trapping them helps a ton and is how most of ours are getting shot, lots of water and they are spread out all around that side of the lake and come through when they want to. I'll be getting hogs out of the traps the rest of my life.

Trappin is the way to go. I have trapped way more than I have shot... Move it around cause darn devils get wise to it..

The hogs around us are very numerous and I like to shoot them when they show up-unfortunately it's usually at night.As has been stated ,who wants people on their land that they don't know shooting hogs.We have a friends and family only policy.We live on the property and don't need anyone trying to "help us" remove hogs.Larger ranches may offer hog hunts for a fee and they should.Try paying taxes on land in Texas and you may come to understand our situation.Talk to some people and I'm sure you can come up with a hog hunt relatively cheap.Good luck,sincerely.The Kid.

I have been saying this quote for years here in Texas.

I don't think you intended all of this post for me, did you? Me & my bunch are trying to be part of the solution, not the problem. I'm not looking for a free hunt, & not everybody out there are hunters like you & I trying to take care of them ourselves. But understand that there are a lot of "non hunters" out there that DO have hog problems, that's where we come in. I do pay property taxes in Texas, & I never agree with just anybody coming to help me out with the pigs.

Actually the taxes are an afterthought on ag & timber exempt properties (usually). All depends on how the finances are set up

From my perspective posts like this are counter productive unless all you want to do is owner bash. If someone would like to hunt a place, complaining about owners charging is not a way to get in anyone's good graces except others wanting free hunting privileges. Turns into an us against them situation. And it seems this same exact thread comes up every few months, with the same folks chiming in. I've taken guys out to the ranch, some off the forum, and all I want is a helping hand on my weekend chores. I bet most all landowners would move a guy to the far end of their guest list after posts like this... as others have said, it reeks of a sense of entitlement. I don't need that on my place.

I don't want to hunt with strangers much less turn them loose on my place. Too many jackass attorneys winning too many frivolous lawsuits.

I guess I am just really tired of these monthly threads of "Why won't you ranchers and farmers let me come and hunt for free on your land?" and "I am really PO's that anyone would charge to hunt hogs." Maybe y'all should join the "Occupy" crowd.

I am not against anyone making a legitimate profit and having 100% control of their land.

....or I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

I dnt see any truth in this...if you are covered in hogs...your not goin to get rid of them unless you hog fence..this requires alot of time keepin it up too...why wouldnt you try and make up for your losses buy doin some payed hunts...there are hunters that are gona pay and they will be happy doin it...

This is called capitalism, its what makes America great. I wish I had what these ranch owners have and I would do the same to help pay for taxes.

Perhaps you dont comprehend what this is about. As I stated to rifleman, if youre doing something about it, great. I am referring to the people that do nothing, then complain. Perhaps those people should join the occupy crowd.

Had you read this whole thread, you would know that I am not looking for land to hunt. I am also not pointing the finger at anyone on this board. It was a general statement about those I hear complaining.

Scoop,
That is what I have been saying here. Help someone out and maybe they will help you out. It is a two way street. Nothing from nothing gets nothing. Nobody owes nobody. A license does not give you the right to hunt where ever you want. Let's give hunters a good name. Lord knows there is enough press about how terrible we are.

I see both sides to this posts I had two ranches one in Meridian and the other in Hico; I have seen hogs destroy my Uncles 250 Acres in Jack County; I have paid in the early 2000's to Hog Hunt it is fun on 6 Occasions now I don't have to pay to Hog Hunt. I believe all feral hogs need to be destroyed.

1. I agree with the Landowner not to allow strange people on there land.
2. If you do that is you're business you own the land as well as any problems that occur.
3. For the Hunter; if you pay or not pay to Hunt and don't kill what you went to hunt for don't tear up somebody's land they did you favor in letting you hunt there. There is a reason it is called hunting and not shooting be it dove, quail, deer or hogs in this case. This MENTALITY has and will continue to drive up the cost of hunting for everybody involved from the "Land Owner" to the; "Weekend Warrior" to "The Family Many trying to teach his Son/Daughter Life's Lesson" both extremes here love to hunt with mutual outdoor adoration and respect.
4. This all boils down to priorities Land Owners not wanting strange hunters on there property. Strange Hunters annoyed because they have nowhere to hunt. Hog Hunting Ranches charging $250-$500 a weekend to Hog Hunt.
I was given a brain to choose to pay or not to pay. To Hunt here or there. To Lease here or there and so on. Use you’re brains to think.
5. Back to the Land Owner I truly believe that in years to come if we don't get a handle on this Hog problem TPWD or some other government agency will help.
I have been on those Hog Hunting Ranches like I aforementioned and they were paying to have Hogs brought in, not a beautiful Whitetail or Axis Deer but a Wild Hog. I didn't understand it then but through the years that have passed it does.

It will all work out it always does.

Maybe he need to start an OCCUPY A RANCH rally.

jmc82

I did read the whole thread and I am able to comprehend it, even with my limited abilities. My opinion about these threads remains unchanged.

