Like the title says I want to kill some pigs. I have several families that can use the meat and if I can help them out and help out the club/landowner I'd love to do it.
If I can find a place where I can deer, turkey and pig hunt I'd love that but I I've a place to hunt deer and turkeys so it's not a big issue if I can't.
I've been a long time member here and have met numerous members. I have no issue paying to hunt. I will pay a full membership for a club spot if I can find the right place. I have no problem participating in work days or even doing more work than my share.
I'm willing to even set up traps. Will be shooting suppressed and will only use a 4 wheeler on established trails.
Would like to find a place with a camp house that can be used to stay in for over night stays if the land is more than 2 hours from Hartselle. If a club is found I have a camper that I would like to set up.

If you know of a place let me know.

256-466-1122

I don't think there are a lot of pigs in the northern part of AL, are there?

Something interesting with pigs is people that have em love to complain about them but as soon as someone says they'll come help with the pigs things get kind of quiet.

There are small areas with pigs here in the northern part of the state. I'll drive a reasonable distance for a regular place to hunt them. I've hunted them in Sumpter Co which is a solid 3 hours drive but I had a place to stay. That makes all the difference in the distance. I have a camper that I could set up also

And Yes.. everyone hates them but doesn't want to let unknown people come hunt them. I'm sure there's been some bad experiences with people taking advantage of it. Like I said above, I ONLY want to hunt hogs. I have a place to deer hunt

Because hunting them is not helping anything.

This ^^^^^

No offense, but that's BS. Animals were hunted to extinction long before modern weapons and thermal sights. People like to piss and moan about hogs but dang sure won't let you come on their land and kill them.

We've also got quite a few professionals that are basically spouting that line to keep their gravy train grant funding going. That's what they really specialize in. They don't give a rip about hunters but love to spend our $$$.

I said that I would set up traps also

Down here you've got huge areas that are infested with hogs.......If you look at a map you can draw a line from Eufaula to Montgomery north to hwy 80 and there's hogs thick across that area......Letting someone come in on 600 acres or whatever and shoot hogs doesnt change a thing.....They move right back in from the surrounding areas.

Don’t worry I’m not offended. But, If someone has an actual hog problem- and they plan to do something about it in that actually works - it would be some form of mass trapping. Inviting someone to hunt them would be counterproductive and make things worse.

What kind of trapping?

Because if the offer is mass trapping with some form of corral system or brig system - then a bunch of landowners would welcome that I’m sure. If you have a pig brig, and want to offer that time and energy - then great.

But if you want to just peck around and shoot a few and trap a few - then no. That’s not helping with their problem.

I would suggest contacting game wardens or biologist on state lands. Ask for concenrated areas on maps. Go to it! Maybe get own trapping business with insurance. Due to liability and other issues this may present a way to for you. It's not like the old days, too much liability.

Wrong. Recreational hunting of hogs does nothing in the grand scheme of things. Localized trapping done properly does. It takes more time and money than most are willing to throw at it. I can guarantee you the researchers had rather be spending their funding on something else. Hogs can be eradicated. It’s been done. Recreational hunters have never contributed to eradication of hogs and never will.

So hunters killing hogs does nothing to help eradicate them? That's pure "trust the science" crap from people that make their living on this type stuff. Why is it that hogs are such a problem now? They've been here since DeSoto in the 1500s. At what point does a species become native? I'd say 500 years is enough time.

Hogs need to be controlled and are destructive to agriculture. I get it. To be told that they shouldn't be hunted to help with that is total crap. I hunted a piece of property once that the members damn well did eradicate the hogs from, by hunting only.

Many species were historically hunted to extinction (or near it) with primitive weapons. You can't tell me that with today's weapons and sighting technology that isn't possible now.

Meanwhile, the "officials" are OK with baiting corn everywhere and ignore that it probably isn't helping with the hog population. Of course, they get their $$$ for the permits so what was unethical yesterday is fine today. Plus, they can justify more grant funding to get rid of the demon hogs growing fat on the corn.

Yeah, you're comparing animals that had very low reproduction cycles with those that are some of the most prolific breeding animals in the entire kingdom.

Hogs are a much different story. Their reproduction cycle is less than 4 months with an average litter of half a dozen or so. Female piglets become "bearing" age at 6 months.

You will NEVER control a wild hog population with a trigger in areas where they are prolific.

I will 100% agree with you on corn not helping matters, though.

