That's a big pig (not a Mackey thread)

[Beau Vine 54,230]

 

Quote

For feral hog trapping expert Steve Neece of Fulshear, killing feral hogs on Texas ranches is just like killing a cockroach in your kitchen.

"That's the way Texans should think about feral hogs," Neece, 40, said. "It's a non-native, very invasive species. The numbers are staggering about what kind of damage they are causing landowners...and they are spreading toward the urban and metro areas."

On Express-News.com: Officially, an Anahuac woman was killed in a rare feral hog attack. But some aren't convinced.

Neece's primary job is in insurance, but he works a side-hustle running a hunting business called Dirt Nap Outfitters with a few friends. On weekends and some weeknights, the trio heads out to Central Texas counties to hunt feral hogs that they say are wreaking havoc on Texas farmers' lands.

Neece said some farmers have told him the hogs are costing them anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 a month in property damage and stolen cattle feed. According to the Texas A&M Natural Resources, feral hogs cause an estimated $52 million in agricultural damages every year in Texas.

On Express-News.com: Scared residents in Woodlands plead for help with feral hog invasion

With permission from the landowner, people can hunt hogs on private property without a license thanks to a new state law, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). In a TPWD guide, feral hogs are considered unprotected, exotic, non-game animals and "may be taken by any means or methods at any time of year." TPWD estimates there are currently 1.5 million feral hogs in Texas.

On a recent trip to a ranch in Columbus, Neece said he just happened to bring his 13-year-old son, Scout, along for the ride. The pair encountered one of the biggest feral hogs Neece had seen in his 15 years of hunting: a nearly 400-pound pig. With a quick, clean shot, Neece said Scout took down the massive beast, answering the ranch owner's prayers.

PLAGUE OF PIGS: Pasadena on mission to remove feral hogs

"I told him 'You will probably not see another feral hog that size, it's one in several thousand,'" Neece said. "The ones that are that size are really smart and hard to find. It was a kind of a proud dad moment for me."

Over the last decade of hunting hogs, (Neece prefers the word "eradicating" to hunting) he said he has seen reports of hogs in surrounding Fort Bend area counties increase significantly, especially when it comes to their size and aggressive nature. He credits the specialized agricultural feed ranchers are giving their cattle for the noticeable increase in their size.

"These hogs get in this cattle feed and just overrun the cattle," Neece said of a recent ranch he visited. "I think that's why they are growing at this larger rate that no one has ever seen before."

Neece said a massive hog like the one Scout shot is not suitable for human consumption, but he does donate the other ones to food donation stations. He usually has large haul, considering his team aims to shoot more than half of a pack every time they come across one.

 

[Mother mopar 3,318]

That's a big bitch

[RPM 26,321]

Seen one that big or maybe a little bigger one time out near a rock quarry in Wise County. Biggest f'n one I've ever seen. Unfortunately, I didn't have a gun in the truck.

[immortal13 4,059]

A couple of years ago the Texas Ag Commision had approved the use of a feral hog bait that could help out with this massive problem, but it was blocked by threats of lawsuits by the Texas Hog Hunters Association and some company called Wild Boar Meats, who used wild hogs to make dog food. At best this product could help hold the current problem in check, not eliminate them. But unfortunately, stupidity prevailed and the greater good was ignored. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wacotrib.com/news/local/maker-of-feral-hog-poison-pulling-product-from-texas/article_a619efb1-35d5-53ed-80bd-d334b6bf3c1f.amp.html

I am an avid hunter so I appreciate and understand the need for wild animals to be conserved and protected,  but feral hogs are invasive and non-native and have completely run amuck. The hog hunters group is not in any danger of hogs being wiped out for their recreation. And the dog food company needs to go suck a dick. No one ever guaranteed them a free resource to supply their private business. If they want to make dog food out of feral hogs, then fucking pen some up and raise/farm them. When these things have destroyed every square inch of the state of Texas, we will have these assholes to thank. 

[RPM 26,321]

That's really stupid because they could have made it non pass through like rat poison. Or maybe it already was.

[clapclapclap 9,000]

And  thus ends the fat effing retard.

Edited March 8, 2020 by clapclapclap

[ROFL BOX 6,649]

Any time I see one of these "huge ____" things pop up, I always question if it's
- current
- posed for maximum fakitude by the distance behind the animal / arms outstretched with the fish, etc.
- actually in the state / county where it is said to have occurred.

