Why do I shoot pigs with an AR?

[MCgunner]

Personally, I shoot only what I wanna butcher. We have a lot of pigs out here, but I don't have a lot of land. I have only 27 acres I can hunt them on, my land and two neighbors. I just shoot 'em under my feeder or trap 'em in my trap. I have trapped more'n I wanted to butcher. I just shoot 'em all, take what I want, and let God, and the vultures, sort out the rest.

When I first moved out here, I checked into hog buyers. There's one over in Hallettsville. The state strictly controls how wild pigs can be handled. You just can't catch one and take it somewhere and release it. But, you can take it to a licensed buyer. But, they were only offering 25 cents a pound at the time and I didn't think it was worth buying a trailer for, handling the pigs, messing with it. I've shot or trapped for MY family, have never sold a pig.

 

[Sistema1927]

If ever there was a reason for the elimination of NFA '34 and the Hughes Amendment, this is it. This is one very good use for a machine gun.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

1. Hog hunting ranches.

2. Slaughter houses. Much is exported: Wild hog meat costs big bucks in China, Korea and other countries. There is a wild hog slaughter house in Hubbard, TX. . Another is located around Ada, Oklahoma.

There is one in Hubbard. It is actually one of two in Hill County. There are dozens of feral hog buying stations in Texas...
https://www.tahc.texas.gov/animal_health/swine/FeralSwineFacilities.pdf

Mostly we shoot them and dump them these days. A lot of them carry diseases that can transmit to humans.

https://invasivespecies.wa.gov/documents/squealonpigs/Feralhogs&diseaseconcerns.pdf

There isn't a single mammal in the US that doesn't carry diseases that can transmit to humans. That probably goes for birds and fish as well, and plenty herps, too.

Deer can carry just about everything that pigs can carry that will transmit to humans.
https://iacuc.wsu.edu/zoonoses-associated-with-deer/
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/8/11-1902_article

So the claim that they are bad because they carry zoonotic diseases is a bit shallow. However, if you want to talk about the additional pollution they are causing to waterways, the argument for killing them is much stronger.

 

[Flintknapper]

There is one in Hubbard. It is actually one of two in Hill County. There are dozens of feral hog buying stations in Texas...
https://www.tahc.texas.gov/animal_health/swine/FeralSwineFacilities.pdf




There isn't a single mammal in the US that doesn't carry diseases that can transmit to humans. That probably goes for birds and fish as well, and plenty herps, too.

Deer can carry just about everything that pigs can carry that will transmit to humans.
https://iacuc.wsu.edu/zoonoses-associated-with-deer/
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/8/11-1902_article

So the claim that they are bad because they carry zoonotic diseases is a bit shallow. However, if you want to talk about the additional pollution they are causing to waterways, the argument for killing them is much stronger.

^^^^ All true. But pigs are easier to hate.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Yes. YES, they are!

 

[alsaqr]

There isn't a single mammal in the US that doesn't carry diseases that can transmit to humans.

Our WV Vo-Ag teacher was a veterinarian who had gotten Bang's disease from a cow.

IMO: Hunters should take precautions against being cut or coming in contact with bodily fluids while skinning, field dressing and processing wild hogs or deer. i wear those long calving gloves.

 

[Choctaw]

Our WV Vo-Ag teacher was a veterinarian who had gotten Bang's disease from a cow.

IMO: Hunters should take precautions against being cut or coming in contact with bodily fluids while skinning, field dressing and processing wild hogs or deer. i wear those long calving gloves.

Dang right. Especially if you have fun skin conditions like eczema.

 

[jmorris]

I have trapped more'n I wanted to butcher. I just shoot 'em all, take what I want, and let God, and the vultures, sort out the rest.

You are missing some good coyote hunting in there, hogs are great bait, the buzzards will eat them too.

 

[entropy]

I may be a yankee, but I get a little Lone Star in my blood from time to time!

And Shiner, too, from time to time......

 

[alsaqr]

IMO: coyotes sometimes hear gunshots as dinner bells and come running. A few times coyotes beat me to the deer i just shot. Sometimes i set up on the gut pile and shoot a coyote or two.

 

[rodwha]

Our WV Vo-Ag teacher was a veterinarian who had gotten Bang's disease from a cow.

IMO: Hunters should take precautions against being cut or coming in contact with bodily fluids while skinning, field dressing and processing wild hogs or deer. i wear those long calving gloves.

Never really thought about the possibility of catching anything from the animals I’ve cleaned. Guess I should be a little more cautious.

 

[MCgunner]

^^^^ All true. But pigs are easier to hate.

I don't think they're easier to hate than raccoons. I eat pigs. I know I COULD eat coons...uh, but, no thanks.

See, I didn't really hate coons until I started trying to keep chickens.

 

[MCgunner]

IMO: coyotes sometimes hear gunshots as dinner bells and come running. A few times coyotes beat me to the deer i just shot. Sometimes i set up on the gut pile and shoot a coyote or two.

One deer season I was hunting out in Pumpville (west of Langtrey) and shot a nice buck down in a brushy draw. I went right back to that draw to fill a doe tag and that morning, the biggest bobcat I think I ever laid eyes on came out to clean up the gut pile. I let him go, though, didn't want a rug or anything and still had a doe tag to fill, which I did later that afternoon.

 

[Flintknapper]

buzzards will eat them too.

Yes, buzzards will line up like they were in line at McDonalds.

