Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk AL HOGS Where are the Wild Hogs?

I live between Gadsden and Anniston and have been in this area a long time but I grew up in Marshall county. I have been all over the woods, lakes and rivers of Northeast and Central Alabama. I've never seen one pig nor signs except for what looked like one pig rooting when I was in Choccolocco Mgmt area about 2 years ago. I checked on hunting them then but they hardly even allow pig hunting there so I dropped it. I did see pig damage in Bullock County while deer hunting about 4 years ago but since then they did not come back so we didn't consider it a problem. With the limited amount of hunting land available and going down yearly nowdays versus the number of hunters in the woods and people moving into Alabama I can't imagine a pig being able to live very long. The deer population is going down fast too. I just find it hard to believe there is a problem.

My club in Monroe county was granted a permit to shoot hogs at night with either night vision or a green spotlight this summer. We have hogs on our 1500 acres at practically all times of the year yet I can go months without seeing one. The problem I find with pigs is that unlike deer which roam about in ones or twos, when I see pigs I see all of them. It is not unusual to see 15-50 at a time.

Guys,

They are a huge problem in places. We killed 175 off of a single 1,500 acre property last summer. And we have killed 157 off of another smaller property this year already.

You would not believe the damage I have seen this year. I can't imagine how in the world someone is going to work the food plots on some of these properties.

I have no doubt there are hogs in all 67 counties. Some much worse than others. And they vary in numbers within the same counties.

We do take customers out to hunt pigs. And yes, we charge a good price. But, the price is more for the use of the equipment than the hunting. When we roll out on a thermal optic hunt, the customers will be using $45,000 in thermal optics, another $5,000 in guns, another $14,000 in the electric buggy, and of course ammo. It ain't cheap. But, it is dang sure fun.

I'm from Munford just moved to pell city I've hog hunted with dogs most of my life we don't have hogs like they have down south the one that are hear are far and few between be leave it or not we cought a sow in eastaboga the 4th she was 350+ and poor like I said ther are very few if I can figure out how send a pic I will

So, you don't believe feral pigs are a problem just because you haven't seen any.

And you you believe the deer population is declining, i.e. "going down fast, too." Where? Why? How? Any facts or numbers to back up this claim?

Seriously? You seriously believe just because you have not seen a feral hog that it's all smoke and BS?

Clem - Yes Sir you are correct. In this world we live in I tend to believe what I see and not what I read about. So I've been reading all the articles about the wild pigs taking over so I go out and look for myself. I don't see anything. Like I said I saw signs of one or two in Bullock County and I saw a sign in Choccolocco. I haven't seen any sign and nor a pig in all the places I hunt. And we hunt all over. I take my 16 year old son on winter deer hunting camping trips to Lamar county, Bullock county Cleburne Randolph, Coosa and different places and nothing. No pigs.

As far as the deer population it's the same thing. Compare Cleburne/Calhoun County where Choccolocco Mgmt area is 20 years ago you could see deer everywhere. Now when you go you would have to long near and far to see deer and it's covered with hunters during a hunt. Atlanta is bulging at the seams with growth and they are spilling out into Alabama. Same thing with all over North Alabama Huntsville/Chattanooga then you have Bham. People moving out in the country everywhere and clear cutting land for what little money they can get.

And I didn't say it was all Smoke and BS. I said it's not the problem it's made out to be. I don't see the damage. I don't see the pigs. Thats what I'm saying and from the articles it's made out like they are everywhere. Only a few short years ago when my grandparents raised hogs they and all the neighbors turned pigs out in the woods to fatten em up and especially the swamps. They would mark their pigs and in the Fall round em up to have a Pig party cleaning them all up for Winter food. Some pigs would have to be hunted cause they were wild. People can't do that anymore so it seems there are less pigs than there used to be from my experience.

Feral hogs are smart and they select the safest areas they can find. We have had 4 weekends this year that we killed between 19-28. So, there are LOTS of hogs in some areas. We killed 12 this weekend and it was an ugly weekend.

Well it has not reached epidemic levels as compared to Texas if that's where you're going however at the current pace it won't be long.

Again, if you know what to look for you will find it.. Look at the current map on UGA's National Feral Swine mapping system then go back and look at previous years and see how it's filled in. Their studies backup exactly what I am seeing and I only hunt on 48 acres. We have pigs everywhere that I did not see last year. I killed 3 pigs last year on this small plot of land and none past the month of May as they went nocturnal. This year I've already killed 25 and here it is July. It could just be chance but I'm more inclined to think it's pure population increase.

