Ohio house passes restrictive hog hunting bill
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The state and USDA have done a pretty good job trapping them on public land. Keeping them on public land where they can be managed by the state is probably the best hope for eradicating them. Once they get onto safe private land there's not a whole lot that can be done. Eliminating hunting pressure that might push them off public land is probably good for that, especially since hunting doesn't reduce the population in a meaningful way.
The real big thing is putting an end to "hunting" preserves that breed pigs to turn them loose. If you overlay a map of where there's wild pigs in Ohio with a map of shooting farms there's an unsurprisingly strong correlation between the two. We don't really have enough pigs for folks to keep them around for hunting without breeding them, so we don't have an issue with that yet.
Rick Richard
Well-Known Member
Hogs are in a sense like having the wolf controversy. You DONT want either. Ask those states that have them and they will tell you they wish they didn't. Not only are they destructive to food crops, but they forage on mass crops that support the deer and Turkey population.
I say if the government has anything to do with it then they will screw it all up. Oh, here's a good idea; trap them and send them to those sanctuary cities to feed those illegal imigrants.
I say if the government has anything to do with it then they will screw it all up. Oh, here's a good idea; trap them and send them to those sanctuary cities to feed those illegal imigrants.
I hear ya, but in this case it seems like the private sector is just as much to blame if there is actually a correlation between the wild population and the shooting farms, which it sounds like there is. I think the big difference to me with pigs and wolves is that wolves were here first and pigs are introduced. Same situation in the end with people not wanting them, but there's something worse in my mind when it's a species that was never there to begin with.
All that being said, I really enjoy pig hunting and do quite a bit of it. The ranch I hunt is in NO WAY trying to eradicate, because people like me pay money to hunt there. It's an annual membership and there are also deer, turkeys, rabbits, quail, and plenty of other species to chase but they don't let us kill all the pigs we want because they're trying to keep the pigs around. But it wouldn't be nearly as easy to swallow those hunting club dues if there were no pigs. This isn't a 'shooting farm' situation....no fences other than cattle fencing which means absolutely nothing to a pig. Also, it's a cattle ranch. If they were growing grapes or soy beans or barley I'm sure they'd have a different approach. But I think this is the reality of the private sector when there's money involved.
I think it's more complicated than 'the government is incompetent' or 'the private sector is greedy'....my guess is that those pigs are there to stay and will continue to spread either way. They're just such hearty critters.
They don't have much of a population yet! Just wait, they breed like rats. Before you know it they will be all over the place. I have hunted hogs for many years in lots of places. The story is the same everywhere you go. If you don't kill em they will eat you out of house and home. The regulation should be shoot on site or pretty soon your farmers and your deer hunters will be crying in their milk. JMO
QuietTexan
Well-Known Member
That's an understatement. 4-6 per litter. I counted at least 20 on my place last spring, and they're like lambs - they run around fast in groups so getting a good count is next to impossible.
I shot almost a dozen out of this sounder before they went to tear up somewhere else. I almost set up a trap this year, just doesn't do much because there's so much brush on the surrounding land it seems like a new group will always move back in.
Buffalobwana
Well-Known Member
I have hunted Czech Republic, Bulgaria and in Romania a couple times.
The way they view wild boar is very different. They manage boar the way we manage our game animals here. Unless it's a driven hunt, no shooting sows, and only harvesting mature boars, or sticking to a quota of boars of different sizes.
I get that it's a different situation, but is it really all that different??? Or have we just been taught that pigs are horrible! In Europe they view pigs as a valuable game species and treat them accordingly.
It's the same animal (after a few generations in the wild), just different attitudes towards them based on what they/we have been told.
Food for thought.
The way they view wild boar is very different. They manage boar the way we manage our game animals here. Unless it's a driven hunt, no shooting sows, and only harvesting mature boars, or sticking to a quota of boars of different sizes.