 

[armoredman]

So, again dumb city boy - you clean them with gloves and then how do you know if the meat is tainted? Or just grill it till it's done clear through and call it good, like we were told for years about farm raised pork?
Full disclosure - I have cleaned exactly one kill, a rabbit, and the guy with me told me spots on the liver meant it had to be discarded. I don't get out hunting but once every ten years, it feels like.

 

[FL-NC]

On deer and hogs, I generally wear gloves during the gutting process, and throughout the skinning process on hogs. Inspection of the animal for symptoms of poor health/disease occurs throughout the entire process, from the time I recover it to final processing.

 

[MCgunner]

So, again dumb city boy - you clean them with cloves and then how do you know if the meat is tainted? Or just grill it till it's done clear through and call it good, like we were told for years about farm raised pork?
Full disclosure - I have cleaned exactly one kill, a rabbit, and the guy with me told me spots on the liver meant it had to be discarded. I don't get out hunting but once every ten years, it feels like.

With pigs, especially in hot weather, get it on ice soon as possible. That's not really a problem for me as I just drag the thing back to the house with my ATV and put it on the gambrel and get the skin off and drop it in the ice chest. Keep the meat washed, soak it on ice water for a few days, butcher. Yes, cook it thoroughly either on the smoker or n the kitchen...think the standard is above 180 degrees internal meat temp, but I never bother checking meat temp, just COOK it. That gets rid of trichinosis, the main parasite to worry about. We've been eating pork I have caught or killed for 30 years and none of us have ever had a case of any sort of parasite from eating pork. But, we DO cook it well.

 

[MCgunner]

BTW, I don't think I've ever worn rubber gloves to butcher. I'm 66 years old and have been butchering game since about 7 YO (my first rabbit with a Benjamin pump up .22 air rifle) and have never gotten sick from any such game meat. I've often read not to clean rabbits bare handed, but I've never heeded that advice. Rabbits can carry rabbit fever, tularemia, which can be transmitted through cuts in the skin when dressing an infected rabbit. Maybe I've been lucky or maybe I've just never had a cut on the hand when cleaning one. Probably a good idea to wear rubber gloves, I just never got in the habit.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

So, again dumb city boy - you clean them with cloves and then how do you know if the meat is tainted? Or just grill it till it's done clear through and call it good, like we were told for years about farm raised pork?
Full disclosure - I have cleaned exactly one kill, a rabbit, and the guy with me told me spots on the liver meant it had to be discarded. I don't get out hunting but once every ten years, it feels like.

What MCg said. Plus, a lot of folks limit which hogs they eat to being of a certain size limit or sex. For example, some folks won't eat males of any age. Others won't eat stinky males. Others won't eat males over 100 lbs. Some limit themselves to females and sometimes to females under a certain size such as under 100 or 150 lbs. This is how they try to stay away from bad smelling meat, and/or to have tender meat.

Other folks will eat anything, including big stinky boars.

BTW, I don't think I've ever worn rubber gloves to butcher. I'm 66 years old and have been butchering game since about 7 YO (my first rabbit with a Benjamin pump up .22 air rifle) and have never gotten sick from any such game meat. I've often read not to clean rabbits bare handed, but I've never heeded that advice. Rabbits can carry rabbit fever, tularemia, which can be transmitted through cuts in the skin when dressing an infected rabbit. Maybe I've been lucky or maybe I've just never had a cut on the hand when cleaning one. Probably a good idea to wear rubber gloves, I just never got in the habit.

You know, tularemia isn't just limited to bunnies. You can get it from hogs. https://today.agrilife.org/2011/03/29/this-little-piggy-disease/

Gloves are a really good idea.

 

[Chickm1]

Because I can't run a bolt gun fast enough. This isn't about hunting and sportsmanship. It's about killing as many pigs as possible at one time. They are vermin, nothing more. /QUOTE]



The sows eat awfully good! I don't care for the tast of boars. Barrows are great, though, as long as it has been at least 6 months since he got changed.

 

[armoredman]

Learn something new every day...makes me wish I could do a hog hunt with someone who knows what's going on, but not possible yet.

 

[Chickm1]

Our WV Vo-Ag teacher was a veterinarian who had gotten Bang's disease from a cow.

IMO: Hunters should take precautions against being cut or coming in contact with bodily fluids while skinning, field dressing and processing wild hogs or deer. i wear those long calving gloves.

Bangs is the test for Brucellocis (sp?)

 

[alsaqr]

Bangs is the test for Brucellocis (sp?)

Brucellosis of cattle, also known as "contagious abortion" and "Bangs disease", is caused by infection with the bacterium Brucella abortus, which can also cause a disease of humans known as "undulant fever".

 

[HB]

MDC and the feds have supposedly contained our hogs in MO. We cant even shoot them on public land anymore, possibly restricted on private land as well. They wanted to stop the cottage industry of hog hunting.

I can see why ranchers hate them but everybody else seems to secretly love them. Corn feeders have to fatten a lot of hogs...

 

[MCgunner]

MDC and the feds have supposedly contained our hogs in MO. We cant even shoot them on public land anymore, possibly restricted on private land as well. They wanted to stop the cottage industry of hog hunting.

I can see why ranchers hate them but everybody else seems to secretly love them. Corn feeders have to fatten a lot of hogs...

Wow, ridiculous. Texas encourages us to EAT MORE PORK!!! Seriously, I've read memos from A&M and TP&W encouraging hunters to take advantage of the pig hunting and speaking about what good table fare they are. And, they usually add that if you ain't gonna eat it, shoot it anyway.

Game departments, ag departments, and etc get pretty crazy when hogs present the problems they do to agriculture and land owners. I'd expect Missouri would loosen up once the pigs are rooting up politicians yards and gardens.