I look at it like the death penalty, the one that gets killed (hog/human) that one will not contribute to the problem again. Still have a big problem but one less, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time

It doesn’t matter how much they breed. Bullets reproduce faster than hogs. There just aren’t enough folks willing to put in the effort with hunting them, to eradicate them. Let society and supply chain break down or jump us back 100+ years and hogs would be scarce again…..and it wouldn’t be because folks trapped them with huge sounder cages or that they bred less back in the day. From a true conservation perspective: there’s never a single answer or a reason to discard any partial solution that works even a little.

….but here may be another partial answer. Just remember this when it disappears after some interest with enough $ buys and buries it.

https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1691615574525

I've seen it done.

The woods are full of hunters shooting them all deer season and yet their populations are still growing and expanding.

I know a guy who spends a lot of money and time hunting them. He hunts them hard and like longshot he is looking for places to hog hunt only. He is looking cause he’s pretty much killed them all on the property he deer hunts. It’s not impossible to kill em out. But most aren’t gonna spend the time to do it that way.

Trapping is the only way. Shooting only scatters them and makes them harder to get the whole group.

Baiting has made the hog population EXPLODE fo sho!!!

Sure they scatter. However i've kilt 3 in 3 days, in the same field, from the same group. Reckon the power of milo is just too much for this group to handle lol...

Matt sure put a hurting on the pig population on Black Warrior. Did he eliminate them? No but he stayed on them and took them out when the opportunity was there.

And he screwed up the only decent hunting up there too. And it didn’t have a thing to do with protecting agriculture.

I sure did. Only regret is not removing more. I don’t give a flip about recreational hog hunting and never will. The only places in North America where hogs are not a problem is in states you can’t hunt them recreationally. They compete with native wildlife for the same resources. They consume turkey nests and young poults. They damage riparian areas. They eat salamanders, frogs, toads, invertebrates, ground nesting birds, snakes, and anything else they can get in their mouth. There’s no place for them here. If you want to hunt hogs go to Africa, the Middle East or Eastern Europe where they are native and have much smaller litters. Blaming a state agency or agency personnel for actually placing the native resource above an invasive tells me all I need to know. I unapologetically hate hogs and have no patience for anyone who wants them on the landscape.

You can only understand that if you've ever had them on your place! Can't even bushhog after they arrive.

Trying to bush hog, disc or run hay equipment in a field that’s been rooted in is awful.

So……you and an army of public land hog hunters and deer hunters opportunistically shooting hogs we’re enjoying a very sustainable hog population - then, a trapping program with resources, time and effort came along and by golly ruined the hog hunting. I’ll be danged how that works

All you guys that are saying y’all or someone else eradicated hogs from a property are full of it. You may have ran the hogs off the property but y’all didn’t kill every hog there was. I killed 100+ hogs for 3 years on a 6000 acre farm we’d grow rice on and never seamed to hurt the population. I’d move them off the farm into the marsh for a while but they’d always come back. It was a constant battle. That same farm now has state trappers trying to control them but hogs are smart and avoids their traps. You will NEVER eradicate hogs by hunting them. Period!!!

And I've got no patience for employees of state bureaucracies that are disrespectful and voice their opposition to hunting hogs on public property (contrary to state law). We'll all enjoy the extra snakes, frogs and salamanders you've provided. Welcome to the ignore list.

Hmmmm!!! So your opinion is the only one that matters? I think anyone who works for or uses any public land should do everything possible to rid the place of hogs. Anyone who knows anything about hogs would not want them around. I do t know you but I’d bet you never had or own a piece of property that you had to work on that hogs have destroyed. I agree 100% with Matt, that any and all efforts should be make to get rid of them. You can kill a couple by hunting them but the entire sounders need to be removed and the only way is by trapping.

I’m being ignored by someone who places their own recreational interests and opinions over those of sound science and the betterment of the resource. I’m honored. I’m perfectly fine with your decision.

That's right, you don't know me.

Maybe you should consider the opinions of several in this thread that that don't blindly drink the kool aid and buy into their idea that gov't conducted trapping is the only component to control hogs. Despite the anti hog hunting opinions that have been stated here by a DCNR type in an open forum, they were begging hog hunters to come to Bankhead just a few short years ago. They still are. Feral Hog Hunting in Alabama

Sounds like he'd be a perfect fit to go work for Chuckie and the state. Reading his posts, it would seem he already feels entitled. Ridge, since you seem to enjoy hunting them and know so much about hogs and hog control, why dont you tell us how many hogs you've killed in your lifetime on your public land hunts, since gun hunting them is such an effective tool.

