Roundball Caliber for Large Hogs

[Carl Fowler III]

This happened west of where we hunt. Helos are not necessarily the answer to hog hunting.
http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/2013/01/27/dont-be-afraid-of-flying/[/quote]


You know what they say: Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing! Really hate to see this helicopter hunting taking off...pun intended! :shake: Heck, in Alaska you can't even hunt on the same day that you fly...this is not sport hunting...I understand governments trying eradication, but sport hunting from a helo should not be allowed...heck it even makes me sick to see the government doing it! What happened to the good old days when there were group hunts put together to bring herds back into quota's the habitat could support? :td:

 

[Birdwatcher]

Not really intended to be hunting, more like eradication for profit.

Read the part about 200 hogs shot in a day. In a local State Natural Area a team shot and trapped more than 300 in a single year with no descernible decrease in numbers, like a bucket of water out of the ocean.

They are thick as fleas down here and eat ANYTHING and everything they can reach from tiny hackberries to deer fawns.

The financial catastrophies these things can mete out to crop fields can be imagined. And the rootings they accomplish even in dry rocky ground with just their snouts has to be seen to be believed.

When I walk into the woods around here and immediately see hog sign, I gotta think what else could be living in those woods if it weren't for all them hungry hogs devouring everything edible on and under the ground.

Birdwatcher

 

[Kapow]

I was out bowhunting in some flat western country one day and counted 300 in one mob. No kidding, it was a sight to behold let me tell you! The best thing it was the full moon that evening and I stalked and shot a nice boar at 10 paces with my bow under the moonlight. Nothing like an unharvested wheat paddock to bring pigs together....

 

[Matt85]

This happened west of where we hunt. Helos are not necessarily the answer to hog hunting.
http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/2013/01/27/dont-be-afraid-of-flying/[/quote]


You know what they say: Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing! Really hate to see this helicopter hunting taking off...pun intended! :shake: Heck, in Alaska you can't even hunt on the same day that you fly...this is not sport hunting...I understand governments trying eradication, but sport hunting from a helo should not be allowed...heck it even makes me sick to see the government doing it! What happened to the good old days when there were group hunts put together to bring herds back into quota's the habitat could support? :td:

its not hunting, its trying to kill off a species. forget getting hogs to smaller numbers, we want them gone! they are not a native species and they destroy everything in their path.

-matt

 

[Little Wattsy]

This happened west of where we hunt. Helos are not necessarily the answer to hog hunting.
http://backwoodshome.com/blogs/MassadAyoob/2013/01/27/dont-be-afraid-of-flying/[/quote]


You know what they say: Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing! Really hate to see this helicopter hunting taking off...pun intended! :shake: Heck, in Alaska you can't even hunt on the same day that you fly...this is not sport hunting...I understand governments trying eradication, but sport hunting from a helo should not be allowed...heck it even makes me sick to see the government doing it! What happened to the good old days when there were group hunts put together to bring herds back into quota's the habitat could support? :td:

its not hunting, its trying to kill off a species. forget getting hogs to smaller numbers, we want them gone! they are not a native species and they destroy everything in their path.

-matt

Yep!! :thumbsup:

 

[Carl Fowler III]

I find your statement appalling, you actually want to eliminate a species from the earth? Or just eradicate them from the America's, these hogs by the way were very helpful in settling this great country. What exactly is a native specie to you, you do know just about all animal species migrated to the America's from across the land bridge connecting N. America and Asia, which by the way the Native American Indians came from as well! Do we eradicate people or just animals, which one's do we consider native and what are your parameters for elimination? I've watched game departments from across the nation use the excuse that hogs destroy the habitat for other animals (what makes any one specie more important than another) and therefore need to be eliminated. What I see is farmers and ranchers in an up roar because the hogs are cutting into their profit margins, and the game departments are catering to them. I have been to many public meetings discussing this issue (game animals eating up their profits) they have an issue with deer, elk, turkeys, bear, coyotes, fox, geese&ducks, crows....etc. Be careful what ye wish for...that's one slippery slope your starting down. Don't buy into everything your told about destructive species...because there are always hidden motives behind these issues...and don't believe for a minute that back door politics isn't playing a role! Heck all species that over populate their habitats are considered destructive until brought back into harmony by controlling their numbers. The game departments just don't want to deal with it and this is their way of getting rid of a nagging problem for them! :shake: :td:

 

[lonehunter]

With all due respect Kodiak, You could not be more wrong.
They are NOT native to anywhere in North America.
They DO destroy natural habitat and hurt the native population of other animals as well as native fauna.
As far as cutting into the farmers profit margin, If hogs are left unchecked there will be NO profit for the farmer or the native animals, nobody wins.
Name one poor dumb sucker who has turned pigs loose on his property (to have another animal to hunt) that does not regret it.
They were brought over by the Spanish. NOT a native animal.
They brought smallpox too, Do you wish to reintroduce that as well? :shake:

A sow can breed up to three times a year, 8-10 piglets per litter, The piglets can start to breed at 6 month old. Do the math, They add up quick.

Besides, If they are as dangerous as some of these boys claim, Why would you want them around??
Be careful what you ask for.:wink:

BTW: Any animal that came here across the so called "land bridge" migrated, not introduced by man. Hogs were introduced by man.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Slippery slope is this topic. Wild/feral hogs need to be eliminated.
Strongly disagree with your point of view.
Would you say the same about the Asian carp? IMHO a way needs to be found to completely eliminate them from American waters. Same with Zebra mussle, python and many others.

