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The open hunting season in states like California and Texas actually creates a perverse incentive among hunting guides and private land owners to deliberately i

The open hunting season in states like California and Texas actually creates a perverse incentive among hunting guides and private land owners to deliberately introduce and maintain feral pig populations, in order to act as supply for their business. It’s widely accepted among wildlife ecologists that hunting has minimal control effect and might actually be causing more spread. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/reports/Wildlife%20Damage%20Management%20Technical%20Series/Feral%20Swine_WDM%20Technical%20Series_August%202020.pdf https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/reports/Wildlife%...

cryptonector 4y ago
That shows how little you know about this. In Texas you can hunt feral hogs all day every day of the year and you don't even need a license. That's how much of a pest they are. There are more than enough feral hogs in Texas to last a lifetime of hunting and then some. No one releases hogs into the wild in Texas so there's more to hunt.
- swalling 4y ago
  From the USDA source I cited: “While recreational hunting for feral swine is popular in many states, it is generally not considered an effective management option. Significant population reductions typically do not occur and feral swine behaviors or movements may be altered such that they impede other removal operations (e.g., trapping). Hunters usually target large males instead of females, which has little impact on overall population reduction. Additionally, recreational hunting creates incentives to maintain feral swine on the landscape and move feral swine to new areas for increased hunting opportunities, which has largely been attributed to the expansion of feral swine across the United States. Although controversial, several states have outlawed hunting in attempts to better manage feral swine populations. Research has shown that feral swine removal via hunting is often negated by the use of bait to attract feral swine. The supplemental food source increases fecundity and population growth despite hunter harvest.”
  - cryptonector 4y ago
    In Texas there's enough food for the feral hogs. That's why they're here. The amount of trapping and hunting cannot make much of a dent in their populations, and there's no need to bait them -- affected farmers and ranchers know that they are affected. Hunters do not hunt males to the exclusion of females because there's no time to decide their sex and which to target, you just shoot the ones you can.

cryptonector 4y ago

That shows how little you know about this. In Texas you can hunt feral hogs all day every day of the year and you don't even need a license. That's how much of a pest they are. There are more than enough feral hogs in Texas to last a lifetime of hunting and then some. No one releases hogs into the wild in Texas so there's more to hunt.

swalling 4y ago
From the USDA source I cited: “While recreational hunting for feral swine is popular in many states, it is generally not considered an effective management option. Significant population reductions typically do not occur and feral swine behaviors or movements may be altered such that they impede other removal operations (e.g., trapping). Hunters usually target large males instead of females, which has little impact on overall population reduction. Additionally, recreational hunting creates incentives to maintain feral swine on the landscape and move feral swine to new areas for increased hunting opportunities, which has largely been attributed to the expansion of feral swine across the United States. Although controversial, several states have outlawed hunting in attempts to better manage feral swine populations. Research has shown that feral swine removal via hunting is often negated by the use of bait to attract feral swine. The supplemental food source increases fecundity and population growth despite hunter harvest.”
- cryptonector 4y ago
  In Texas there's enough food for the feral hogs. That's why they're here. The amount of trapping and hunting cannot make much of a dent in their populations, and there's no need to bait them -- affected farmers and ranchers know that they are affected. Hunters do not hunt males to the exclusion of females because there's no time to decide their sex and which to target, you just shoot the ones you can.