Sign of the times, I guess.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[Bevo 13,577]

13 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

For feral hog trapping expert Steve Neece of Fulshear, killing feral hogs on Texas ranches is just like killing a cockroach in your kitchen.

We use to get our deer processed at Dozier's in Fulshear. Haven't been there in years.

[Captainant 27,677]

13 hours ago, immortal13 said:

A couple of years ago the Texas Ag Commision had approved the use of a feral hog bait that could help out with this massive problem, but it was blocked by threats of lawsuits by the Texas Hog Hunters Association and some company called Wild Boar Meats, who used wild hogs to make dog food. At best this product could help hold the current problem in check, not eliminate them. But unfortunately, stupidity prevailed and the greater good was ignored. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wacotrib.com/news/local/maker-of-feral-hog-poison-pulling-product-from-texas/article_a619efb1-35d5-53ed-80bd-d334b6bf3c1f.amp.html

I am an avid hunter so I appreciate and understand the need for wild animals to be conserved and protected,  but feral hogs are invasive and non-native and have completely run amuck. The hog hunters group is not in any danger of hogs being wiped out for their recreation. And the dog food company needs to go suck a dick. No one ever guaranteed them a free resource to supply their private business. If they want to make dog food out of feral hogs, then fucking pen some up and raise/farm them. When these things have destroyed every square inch of the state of Texas, we will have these assholes to thank. 

There's a good reply all podcast episode that touches on this titled "30 to 50 feral hogs". They interview several parks and wildlife folks who were part of that decision making, and you're leaving some critical info out of your post about the poison intended for use, Kaput. 

That poison acts as a hemmoraging agent, causing the hogs to bleed out of every orifice until they die. While that's horrible and cruel, it's war against the hogs. 

The problem is that the poison stays in the carcass and can still be deadly to anything that eats part of the carcass. From there, it's in the ecology and we don't have control of it's effects any more. 

There's an argument to be made to use it anyways because the hogs are THAT destructive, but it's not as simple as "dumb people no want pig kill". This is a good neutral article on the whole thing from Texas observer. 

According to Miller, Scimetrics claimed that a product test conducted in Texas in 2015 showed an effectiveness of 97 percent, but no published studies corroborate the claim. After getting his hands on an internal report, Herring found that after setting out bait, the company had marked any hogs that disappeared as successfully poisoned, ignoring their tendency to wander off.

The delay is from requiring that Kaput be properly studied before being authorized for wide use; it sailed through the House on a 127-12 vote. 

[Iceman 2,713]

 

[immortal13 4,059]

 

On 3/8/2020 at 8:37 AM, Captainant said:

The problem is that the poison stays in the carcass and can still be deadly to anything that eats part of the carcass. From there, it's in the ecology and we don't have control of it's effects any more. 

I wasn't claiming my short post was a full technical report on the product, but the information in your post regarding secondary kill is incorrect. The manufacturer of the product has already done studies on this which resulted in so secondary casualties from scavengers

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.statesman.com/NEWS/20171226/New-feral-hog-poison-to-get-field-tests-in-Texas-in-2018%3ftemplate=ampart

"Researchers also had to make sure other animals couldn't get into the bait feeders, and that hogs killed by sodium nitrite were safe for scavengers"

 

This is a good technical article of the results of field studies of the products which no harm to non-target native animals and that the product does not leave significant residue in hog carcasses.  

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6221311/

"The baits were delivered using 30 species-specific feeders per plot (n = 90) that kept wildlife from accessing the toxicant. Pig movements and feed consumption were monitored during pre-treatment, treatment, and post-treatment periods. All pigs with VHF transmitters within the 0.005% warfarin-treated plot (n = 14) succumbed to the warfarin (100% mortality). Overall, 35 wild pigs were found dead from warfarin toxicosis, within both treatment plots. Total feed consumption by wild pigs was reduced by ~97.8% and ~96.2% for the 0.005% and 0.01% warfarin baited plots, respectively, indicating the absence of pigs was a result of toxic bait consumption. Results of 97 systematic searches of the treatment plots indicated no warfarin-induced non-target wildlife fatalities."

This product was pulled from the Texas market due to the threat of lawsuits by private entities seeking to protect their own interests, not by any legitimate threats to humans or wildlife.

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by immortal13

[immortal13 4,059]

On 3/7/2020 at 6:47 PM, RPM said:

That's really stupid because they could have made it non pass through like rat poison. Or maybe it already was.

