More Texas warthogs!

[sgt_zim]

Yes that and other reasons why landowners do x,y and z that often hunters don' t understand which was why I alluded to that in my opening- but alas for another day

Yup, if they're not running a hunting operation, there's zero reason for them to waste money on an insurance policy for which there is no risk.

If they are running a hunting operation, they aren't doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They want to make money.

 

[sgt_zim]

All the above explains why they wouldn't want hunters on their property but not why they want to charge what they are charging.

I have no idea but what do they charge for a deer hunter who want's to come onto their property and how do they handle it?

In answer to your question, they want to make money.

Deer hunting on those places is *always* a lot more expensive than hog hunting.

Rockin G has a pretty good hog package - unlimited feral hogs for 1500 USD.

I used to own property in San Jacinto county, between Houston and Dallas. I had hogs coming across my place on no regular schedule. If the ranch wants their hunters to have consistent success, it frequently means at least a low fence so there will always be a population of hogs to be hunted.

Keith Warren's place (for one example), Hidden Springs Ranch, charges $4000 for management bucks. Trophies are 6k-8k. And if you want a no point limit hunt, it's 14000 USD

Lots of places in Texas have similar pricing for white tails.

 

[buck wild]

All the above explains why they wouldn't want hunters on their property but not why they want to charge what they are charging.

I have no idea but what do they charge for a deer hunter who want's to come onto their property and how do they handle it?

In my weekend scenario and Sgt's observation about liability, as a ranch we would never let unsupervised hunters just roam freely about the ranch especially given night hunting etc. That means at least two guides need to be available. Now as a guide, I would probably be on the ranch with hunters at least 20 hrs during a Friday aftrn through Sunday at noon hunt x another guide. What is a reasonable fee to cover just these costs not to mention any other costs associated with the ranch ? Whatever you come up with is money to compensate the guides during their weekend time as we don't have full time guides employed by the ranch and very few places do. I am going to be worn out on Monday morning to spend my weekend for $200 ?? Ranch doesn't make a DIME yet unless a trespass/kill fee is involved. See More Money.

I do understand some of these costs such as on ranch processing x pound per hog seems to be a money maker if there are no options for the hunter to take the animals off ranch.

 

[Shootist43]

Buck wild, I need to apologize for my ignorance. I've been looking at this situation from one side. Given more facts and items to consider I was wrong. Thanks for straightening me and a lot of others out.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I think the thing is - from what I read here, because this is totally outside the realm of my world - that people get the 'making money' part: the costs of running an operation, and making at least something of a profit at the end of it. What I read from several on here is the ones who complain loudly about hogs eating them out of house and home, and then charging to hunt them like they have liquid gold running through their veins. That's incongruous to me. If they really are a huge problem... get help and don't try to reap a king's ransom for it. If you're in it to make money, by all means... do so. Frankly, I've never hunted wild/feral pigs someday but hope to some day... and have no issues paying to do so. However, if you're screaming they're about to leave you destitute but want extortion money... yeah, just shut up about it. No offense meant, but that's how it reads to me.

 

[sgt_zim]

I think the thing is - from what I read here, because this is totally outside the realm of my world - that people get the 'making money' part: the costs of running an operation, and making at least something of a profit at the end of it. What I read from several on here is the ones who complain loudly about hogs eating them out of house and home, and then charging to hunt them like they have liquid gold running through their veins. That's incongruous to me. If they really are a huge problem... get help and don't try to reap a king's ransom for it. If you're in it to make money, by all means... do so. Frankly, I've never hunted wild/feral pigs someday but hope to some day... and have no issues paying to do so. However, if you're screaming they're about to leave you destitute but want extortion money... yeah, just shut up about it. No offense meant, but that's how it reads to me.

Well, I'd say to the extent we believe them when they say they're being eaten out of house and home, we've fallen for the marketing.

Independence Ranch in Gonzales, Texas is one such place. I've hunted there, unfortunately. He regularly buys hogs trapped by professional trappers.

Notice what they put on their website.

Yeah he's overrun, because he buys them from trappers who catch them on farmland where there isn't any hunting; and he releases them on his place.

