Wild pigs, I just don't get it

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CTPhil

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I've read a lot about wild pigs being a big problem in some states. I raise pigs, I love pork and most meat eaters love pork. If there were wild pigs where I am, my only thought would be "free food"!

Do wild pigs not taste good? Too tough? Parasites? Why isn't everyone with a gun and a tight budget not harvesting them down to the last one? I'm not being a smart ass, I'm really baffled by this. What am I missing here?
 
Some guy shot in in Northern VT last turkey season. Fish and Wildlife is claiming it was a game farm escapee, but there hasn't been a working game farm in the are for over a decade.

Everyone is hoping it's just an isolated incident.
 
CTPhil, it sounds like you have not read through the numerous threads on the subject.

Why are they not harvested down to the last one? It's physically impossible. Spare time is part of it. Access to habitat land is part. A certain amount of wiliness is part. Game laws are part of the deal, as well.

They're eaten, but FDA health rules control the use as commercial meat--which creates a problem for any dedicated hog hunter.

And the only correlation between domestic hogs and feral hogs is the shape.
 
Relax Art Eatman, no need to be nasty, he's just asking a question... thats what message boards are for

CTPHIL,

I think a lot of people over-react and blow the problem to hogs out of proportion, why eradicate them when we can take advantage of the problem... maybe it's a blessing in disguise??? they are so numerous and so easy to shoot it would feed all the poor people, or regular working folks who want to savea little on their groceries?? you know what I mean?? Imagine if every hunter donate one of their hogs they shot or deer they shot how many poor people would not go hungry every year, the meat could even be donated to animal shelters and rescue centers that rescue wild animals.!!! Blessing in disguise thats how I look at it.
 
Wild hogs are far more tasty than the steroided, antibiotic'd, get em to market farm hogs. They have a varied diet, recieve more exercise, and are in most cases leaner.
 
Thanks for the replies, I'm getting the picture, and thanks for the link to Flintknapper's thread, that's quite a read!

I don't in fact wish for wild pigs here, I know what they can do. I no longer put my pigs on pasture, they just tear everything up. If we did have them though, they would be front and center on my menu! It just seemed to me that people were failing to take advantage of the "blessing" side of the problem. (Not people on this forum, people here clearly would take advantage). I suspected that they might be good eating.

I wonder how much of it is just general apathy though, not being proactive about food procurement. I often wonder about Canada geese, we have a real nuisance problem here but geese are protected. There's movement to "unprotect" the non-migratory geese, but I'll bet few people will take advantage if that happens. (I know I will) Granted geese aren't as tasty as pig.
 
I know what they can do. I no longer put my pigs on pasture, they just tear everything up.
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You're welcome for the thread link. I guess you can imagine what it would be like if you had a couple of hundred of these eating machines on a 1000 acre ranch. Trying to get rid of them is like trying to kill off a mound of ants one at a time.
Blessing in disguise thats how I look at it.
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Spoken like most inexperienced, uninformed, folks from somewhere that don't have them. You cant donate wild hog to any organization in Texas for fear of the spread of disease, Trichinosis, brucilosis, pseudo-rabies, to name a few. this rules out homeless shelters, zoos, and animal shelters. There is no cure for wild hog invasion. If there were we would have found it in Texas by now. All you can do is treat the symptoms.....with lead.
 
I've had interesting conversations with my father about feral pigs - Dad is a retired USDA veterinarian/meat inspector. He was aware of processing plants in Texas that were operations taking mostly feral pigs. The meat was sold as pork in the market, just like commercial farm hogs.

Dad only posed one concern about eating/taking a feral pig, Trichinella. And of course that's an easy fix - proper cooking.
 
We have had two out-breaks of wild pigs here in eastern Kansas recently around some of the federal lake land.

Kansas F&G will not allow us to hunt them, or open a season, as they say that was the motive behind some unscrupulous hunters trapping them in some other state and releasing them here!

So far, they have wiped them all out both times with a professional hunter in a helicopter.

rc
 
No! I don't see it working anywhere either, except on our federal lake land where only one illegally stocked 25-30 pig herd is involved.

rc
 
Haha! The replies to the OP are sheer comedy; coming from a bunch of guys who no doubt praise Whitetail deer...meanwhile in CT, we look at deer hunting as destroying pests instead of pursuing trophy quarry.

In CT we have the same problems of disposing of venison as some of you do with pork...however, IMHO wild pork would be a lot better eating than our ultra-lean venison.
Deer around here are a huge issue: the majority of motor-vehicle accidents in CT are deer related.

