re: Wild hogs are the biggest menace to nature in this country

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You ever see what tannerite does to a pack of hogs?

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Yes, the retired cop neighbor is big into this doesn't bring me back any pulled pork

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Listened to the Joe Rogan podcast episode with Steven Rinella and apparently black bear are delicious AF. Never knew. Now I want to try bear meat.

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Very greasy. Yep, tried it once.

5 years ago we performed a boundary survey and river mapping project for a developer who'd bought a contiguous thousand acre block of land in the ecosystem that you speak of. It started up slope with row crop fields and gradually descended down into the Wolf River swamp, crossed the river and continued back upslope on the other side of the river. The new owner told us to shoot any-and-all hogs on site, and I was looking forward to the opportunity because I hate them and also because the acreage was a primed one for a hog infestation.

Probably 60+% of the acreage was Wolf River swamp. Once we were deep inside the property on our traverse we opted to make camp in lieu of pulling out all of our equipment & instruments and lose time doing it all over again the next morning. Throughout the process of living in the woods for a few days at a time, setting the corners, mapping the top bank of the river as it meandered through the property and blazing all of the boundary lines every 100 feet, we had to wade, swim, motor, paddle, kill cottonmouths (and at times try not kill each other). All that to say, we covered damned near every acre on that block and didn't see what you speak of...yet.

The Wolf is a grand river bottom in the area you and I speak of, and so I realized that, per usual, my 1st experience within its confines was not indicative of the entire ecosystem in that area. That realization came to fruition a few months later when we returned in order to follow up on some work: The land was lit up with hog sign.

I can only describe it as being cancerous: A literal cancer to the land, its owner, the soil, the row crops, and most importantly, to the ground dwelling wildlife that called it home.

Long story long, that is how fast an infestation of hogs can occur: Overnight, if conditions are ripe. In this case, the habitat + agriculture + a new owner having minimal activity on the land (as compared to the prior owners who hunted and killed any hogs they saw) meant an explosion of WILD PIGS. Hogs are not dumb, and they respond quickly to hunting pressure; they'll often evacuate an area (albeit temporarily) once a few of them start hitting the ground. But even without pressure, they are gypsies across the landscapes where they live, and are akin to a roving, dreadful band of killers who can (and regularly do) smell whitetail fawns (where native predators usually cannot), and hone in on them and devour them alive. The fawn was doing what its native instincts told it to do: Sit still and don't move and the threat will likely pass by; too bad that doesn't work very well with a pig. (On one WMA I used to hunt, they estimated over 60% of the fawn crop was being lost to just hogs alone; the population had specialized in it.)

They are masters of adaptability, and one day they can be "here," and the next they're gone, but if the habitat is preferred, they will be back.

I hate a feral pig. They are a bane to the North American continent's wildlife, and to the people who care about conserving said wildlife. They are an invasive species, and regardless of whether or not they offer me an "ethical" shot, I send freedom seeds in their direction, and unless it's a pregnant sow or piglets and convenient for me to harvest them, I leave em' for dead. If it's an especially rank pig, like say, a big mature boar, they say that even a buzzard won't dine on the stinking son-of-a-bitch. I don't blame him, but even if he does or doesn't, the maggots will...or another pig. The only good feral pig is a rotting one, and I think the nesting turkeys and quail would agree, if they could.

TLDR: You are correct. They are a cancer to the landscape and wildlife, and if possible, I attempt to kill every one I see. We all should.

Yeah I know, just saying.

Not disputing. A healthy TIL for me.

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In that forest there apparently is a pretty sizeable pack of feral hogs that has run rampant over the past couple of years.

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12 pack of beer
AR-15 in 300 blackout
Thermal scope
Lawn chair
????
Profit/good sausage

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5 years ago we performed a boundary survey and river mapping project for a developer who'd bought a contiguous thousand acre block of land in the ecosystem that you speak of. It started up slope with row crop fields and gradually descended down into the Wolf River swamp, crossed the river and continued back upslope on the other side of the river. The new owner told us to shoot any-and-all hogs on site, and I was looking forward to the opportunity because I hate them and also because the acreage was a primed one for a hog infestation.

Probably 60+% of the acreage was Wolf River swamp. Once we were deep inside the property on our traverse we opted to make camp in lieu of pulling out all of our equipment & instruments and lose time doing it all over again the next morning. Throughout the process of living in the woods for a few days at a time, setting the corners, mapping the top bank of the river as it meandered through the property and blazing all of the boundary lines every 100 feet, we had to wade, swim, motor, paddle, kill cottonmouths (and at times try not kill each other). All that to say, we covered damned near every acre on that block and didn't see what you speak of...yet.

The Wolf is a grand river bottom in the area you and I speak of, and so I realized that, per usual, my 1st experience within its confines was not indicative of the entire ecosystem in that area. That realization came to fruition a few months later when we returned in order to follow up on some work: The land was lit up with hog sign.

I can only describe it as being cancerous: A literal cancer to the land, its owner, the soil, the row crops, and most importantly, to the ground dwelling wildlife that called it home.

Long story long, that is how fast an infestation of hogs can occur: Overnight, if conditions are ripe. In this case, the habitat + agriculture + a new owner having minimal activity on the land (as compared to the prior owners who hunted and killed any hogs they saw) meant an explosion of WILD PIGS. Hogs are not dumb, and they respond quickly to hunting pressure; they'll often evacuate an area (albeit temporarily) once a few of them start hitting the ground. But even without pressure, they are gypsies across the landscapes where they live, and are akin to a roving, dreadful band of killers who can (and regularly do) smell whitetail fawns (where native predators usually cannot), and hone in on them and devour them alive. The fawn was doing what its native instincts told it to do: Sit still and don't move and the threat will likely pass by; too bad that doesn't work very well with a pig. (On one WMA I used to hunt, they estimated over 60% of the fawn crop was being lost to just hogs alone; the population had specialized in it.)

They are masters of adaptability, and one day they can be "here," and the next they're gone, but if the habitat is preferred, they will be back.

I hate a feral pig. They are a bane to the North American continent's wildlife, and to the people who care about conserving said wildlife. They are an invasive species, and regardless of whether or not they offer me an "ethical" shot, I send freedom seeds in their direction, and unless it's a pregnant sow or piglets and convenient for me to harvest them, I leave em' for dead. If it's an especially rank pig, like say, a big mature boar, they say that even a buzzard won't dine on the stinking son-of-a-bitch. I don't blame him, but even if he does or doesn't, the maggots will...or another pig. The only good feral pig is a rotting one, and I think the nesting turkeys and quail would agree, if they could.

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Cool post

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you're doing something wrong then lol. I dump the boars but the sows are pretty damn tasty. a rank boar will make you evacuate your house when you cook it, though. I use the sows for ham, Canadian bacon, grind meat, breakfast sausage, and gravy steaks.

kill all of them whether or not u eat them,

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You do you bud, but I simply do not frick with those bastards past taking them off my deer lane and dumping them in the gut pit.

Did you see any alligators? I've heard that they now inhabit the Wolf Rivers in small numbers, but that may be mainly closer to the Mississippi river side of things.

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past taking them off my deer lane and dumping them in the gut pit.

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don't stop. Sometimes I leave them because I don't feel like toting them out. I haven't bought pork in years other than bacon, though.