Most of the people I have worked for killing and trapping hogs just want them off the property WITHOUT a bunch of dogs running around everywhere and people trying to make a sport out of it! I LOVE shooting them at Night . Myself and the owner use suppressor to take out several afew weeks back. Trapping is the ONLY way to go for most land owners. Most land owners with BIG deer are very secrative and DO NOT want the pressure of dogs on their property. Just like they dont want someone talking about their property. I think trapping is the way to go. Property owners like it better. Not everyone wants the thrill of running dogs on their land, they just want the hogs gone!

That is understandable and their Right!!!

But, that does not make it any less effective. And, likewise, there are many people, such as myself, that lease land for the Right to enjoy it as we see fit. So, in the end, it all works out!

I dont claim to know ANYTHING about hog hunting with dogs. But I do know the differnce between NightVision hunting and Trapping. As I said I LOVE NV hunting but 2 of us my only kill 6 or 7 pigs on a good nite. Trapping may yeild 9 to 19 pigs a night for us. YOU are right about the to each his own part. If you lease and enjoy hunting hogs with dogs then more power to you! But MY arguement would be that trapping is more effective. Basicly you can come out one day bait trap, come back in one week check camera, then come back latter climb a tree, watch trap with Night Vision ,then hit the remote and get the whole sounder group of hogs! My question would be can you catch 19 hogs in one day?

difference is I don't see the hog doggers saying no trapping, but I sure as all hail see the trappers saying no dogging....government(DCNR) backed telling the little man he can't....really??

sounds like an obama plan to me.....

I have NEVER told a landowner what they can or can't do on their own property. I have advised landowners on what approaches work best and what order they should be deployed. And I have had landowners go against my advice on several occasions and I kept right on doing my job the best I could.

This is in response to Shooters question. It is hard for a single group of dogs hunters to catch 19 in one day but it can happen. However, in your trapping scenario, you made three trips in a span of more than a week. It is relatively easy for dogs hunters to catch 6 a trip. 3 x 6 is 18.

Nobody from DCNR is saying no dog hunting. Danny can dog hunt anywhere he wants to on private property with permission, and open public lands (forest service, COE, etc). It's not like there is a shortage of places to hog hunt for those that "enjoy" it. They have plenty of opportunity.

Trying to pass dog hunting off as the solution to your hog problems is what I have a problem with. Quit using that as a reason to allow it everywhere and all the time. That is ridiculous. Hog hunters would hold more credibility if they just simply stated, "I'm a hog dog hunter, and I love to catch hogs!"

Instead we receive inflammatory comments, voice-mails, e-mails, facebook messages, private messages on here, and the like. If you want to be taken seriously act a little more professional. I'm not directing that at you Danny. It's just a stereotype I am familiar with. And yes I know the argument, "We are not all like that."

If someone releases elephants in the black-belt to have something else to hunt for fun would you want the state agency to stand back and conduct damage control or take care of the problem before elephants are eating up your garden and destroying your land?

That's exactly what has happened ALL OVER the USA by HUNTERS. That's right. People claiming to be stewards of the resource. Hogs don't travel distances of hundreds of miles very quickly, unless they are hauled there illegally by someone who wants to HUNT them. All of that is not hog doggers fault. Stalk hunters have done it too, and that is precisely the reason I don't like hogs being glorified as prized game animals with trophy status. The fire is only being fueled to trap some here and release more there. Everybody needs hogs! Recreational hunting of ANY and ALL kinds has been proven over and over again to NOT CONTROL populations in the least amount. Quit saying it does. It simply does not. The state of TN had a very isolated hog population until they opened a season allowing more liberal harvest. Guess what happened? Hogs started showing up in nearly every county in the state because the state agency just made it legal to kill something new. So people started hauling them all over the place. Take away the opportunity, and take away the incentive to release. Recreational hog hunting is what caused this mess we are in. I'm not saying we should outlaw hog hunting. We are far passed that now. But I sure as heck ain't in favor of opening up every acre of property statewide for recreational stalk and dog hunters year round. It is NOT the solution to the problem. I'm done here, as I have said all that matters, and it isn't getting anywhere. This will only deteriorate.

Nope. Your trying to twist the facts!! Go 1 time to set up the trap, feeder, and camera. You come back in say 1week to 10 day= for 1 minute to check camera. You then come back a few days latter to get up in a tree. Per man hour there is NO WAY that dog hunting can compete with trapping! So trapping is more effective! And trapping is less intrusive. Thats what more land owners want!

Uncle Ted was shooting them out of a helicopter with a machine gun. That could work in Alabama as well. It would be a win win for everybody.

Matt,

Your stance is noted and appreciated!
BUT, I DO like to hunt hogs! I have NEVER said that I didn't. I spend a LOT of money to do so and I am not trying to recoup that at anyone else's expense. I lease my own land AND join hunting Clubs to do my personal hunting on. Now, that said...I do go on other property and do whatever (within the Law) the landowner says to do with them. If he wants them dead right there.....that is exactly what I do. And, I am usually pretty dang good at it!