It is one of the common chemicals used in rat poison(warfarin) just at 1/5 strength, by design so that it takes a lot of the product to kill hogs which have slow metabolism, but not kill deer which metabolize at a much faster rate.

[Captainant 27,677]

45 minutes ago, immortal13 said:

 

I wasn't claiming my short post was a full technical report on the product, but the information in your post regarding secondary kill is incorrect. The manufacturer of the product has already done studies on this which resulted in so secondary casualties from scavengers

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.statesman.com/NEWS/20171226/New-feral-hog-poison-to-get-field-tests-in-Texas-in-2018%3ftemplate=ampart

"Researchers also had to make sure other animals couldn't get into the bait feeders, and that hogs killed by sodium nitrite were safe for scavengers"

 

This is a good technical article of the results of field studies of the products which no harm to non-target native animals and that the product does not leave significant residue in hog carcasses.  

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6221311/

"The baits were delivered using 30 species-specific feeders per plot (n = 90) that kept wildlife from accessing the toxicant. Pig movements and feed consumption were monitored during pre-treatment, treatment, and post-treatment periods. All pigs with VHF transmitters within the 0.005% warfarin-treated plot (n = 14) succumbed to the warfarin (100% mortality). Overall, 35 wild pigs were found dead from warfarin toxicosis, within both treatment plots. Total feed consumption by wild pigs was reduced by ~97.8% and ~96.2% for the 0.005% and 0.01% warfarin baited plots, respectively, indicating the absence of pigs was a result of toxic bait consumption. Results of 97 systematic searches of the treatment plots indicated no warfarin-induced non-target wildlife fatalities."

This product was pulled from the Texas market due to the threat of lawsuits by private entities seeking to protect their own interests, not by any legitimate threats to humans or wildlife.

 

You are talking about two different things with your links and referring to them as a single entity.

The first link is discussing sodium nitrite and the study being undertaken by the US Dept of Agriculture and Wildlife. It discusses how sodium nitrite is not dangerous to scavengers and wildlife but is still an effective poison, and references how warfarin is (as of time of writing in 2018, idk about now in 2020) not approved for use by any state. 

The second link is a study funded by Scimetrics Limited Corp. (Wellington, Colorado; http://www.kaputproducts.com/) and is in fact the very study I mentioned in my post that counted any of the marked pigs they couldn't find as "killed" when in fact the data point is "unknown". And in data science and toxicology, that is a VERY big difference. While indeed they can claim that in the cases they observed that warfarin was not dangerous to scavengers, the information they have isn't even a majority of every pig marked and later tracked. So in reality, they cannot claim that they can prove that their product is not dangerous to scavengers. They literally don't have the data to demonstrate their claim.

They also note that they did this study in the spring and summer months when the carcass would decompose the fastest and be removed from the foodchain, they even acknowledge they have no idea how things would go in colder months when the carcass will stick around for days and weeks. THEY EVEN SAY THEIR CLAIM IS A HYPOTHESIS and acknowledge they didn't use the best available tools to estimate pig population, even giving examples of how they should do it next time so they can actually analyze their results statistically.

The product was pulled from the Texas market because the seller couldn't prove their claims that their poison won't kill more than it's meant to. A law was passed to make them prove their claims. That's the burden of evidence, and the study you linked certainly does not meet that burden.

[immortal13 4,059]

The company did study the results and they are in the article, which is why the product has been approved for use in a number of other states. The reason why the product was pulled in Texas was because of the threat of the lawsuits. I guess the hog lovers in our state get to keep their beloved pigs

Edited March 10, 2020 by immortal13

[Captainant 27,677]

9 hours ago, immortal13 said:

The company did study the results and they are in the article, which is why the product has been approved for use in a number of other states. The reason why the product was pulled in Texas was because of the threat of the lawsuits. I guess the hog lovers in our state get to keep their beloved pigs

Still doing the thing where you don't read my post but reply anyways huh? Also the article is about testing sodium nitrite, it's the second and fourth paragraphs in the article. 

And the threat of lawsuits was there because kaput had not proven their claims sufficiently. Thats something I'd like to be as confident as possible about before we start spreading the poison around and have it enter the ecosystem at scale. You don't really get take-backs with that sort of stuff, idk about you but I'm not real big on salting the land with an unproven pesticide

Edited March 10, 2020 by Captainant

[Macanudo 12,979]

Why dont we just shoot more of them?

