooting about 2 a week for quite a while and would shoot more if I had the time to spend. I have been using an AR15 with the ATN X-SightII scope and recently added an IR Sniper Hog Light. Planning on getting a good hog trap in the future.
I am afraid I am fighting a losing battle.

That is insane!

[BrianL]

Most these have been mentioned:

1. People no longer live off the land. Up through the 1950s they would have been caught and fed out or shot. Today poor people go to the grocery store, not the woods to survive.

2. Reproduction. They are really good at it.

3. Caught and introduced to areas that didn't have them before.

I don't think feeders really have much influence on them. Most only feed a few cups a day a few months of the year, and that is spread over everything eating at the feeder. Good snack, but they can't make a living at a feeder.

[Arrowflinger84]

We just got on a lease that has a huge problem with hogs. We are putting together a management plan based on age, size, bias and gender. We also have a 13" rule , if the hogs backstraps are 13" or bigger they can be shot.

[Gary Roberson]

The difference is that in this day, much of the ranchland is owned by absentee landowners who are not concerned with predator or hog control. As a rule, these ranches are not interested in livestock, rather wildlife and feed year round which the hogs take advantage of and helps support them in dry times. The additional feed assures that the sows raise larger and healthier litters, thus the population explosion.
In the old days, (remember Old Yeller) folks lived on the ranches and lived off the hogs that fattened on acorns in the fall. Lots more folks hunting the hogs and used dogs to bay to find them.
Adios,
gary