First year in forever I won't be hog hunting

[WildRose]

Snox, I've only been farming/ranching for over 50 years so I know a little something about government money. I also own, lease and oversee over 5000 acres. In Texas I know for a fact that nothing is paid for feral hog damage by the state and for a fact Federal Crop Insurance does not pay for damage from hogs. We killed our first hog in this county in 1988 and no one has ever received any compensation for damage since then. I have been a director on a State Conservation Board for over 35 years and work closely with the feds. I also work with the Texas Parks and Wildlife with mule deer research. I attend on average 5 feral hog meetings a year with state and fed officials. We PAY a local organization that we set up and the state government for the use of a helicopter for hog control and we are blessed to have this. My son works for a huge crop insurance co and he says no money is paid by the feds for subsidizing any insurance for feral hog damage.

I'm not some keyboard expert that knows someone who has a neighbor that his cousin told him about federal money for hog damage. I'm living and breathing it in real life. I'm paying my dues every day.

I don't know what happens in Michigan but I know dealing with the feds they only offer one shoe for everyone and you have to make it fit.

I've dealt with hog hunters for 26 years now and they are full of empty promises and assurances of how they will control your hogs. Just like you they show up a couple of times a year and the rest of the time they are doing something else. The hogs keep breeding no matter what. You have to kill 80 percent of the current population just to keep it from expanding. No hog hunter can do this showing up a couple of weekends a year. Even the helicopter struggles to maintain this ratio.

So the only compensation we get in Texas is what we charge hunters. That's all.

Back to your blanket statement about fed money for feral hog damage, I still say BS.

As far as I know, and I would know if this were not true, this is absolutely true at least as far as ranches, and those farming grain and hay crops. Neither the fed's nor the state compensates farmers or ranchers for hog damages to these crops.

There might possibly be some program somewhere that compensates for it in other states but there are places so eaten up with hogs that farmers/ranchers will let you shoot them for free and charge you a pittance for room and board just to get you to come and shoot them.

The only way you can begin to control the population is through intensive and regular helicopter hunts combined with trapping and hunting.

 

[WildRose]

I know you are a farmer and have down this for years and your son may work for one insurance company. But my cousin who I'm close with works for usda. They just had a meeting saying they have spent 20 mil this year alone on farmers to help with the problem. It also took me a 30 sec google search to read about how much the feral hogs cost the us government. You are probably correct on different states having different ways and help to get fed dollars. But fact remains it does happen.
I'm not blaming others for trying to profit or help compensate for this. I think we have common ground here. I just feel $1 a pound is crazy I could easy get a huge bill after shooting a few pigs. I understand some hunters can be a complete pain in the *** like DJones. Lol but not all. You also have hunted and let others hunt with you like that hobo mentioned above. So you are not the type I'm talking about. I was specific about the ones who belly ache all day. Plus if you have hunters for $300 a hog hunting your place doesn't make them any better people than the same you you can get for $100 a pig. More likely they are the a holes you don't want. Again I have no problem if said owner says no to unknown people hunting and let's other. I just think the more hunter you attract and the cheaper per pig or day the more pig would be killed. I used to go more than once a year at $125 per pig and killed twice as many pigs before it went up.
On a side note I found a place to hunt some deer and as many pigs as I can kill in texas so I'm headed down next week.
DJones don't get any ideas about trying to bunk up with me or taking me to dinner.
I didn't mean to start anything and can only go by the info I know from reputable sources as can you. You must see the frustration the rest of us that do love to hunt hogs have when we read all these stories from farmers but then realize it could cost us lots of money to come help. That being said I'm a free market guys so if they are getting it that's what the market value is so I'm also ok with it just suck for guys like me. Can't wait to come spend some time in your state.

The USDA spends millions on research because of the transmissibility of parasites and both bacterial and viral diseases from feral to domestic populations as well as providing information to farmers on control methods and strategies but that's a far cry from reimbursing them for crop damage due to feral hogs.

As far as I know they still aren't dishing out any dollars to ranchers for damages.

Even in the hayday of the peanut program they weren't paying peanut farmers for damages so poor college students like me who were lucky enough to live in peanut country occasionally got hired by peanut farmers to help control them by acting as "night guards" on the peanut fields. We did the same for the melon farmers in the area during the summer.

When I was younger and living up in the Panhandle the watermelon farmers begged us to come in at night and shoot coyotes off of their melon patches because they would destroy them.