[Captainant 27,677]

1 minute ago, Macanudo said:

Why dont we just shoot more of them?

These little bastards breed too fast. They breed once or twice a year, have a gestational period of 110-ish days, and are able to start reproducing at 6-8 months old, with litters of 5-6 piglets.

Truly, use of a pesticide or some other invasive, but controllable measure is required to effectively address the aggressively invasive hogs. Either that, or like some nutso national guard deployment to exterminate them. 

But truly a response of that scale is required, it's just a matter of being careful with what tool we choose. Because we're gonna be using a fuckload of it

[immortal13 4,059]

28 minutes ago, Captainant said:

Still doing the thing where you don't read my post but reply anyways huh? Also the article is about testing sodium nitrite, it's the second and fourth paragraphs in the article. 

And the threat of lawsuits was there because kaput had not proven their claims sufficiently. Thats something I'd like to be as confident as possible about before we start spreading the poison around and have it enter the ecosystem at scale. You don't really get take-backs with that sort of stuff, idk about you but I'm not real big on salting the land with an unproven pesticide

"Salting the land"? Lol. Maybe you need to read more carefully. The motivation for the people threatening the lawsuit had nothing to do with non target animals, besides the fact that the company DID prove their claim. If more testing is required to prove to you and other legislators, then fine let's get that done. But the shit has already been approved and used in other states, which would not be happening if no testing or research had been done. 

The Texas Hoghunters Association and Wild Boar Meats threatened lawsuits due to the fact that their will be less hogs for them. That point is fairly obvious just based on common sense, but keep on believing that they were worried about raccoons, buzzards, ect if that's what you want to do. I have actually talked with some of the people from Kaput and they just want to help kill hogs, and thats what their product does. 

[Macanudo 12,979]

So shoot the women and the children.  Just don't lead 'em so far.

[Captainant 27,677]

8 minutes ago, immortal13 said:

nothing to do with non target animals, besides the fact that the company DID prove their claim.

Show me where they prove their claim. With a direct quote of what you're using as proof. Because I directly quoted and cited to show you how it doesn't, and it says it doesn't. 

[TwiceHorn 31,483]

It would appear to be a mixture of both.  Inadequate proof of safety to non-target species as well as some interests lobbying against it.

[hullabelew 3,724]

I can't believe they use that meat for dog food.  Shit...when they killed a bunch from a helicopter and just left them in my old man's wheat field, the buzzards wouldn't even eat the meat.  The harvesters started raising hell having to deal with hog carcasses while getting the wheat out.   

[smuggs 9,353]

 

[immortal13 4,059]

1 hour ago, Captainant said:

Show me where they prove their claim. With a direct quote of what you're using as proof. Because I directly quoted and cited to show you how it doesn't, and it says it doesn't. 

Why don't you post a link proving what you're saying, since you are the one claiming their is enough residual left in a dead hog carcass to kill scavengers? You know since you are the one trying to make that argument...

[immortal13 4,059]

34 minutes ago, hullabelew said:

I can't believe they use that meat for dog food.  Shit...when they killed a bunch from a helicopter and just left them in my old man's wheat field, the buzzards wouldn't even eat the meat.  The harvesters started raising hell having to deal with hog carcasses while getting the wheat out.   

Well that's exactly what Wild Boar Meats does with them, and for some reason they think they have a legal right to a free resource to supply their business. Like I said, the real reason this product hasn't been put to use in Texas is the lobbying and lawsuit threats by self-interested groups.

[Captainant 27,677]

1 hour ago, immortal13 said:

Why don't you post a link proving what you're saying, since you are the one claiming their is enough residual left in a dead hog carcass to kill scavengers? You know since you are the one trying to make that argument...

That's not what I said. I said that the makers of kaput don't have enough data to prove their claim that it is safe for scavengers. I cited the study's admissions that their data is incomplete and is not informative to outcome during colder months when decomposition is slowed. 

Edited March 10, 2020 by Captainant

[immortal13 4,059]

3 minutes ago, Captainant said:

That's not what I said. I said that the makers of kaput don't have enough data to prove their claim that it is safe for scavengers. I cited the study's admissions that their data is incomplete and is not informative to outcome during colder months when decomposition is slowed. 

