Pig/hog damage to crops

[PanhandlinPat]

Lots of farmers and hunt clubs in Florida complain about hogs, yet won't let people hunt them. It's odd.

It’s because disrespectful and naive hunters can be worse than the hogs themselves. Gates left open, ruts cut across fields, fence wires shot or damaged. Most guys are good but you get one entitled idiot and it ruins it for everyone. Dad used to manage a ranch that was leased to a hunting club. The lease was incredibly high, yet the club was kicked off because some idiot took a locked gait off the hinges after the ranch unloaded 2,000 head of yearlings in an alley between pastures. I’ve got plenty of stories. Some guys just need to be babysat, that’s where outfitters earn their keep.

 

[PanhandlinPat]

@buck wild - what type of milo seed did you plant? I’m looking for a seed variety that would give me those nice Big seed heads you seem to have - for my food plots.
I’ve been planting a “Wild Game“ brand sorghum and it’s adequate - 3’ to 4’ height and decent size seed head, but wanted to know if there is a variety of “short” milo/sorghum with an even bigger seed head? As you can tell - I’m NOT a farmer, so my knowledge and experience is lacking. I “broadcast” seed after I disk my fields then either drag harrow or cultipack it, fertilizer is 300lbs 19-19-19 per acre. Grows well and deer don’t destroy it as it’s growing, bear also have no interest in it, Draws deer well Sept. to early Nov…plus way cheaper then corn to plant…No pigs where I am (thankfully).

I grow milo in the Texas panhandle. Dekalb 3607 or 3707 is my favovorite. You’re prolly planting a forage sorghum variety, any grain variety should be short with bigger heads. Big thing is keeping a low rate, in our drought stricken area 1.5 pounds per acre seems to be ideal for dry land. Thinner crop will make up for it with each plant producing more and bigger heads

 

[Rem280]

It’s because disrespectful and naive hunters can be worse than the hogs themselves. Gates left open, ruts cut across fields, fence wires shot or damaged. Most guys are good but you get one entitled idiot and it ruins it for everyone. Dad used to manage a ranch that was leased to a hunting club. The lease was incredibly high, yet the club was kicked off because some idiot took a locked gait off the hinges after the ranch unloaded 2,000 head of yearlings in an alley between pastures. I’ve got plenty of stories. Some guys just need to be babysat, that’s where outfitters earn their keep.

When it's your neighbor who continually complains about hogs and yet does nothing, odd right? Of course bad apples can spoil the bunch. I know plenty of people that just complain. Maybe they hope the government will help them. LOL

 

[PanhandlinPat]

When it's your neighbor who continually complains about hogs and yet does nothing, odd right? Of course bad apples can spoil the bunch. I know plenty of people that just complain. Maybe they hope the government will help them. LOL

Seems to be the farmers way nothing is ever satisfactory. Always too wet, or too dry. First to complain about socialism, but first in line to get their subsidy check. I hear you, glad I’m not that big of a farmer!

 

[buck wild]

@buck wild - what type of milo seed did you plant? I’m looking for a seed variety that would give me those nice Big seed heads you seem to have - for my food plots.
I’ve been planting a “Wild Game“ brand sorghum and it’s adequate - 3’ to 4’ height and decent size seed head, but wanted to know if there is a variety of “short” milo/sorghum with an even bigger seed head? As you can tell - I’m NOT a farmer, so my knowledge and experience is lacking. I “broadcast” seed after I disk my fields then either drag harrow or cultipack it, fertilizer is 300lbs 19-19-19 per acre. Grows well and deer don’t destroy it as it’s growing, bear also have no interest in it, Draws deer well Sept. to early Nov…plus way cheaper then corn to plant…No pigs where I am (thankfully).

Ha - I'm not a farmer either. I'm the wildlife manager for the ranch. There's another family that does the farming. I asked him and he said it was Dekalb 44-07. I can tell you these heads are not as full as past years with better rain. The deer like it also, but they tend to eat the heads and not knock it all down.

 

[HankBuck]

Ha - I'm not a farmer either. I'm the wildlife manager for the ranch. There's another family that does the farming. I asked him and he said it was Dekalb 44-07. I can tell you these heads are not as full as past years with better rain. The deer like it also, but they tend to eat the heads and not knock it all down.

@buck wild thanks, I just planted an acre of Dekalb corn seed and put 1/2 acre plots of sorghum on each side of the corn. Planted late (June 13) because we had no rain in early June — forecast called for rain for two days after i planted but it Never rained and even Now 10 days later “Not a drop”….likely going to have to plant over the corn with something else but the Milo/sorghum should be ok.