No wonder we never got into trouble, I mean heck when teenagers could run around at night with spotlights and guns who needed to go to town and get into trouble?

 

[snox801]

im sorry that I was not more clear and painted with a broad stroke that made it sound like they just paid out whatever money whenever. I know that is not the case I was simply implying that I know money has been paid through certain programs that may have been as prevention by usada and other federal programs for certain damages. That was found with a quick google search. The usda came from my close relative that work for them at fairly high level. Again I may have painted it as wide spread.
I simply used that and correlated it to that fact that while looking for hog hunts in Texas I found it crazy that they want about 1$ a pound per hog then it seems to have a guide or trophy fee attached. That to me seems crazy that money is being spent on any level large or smal to help fix a problem that has a solution. I agreed with coy that I understand about how things could go wrong with letting certain hunters or people on your land. I have a feeling that the same farmers who allow no hunting are the same ones complaining the most.
This wasn't meant to bash farmers as all the ones I know are great people. It was more of my Train of thought on how the hell it got so expensive to hunt a problem

 

[djones]

wealthy folks screwed up the hunting many years ago. as long a people will pay, others will charge. both sides will still complain.

hey coy... you ever had a hog hunter shoot a cow, lol. sorry, that wasn't funny

 

[snox801]

wealthy folks screwed up the hunting many years ago. as long a people will pay, others will charge. both sides will still complain.

hey coy... you ever had a hog hunter shoot a cow, lol. sorry, that wasn't funny

That is the truth. That's why I said I am a free market guys so as long as they can get it they should because that's the market value of pigs. Just frustrating for folks like us who would enjoy a cheap fun hunt to help others get into a fun sport without breaking the bank. Most hunts are now very expensive unless you live where the animals are.
Some day I will be living in Texas on a nice small patch of land that has the things I want to hunt on it.
You guys got it good low taxes and lots of game. lol except that gets cancelled out by knowing DJ is a resident.

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

wealthy folks screwed up the hunting many years ago. as long a people will pay, others will charge. both sides will still complain.

hey coy... you ever had a hog hunter shoot a cow, lol. sorry, that wasn't funny

When I was in college, my roommate shared an article out of an Ohio newspaper. Some big fancy attorney from Cleveland went on a deer hunt for the first time. He drops an animal with a small pair of horns and takes it to the check in station. Problem was that he shot a large wild goat instead of shooting a deer.

 

[WildRose]

wealthy folks screwed up the hunting many years ago. as long a people will pay, others will charge. both sides will still complain.

hey coy... you ever had a hog hunter shoot a cow, lol. sorry, that wasn't funny

That's happens when you have to make land payments in a protracted drought at the same time the state is awash in high tech/telecom boom money.

There's no going back unfortunately but if you live here and have good neighbors, and are a good neighbor opportunities exist. If you ever have those opportunities though, never, every screw one up or they all dry up fast. The only thing faster than the internet is gossip at the feed store or beauty shop except when they all get together at the coffee shop.

If you ever shoot a cow, man up instantly and get out your checkbook and you'll probably be forgiven. You'd be surprised though at the price of a gunshot cow or bull even if it lives, and that's without the vet bill that follows.

Years ago poaching got so bad off the highway people were literally painting "cow" on the sides of their cattle with white paint in Jacksboro, and Wise Counties. Now they just throw you in prison.

 

[snox801]

Ya it never seems like it should happen but it does. We have hunting in the center of a cattle ranch for years now and luckily no stray shots from any of our guys. Although it also amazes me that people shoot the livestock and get mad that they have to pay for it. Like stated man up and claim it and pay for it full market price. That way the owner comes out as good as if he had to take it in himself. Beside at the prices they tend to charge now for pigs cows are not that expensive. Lol

 

[WildRose]

Ya it never seems like it should happen but it does. We have hunting in the center of a cattle ranch for years now and luckily no stray shots from any of our guys. Although it also amazes me that people shoot the livestock and get mad that they have to pay for it. Like stated man up and claim it and pay for it full market price. That way the owner comes out as good as if he had to take it in himself. Beside at the prices they tend to charge now for pigs cows are not that expensive. Lol

Not only that the meat can be salvaged in most cases as long as they can get to it quick enough.

It's not even so much a matter of blowing it for yourself if you don't do the right thing, you can easily blow it for many other people in the future both with that rancher and others because word gets around and it's just one more good reason for them to end hunting on their properties period.