Now, my stance takes a twist.....

I did NOT make them Game Animals!
I did NOT make Rules and Regulations that protected them and allowed them to flourish!
I did NOT allow commercial hunting operations to sell hunts and hunt enclosures that hogs always seemed to escape!

The spread is a SHARED Responsibility!!!!!!!

You guys are acting like there have NEVER been feral hogs in AL. Have you ever heard of the Stock Law? There were feral hogs roaming all over this State pre-Stock Law days. You know what happened to them??? When the State enacted the Stock Law and named them Game Animals, the hunters killed them!!!!! They didn't trap them with cell phones or shoot them out of helicopters with night vision..... BUT, they were allowed access to them year round. So, for the uninformed, your arguement may be valid. But, I ain't buying it. I will acknowledge, however, that today's boon in the Hunting Industry and exclusive hunting properties will NEVER provide for year round hunting pressure of them by the public as in the past. But, that does not make something physically impossible...just highly improbable.

Has already been tried here. Didn't work. LOL

helo hunting won't work any better here than it did in Nam...too much cover.

Trapping is the best way to go! Helo hunting sounds like fun though. 1500-2000 dollars is what i saw on TV. I wounder how many hours you get for the money? Me and my kid talked about doing this, just woundering about the time you get to spend actually shooting hogs?

I heard somewhere it was for just an hour or an hour and a half.

I see major division here and don't want to step on anyone's feet but I think all forms of hog hunting has it's place and is a crucial means to controlling the hog population. I have trapped, dog hunted, stalked, and night hunted, much of that through hunting with Barry. With the little hog hunting I have had the privilege to do and with an unbiased point of view I believe trapping is the most productive form of hog hunting but I also believe there are hogs that will not enter a trap and they need to be dogged or stalked or night hunted. now from what little I have seen dog hunting would be the least productive means numbers wise, but dogs will get you hogs that you would kill in no other way. Night hunting and stalking is highly dependent on the ability of the hunter to hit moving targets if you can't hit runners you may only kill one pig out of a sounder, if you can hit runners then you may well kill the whole sounder or the vast majority of it so depending on the trigger mans ability stalking or night hunting can be very productive. I didn't post this to ruffle anyone's feathers but I think every form of hunting has it's place in hog control

I agree. After last weekend and the way the stinkin' bastages treated us, though, I'm leaning more toward napalm and a full auto AR for any that emerge from the firah.

I agree that trapping produces the most numbers in high populations! I have never argued that point.

But, not all trappers are equal AND after a certain amount of time and exposure, it takes adaptation to produce results. Then, as said, there are some old, smart hogs of both sexes that just will NOT enter a trap.

I think that in ag areas, or areas with a lot of open ground, that shooting with night vision is pretty productive. And, yes, I have done it myself! Heck, it is fun!!!

But, most all of my buddies that dog hunt catch 100 + hogs per year. And, some catch WAY more than that!!!! I am barely over the 100 mark this year. But, it is due primarily to losing 4 of my best dogs AND the lost time due to extended deer season and high water in Feb and early Mar. I normally always exceed 200. And that is about 'normal' for all the guys that I consider friends and hunt with. So, I don't think I would declare hog-dogging as innefective....especially when compared to daytime shooting OR even night shooting in heavily wooded areas.

I agree that they all have their place.

I dont thing anyone would say that YOUR hog-dogging is ineffective. What Im saying is trapping is most effective AND for the guys= land owners I have worked for, more desireable. Lots of deer managers DONT want dogs on their land peroid. Maybe its the prception of dog hunting or that they fell that it drives of deer, but most fell trapping less intrusive. To me NUMBERS speak for them selfs. How many pigs can a man with a good set of dogs catch in 1 day??? Lots of times we set-up traps own a large property= then go with the land owner to another area= so not to bother the area we are trying to trap and kill hogs with Night Vision! The owners seam to enjoy this. I personally fell that trapping and shooting in combonation is the way to go IF... the property is LARGE enough to do this on. As far as the hard to get and smart old hogs, they are not hard to get with Thermals and night vision in the feilds.

Don't overlook day hunting.

From May 25 thru June 21 we killed 68 hogs on a single property in Sumter County. Of that 68, 36 were killed during the day and 32 at night with thermal optics.

The day kills included a good mix of younger and older hogs while the night kills were almost all mature hogs. Just a by product of a wet summer and high vegetation causing us not to be able to see the smaller pigs in the high grasses at night.

When done properly, day hunting can put up some good numbers. I know last year we killed 73 day hunting over a 3 week span on a single property.

That might be true for ag fields but come to Washington and Choctaw county where it is mostly thick woods and swamp and see how easy they are!!!