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Catching Wild Pigs

With the amount of damage wild pigs do to farm and hunting land, it's no surprise that most people would prefer they go the way of the dinosaur.

This isn't to say that people don't like to hunt pigs - or that they don't have a lot of fun doing it. But to speak broadly, they are a nuisance to landowners.

And they are spreading. Wild hogs and boars were once a phenomenom of just the far south. However, they extend far into north Texas and are pushing farther north. Within the next few decades, the "hog problem" will definitely be on ranchers, hunters and farmer's minds across the country.

We got into building hog traps when looking for something to do for a welding project. And that opened the eyes to the amazing problem that the hogs are.

Hogs favorite food is acorns, but they'll eat just about anything. That includes scavenging dead animals. If you've seen HBO's "Deadwood", you know what we're talking about. It's not pretty. They damage crop land during their foraging.

This competition for food can mean bad things for the local game animals. With hogs competing for scarce food, deer, turkey, and other animals won't fare as well. Anyone that's put up a deer feeder quickly learns what a hog trap looks like. They're all around the feeder!

Don't forget, hogs can be dangerous. When cornered, or when the mother is separated from the babies, they can become very angry and you will be running for a tree. When something that can way upward of 200 pounds charges you, tusks drawn, you'll quickly become a convert to the notion that the hog problem is out of control.

Building your own trap is easy, and can be done quickly. If you have a deer lease, and don't have a hog trap, you're missing out on an opportunity if you're not trapping hog.

They can be eaten! But you'll want to eat the small ones, not the large ones, as the small will taste better. If you do build a trap, be careful around those big ones, and have fun, that's the important thing.



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