 

[skydiver386]

I firmly believe we will never control the feral hog population and problem in this country.
When we lived in Texas the ranchers complained about them but wanted at that time $350 per day and a 2 hog limit.
You can’t do damage to the population with that model, not the way they breed.

Exactly. You can't preserve hogs and try to make money off potential hunters, then complain that you're overrun with hogs.

 

[PanhandlinPat]

Ha - I'm not a farmer either. I'm the wildlife manager for the ranch. There's another family that does the farming. I asked him and he said it was Dekalb 44-07. I can tell you these heads are not as full as past years with better rain. The deer like it also, but they tend to eat the heads and not knock it all down.

That’s my experience here as well. We’ve killed some big mule deer during archery season in my family’s Milo fields. Actually have better luck spot and stalk archery hunting than I do during rifle season. With the right wind you can crawl right up to them, or get ahead of where they’re feeding and ambush them.

 

[Red Leg]

A joke around here is that every feral sow has a litter of six twice a year and 18 survive.

 

[HookMeUpII]

Lots of farmers and hunt clubs in Florida complain about hogs, yet won't let people hunt them. It's odd.

I wish I could underscore and resonate this comment even more. I've paid to hunt hogs in south GA. In fact, 2 hogs were the first 4 legged critters I had ever shot and I had an absolute blast. We hunted private land. However, when I talked to the guide for the outfitter about us doing a DIY on public land down there he said we couldn't. Apparently the state, at least at the time, didn't allow it. I have family down there and I confirmed with them, this was the case. I actually happened to see my cousin 2 weeks ago and he was telling me he lost all his hunting leases for hogs and hasn't been able to find a new one. It's just mind-boggling that a young, professional and polite guy like that cannot PAY to get on land to manage a PROBLEM species.

I've had convos with various folks in TX, OK, GA, FL about coming down with 2-3 friends/family to hunt hogs and it's always met with a somewhat "ehhh" response, even after offering to pay our way. We'd buy feed, cleanup after ourselves, etc.

Once again, could not agree with your point more.

 

[Zinz]

I recently read somewhere that Texas is considering Warfarin (anticoagulant) for feral hog control. Sounds effective but I haven’t read any follow up reports since the original article.

This is the stuff; Kaput Feral Hog Bait. Our county agent recently gave a presentation about it. LOTS of restrictions and steps to take to prevent poisoning other species. Yes, it's warfarin...rat poison. I strongly recommend anyone considering it to read the Texas A&M Study linked at the bottom of the page. For me? I don't want that poison on my property... but we don't have the commercial crops and the damage seen above. I really feel that unless Texas A&M comes up with a simple birth control for swine, the feral hog problem will never go away. We certainly won't be able to shoot our way out of it, in any case.

Feral Hog Solutions - Kaput Products

Kaput Feral Hog Bait is to be used to eliminate feral hogs in Texas. To purchase this product through a distributor, please read entire label and you must

kaputproducts.com

 

[sgt_zim]

The reality is that for working farms and ranches, the hogs are a big disruption. Bringing in hunters adds to the disruption, it doesn't reduce it. And there's some non-trivial liability to go along with the added disruption.

Not allowing hunters on the farm/ranch is the least bad option. The farmers and ranchers complain because there just isn't anything that can be done which will make a dent in the hogs and not cause them even more headaches than they already have without adding hunters to the mix.

 

[HookMeUpII]

The reality is that for working farms and ranches, the hogs are a big disruption. Bringing in hunters adds to the disruption, it doesn't reduce it. And there's some non-trivial liability to go along with the added disruption.

Not allowing hunters on the farm/ranch is the least bad option. The farmers and ranchers complain because there just isn't anything that can be done which will make a dent in the hogs and not cause them even more headaches than they already have without adding hunters to the mix.

How so? The most effective hunting for them is at night, over bait. Or with a thermal on open fields at night. Suppressor? Even better.

The alternatives don't seem great. Crop damage, poison with collateral damage, expensive trapping services, etc.

How much of a dent in the population do the hunters make? I guess who knows?

 

[Zinz]

How much of a dent in the population do the hunters make? I guess who knows?

I can give you a first hand account from family friend who owns timber property in east Texas. The hogs were destroying all of his seedlings so he made a plan to hunt, trap, and kill every pig he could. For a solid year, he set large, pen-style traps and checked them daily. He was killing 100s of pigs a month. "Surely I am making a difference" he thought. Towards one full year of doing this, he rode through his property and a massive sounder of what he claims was 300 pigs ran across a powerline clear cut... He quit exhausting himself in the effort after that.