 

[BabaYaga 15,299]

3 hours ago, Captainant said:

These little bastards breed too fast. They breed once or twice a year, have a gestational period of 110-ish days, and are able to start reproducing at 6-8 months old, with litters of 5-6 piglets.

Truly, use of a pesticide or some other invasive, but controllable measure is required to effectively address the aggressively invasive hogs. Either that, or like some nutso national guard deployment to exterminate them. 

But truly a response of that scale is required, it's just a matter of being careful with what tool we choose. Because we're gonna be using a fuckload of it

To put it into context - I've heard just to MAINTAIN current population levels, you'd have to shoot 70% of them each year.  With the current methods, it's an impossible task.  The real irony, is that large ones like the one pictured, also the main draws from hunters due to their size, simply remove significant barriers to entry for the smaller ones, thus helping increases overall populations.  

[BabaYaga 15,299]

14 minutes ago, Captainant said:

 I cited the study's admissions that their data is incomplete and is not informative to outcome during colder months when decomposition is slowed. 

Know what's not incomplete?  Brass, lead, and powder.....

[CHEF DIESEL 126]

City of Dallas has caught almost 2000 feral hogs inside the city limits in the past couple years using corral traps. Very effective at knocking the population numbers down vs hunting them.

[BabaYaga 15,299]

52 minutes ago, CHEF DIESEL said:

City of Dallas has caught almost 2000 feral hogs inside the city limits in the past couple years using corral traps. Very effective at knocking the population numbers down vs hunting them.

The problem with corral traps, besides the cost, is that pigs quickly learn and adapt/modify their bahavior.  It's a full time job moving them around.  Baiting them.  And emptying them.  Exposed pigs are highly vulnerable to direct sunlight and heat.  A trap full of deceased, bloated hogs makes for a peachy afternoon...

[CHEF DIESEL 126]

1 hour ago, BabaYaga said:

The problem with corral traps, besides the cost, is that pigs quickly learn and adapt/modify their bahavior.  It's a full time job moving them around.  Baiting them.  And emptying them.  Exposed pigs are highly vulnerable to direct sunlight and heat.  A trap full of deceased, bloated hogs makes for a peachy afternoon...

Well, that's why the contractor is not allowed to trap in hot weather and in the open. I think they have only lost two pigs while transporting them to Fort Worth for slaughterhouse processing. Hogs don't learn the trap and the danger. If you wait for the entire sounder to get inside the gate then it's never an issue. The trap doors are triggered by cellphone many miles away.

[BabaYaga 15,299]

1 hour ago, CHEF DIESEL said:

Well, that's why the contractor is not allowed to trap in hot weather and in the open. I think they have only lost two pigs while transporting them to Fort Worth for slaughterhouse processing. Hogs don't learn the trap and the danger. If you wait for the entire sounder to get inside the gate then it's never an issue. The trap doors are triggered by cellphone many miles away.

To clarify, I meant for smaller, private landowners utilizing the same tactics.  The ones that are bearing the largest distructive impact.  I do think many would be open to allowing wardens and/or forrestry officers to enter their property if this was the defined program.  Buying, setting up, managing, and moving them on their own is quite a tall bar.  

And there's this....I'd rather do this....

[High Plains Drifter 11,050]

 

The only way to permanently reduce their populations would be some sort of bio-control- an introduced pathogen that was species specific.

 

[Bevo 13,577]

11 minutes ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

The only way to permanently reduce their populations would be some sort of bio-control- an introduced pathogen that was species specific.

 

like something that was endemic to bats or pangolins or snakes, so we couldn't catch it. we could call it the swine flu.

[BabaYaga 15,299]

5 hours ago, Bevo said:

like something that was endemic to bats or pangolins or snakes, so we couldn't catch it. we could call it the swine flu.

Fuck yeah, I'm in.  Let's roll!

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2,732]

Given that hogs have been around for a long time, how did we get such an explosion of number in recent times?

[DigglerontheHoof 21,200]

3 minutes ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

Given that hogs have been around for a long time, how did we get such an explosion of number in recent times?

Lots and lots of hog sex.  I blame Vic.

[BabaYaga 15,299]

1 minute ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

Given that hogs have been around for a long time, how did we get such an explosion of number in recent times?

Hunters.  Feeding.  Habitats ideal for deer that have facilitated the exponential growth of pigs.  Corn.  Protein.  Food plots.  There are more deer in America now than when Columbus landed.  Except deer aren't destroying billions in crops and ag damage.  Many ranches facilitated their growth.  Cultivated it as recreational game animals.  Intentionally fed and engendered their growth.  It wasn't really until the 80's that they became a problem.  