I don’t work for DCNR, therefore I can freely speak how I want to. It affects no one but me.

Why don't you tell me how many thousands of hunters are shooting every hog they see? Maybe we should all stop shooting them and stop buying their hunting licenses and WMA licenses. Common sense tells us that thousands of hunters shooting hogs every Fall is a valid control method. The state regs and literature clearly recognize that fact despite the anti-hunting opinion previously stated here.

I strongly believe that there is no one on this forum is anti hog hunting!!! We are simply stating that hunting them alone will not and will never eradicate hog populations. Hunting them will not even keep numbers in check in most places. Also most deer hunters I know will most likely let a hog walk because they think it will mess up their hunt. A hog is on the same level as a coyote and bobcat for me. I’ll shoot without prejudice every hog I see on property I can.

Have you actually read this thread?

"I don’t give a flip about recreational hog hunting and never will. The only places in North America where hogs are not a problem is in states you can’t hunt them recreationally." -Matt Brock

I'm not against trapping and never said I was. The point is that bureaucracies specialize in justifying their existence and getting public funds and it pisses me off to hear them all spouting the company line that trapping is the only way (because they can get funding and justify their existence with that) and hunting hurts the effort when common sense says different. The same people were begging for hunters to help in Bankhead a few short years ago. They also are for shooting, chasing with helicopters, etc. when its them being funded to do it. Apparently hunters are the only ones making trapping less effective by spooking hogs. And, of course, statewide corn baiting is ok now too since they're making $$$ on it.

Forest Service

"Other techniques, such as judas pig, ground shooting, and aerial gunning will be performed to compliment trapping efforts."


Keep "trusting the science". Bureaucrats would never lead you astray and have your best interests at heart.

Somebody else wanna tell him I’m not a DCNR employee since I’m being ignored.

Yes!! I’ve read every word in this whole thread. I agree 100% with Matt about recreational hog hunting and just so you know Matt is no longer and employee of the state. He never said he was anti hog hunting, he said he do t care for recreational hog hunting. He is just a hunter who know the destruction hogs can cause and thinks hogs shouldn’t be hunted recreationally to which many agree with. Every method available should be used to remove hogs from the landscape. Recreational hunting will never be a tried and true method of removing all hogs from an area. Just ask Elkhunter. He’s got a full time hog hunting/ trapping operation and never runs out of hogs. I’m still not sure why you keep bringing up this crap about bureaucrats because they have nothing to do with the common sense thinking most people have about hogs. They all need to go no matter what you believe is the best way. I hope you find the hogs you hold so near and dear to your heart to hunt. We are gonna keep getting rid of them 1 group at a time trapping them.

I can see the frustration from both sides of this argument.

Landowners complain about hogs but the second someone asks to hunt them they become real estate moguls and want to charge you. I understand why they do, it’s their land but I understand why the hog hunters would get mad because it is hypocritical on the landowners part.

If the state wants to trap hogs and remove them from one of the oldest wilderness areas in the country then I’m fine with that. But you’re attempting to kill off a resource that you on the flip side want people to pay to hunt at night. This is hypocritical on the States part.

Finally I can see where the landowners are frustrated at the hog hunters because they approach you under the guise of helping your problem but they’re more interested in having something and somewhere to hunt than they are in truly helping by trapping. This is hypocritical on the hog hunters part.

That’s how I see it. I don’t side with anyone on this but I can understand each train of thought.

Common sense isnt so common. "Shooting them every fall"?? Hogs breed multiple times, year round. If you're not killing them 24/7, 365 days a year, youre losing ground. I've shot every hog I've seen on our property for the last 6 yrs. None get a pass. Every hog seen from a stand takes a bullet or an arrow. Anytime we are riding around, we have an AR with a red dot in the truck, on the ranger, on the tractor, or strapped on our backs if walking. Except for fields, the property is all wooded. We generally kill between 12 and 20 a year with guns and bows while hunting. 6 yrs of shooting every one seen, year round, not just during hunting season, and it's never made even a remote dent. Have killed 70+ since Nov 1st trapping. The only way to beat them back and get them somewhat under control is through trapping. Hogs are smarter than deer and you absolutely cannot shoot them out if your property is wooded. You might have marginal success if the majority of your property is all huge open fields and you can hunt them at night with thermals but you still wont hurt them enough to decrease or even maintain overall numbers.