There is no shortage of feral hogs here. What there is a shortage of is places to consistently hunt/harvest them which aren't money-making operations. We do have some public land here, but hunting hogs on it is a hit-or-miss proposition, and much more of a "miss" than a "hit" because hogs are mostly transient, or have a very large "home range," much larger than white tail deer have. Further, they're herd animals. They're nothing like deer, where there is almost always a fair chance of at least seeing one. With hogs, you generally see nothing, or you see 50-100 at a time.

If there are any ranches who offer hog hunting and who don't also put out copious amounts of feed corn every single day, I am not aware of them. There is just a massive effort which goes into a successful hog hunting operation.

 

[WAB]

I think you guys may be missing a pretty significant point made earlier, hunting, even with thermals, is not particularly effective at hog control. So you really are not providing the service you think you are.

 

[wesheltonj]

. . . Yeah he's overrun, because he buys them from trappers who catch them on farmland where there isn't any hunting; and he releases them on his place. . .

The trappers, want the Rancher to pay them, which I am more than happy to, and then sell them to processors for dog food. But, I would never pay a GD penny to have them trapped to be release back into the wild. With that going on, we will never get rid of the damn things.

 

[wesheltonj]

In my weekend scenario and Sgt's observation about liability, as a ranch we would never let unsupervised hunters just roam freely about the ranch especially given night hunting etc. . . .

Here, the liability for Texas:

CIVIL PRACTICE AND REMEDIES CODE CHAPTER 75. LIMITATION OF LANDOWNERS' LIABILITY

 

[CoElkHunter]

My problem for letting someone to come shoot hogs, is it's not worth my out of pocket expense to drive there - the 2 1/2 hours each way to let someone in, and spending a night in a motel to let them out. If they reimbursement me expenses, I have to purchase a "lease licenses" from TPWD (While that's not expensive), log book, etc. just to kill hogs.

Yes, that isn’t worth your time or expenses. I was thinking more of a working ranch where the pigs have become a problem and a few hunters would be welcome to take a few pigs and pay a REASONABLE trespass fee for a DIY hunt.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Some of you are fairly clueless about landowner and the hunter relationships but until you are a landowner, there is really no sense is hashing it over, so I'll leave that for another day. I will say this, NO WAY IS NORMAL HUNTING going to stop the hog infestation in Texas and other areas. Say 5 guys go out for a "free hunt" as some have voiced their desire to "help". If they hunt all weekend, all night, with the proper gear etc, we might kill 20-50 hogs. Big dent you might think? Nay. So now as the ranch manager, I have spent a LONG, labor intense weekend pissing in the wind so that 5 rightminded guys can come help us. If you want to stand hunt and drive the roads, same 5 guys might kill 5-10.

We have had a helicopter out twice in the last 6 weeks and have confirmed killed over 250 hogs on 6k acres. The ranch has been flying 5-6x per year for the past 5 years. Every time, they kill about the same numbers depending on the season. The landowner and share crop farmer are seriously in discussion about putting up cattle panels around 1,300 acres of farm fields bc the hogs do that much damage to the crops. I'm not even sure what the costs of that what run but obviously the amount of loss they suffer every year has them contemplating it

All good points, especially about the insignificance of a few hunters taking a few pigs which doesn’t reduce the population. Not worth the time and effort all the way around I guess? Back up to Wyoming for pronghorn!

 

[Sarg]

We wouldn't be friends much longer coz I'll shoot that sucker if I see it!

lol, because he is mean or huge & he is even bigger than you think as twice the body size of normal Warty ?

From what I'm told many have threatened his life for both & I must admit I would love to see one like him out & about, I see you are in SA, lucky I cropped the faces out & made no mention of propety names lol !

 

[CoElkHunter]

Buck wild, I need to apologize for my ignorance. I've been looking at this situation from one side. Given more facts and items to consider I was wrong. Thanks for straightening me and a lot of others out.

+1.

 

[sgt_zim]

The trappers, want the Rancher to pay them, which I am more than happy to, and then sell them to processors for dog food. But, I would never pay a GD penny to have them trapped to be release back into the wild. With that going on, we will never get rid of the damn things.

many (most???) of these hunting outfits are high fence or low fence (not barbed wire) and they're usually diligent about keeping their fences in good repair.

 

[mark-hunter]

It is some years till now that internet portals are reporting warthogs roaming free in Texas.
So, has anybody shot that illusive Texan warthog till now? Do we have any evidence?