Does anyone agree with my answers to the problem of land owners? I live in PA. Just wondering how things are handled in Texas. Maybe I should leave my Yankee suggestions for PA. Just curious.

Capitalism. If you can make money getting a problem fixed then why would you NOT do it? It's the same as all that land in some of the scrubby areas of Texas-used to be 'not good for much other than hunting' and so it was cheap. Then hunting became a money making venture and that same land has skyrocketed. It's business pure and simple. Certainly we all want to find a free place to hunt and would like the chance to prove that we're good folk and would be an asset rather than a problem. However, the trust was all used up back when the problems first came up and owners were willing to get any help they could. Well, after all the torn up stuff, litter, animals escaping and whatnot, they now have to think twice before letting ANYBODY come out!

I'm VERY lucky and blessed to have free hunting on the places I get to go. That's through a friend of mine who has known and gained the trust of many folks in his county. If it weren't for him, they wouldn't give ME the time of day! Now that they know me a bit, they know they can trust me, etc. but again-because he has 'vouched' for me first. Otherwise it just costs way too much to take a chance on a stranger. Sadly there are just too many folks that can't manage to stay between the lines, so to speak.

You just have to accept it for what it is-it's THEIR land.

Hogs are just vermin and the main thing is they are an invasive species. They compete with all of the natives for resources. About the only good I can even think of is they might keep a few ticks off the deer. They are tick magnets. Heck most are not even fit to eat. I love to shoot them with a 22 and listen to the squeals. I try to just wing them so they run off somewhere and die. Not even the buzzards will eat the mon our place. We stack them up like cord wood and they just rot and stink.

From sone one that comes from a state that has no hog problem, and is very, VERY excited to go on my first hog hunt this Christmas in Texas with the in-laws, there is some truth to the, posting that said, "if you're going to work to solve the problem, then don't compain about it."

I've heard stories from my in-laws of hearing farmers complaining about the hog damage, they strike up a conversation at a watering hole or local eatery, make arrangements to hunt the land, helping the farmer. They show up on a Saturday, make sure the farmer knows they will be on the property and see if he has a spot he wants taken care of. Only to be told its $200 to hunt the hogs for a weekend. They packed up and left the farmer with his hogs. Now someone was willing to help him with his problem, it may not be the whole solution, but its a start.

Different group of in-laws trap hogs on a friends property, his nieghbor, wants to thin the hog herd on his land so he calls them and asks them to do the same. They drive out to set up traps, they meet the land owner to see what he knows about them and where he doesn't want them, ect. He asks, "how much he's going to get per hog?" He doesn't want to do any work but wants the reward. They left, without setting traps.

I'm not saying everyone is this way, and it may seem like the in-laws are just looking for free spots to hunt and trap, but they don't go out actively looking for them. They think that getting rid of as many pigs as possible will help the deer population and possibly help bring back eastern turkeys into the SE part of the state. They are willing to help people, but really aren't looking to hunt them for themselves, they have thier own property and a lease to do that if they choose.

Wow, what a can of worms.

To red chevey,
Hogs do a tremendous amount of damage. We've had them root a coastal field on the Trinity River bottom so bad you could turn a tractor over in it. They did this overnight. We've found hooves (on several occasions) of a calf that was born the day before and hogs found it that night and hooves were all that were left. We've watched a 200lb boar trying to take down one of out calves and luckily the cows kept head butting him in the side until we could get to the house and get a gun. Come back and kill him while he's still trying to grab a hold of the same calf. I've seen them come into some of my farmers corn fields and go straighter than the farmers gps system on seed corn that was planted the night before and they eat over 30 acres of planted seed corn in a night. Quick math, that's $19,500 per night, (100 bushel corn yield, $6.50/ bushel x 30 acres.)

To the original poster,
We choose not to let people on our property because of the entitlement of others and their lack of respect for what is not theirs. You see pictures posted on here of arrows in cows and we've seen holes in our cows from people shooting them with rifles, because they thought it was a pig in low light. We hunt and trap them ourselves. Run traps every other day at a minimum and shoot them if we see them. If they run, I literally run them down on foot and kill them. We recoup some of our losses by selling them to packers that send them overseas to be sold into restaurants. You remain in control of the land and make more money by selling them alive, then you do letting someone come in and kill them, litter up your place, and have a chance at shooting one of your cows.

Again to the original poster,
Who is it that you personally have knowledge of that complains about a hog problem, but doesn't allow hunting and then does nothing about it themselves? I have never met or even heard of one of these landowners.

I take friends or family to hunt them, but when the hogs and the damage they cause is a better alternative than free hunting access and the consequences that come with it, there's no question which one I would choose. When the capital loss of the damage that hogs do is less than a yahoo that shoots himself in the foot while hunting on your land for free, I choose the hog that I will eventually trap or kill myself. Remember, we live in a society now where idiots that spill hot coffee in their lap get rich by suing McDonalds.

And before anyone asks, NO you can't come hunting. I don't know you. You could be a McDonalds customer!!!