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Hogs in my Foodplot

4K views 32 replies 15 participants last post by  Tal_H._Branco 
#1 ·
Soil Field Land lot Agriculture Plant
Soil Land lot Field Plant Tree
Soil Field Vegetation Crop Agriculture


Top pic is one my bean fields on property adjacent to Pond Cr NWR yesterday. Next pic down is same place today. Bottom pic is on my home ground eight miles away - and what the other bean field should look like. Same planting rate and planted same day. Hogs immediately started rooting dirt uncovering freshly planted bean seed. Now they are eating what few bean plants that are left. These two properties are both in Little River basin - eight miles apart. One property adjoins ground where AR G&F hog protection program was implemented several years back. My home ground is adjacent to public property where hogs were not protected by AR G&F management. Since the g&f management plan was implemented, the hog problem has gotten worse every year - to the point my property near the refuge is basically unmanageable. Both areas have had hogs since the early 1900’s - but in only one area were they protected. The difference is night and day. And we have removed almost 70 hogs from the property adjacent to the NWR - in the past seven months.
 
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#16 ·
I agree the AGF hasn't made anything better for people who like to hunt hogs and sure didn't do any favour's to the land owners I saw first hand what hunters can do at the razor back round up I aint never seen so many dead hogs. They do spend a lot of $$$$$ though I cant remember the day rate on the Pork Chopper but it was a lot I know a lot of folks don't care for the dogs but I think they are a very good tool most don't even consider I have a few places I hunt how it normally works is when the land owners starts to see hog sign he calls me I ride out we catch a few until they leave or all gone yes they do come back there's just some places they like or travel through getting from one place to another if you know someone honest that can hit it now and then plus the trapping I bet you can get a handle on it must be aggravating putting in the work you have and the hogs ruining it.

There is a feral hog task force in AR below are a few things they were proposing I don't like the Idea of poisons for many reasons I do like the Idea of being able to sell the hogs you catch or kill I bet a lot of younger men could make a good bit of money and have a good time doing it. Right now there is no value in them mainly because you cannot sell or keep them even worse if you catch a nice sow and think your going to put her in a pen and feed her out and get caught you could face $1000 fine or jail time and have everything you used to do it confiscated ATV, Truck, Trailer, Traps etc to me that just don't seem right you would get off easier selling crack to school kids. I think if they put in the buy stations make guys that want to sell them buy a licence yearly that allows them to transport them ( if caught doing anything shady revoke the licence ) open up the public land again to the hunters it would be a move in the right direction the licence fee would help offset some of the $$$$ AGF has wasted.

Buying Stations


On December 6, 2017 the task force received two presentations regarding buying stations. The first was from Mr. Will Herring and Mr. Bryan Martin of the Wild Boar Meat Company. Mr. Herring and Mr. Martin presented an overview of their company and how they operate. Wild Boar Meat Company, located in Hubbard, TX is a processing plant for feral hogs, purchasing dead and live hogs. The second presentation was from Mr. Phillip Swallows who operates Hogs Gone Wild. Mr. Swallows presented an overview of his company and how they operate. Hogs Gone Wild is a live hog buying facility located in
Texas.

TOXICANTS


A considerable amount of time was devoted to the discussion of two feral hog toxicants and their potential use in Arkansas to help with eradication efforts. One is a warfarin-based toxicant, and the other is a sodium nitrate based toxicant.

1. Kaput Feral Hog Bait (Warfarin):

The EPA registered Scimetrics’ Kaput Feral Hog Bait on January 3, 2017 (EPA Registration Number 72500-26). The federal product label from the EPA is included as attachment two (2). The bait formulation is warfarin-based and has demonstrated efficacy against feral hogs at a formulation strength one-fifth the concentration of warfarin that has been registered for controlling rodents in the United States for more than 60 years. Kaput Feral Hog Bait is the only EPA approved pesticide for feral hogs. Currently, this product has not received registration and use approval in any other state in the country.