Here's the math. Lets say hunters kill 100,000 hogs a year in AL. That's great! Sounds like a lot. But as far as numbers go, no its not. It's not even a drop in the bucket as far as keeping hogs in check. AL is well on its way to having as many hogs as deer. Deer breed once a year and on avg, 1-1.5 fawns per doe survive. Every sow pig breeds twice a year and the average litter is 7-8 piglets with an 85-90% survival rate on them. So while every doe is having 1.5 surviving fawns on average, a year, every sow is having 12-15 surviving piglets a year. In AL hunters kill 300,000 deer a year with a bunch more killed by coyotes, poachers, and cars too. Let that sink in. 300,000 a year to basically keep the deer population in check (or decreasing if you believe CNC) and that's with fawns being dropped at only 1.5 per doe per year. State put out an estimate of there being only 225,000 hogs in AL in 2023 (I personally think that number is low by about 50%) Hogs are like deer and they drop litters at basically a 50/50 male to female ratio. So using the state's estimate, there are 112,500 sow hogs in the current herd. Breeding twice a year, at even 5 surviving piglets per sow, per litter (10 piglets per sow, per year, for 2 breedings), the current population has the valid potential to introduce 1,125,000 new piglets into the herd annually. Which coincidentally mature sexually in 6 months and can begin being breeding too. Thinking that you can manage that, one trigger pull at a time, during deer season only, is laughable. If you want to make "temporary" dent in your hog population, you have to be trapping and killing them 15-30 at a time. Between guns and trapping, we've taken over 90 off 1200 acres in just 4 months. There are still hogs there and most certainly, additional sounders will move in by summer and we will have to deal with them too. It's a never ending battle that you dont see, when you dont have to take care of the property you're hunting. Matt Brock was taking care of this problem for you and the others enjoying the hunting on that free public land. The land where all you do is pay for your WMA permit and climb a tree or walk a ridge, hunt, get in your vehicle and go home. The same land where you dont have to worry about the labor or expense to plant fields, manage the wildlife or habitat, or deal with the worry of road or habitat damage caused by the hogs. Forgetting the damage they do, if you like to hunt deer or turkey, you should want hog numbers reduced drastically. Hogs will kill and eat 100% of every newly dropped fawn they run across and bust and eat every turkey egg or freshly hatched poult they run across, 100% of the time.

Recreational hog hunting is what has caused a lot of the spread......Guys catching and releasing them in new areas so they can have something to hunt

Winner winner!!

That’s exactly how it started here. Some guys trapped some and put them on a little section of the intracoastal canal they had to deer hunt so they would have some to hunt. In 2 years they ran every deer of the small section and ate everything they could reach. They then wanted them gone. They started really putting the pressure on them and they then realized that a hog will swim. Most of the hogs left the small section and made it across the canal to the marshes that meet up with the high ground we live and farmed on. In a few years the numbers were out of control and still are 15years later. The Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge is a few miles from my house. We all grew up now hunting this place. It’s now so overrun with hogs that all the deer have moved on. Bow hunters and duck hunters try to kill everyone they can but it’s a losing battle. People who want wild hogs have never had them. We only thought the nutria was destructive to the marshes. Hogs will totally uproot every plant in a marsh if given the chance. Not to mention what they do to rice fields and field levees and roads. I DO NOT wish hogs on anyone.

Man, this discussion has really taken off

Maybe we can get folks to turn some pythons loose too......I hear they're fun to hunt.

Thanks for the common sense approach.

I was assured up the board that "it doesn't matter how much they breed".

I pretty much decided to bow out of this unserious conversation at that point.

I hope to never see another on the land I own.

Yep!!! Ole Ridge Ranger would feel a lot different if he had hogs on land he owned!! As I said earlier, anyone who wants hogs never had to deal with hogs on a property they owned or had control of.

Wow and all I wanted to do was kill some hogs to help out some less fortunate people.

Shame on you! 😁

We spent about a $100k a year in texas to try and keep our roads maintained an drivable because the bastages destroyed everything they came in contact with….if i could flip a switch id kill every wild hog in north america….we anihalated them from helicopters, thermal..night vision…..traps…and we still could only maintain their presence..if we let up for even a little bit theyd be back again…i hate them..hate THEM!!!!!!!!! I have worked myself to death because of them….HATE THEM🤬…an Matt dont work for dcnr…your welcome Matthew…🦑