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I've eaten 200+ hogs and don't have any complaints other than all the trouble of cooking then going to waste because none of the city slickers I know would eat it when they find out it was produced on a farm and feed god only knows what





Anymore, unless it's a 40# or under that my buddy and his wife my girl and myself can eat, I gut shoot'em and let them run off and die so I don't have to drag them off myself...





They are an EXTREMELY destructive species that is the ONLY exception to my rule of never kill anything unless your going to eat it rule.

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The people that hunting the land next to our family farm set loose a number of hogs because they thought it would be fun to hunt them for a weekend.  Within a year we were over run with feral hogs.  We would spend every spring and early summer riding around shooting them from the trucks and then following them into the woods.  We trapped them in the fall and winter.  The man who managed our farm trapped and killed over 300 one year.  They destroyed our pastures.  Row cropping peanuts or corn was useless.  We finally got rid of them by not planting corn or peanuts and putting enough pressure on them to drive them down river to the next farms.  

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I'm a Biologist originally specializing in Herpetology, as it was part of my plan to get a Ph.D. in Biotechnology to study amino acids in venom in search of medical and technological uses for the unique amino acids created by Herps. During my undergrad years I changed directions and found a passion working with a Biologist focused on studying our native quail and turkey species. As their numbers in the wild were on the downfall, specifically the Bobwhite, we searched for the root of the cause. Fireants and predators such as hawks, coyotes and bobcats were what we initially fingered as main reasons for the rapid drop in quail numbers, however we quickly discovered a strong correlation between feral pig and quail populations.





Feral hog control became the forefront of our efforts when trying to strengthen and reastablish quail numbers. The pigs' incredible sense of smell and their ability to destroy everything in their path when searching out food, gives ground nesting birds the nearly impossible task of hiding their brood.  This also was affecting turkey and pheasant numbers. Our second largest enemy, and one that was unexpected and quite shocking, and not evident until we started using cameras and thermal, was the discovery of large feral house cat populations.  Rarely did we see feral house cats during the day, however the game cameras and thermography revealed a disturbing trend on many of the large ranches we worked; feral house cats are as great a danger and threat to quail when present in quail habitat.





Our feral hog control eventually led me to start a full time eradication business and I now work with land owners all over Texas in their feral hog control efforts. Most of my work consists of consultations and population surveys, as well as working with wildlife management firms to instigate hog control programs and measures. In the past few years this has led to taking to the air quite often as we have found that population control is most effective when done in this manner. Trapping only goes so far, but shooting pigs from helicopters has proven very successful in lowering their numbers and completely eliminating them over a short period of time. I've flown over hundreds of thousands of acres across this state and have seen first hand the magnitude of feral pig destruction to the land and native habitat and thus our native animal species, and have spoken to hundreds of ranchers and farmers and heard their desperate calls for help.





Of course it was an exciting venture at the start, but I'll admit that I lost sleep early on wondering if what we were doing was right or ethical. I don't enjoy slaughtering animals and had a hard time knowing that many of the pigs we were shooting had slow deaths, which I don't wish upon any animal. I try to keep in mind the good we are doing for land owners and the natural habitat and native species of this great state. The destruction feral pigs cause is amazing to say the least and their numbers are exploding, and without a full on eradication assult we will only continue to loose ground in this battle. Unfortunately, as stated above by a member here, one of our biggest enemies is ourselves. Part of our studies is to track pig populations and their origins, and all too often we discover that pigs were purposely introduced to areas where they once did not exist. More often than not, they were rounded up and relocated by individuals who see dollar signs and seek to gain fanacially from the hunting of feral pigs. Charging hunters a few hundred dollars per hunt will keep the trapping and releasing of pigs a consistant way to earn easy money for many, yet they rarely give thought to the negative impact they're causing to their neighbors. Currently, I'm working a part of the Texas Hill Country were this exact scenario has resulted in a large number of pigs spreading into three counties where ranchers who have been on the land for 60 plus years say they've never seen them before; one of these properties is owned by my wife's family who's ancestors settled the area in the early 1800's. Her grandfather was born there in 1929 and saw his first pig on the property this past fall. It was only a matter of time I told him. These pigs were tracked back to a new land owner who released hogs on his property less than a year earlier over 20 miles away so that he would have something to shoot outside of deer season.





The good news is that those high up at the GLO and within the Ag Comm finally understand the levity of the infestation and are willing to help.  I still have a passion for the Bobwhite and hope that my efforts result in the return of their habitat and a strong recovery across Texas. I'll die a happy man if I play just a small part in their success.

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LOL I kill roaches, rats, and coyotes with no mercy.