 

[buck wild]

Buck wild, I need to apologize for my ignorance. I've been looking at this situation from one side. Given more facts and items to consider I was wrong. Thanks for straightening me and a lot of others out.

While I appreciate that Shootist- you have no reason to apologize.

As Sgt Zim notes, there are definitely places that are capitalizing on the Texas hog situation with their marketing but most real ranchers/farmers are not. And yes we bitch about them because seemingly there's no way to stop them. Since we can't see a way to make money off hog hunting at our ranch- we don't offer it. Heck the helicopter costs $600 per hr x 4 hrs per trip that landowner eats the costs on even though he could sell those type hunts and at least break even. So no we won't be letting anyone come out to help us and we won't be charging anyone to hunt hogs either.

 

[Trophyhunter01]

5000 acre lease on the Trinity River bottom has lots of pigs, 8 hunters on lease and ranch owner has 2 full time hands on site working cattle. Between hunters and ranch hands between 3 to 4 hundred pigs a year killed and they are still there every year. They breed 2 times a year and are nomadic for food sources. Cattle come first to most land owners and protecting that resource and most I have dealt with don’t want unknown people riding all over and shooting stuff. Just the way it is but in a state that is 90% privately held.

 

[sgt_zim]

5000 acre lease on the Trinity River bottom has lots of pigs, 8 hunters on lease and ranch owner has 2 full time hands on site working cattle. Between hunters and ranch hands between 3 to 4 hundred pigs a year killed and they are still there every year. They breed 2 times a year and are nomadic for food sources. Cattle come first to most land owners and protecting that resource and most I have dealt with don’t want unknown people riding all over and shooting stuff. Just the way it is but in a state that is 90% privately held.

I used to live pretty near there...couple miles up 156 from Coldspring.

 

[Shootist43]

Sgt_Zim, I hunted hogs on a "hunting ranch" located near Waelder ,TX. Not too far from Gonzales. I just Googled it, in fact it was the same ranch you referred to. We got there a little early so we drove into Gonzales and had lunch at an authentic Mexican Restaurant. It was larger than most, and packed to the gills. Food was fantastic. BTW so was the hunting. I shot 940 lbs. of hog. Our group of six only managed to get 1800 lbs. The guide mentioned something about me being a shooter, imagine that.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I think the thing is - from what I read here, because this is totally outside the realm of my world - that people get the 'making money' part: the costs of running an operation, and making at least something of a profit at the end of it. What I read from several on here is the ones who complain loudly about hogs eating them out of house and home, and then charging to hunt them like they have liquid gold running through their veins. That's incongruous to me. If they really are a huge problem... get help and don't try to reap a king's ransom for it. If you're in it to make money, by all means... do so. Frankly, I've never hunted wild/feral pigs someday but hope to some day... and have no issues paying to do so. However, if you're screaming they're about to leave you destitute but want extortion money... yeah, just shut up about it. No offense meant, but that's how it reads to me.

@Tundra Tiger
I pay to hunt on a few properties but that is because I'm time poor to search out a lot of free hunting.
One of the reasons for pay hunting by farmers is to substitute their income during the hard times like drought.
The properties I hunt are usually 80 to 100 dollars AUD per hunter per night.
For this we get a basic cabin or shearing shed to stay in usually with hot showers and camp beds. We still have to provide our own food and sleeping gear but that alright.
The farmer gives you a map of the property and the boundaries, he also tells you areas he doesn't want hunted. Apart from that you can shoot all the game you want. On one property that includes pigs, deer, rabbit, fox and sometimes goats.
I am lucky being from the bush originally one property I hunted I developed a good working relationship with the farmers and ended up hunting areas that are off limits to all others. In this area I just take what I need and don't go stupid and shoot everything. When i finish i tell him what i have shot a nd also about any sick stock, broken fences etc. His usual reply is shit Bob why didn't you shoot more. I just tell him I'm not greedy and only take what i need. Sometimes i get asked to shoot some kangaroos for mitigation or shoot the shit out of every pig i see as they are getting out of hand. When i do set asked to do this i will shoot up to 20 pigs over the weekend and this makes him happy. I don't tell him I could have shot a lot more as I don't want to ruin it for other hunters that are paying for the privilege to hunt.
The secret to success if treating the farmers with respect like asking if they need anything from town when you come up and offering to help with any work they need help with. Those simple courtesy goes a long way and has opened a few doors to other properties.
Bob