Combine this with an animal with few natural predators (once grown), the ability to live in almost any climate, and has two yearly breeding cycles and will eat almost anything (including each other).  

[Gene Parmesan 4,007]

How can we nearly decimate the Bison population 100+ years ago from overhunting, but we can't make a dent in pigs with today with modern weapons?

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,976]

Because there aren't tribes of Native Americans that rely on them as a food source we are trying to starve into submission anymore?

/no cr, but I have been reading Empire of the Summer Moon, so...

[CHEF DIESEL 126]

2 hours ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

Given that hogs have been around for a long time, how did we get such an explosion of number in recent times?

In Texas, as much as landowners say they hate them....there is money to be made selling hunts for hogs. Eradication seems to be a secondary goal now with making some money being the first.

[elfenix 34,243]

We use to get our deer processed at Dozier's in Fulshear. Haven't been there in years.

It's time to go again.

[Gene Parmesan 4,007]

1 hour ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Because there aren't tribes of Native Americans that rely on them as a food source we are trying to starve into submission anymore?

/no cr, but I have been reading Empire of the Summer Moon, so...

Is that the consensus view on what happened? 

I am speaking from ignorance it just seems strange to me that even though pigs aren't native they've been here forever and we let such a large animal get out of control. It seems counter intuitive to a city boy like me considering the war for conservation of land/wildlife seems to have most wildlife losing.  But seeing a few other posts they don't appear to be good eating so not much incentive there, and there seem to be factions that are promoting their growth in order to monetize recreational hunting.

[BabaYaga 15,299]

1 hour ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Because there aren't tribes of Native Americans that rely on them as a food source we are trying to starve into submission anymore?

/no cr, but I have been reading Empire of the Summer Moon, so...

HA, I am as well.  Such a great book!

[BabaYaga 15,299]

2 hours ago, Gene Parmesan said:

How can we nearly decimate the Bison population 100+ years ago from overhunting, but we can't make a dent in pigs with today with modern weapons?

There aren't herds of millions upon millions of pigs roaming the vast plains that just sit there and let you lob in rounds from a half mile away as large, single groups.  They operate in small, mainly nocturnal sounders that scatter like roaches when the lights come on the sound of the first round being fired.  Even using thermal optics (cost prohibitive for many) at night, they are a PITA to hunt effectively.  Out of a sounder of, say three dozen, you might get 5-8?  10+ Maybe?  That's more than half a night of work, multiple peple often, using thousands upon thousands of rifle/optics/suppressors.  Semi-auto almost mandatory as follow-up shots become a frenzy as they scatter in every direction!  You'd have to do that week after week after week.  They also respond to pressure, so they are not coming back to the same spot.  You might wait all night and not see any.  

[Gene Parmesan 4,007]

41 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

There aren't herds of millions upon millions of pigs roaming the vast plains that just sit there and let you lob in rounds from a half mile away as large, single groups.  They operate in small, mainly nocturnal sounders that scatter like roaches when the lights come on the sound of the first round being fired.  Even using thermal optics (cost prohibitive for many) at night, they are a PITA to hunt effectively.  Out of a sounder of, say three dozen, you might get 5-8?  10+ Maybe?  That's more than half a night of work, multiple peple often, using thousands upon thousands of rifle/optics/suppressors.  Semi-auto almost mandatory as follow-up shots become a frenzy as they scatter in every direction!  You'd have to do that week after week after week.  They also respond to pressure, so they are not coming back to the same spot.  You might wait all night and not see any.  

Thanks for the info.

[irishtexan 11,519]

sounds like we should reintroduce mountain lions

[BabaYaga 15,299]

Market hunting would be more like it.  Decimated so many earlier species.  Some, as the case with passenger pigeons, to the point of extinction.  

[Alex Karev 1,030]

6 hours ago, Gene Parmesan said:

How can we nearly decimate the Bison population 100+ years ago from overhunting, but we can't make a dent in pigs with today with modern weapons?

Because they breed like rabbits and have around 3 litters of piglets a year. Their gestation period is 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days.

Most litters are a dozen or more. They have few predators and are amune to disease. 

You can kill the sows, and the piglets will group together and survive by raiding crops and deer feeders where available.