Other friends hire themselves out for predator control up near the Red River. They shoot 100s of pigs a month at night on lands where the farmers give permission. He tells me there is never a shortage of targets.

We will never shoot our way out of this. I have firmly believed that a birth control bait is the only solution. Or... I suppose we could introduce a bunch of lion and leopard??

Ed

 

[sgt_zim]

How so? The most effective hunting for them is at night, over bait. Or with a thermal on open fields at night. Suppressor? Even better.

The alternatives don't seem great. Crop damage, poison with collateral damage, expensive trapping services, etc.

How much of a dent in the population do the hunters make? I guess who knows?

Every farmer/rancher on this thread has described what allowing hunters on their property entails.

 

[WyoBull]

I don’t recall how it is in Texas or other states today regarding crop damage reimbursement from the state. But, if the ranchers/farmers are receiving compensation from the state for crop damage incurred by the feral hogs and they do not allow hunting for them in their land, this is where I have the problem.
We see it up here with Elk as an example. Rancher claims Elk are eating a lot of his hay so he gets crop damage compensation for it yet does not allow Elk hunting on his property. Now, I don’t know how much compensation they might get but you can’t have it both ways.

 

[WAB]

How so? The most effective hunting for them is at night, over bait. Or with a thermal on open fields at night. Suppressor? Even better.

The alternatives don't seem great. Crop damage, poison with collateral damage, expensive trapping services, etc.

How much of a dent in the population do the hunters make? I guess who knows?

Actually that’s not correct. Trap corrals are the most effective if you’ve got the staff to work them.

 

[wesheltonj]

This is the stuff; Kaput Feral Hog Bait. Our county agent recently gave a presentation about it. LOTS of restrictions and steps to take to prevent poisoning other species. Yes, it's warfarin...rat poison. I strongly recommend anyone considering it to read the Texas A&M Study linked at the bottom of the page. For me? I don't want that poison on my property... but we don't have the commercial crops and the damage seen above. I really feel that unless Texas A&M comes up with a simple birth control for swine, the feral hog problem will never go away. We certainly won't be able to shoot our way out of it, in any case.

Feral Hog Solutions - Kaput Products

Kaput Feral Hog Bait is to be used to eliminate feral hogs in Texas. To purchase this product through a distributor, please read entire label and you must

kaputproducts.com

I looked at that when it was first approved. Too many problems for my property. My neighbor to the east of me hires a guy to shoot hogs at his tank. They can really screw up the surface and can dig some giant holes. I have those SOB’s on camera at my feeders during daylight hours, it seems the first shot they hear during deer season they no longer show up during the day. Occasionally, one get stupid and show up daylight when I am there and he takes his last meal. I generally bled the hog and drag it around the feeder. Myth is they will not go where there is pig blood, I don’t know if it really works.

 

[buck wild]

@wesheltonj We use pig guts to bait hog traps and I have personally witnessed hogs eating other dead hogs so I don't think that's going to work

 

[RLL]

I don’t recall how it is in Texas or other states today regarding crop damage reimbursement from the state. But, if the ranchers/farmers are receiving compensation from the state for crop damage incurred by the feral hogs and they do not allow hunting for them in their land, this is where I have the problem.
We see it up here with Elk as an example. Rancher claims Elk are eating a lot of his hay so he gets crop damage compensation for it yet does not allow Elk hunting on his property. Now, I don’t know how much compensation they might get but you can’t have it both ways.

I can guarantee you the FSA/NRCS/Texas and crop insurance is NOT reimbursiming my lost crops from hog damage. NRCS has run a few helicopters to shoot em, they won’t pay trappers and my hunters don’t really want to put in too much effort…

I like stalking em and shooting em a few at at time every week. I shoot and reload my 416 and 458 often as such and it’s good practice so no complaints there.

But, it doesn’t really have a significant effect on controlling the problem. Most of my turkeys have disappeared in the last 15 years... very few quail left and they run the deer more than most give credit…plus Ag costs…

I can’t find the reference off hand quickly but a Georgia study stated to keep the feral hog population stable, around ~75% of the population needed to be eradicated every year. Around 90% eradicated to decrease the current population…that’s a tough proposition to put in practice economically with our time constraints.

Here’s a few acres in the last couple weeks hogs had a ball in my wheat…

The plus side, it’s so dang hot here, hogs aren’t moving as much and that helps. Harder to hunt though unless you want to hump it in the bush often and in grid pattern to bust ‘em out.