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Wisconsin Deer Hunters Urged to Help Eliminate Feral Pigs

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[Widux]

Ya ya ya--hear about rthis all the time--we went looking for them in HOT areas-nada-DNR guy finally told the truth--about 50 left after they used dogs- night blinds etc to kill them last winter-- man folks are sure paranoid sbout a few little piggies- me I love to hunt them and wouldn't mind a few more --maybe not as many as texas has but this issue is sure over blown.

[Tatertot45]

Be careful what you wish for. Hogs can have large litters(10-12), and i think they can have multiples litters per year. At that rate, it does not take long for 50 hogs to turn into 500. The spread fast, and become uncontrolable quickly. It may seem cool now, but if they go unchecked, farmers are going to be ticked. Have not even started on what they can do to whitetails, and other game.

[Widux]

I am not a farmer and know how they feel about hogs and rightly so--as for whitetails there certainly is no dearth of them in Texas. I never said i would let them go only that a few around home would make for fun hunting and good eating.

[Tatertot45]

I hear ya. they are fun to hunt, and can be a huge adrenalin rush. I have had the priveledge of hunting them, and it was fun. They are rather tasty too.

[Ca_Vermonster]

[Whelland]

Once hogs are established, they are extremely difficult to manage and quickly become over populated. Wild hogs are such prolific breeders that their populations absolutely explode. The pigs also dessimate habitat with the way the eat and forage. They are an invasive species and should be eradicated.

Since Texas was brought up, there are several areas in that state where the hog populations are out of control and biologists cannot come up with a viable solution to lower populations. Even allowing hunters to shoot as many as they can has been unsuccessful.

A few months ago I read a very good article written by biologist Dr. James C. Kroll about the ills of allowing wild hog populations to exist. He stated that once wild hogs are established, it is more than likely that you will never be able to get rid of them........no matter how hard you try. They will be here long after you and I are gone. Therefore, you should eliminate them before they can get a foot hold.

The state of Wisconsin is doing the right thing and should be applauded for their efforts. If there are any questions, one should only look for the biological information, data and documentation put forth by Dr. James C. Kroll.

[Widux]

Believe me-- Wisc. DNR does very little that is right- re blowing this pig issue out of all proportion whilst screwing up our deer herd again. easy to get everyone hyped about a couple of piggies just trying to survive--nuff said--

[bukmastr]

[Widux]

That is, of course, assuming that this PIG Issue is as big a problem as Osama Bid Lama and we need Homeland sec or at least the Lax Bearcat $200,000 vehicle called in.

[SwampBuckHunter]

There is not a DNR program in the country that doesn't have flaws. WI DNR have been good about most things. You can always get an officer on the phone, even some of the DNR bioligist answer questions via phone or email. They have interactive chat right on their website, and crazy as it sounds, there is an actual person on the other computer. There will be less earn-a-buck and herd control area's next year, which sucks cause I have my EAB sticker ready for next year if I can't close one out in archery or holiday gun hunt.

Were they wrong about deer density this year? The answer to that question is obvious. Original estimates put the deer herd at 1.6 to 1.8 million, then dipped to under 1.5. million. However, as it stands now, only 276,000 deer taken during Firearm season. There are still alot of deer, but a huge percentage of those are not living in their wildlife refuges or state parks and forests, but in residential and urban area's. Urban sprawl being the biggest cause of this issue.
The town of Mequon, WI had contractor sharpshooters cull over 100 deer privately from in town. Because of all the 1 to 2 acre homesites with wooded views or preserve area's created, the deer are not hunted and therefore pile up in these small wooded area's near homes. Include 7-10 ac conservation pieces by private homeowner associates, town hiking trails or wild life area's, and there is alot of land you simply can't hunt, not even using bow & arrow.

Hunting land taken and used to build more homes, reducing the size of the woods, but not reducing the size of the herd. The DNR may put pressure on towns and cities to open up area's to archery hunting simply to help move the deer out and cull some of the herd at the same time. Car accidents, garden and crop damage are part of the same issue. Food scarcity in these smaller marsh and wooded area's, with farmers nearby, mean problems as well.

Sept 15th-November 26th
2 does and 2 bucks

Nov27th to Dec11th
15 does and 2 bucks

Doesn't that seem backwards?

Some hunting time left in WI, and I plan to whack as many as possible.

[Widux]

We filled freezer first three days and wife got a nice buck so we're done--good snow cover last week or so BUT very few tracks across our 1/2 mi driveway or in our pastures--not the case in prior years--also as to work of DNR--Just ask duckers about the concealment rules --rthere is another fiasco that has confused and angered hunters for years and the DNR gives different answers depending upon who you talk with and when.

[bukmastr]

My main dissatisfaction is the wasteful slaughter of baby deer. The idea that we should shoot more than we need and just toss the rest. If you want non-res. to flock here to spend money, you better have deer, and I mean mature deer... A nice balanced herd.
With that said, my oldest son gave up hunting when it turned into a blood bath. For a boy who loves animals, it sickened him to see hunters shooting fawns to earn a buck and then just toss them into a ditch or a DNR supplied dumpster. He was taught to respect these animals. When there were absolutely no limits in southern Wisconsins CWD zone we hunted and he noted that every deer he seen was wounded, and all were stressed... Is that hunting? He quit, and has refused to go back out with me... James, my younger boy, has been trying to keep up the enthusiasm but its starting to wear on him also... He says why hunt if there are no quality animals to shoot... He hunted a couple weekends with bow this year then gave up. For the 1st time ever, he decided not to join me in the gun hunt...
If we have increased hunters, its killers, not hunters... People who enjoy killing lots of fawns and 1 1/2 hyear old deer that never got a chance to grow up...
The WDNR makes me sick!

[BDH]

Wow...feral hogs, DNR dummies. soccer mom white tails, bambi butchering and state supplied deer dumpsters. I'm really glad I live up north. We just hunt up here. You guys should drive up and visit. Maybe buy some fresh cheese curds. Have some pickled eggs at the bar with a nice cold one. That'll put ya in the huntin" spirit. Get those boys out of the Chicago suburbs and bring 'em up to the real woods. Show 'em some real deer... you betcha.

Wait...let me check...maybe I'm on the Texas forum by mistake...

Never bring a knife to a gun fight.

[mrklean]

i just hope they stay out of MN, so far we are clean of them for now