Seeing as there aren't a lot of farmers around here and a whole lot of suburbs, the damage that deer do to expensive landscaping is probably similar $$$ to the rural crop damage inflicted by pigs....farmers argue that their livelihood is at stake; whereas the amount that some people spend on landscaping around here is more than that rural farmer makes in a year in total.

Overall, in another 20 years we might have pigs around as well, given their current growth-rates across the continent. When that happens, I'll be living directly off the land a lot more. Til that happens, just be glad they are not tearing up your lawn yet...
 
the amount that some people spend on landscaping around here is more than that rural farmer makes in a year in total.
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I don't think there is any comparison. I don't know of anyone who eats shrubbery. The loss of farm land is a much greater loss than landscaping. Deer do not cause land errosion which can remove vital topsoil and choke flowing streams with silt. Nope doesn't come close to comparing.
 
Haha! The replies to the OP are sheer comedy; coming from a bunch of guys who no doubt praise Whitetail deer...meanwhile in CT, we look at deer hunting as destroying pests instead of pursuing trophy quarry.

In CT we have the same problems of disposing of venison as some of you do with pork...however, IMHO wild pork would be a lot better eating than our ultra-lean venison.
Deer around here are a huge issue: the majority of motor-vehicle accidents in CT are deer related.

Seeing as there aren't a lot of farmers around here and a whole lot of suburbs, the damage that deer do to expensive landscaping is probably similar $$$ to the rural crop damage inflicted by pigs....farmers argue that their livelihood is at stake; whereas the amount that some people spend on landscaping around here is more than that rural farmer makes in a year in total.

Overall, in another 20 years we might have pigs around as well, given their current growth-rates across the continent. When that happens, I'll be living directly off the land a lot more. Til that happens, just be glad they are not tearing up your lawn yet...
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I'm not going to disagree, because this is mostly true for parts of CT. However there is another side as well, there are in fact farmers, and lots of regular people, especially in the "corners'. Around here people do hunt deer for meat, and depending on the circles you're in, it's not hard to give away venison. It's kind of a tale of "two" Connecticuts, often side by side in the same neighborhood.

As for expensive landscaping, my nearest neighbor has spent at least 5 million on landscaping and has no idea what was even done. I simply don't care about her landscaping or whether deer eat it, we don't even live in the same world.
 
Haha! The replies to the OP are sheer comedy; coming from a bunch of guys who no doubt praise Whitetail deer...

Seeing as there aren't a lot of farmers around here and a whole lot of suburbs, the damage that deer do to expensive landscaping is probably similar $$$ to the rural crop damage inflicted by pigs....farmers argue that their livelihood is at stake; whereas the amount that some people spend on landscaping around here is more than that rural farmer makes in a year in total.
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I fail to see the comparison. And I don't recall seeing the word deer mentioned in the posts previous to yours, but then most posts that start with; Haha, never make any sense to anyone but the poster. I see it as comparing necessity (livelihood) to luxury (landscaping) two completely different priorities. YMMV
 
My 2 cents

Here in CA, we hear a lot of complaints from landowners about the pig problem, yet they either won't allow hunters on their land or they charge high fees.

I do hunt pigs and generally have a problem finding cheap private land to hunt them. Our pigs are trained and generally prefer private property to BLM land, though I ocassionally have shot them on BLM land.

As to taste; Big narly wild boars aren't that great to eat. I usually hunt meat pigs less than 150lbs.
 
from what i've read most wild hogs have a russian bore gene in them, meaning they were the russian boars brought over from europe and they spread all over the south. From what i've read they are darker, meaning the meat is darker than traditional pork, making it more tender, and also leaner. I'm licking my lips just typing this post now haha. Good luck.
 
Here in Florida we have a huge problem with pigs. I've been trying for 10 years to find private land near by that doesn't charge big$$ for hunting. There's a ranch within 30 minutes of me that is roughly 250,000 acres, I used to do business with the ranch manager. When I asked him about hunting hogs, he offered to have one trapped for me. but no hunting for one. Seems they charged $6000.00 a year for a lease. I was so stunned that I can't remember how many acres were in the lease.
 
from what i've read most wild hogs have a russian bore gene in them, meaning they were the russian boars brought over from europe and they spread all over the south.
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Actually, at least around here, most wild hogs have no Russian boar in them, or so very little it's virtually undetectable.

They are the product of interbreeding and adaptation to living in the wild. Every once in a while a boar will be taken that has a trace of the Russian gene showing in his appearance, but it's not the norm in my area.

They are very lean almost to the point of being dry. I personally try to take only sows up to 200lbs or so for the table. Boars over 100lbs get given away or feed the scavengers. But then, I'm picky about what I put in my freezer.
 
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