 

[Geraldo]

Kodiak, there isn't a short answer to the biological argument about non-native or invasive species. In Florida we have a large number of both and they are real problems. It's one thing to talk about theoretical ideas, but I wonder what your opinion would be if you had thirty hogs in your yard every night or a Burmese python living under a shed.

 

[Rifleman1776]

A friend on another ml forum lives in Florida and grew up killing wild hogs. He has shot many hundreds, most with a .22lr.
Just sayin'.....

 

[Carl Fowler III]

I never said they were native to this country, and I know they were introduced here by the Spaniards for the purpose of having a ready food supply upon return visits. As far as migrating versus introduction...that's just semantics...they are here now and are ingrained into their environments and our hunt'n society.


I never stated that wild hogs should be left unchecked, I want a more liberal season on these suckers! Most states that have hogs do have liberal seasons already so this is a non issue, but the game departments could go a lot further in promoting and helping hunters find the hogs in these states. There is a big difference between reducing herds to manageable numbers and eradication! The game departments in these states are more at fault for these large numbers of hogs as the hogs themselves by there inaction. They refused to embrace them as a game animal and left them up to their own devices, some states still have this same mentality and approach to managing the hog populations in their states.


I do find that most people of the same opinion as you have never hunted wild boar and are only listening to others to form an opinion, like what they have heard from game departments, farmers or ranchers! Oh by the way I do not want to re-introduce smallpox....that is just ludicrus!

 

[Carl Fowler III]

Geraldo, I would be eating a lot of pork and walking around in snake skin boots! :haha:

 

[Bob J]

A friend on another ml forum lives in Florida and grew up killing wild hogs. He has shot many hundreds, most with a .22lr.
Just sayin'.....

Rifleman, I shot quite a few growing up here; several with a bow, one with a .22, and quite a few with my .257 Roberts. But these were in the 50 - 150 lb range. Now we are hunting 200-300+ pounders, at night, in thick palmettos and woods. I just really wondered what size ball would be sufficient for one shot on large porkers. BTW, a friend's brother recently neck shot a 500+/- pounder with a .243. It ran 200 yards before dropping.

 

[lonehunter]

I never said they were native to this country, and I know they were introduced here by the Spaniards for the purpose of having a ready food supply upon return visits. As far as migrating versus introduction...that's just semantics...they are here now and are ingrained into their environments and our hunt'n society.


I never stated that wild hogs should be left unchecked, I want a more liberal season on these suckers! Most states that have hogs do have liberal seasons already so this is a non issue, but the game departments could go a lot further in promoting and helping hunters find the hogs in these states. There is a big difference between reducing herds to manageable numbers and eradication! The game departments in these states are more at fault for these large numbers of hogs as the hogs themselves by there inaction. They refused to embrace them as a game animal and left them up to their own devices, some states still have this same mentality and approach to managing the hog populations in their states.


I do find that most people of the same opinion as you have never hunted wild boar and are only listening to others to form an opinion, like what they have heard from game departments, farmers or ranchers! Oh by the way I do not want to re-introduce smallpox....that is just ludicrus!

[I do find that most people of the same opinion as you have never hunted wild boar and are only listening to others to form an opinion]

Or maybe they speak from experience. You seem to have a different opinion than people in states that have large hog populations.
IF you have any population at all of wild pigs in PA. You will soon see the light.

BTW, Big difference between migration and introduction.

 

[hanshi]

Not to anyone in particular, just a general comment. Wild hogs need to be managed and their spread in North America halted. IMHO eradication would not be a good idea at all. Hogs can supply sport, food and even hide. There should be no closed season on them and they should be classified as pests/varmints. I can accept any actions designed to reduce the population and keep that population in check. The results of leaving them be could be too apocalyptic for much of our native wildlife. The only creatures I'd like to see exterminated are ticks. I see no benefit to their existence. But hogs, controlled and managed, strikes me as reasonable.

 

[lonehunter]

But hogs, controlled and managed, strikes me as reasonable.

Thats where the problem lies Hanshi, They reproduce so fast that control and manage is the hard part.
Here you can hunt them year round on private land
no size or bag limit
No license required
legal to hunt at night even with a light
any weapon, even those with night vision
wonton and willfull waste law does not apply, You can shoot them and leave them lay if thats your thing.
No shortage of hog hunters either
But they are still out of control, Every land owner will tell you to kill everyone you see.
I dont know what the answer is, but they do a ton of damage to the land and do effect the natural wildlife in a negative manor.

 

[Birdwatcher]

wonton and willfull waste law does not apply, You can shoot them and leave them lay if thats your thing.

Yep, the usual tool among landowners/ranchers/farmers down here are .223 AR-15 clones with good sights and high-capacity magazines. They just bring 'em along while doing other chores.

Any hit on any feral hot sighted is considered a good hit, even if they get away to die later.

With regards to sport hunting, even with lots of participants, the consensus is that hunting is at best an innefficient method of control, hogs are smart and they soon wisen up.

The problem is that even a few survivors can crank out at least ten more baby hogs every year and with the group defense sows practice there ain't much in the woods that can kill them.

Birdwatcher

 

[Rifleman1776]

Those are big. Personally, I would leave the .22 at home and carry my .54 flint Jaeger.