More Discouraging News

Big Mak

I guess the horse **** is not just endemic to Florida's game and habitat management... here's some dated material from March concerning prohibited public access in Arkansas for the purpose of hog control... I guess that states limited and over restrictive public hunting opportunities do not, in fact, keep the populations in check...    

I call this The Corbett  Remedy...
 


https://katv.com/news/local/arkansas-game-and-fish-commission-to-temporarily-close-access-to-wmas-natural-state-animals-feral-hogs-ryan-farney-operations-austin-booth-wildlife-help-plant-health-inspection-service-services-swine-aphis-robert-byrd-information

Ruff One

I am not sure I would want to be turkey scouting and helicopter gun ships spraying the woods. Arkansas feels the same way Missouri does,that hunters can't help in the eradication of hogs. That didn't work very well. Hogs are gaining ground like mad.

bowhunter4life

I know several hunter’s who won’t shoot pigs on a hunt, and I usually won’t either. That being said, there are plenty of hunter’s that are willing and enjoy eating them, so they should let them do it instead of using our tax dollars to pay someone to do it. Guys who run dogs will get them, and be happy to do so..👍

meateater

most times when you see on tv or read articles with the farmer or rancher or land owner crying and whining about how the hogs are outa control its because they dont allow anyone to hunt it.    the hunters cant do the job is a BS excuse and lie.                    

joelunchbucket

It takes an all of the above type approach.

Just giving hunters free rein has never worked by itself.

I’m the order of effectiveness…. dogs, then traps, then hunters. Helicopter gunning is pretty limited in its effectiveness. If you have a lot of open wetlands and not a lot of trees, it can be very effective though. 

MCSHunter

Yep, all those guys who thought it would be nice to transplants some hogs to other states sure are regretting it now. Remember, you have to kill 70% of the sounder every year just to stay even with the population. That is a monumental task.

josh_scott84

If they could use hogs as a way to introduce new people to hunting, that would really be win win. I think FL is partly doing this by not requiring a hunting license to harvest hogs. However, that has it's own set of concerns.

meateater

josh_scott84 said:

If they could use hogs as a way to introduce new people to hunting, that would really be win win. I think FL is partly doing this by not requiring a hunting license to harvest hogs. However, that has it's own set of concerns.

i agree    just not in areas with cougars      in the south zone there is not 1 wma that has a population problem    most have  low numbers to none at all so deer are the main food source for the cougars         any hogs that are out there hunters and cats are doing a good job keeping them in check      to good a job in my opinion.

Big Mak

The state used to protect the hogs on many wmas 30 years ago. I always thought it was frustrating to see hogs and not being allowed  to take 'em after the first 9 days of the quota only period. 

MCSHunter

Big Mak said:

The state used to protect the hogs on many wmas 30 years ago. I always thought it was frustrating to see hogs and not being allowed  to take 'em after the first 9 days of the quota only period. 

And do you remember the great idea that hogs must have a shoulder height of 15" to be legal. WHAT!

OGBOHICA

Ya 15 inches lol what a joke

Big Mak

OGBOHICA said:

Ya 15 inches lol what a joke

Boy, you wouldn't know 15" if you had a tape measure. 

meateater

MCSHunter said:

Big Mak said:

The state used to protect the hogs on many wmas 30 years ago. I always thought it was frustrating to see hogs and not being allowed  to take 'em after the first 9 days of the quota only period. 

And do you remember the great idea that hogs must have a shoulder height of 15" to be legal. WHAT!

 you must be a old fart       did you know that rule came about because a certain type of hunter    guys   mostly outa miami had no problem killing sows along with everyone of her 10lb babies     some wmas used to have a twenty inch shoulder height.   i have seen dudes with 7 8 9 10 pigs in the back of there truck not 1 bigger then a football      there was a sow 1 year that would walk around the pump station where holeyland and rotenberg meet     all thru archery and blackpowder she would walk around with around 10 little ones     100 hunters seen her and passed      general gun came and the  great tan hunters showed up from miami and killed her and every shoat opening day and those guys couldnt have been prouder.   maybe if the state protected them a little better last 15 years the deer numbers on several south wmas including big cypress wouldnt be so low.       

