# Feral hog problem **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301 "2016-05-08T16:35:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/41 "2016-05-09T19:11:49Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Smart, invasive mammals that can weigh more than 800 pounds are not something that you want to foraging around like they own the place. Sounds like my last trip to the mall. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/42 "2016-05-09T21:04:15Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Another option for killing feral pigs is to build a high-speed toll road through their stomping ground. [Hitting one going 85 mph will usually ( not always ) kill it. (Warning, link includes photo of our then asshat governor, Rick Perry. The current governor is also an asshat but that is a different story.)](http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/On-Texas-130-road-hogs-are-the-feral-kind-3981958.php) Hard on the vehicle though. > > ninja’ed while typing about asshats. My favorite was the suggestion (seriously) made by a KXAN reader that they build a tunnel underneath and that way the pigs could cross the road safely. Can you see it? “Hang on, Hal. Let’s head 50 yards down a piece. There’s a tunnel there for us to go through. Much safer.” Next: Llano deer tunnels! ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/43 "2016-05-09T21:17:28Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > In France too. I’m surprised that whether boars can be eaten or not is even a question. Sounds as puzzling as asking “can you eat deer meat?” to me. People weren’t used to hunt them in the USA? The question was whether feral hog would be too tough or too gamy to be palatable. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/44 "2016-05-09T21:22:56Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Now that seems crazy to me. What do you aim for? > > I just cannot imagine a homemade bow would have the same power as a heavy compound bow and therefore strong enough to put an arrow thru a wild hog. But maybe I’m wrong. Modern bows have only been in use the past 70 years or so. The previous 10,000 years they were using homemade bows to take game much larger and tougher than wild boar. A boars lungs are smaller and further forward than most animals because they have bigger guts. You need to aim low and right behind the front leg as close to the leg as you can get. I will give you a double lung shot but not a heart shot. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/45 "2016-05-09T22:51:43Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > They’ll do a number on your Buick, too. > > [http://usnews.nbcnews.com/\_news/2012/10/26/14723447-drivers-colliding-with-animals-on-nations-fastest-highway-in-texas?lite](http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/26/14723447-drivers-colliding-with-animals-on-nations-fastest-highway-in-texas?lite) Speed Limit 85 ! I have never seen that in real life. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/46 "2016-05-10T00:45:29Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Like nutria, Kudzu and other very invasive species that threaten the Southern United States, there is no final solution other than to just keep popping the wild pigs off like a zombie movie. Sorry Babe. Saw an episode of The American Sportsman where they were plugging nutria with .22 mags and just leaving them, not even taking their pelts. Seemed a waste. > [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I shoot them from less than 10 yards with a homemade wooden bow and arrow sitting in a ground blind made of bush. I admit I am scared shitless. As well you should. That’s a manly method (helicopters?), but I always thought the method of choice was Odysseus-style, with a spear and a short sword. Makes the playing field completely even for a person other than myself. What’s the hourly rental for a helicopter? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/47 "2016-05-10T01:33:06Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > As well you should. That’s a manly method (helicopters?), but I always thought the method of choice was Odysseus-style, with a spear and a short sword. Makes the playing field completely even for a person other than myself. > > What’s the hourly rental for a helicopter? Helicopters are powered by $100 bills. I have a cousin that runs a helicopter touring company in Colorado. He told me his operating costs are $700 an hour for a smallish four-seater that he has taken me up in very generously twice. He is about the most honest person I have ever met and his wife is a helicopter mechanic that helps keep the costs that low. A smaller two-seater is less than that but still in the several hundred dollar an hour range. An antonym of ‘helicopter’ is ‘economical’. Helicopters can’t really fly, they just beat the air into submission. You would have to have a really serious feral pig problem before a helicopter would become a cost effective hunting tool. It may be cheaper to just buy an old military plane and nape the whole area. That would be a fun way to hunt them though if you have the money to blow. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/48 "2016-05-10T02:12:27Z")
And they’d come pre-cooked! Do the kids here even know what you mean by “naped?” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/49 "2016-05-10T02:16:43Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > Maybe we have finally found our equals. > [@George Orwell](#): > > The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/50 "2016-05-10T03:12:37Z")
I love the smell of napalmed pork in the morning! ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/51 "2016-05-10T03:20:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Hard to believe there’s something humans can’t hunt to extinction. ever heard of cockroaches? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/52 "2016-05-10T05:26:27Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > ever heard of cockroaches? Bawahahahaha For the win… 😃😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/53 "2016-05-10T11:50:25Z")
I was hunting an area in south Texas that was thick with pigs. I couldn’t help but notice how common bob cats were in the same area. I mean as common as housecats in the city. I have to assume they feed on the babies. I imagine jaguars could be effective against the larger pigs, I don’t think pumas would go after anything too big. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/54 "2016-05-10T12:46:15Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I was hunting an area in south Texas that was thick with pigs. I couldn’t help but notice how common bob cats were in the same area. I mean as common as housecats in the city. I have to assume they feed on the babies. I imagine jaguars could be effective against the larger pigs, I don’t think pumas would go after anything too big. Maybe that’s the answer! We should just import jaguars and tigers to eat the pigs. Absolutely nothing could go wrong! ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/55 "2016-05-10T14:00:21Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Maybe that’s the answer! We should just import jaguars and tigers to eat the pigs. Absolutely nothing could go wrong! Seriously, that would work great if it’s a really rural area or protected natural area uninhabited by humans. Kind of like reintroduction of wolves or bears. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/56 "2016-05-10T14:05:39Z")
Genetically modified super eagles! ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/57 "2016-05-10T14:52:10Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > Maybe we have finally found our equals. Winston Churchill supposedly observed: > [@](#): > > I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/58 "2016-05-10T16:14:31Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Rick Perry looks even dumber than usual in that pic, and the giant novelty scissors make it seem like he can’t be trusted with sharp implements. He’s like, “Why am I holding this thing?” > [@UncleRojelio](#): > > They just unveiled this prick’s official portrait at the state capitol yesterday. The big question? Whether he would be wearing his dorky glasses in the portrait (He wasn’t). **Moderator Note** Let’s refrain from political jabs in GQ. No warnings issued, but don’t do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/59 "2016-05-10T16:19:03Z")
Sorry, it’s the term “feral hogs” that bring up … certain associations in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301/60 "2016-05-10T16:35:54Z")
Let’s not overstate their toughness too much, shall we? My former brother-in-law and I massacred a whole clan of them on his property to stop them destroying creek banks with their wallowing. We used a pair of SKS carbines and Russian-manufactured fmj 7.62 x 39 mm ammo. That round is actually slightly less powerful than the old .30-30 which isn’t considered a real barn burner these days. Further, people [hunt and kill them with knives](http://www.danmoodyhunting.com/hoghuntingprices.htm). That outfit is far from the only bunch doing such hunting, keep in mind. Pig-sticking has been a thing since at least the 1990’s. Some folks like to use an old fashioned boar spear, but sticking is so popular that there are knives, like the Ka-bar Baconmaker, marketed specifically for the purpose. As far as why people hunt deer in preference to hogs, I suspect it is nothing more than deer hunting is a long-established activity in many parts of the US. Feral hog populations of huntable size are relatively new and are only in some parts of the US. Here in PA, feral hogs have only begun to show up. If our Game Commission has a teaspoon of brains among them them, [they will continue to allow them to be killed day or night, all year round, and over bait.](http://www.huntwildpig.com/state-specifics/pennsylvania/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feral-hog-problem/754301.md?page=4)