Capt. D
Well-Known Member
One thing to remember about hogs, their gestation period is 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days. KY says they have a population of about 10K. Think of it like this... of the 10K approximately 2/3 are female and up to 70% are of breeding age at any given time. A wild hog will typically average somewhere between 3 to 8 pigs per litter and could, in theory, have up to three litters per year but typically 2.
Using an average of 4 pigs per litter and an overall mortality rate of 70% reaching sexual maturity (not including hunter harvest) adds somewhere in the neighborhood of 3300 breeding age gilts twice a year. And that adds up fast! Over a period of 3 to 4 years the population could be as high as 35,000 pigs compounding every year. Using basic numbers you would have to harvest about 70% of the population annually just to keep it in check.
I can certainly understand shutting down hunting in areas for a period of time on public lands, not more than 45 days, for concentrated trapping efforts just to decrease the pressure to allow those using specialized traps to capture and kill entire sounders at one time. Over time, after the traps are removed, another sounder will move into that area and call it home until trapping operations are continued in that area. It will be an ongoing battle.
In my own cynical way of looking at it; for a total shutdown, someone has lobbied the state and someone is making money at the expense of the taxpayer. Someone's gotta pay the trappers, there is a live market, there is a dog food market, and believe it or not there is a meat export market. Wild hog meat is sought after in Europe and is processed and sent to their retail markets by small specialty processors.
Using an average of 4 pigs per litter and an overall mortality rate of 70% reaching sexual maturity (not including hunter harvest) adds somewhere in the neighborhood of 3300 breeding age gilts twice a year. And that adds up fast! Over a period of 3 to 4 years the population could be as high as 35,000 pigs compounding every year. Using basic numbers you would have to harvest about 70% of the population annually just to keep it in check.
I can certainly understand shutting down hunting in areas for a period of time on public lands, not more than 45 days, for concentrated trapping efforts just to decrease the pressure to allow those using specialized traps to capture and kill entire sounders at one time. Over time, after the traps are removed, another sounder will move into that area and call it home until trapping operations are continued in that area. It will be an ongoing battle.
In my own cynical way of looking at it; for a total shutdown, someone has lobbied the state and someone is making money at the expense of the taxpayer. Someone's gotta pay the trappers, there is a live market, there is a dog food market, and believe it or not there is a meat export market. Wild hog meat is sought after in Europe and is processed and sent to their retail markets by small specialty processors.