joelunchbucket

meateater said: 

you must be a old fart       did you know that rule came about because a certain type of hunter    guys   mostly outa miami had no problem killing sows along with everyone of her 10lb babies     some wmas used to have a twenty inch shoulder height.   i have seen dudes with 7 8 9 10 pigs in the back of there truck not 1 bigger then a football      there was a sow 1 year that would walk around the pump station where holeyland and rotenberg meet     all thru archery and blackpowder she would walk around with around 10 little ones     100 hunters seen her and passed      general gun came and the  great tan hunters showed up from miami and killed her and every shoat opening day and those guys couldnt have been prouder.   maybe if the state protected them a little better last 15 years the deer numbers on several south wmas including big cypress wouldnt be so low.       

The highlighted sentiment is a great illustration of why hunters don’t get the job done on managing hog populations. Too many of them mistakenly believe that hogs should be harvested like a game animal. 

Your Miami friends were just doing it like it needs to be done, if you want to have any hope of keeping their numbers in check through hunting. Then some restrictionist thought it was a good idea to take that opportunity away!🤣

OGBOHICA

And those same restrictionist AKA MYFWCC tried to designate them as a game animal.

joelunchbucket

Your FWC usually does a pretty good job at most things…. but I agree….. that wasn’t one of them. 

Crkr23

Just curious, what is the big difference in the old GFC and the FWC that we we have today. The only thing that comes to my mind is where they were funded from.

OGBOHICA

One of our in house experts should handle the answer to this... then we can all chime in

OGBOHICA

I can say this.... back when we had a dedicated GFC who could care less about the MFC(marine fisheries) we had a dedicated Commission that focused on the Animals we hunt. When the 2 merged it became a unified Commission which brought on a whole nother level of politics.... and when DEP bowed out of manatee management and it went over to FWC it became even more political. Endangered Species Acts ruined the way things were done and FWC had to adhere to it.

Now we have a MYFWCC who are tree huggers and a Hunt Florida page on Facebook who show cute hunting pictures. My 02

osprey11

I think alot more officers/biologists where hunters and fisherman first back then.  Today there is a percentage of anti hunters/naturalists in the mix, and some just in it for a job.

Pinman

There are WAY more anti-hunting / preservationists in power positions at any state level than 10, 20, 30 years ago. My sons graduated high school in an Environmental Science program. The head of it was an NRA hunter safety instructor and had the kids take the Hunter Safety course as part of the program. A parent complained and ended that. 

FloridaOD

A California Wildlife Commissioner headed to Utah to hunt Cougar, posted photo of “ Harvest”..... and soon resigned.
So what. Idiot. 

Our very own Bear Hunt has driven anti Hunt dialogue.

Back to Hog....
For a year I witnessed a “ Sounder”.
Small size pigs copulating. 

I have always welcomed Hog on the land, and also appreciate hog eradication efforts. I once witnessed a public land manager deal with hog impacts that threatened plants that were in fact a reason/ promotion for the purchase of the land ( Yes- Public Hunt) in the first place. 

The manager in fact was a lifelong hunter......but never willfully hunted hogs. Disgusted with ‘Em. 

Big Mak

Me and Omgbohica wearing em out at Corbett around the tomato fields 

https://youtu.be/mAu9Qfhocxo

ANUMBER1

I shoot every hog I see, I also trap them.

Pinman

Big Mak said:

Me and Omgbohica wearing em out at Corbett around the tomato fields 

https://youtu.be/mAu9Qfhocxo

You need a little more practice with that belt gun.....

OGBOHICA

15in shoulder height and one box of shells per person allowed.

Big Mak

Pinman said:

Big Mak said:

Me and Omgbohica wearing em out at Corbett around the tomato fields 

https://youtu.be/mAu9Qfhocxo

You need a little more practice with that belt gun.....

I WAS DRIVING, OMGBOHICA WAS SHOOTING.

Pinman

Streetsweeper would probably be highly effective form those wadded up groups.

OGBOHICA

If I was driving we would be paving the ground with hogs... 

FloridaOD

14 1/2 “ Legal???