So yes while they are not everywhere yet they are working on it.. My guess is even as I type this there is a boar mounted up on a female. lol

I have to submit a report to the DCNR detailing all the hogs I kill this year. This is because of the depredation permit for a business. I will include in my report the county and within each county I will include the sex ratio of the hogs I kill and the method by which they were killed. Glad to help build a good database.

pop a cap - What county is your property in? It seems to me most all the reports I hear about are from one general region.

I don't think dadbud thinks there aren't any pigs in the state. He probably knows there are but just like me he does not have them where he hunts. I too went until this year without ever seeing a pig until I went hunting with elkhunter. From what I can see the pigs are very picky about the land they are on. They want the most fertile land they can find. If you pay attention as I have, the areas with a huntable population of pigs are the areas with an overabundance of deer and with that comes high lease fees which means rich guys hunt on it which means they are going to bitch and whine about it and like any rich man, most of them think you are going to get the best of them if they let you on their property so instead of letting someone hunt them they just let the pigs breed like wildfire from february through november and bitch and whine about them during deer season. The high lease fees in the black belt is what keeps me out of the pig hunting game. I personally can't wait until they take over the whole dang state. They are a lot more fun to hunt than deer are and they taste better too. On a side note if someone wants some extra planting money and you have a pig problem on your property I would be more than happy to pay for a pig only permit. Lets see how many replies I get.

I'm right there with ya

I have seen properties with different levels of hog populations over the years. And there are some that are horrible. There are some with some hogs. And there are some with very few that move around alot.

There is no mistaking a place that is covered up with hogs. You step in their rooting holes almost every step.

There are some places with a fair amount of hogs. These places are spotty on the damage. But, you can find it and find pigs with some scouting.

Then there are places that hogs pass through from time to time. It may be seasonal and it may be due to the food in the area. But they do pass through.

The interesting thing is the landowners all seem to react the same. They hate them but are hesitate about letting anyone on their property to do something about it.

One thing is for sure. You can't fix the problem just hunting them during deer season. It takes a full scale attack including trapping, day and night hunting and doing so year round.

I have also found that farmers (once you get them to allow you in) love us and want us to hunt their all the time. They see the improvement and they see the saved dollar signs.

Hunting clubs are different, they have split personalities. They hate the hogs but they love to hunt them....in the fall and winter. They are also worried about losing their lease to someone with deeper pockets. I understand this because it has happened to me a few times in my life.

The hunting club is by far the more difficult to work. They think they are doing good during deer season by killing a bunch of pigs while deer hunting. But, many times they are typical hunters and they shoot the largest pig in the field. And most times that is a boar. Killing him does nothing to really reduce the population.

Sooner or later hunting clubs with large hog populations are going to have to change their approach if the problem is going to be corrected. It doesn't do any good to spend thousands on fertilizer, seed, and diesel to plant if the hogs eat it all up. They need to spend some money and purchase some good traps and work them hard year round. Keeping them caught down will help out a lot. And then they need to shoot as many sows as they can. Always pick out a sow!


And yes, I have a vested interest in this topic because I sell the products and provide the services that can help the farmer and the hunting club. But, that does not change the fact they these approaches will work.

Take your knowledge, logic and experience elsewhere Elkhunter. This is aldeer.com and we don't tolerate such things.

I'm in the Leeds Alabama region and I'm about to rename the city to Bleeds cause that's what happens when I pop_a_cap in all these pigs.

Leeds is split by 3 counties.. I live in St. Clair but hunt in Jefferson.

Sorry, I won't let it happen again!

I know there are hogs in this state. It's just funny to hear people bitch about them, but don't want anybody to kill them. Some people never cease to amaze me.

they are wrecking crops up here in NW AL. i have several farmers taht will vouch for that.

Yep, total urban legend that they exist in Alabama. LOL!

Yeah because the only reason they don't let people hunt their land is obviously because they are all just narcissistic selfish SOB's that just want to be mean. It couldn't be due the perfectly practical common sense concern of unleashing a bunch of people you don't know from Adams house cat onto your land. People who might leave gates unlocked or wide open for cattle to get out. Or shoot someone or injure themselves leaving you open to a lawsuit. And of course there is no chance that these complete strangers could turn out to be people that would poach deer or steal things from your property like tree stands. Naaaa, every one of them out there are more upstanding than the citizens of Mayberry on the old Andy Griffith show.

Then there is the fact which soured many landowners on hog hunters. That fact being that many hog hunters are responsible for the rapid spread of feral hogs all over the state. They would catch them on one land owners place and then release them on another guys place. Then when landowner number 2 starts having a hog problem guess who shows up to offer their services in solving his problem? The same people who caused him to have the problem in the first place. This practice is what caused the state to pass the law making it illegal to bring live hogs out of the woods.