I get that it's a different situation, but is it really all that different??? Or have we just been taught that pigs are horrible! In Europe they view pigs as a valuable game species and treat them accordingly.
It's the same animal (after a few generations in the wild), just different attitudes towards them based on what they/we have been told.
Food for thought.
I can solve two problems with a few fliers in these over populated Haitian areas
Post up directions to public areas overrun with pigs in these neighborhoods and let natural selection run its course
Nothing like trying to watch a person try to manhandle a hog with their bare hands
Haitians Overwhelmed Ohio Area
Post up directions to public areas overrun with pigs in these neighborhoods and let natural selection run its course
Nothing like trying to watch a person try to manhandle a hog with their bare hands
Haitians Overwhelmed Ohio Area
It's awesome!House Bill 503 | 135th General Assembly | Ohio Legislature
www.legislature.ohio.gov
This is a couple weeks old now, but the house unanimously passed a bill that introduces some pretty severe restrictions on hog hunting in Ohio. It's pretty clearly aimed at preventing the commercialization of hog hunting. It makes it illegal for anyone but a landowner, lessee, or their agent to hunt hogs. It imposes a prohibition on possessing, importing, breeding, or releasing hogs. It imposes a reporting requirement for anyone who has hogs on their property. It makes feeding wild hogs illegal. There's some other prohibitions in it too, but they're all things that would generally be covered under what I listed. It's been handed off to the senate and is in committee now.
Personally I think it's a good step in managing Ohio's hog population. As much as I enjoy hunting and eating hogs I recognize eradication is the proper management goal for any invasive species. Commercializing hog hunting creates a perverse incentive, and this law would keep that from happening in Ohio. Taking money out of the equation removes the biggest incentive to keep hogs around. It's not a total ban like other states have passed, but it should help keep money from becoming a major factor in how hogs are managed here.
If it truly restricts the for profit hog hunting, that is a great step, I hate hogs, but I also hate slobbish disrespectful hunters. I'll tolerate the hogs before I tolerate a non-appreciative hunter you allow to use a resource.
X25
I for one...am the trust believer in Capitalism....until it has a negative effect on the welfare of not only National, but also International well being....Covid was a well planned and well played Socio- Economic test....but the Hogs are a true threat...they can't be eradicated with Greed!!!
nksmfamjp
Well-Known Member
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Interesting. I'm surprised the pig population is not accelerating here in Ohio faster. On one hand, I agree they need managed. Public land should be fine. Private will be impossible without state pressure for access. Access is very difficult in Ohio. This is caused by a couple of things. First, land ownership is in small chunks. To access a section, you will need to find and ask 10 land owners. Also, the owner often doesn't live on or near the land, so they quickly become nearly impossible to ask.
Hell, the city of Columbus bought a huge swath of land near me. It is no hunting. Yes, taxpayer land is withheld from taxpayer use.
IMO, the deer enjoy very low hunting pressure due to the lack of land access. Most of those Ohio big bucks are killed on a family or friends farm. Access is granted due to a lifetime relationship.
So, the hogs will run free on private. The farmers will blame the state and the state will blame the farmers/land owners.
I'm hopeful that pig pressure will lead to land use planning. Since they are more of a pain than the deer.
Hell, the city of Columbus bought a huge swath of land near me. It is no hunting. Yes, taxpayer land is withheld from taxpayer use.
IMO, the deer enjoy very low hunting pressure due to the lack of land access. Most of those Ohio big bucks are killed on a family or friends farm. Access is granted due to a lifetime relationship.
So, the hogs will run free on private. The farmers will blame the state and the state will blame the farmers/land owners.
I'm hopeful that pig pressure will lead to land use planning. Since they are more of a pain than the deer.
QuietTexan
Well-Known Member
This is absolute BS, the kind of grey-fallacy garbage that perpetuates this problem.
Why did you bother to try to eradicate them on your land if they're such a misunderstood valuable resource?