The Task Force sought input from Arkansans, through the use of an online survey, regarding the registration and potential restrictions on authorized uses of Kaput Feral Hog Bait as a viable method of control in eradication efforts. A press release announcing the survey was issued on October 3, 2017 with the survey closing on October 22, 2017. The survey yielded more than 5,000 responses with 95 percent being from Arkansas residents and 85 percent being from Arkansas landowners. 71 percent of the respondents did not believe that toxicants should be an option for feral hog control in Arkansas.
 
#17 ·
This property is only sixty acres and backs up to pond creek nwr - i would love to have some hog doggers in - but the hogs head straight home - to the refuge.

Very few folks accuse the g&f of making good decisions - and they held true to form on their hog management plan several years ago when they implemented their hog refuges on wma’s and nwr’s. I understand the idea of banning hog hunting as a means to curtail moving hogs - if it is in areas that are not overrun with hogs. But to make hog refuges out of areas that were already saturated with hogs - and had been for decades - is the definition of idiocy. I have hunted on ground that had hogs for almost fifty years - and I have never seen them as thick as what they have come at pond creek nwr. My property has become almost unmanageable because of mis-management of the adjacent property by AR g&f.
 
#20 ·
I know it's a matter of time...but for now at least...no hogs in our part of Winona. If they set hoof on our place they are toast.
I’ve never seen any sign of hogs in Winona
Go check out anywhere south of the lake or west of the lake. Can't hardly find a spot that doesn't have hog sign. Even find quite a bit on the north side of reform road now
 
#21 ·
There are hog wallows along the whole perimeter of the lake, especially in the branches and creeks that empty into the lake. They are VERY noticeable when the lake is down a few feet. Between the damned hogs, coyotes, pine borers, oak borers, emerald ash bores, clear cutting and burning; the whole mountain range will be nothing but a pile of rocks, scrub brush and vines and pine plantations in another few years. Quail already gone, haven't seen a real wild turkey up there in 60 years, the imported population of turkey is falling fast, and the Ocelot were wiped out about 20 years before that.
Things headed downhill fast in the late 60's when the timber companies - that actual own the "forest" in the National Forest - began spraying and killing huge swatches of the broad-leaf trees up there. The facts are that the AGFC has done a urine poor job of managing the wildlife up there, and the Feds have turned it over to the timber companies. Very little attention is paid to public's wants and needs for family recreation in that area. If it were not for the LR Water Service - that actually owns the land on which most of the good campsites up there - camping would be very rustic.
 
#24 ·
One of the first and most obvious wallows was in the east side road ditch of NFR#2 for two years and was 0.8 of a mile south of the junction of NFR#114. I posted that here a few years ago. At the same time I mentioned another big wallow - along with the largest hog tracks I've seen this far north - which were on the right side ditch of #2 about 1/2 mile southwest of the Alum Fork bridge between the Lone Grave road and the new bridge they built over Horsely Creek.
You may not be old enough to know or remember, but in the 1960's about all of the feral hogs were wiped out in the northern part of Saline County. It's pretty well known that the first wave of their return to the Winona area was due to the ill advised decision of some local resident "hunters" to trap and transport hogs from South AR to the the south side of the ONF for their hunting pleasure.
Since then, most AG&FC food plots in the NF have been decimated. If they are doing any replanting, the hogs have found them before I've seen them.
 
#29 ·
If hogs arent thick as flies - they arent easy to kill. At my place by pond creek - they are thick because they have been protected from harvest for a number of years. They are often out in the daytime, they are not as wary, and they are hungry. On my home ground eight miles away - there is a manageable number of hogs - probably as many hogs as deer - but, we have seen exactly two hogs during daylight hours in the past year. That includes hunting, bush hogging, planting, and just riding around. If it werent for corn, a texting camera, and a red light on my rifle - I would rarely see or kill one - even though there are quite a few around. Deer are much easier to see and kill than are hogs when populations are equal - in my opinion.

Exclusive of using dogs - GotPork is the best hog killer I have seen.
 
#32 ·
Man we see the same thing, we have them thick like weeds for weeks then gone for weeks.. Anyone that says killing these things is easy must have a ton of them. I don't know how they come into a area so quickly then leave. I picked up a new place a few weeks ago that the sign is everywhere but cant find a pig to save my life..
 
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