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I just don't understand this.........? #5801212 06/23/15 02:36 AM
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flintknapper Offline OP
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I keep game cameras out all year long...primarily over some dedicated Hog stands (bait sites) so I have video of different groups of hogs, all ages...both sexes...throughout the year.

Two or three times a year I will get some video of a Hog (Boar) that has been castrated (now a Barr Hog).

Not anything unusual about that...since we have some folks around here that run 'Hog Dogs' and occasionally they will 'cut' a hog that has been caught and release it.

But here is the part I don't get: Whoever is doing this (and I am pretty darn sure I know who), is cutting the entire top half off each ear of the hog (presumably to mark it). I'm not talking about pinching the the tip together and 'clipping' it (like you might do with a Calf) but fully 1/2 of the ear...cut straight across.

What in the hell is the point of that? Now...I dislike Feral Hogs as much as anyone (been battling them for over 25 years), but I have never purposely disfigured or compromised one.

Am I the only person that questions the ethics of this kind of thing?


Last edited by flintknapper; 06/23/15 02:38 AM.

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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5801396 06/23/15 04:42 AM
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I agree with you, I don't see a need for it or even the castration.

Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5801446 06/23/15 10:44 AM
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Seems if you want to grow a big Barr you wouldn't want to handicap him
With ear problems
Marking him fine torturing him not cool



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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5801891 06/23/15 04:06 PM
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Don't see the point but I'm sure they have one. Same as the "gut shooters" justify their view point.


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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5801904 06/23/15 04:13 PM
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No reasonable reason to do that as far as I know. I don't believe in being inhumane to any creature...

Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5801920 06/23/15 04:20 PM
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No, I don't either. Cutting the ears like that is unreasonable.


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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: passthru] #5802260 06/23/15 08:09 PM
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Originally Posted By: passthru
Don't see the point but I'm sure they have one. Same as the "gut shooters" justify their view point.


I do not believe in gut shooting either ,,,,,,



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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5802420 06/23/15 09:31 PM
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I don't see why anyone would do this. How many hogs have you seen like this?

Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: Hunter-Steve] #5802660 06/23/15 11:58 PM
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Originally Posted By: Hunter-Steve
How many hogs have you seen like this?


2 to 3 per year. No doubt... there are others around that I don't see.

Got a young boar and a 'Barr' coming in to a feeder fairly regularly right now. IF they decide to start showing up at a more reasonable time (not the wee hours of the morning) I will go after them. Get you a picture then.

When they feed...they stay pretty close together...so the opportunity for a 'twofer' might present itself. They just need to get 'lined up' for a couple of seconds. The 405 gr. 'Remy' or 540 gr. hard cast 'Pile Driver' will penetrate both hogs....no problem.


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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5802695 06/24/15 12:24 AM
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Hog dogger or trapper may have kept the ears for a bounty, not unheard of.


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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5803337 06/24/15 01:24 PM
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Killed a bar hog one time, when they get cut their tusk will get supper long because they don't sharpen them anymore. Their testosterone is gone and they don't feel the need to fight for breeding purposes, so no grinding teeth. Ive been on stand and had a bore walk by me one morning grinding his tusk the hole way. He must of been gearing up for a fight with a local rival. The bar hogs tusk will look more like a spike antler than a tusk, but is still real sharp. Its kinda like a whitetail that has injured its balls. When done at the antler growth time, the antlers never come out of velvet and keep putting on more mass while the others shed he keeps his velvety horns. Im sure there is other senerios for this too. May just be gay, haha. Hey on the hog dogger thang, that's a wild bunch and just be thankful there not hunting your deer. No tellin what that would turn into. Ive done some hog doggin with some folks. It usually turns out way worse for their dogs than the hog. In the long run the hog turns into a hot commodity with those extra long tusk and it will have a trophy set of tusk that will be hunted heavily. Just think of it as a hog doggers hobby and be thankful that they are focused on an invasive species and not our GREAT AMERICAN WHITETAILS. up


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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5803343 06/24/15 01:27 PM
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I ment when they cut their nuts haha Im typing and the computer is stuttering ya!


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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5803361 06/24/15 01:45 PM
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Barrows are better eating than boars. That's why they castrate them. Do it when they are small, let them grow up.

The ear thing must be a way to recognize them as castrated from a distance for hunting purposes later.

Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5803374 06/24/15 01:56 PM
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I have seen plenty of posts about hogs missing parts or all of ears, and it is almost always attributed to dogs grabbing the ears. Is it possible the dogs are doing the tearing/biting the top half of the ear off?

I could also see this as a way to mark a hog, and also as a bounty as some counties will pay for each hog captured and this may be a way to get some money for them??

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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: Tommar] #5803402 06/24/15 02:23 PM
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Originally Posted By: Tommar
Barrows are better eating than boars. That's why they castrate them. Do it when they are small, let them grow up.

The ear thing must be a way to recognize them as castrated from a distance for hunting purposes later.


This is the reason they do that. Make it easy to spot from a distance. I have seen it done, but don't agree with it. Small ear marking is plenty.

Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5803470 06/24/15 03:07 PM
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And I am sitting here to wonder how to tell a hog is fixed or not...

Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5803554 06/24/15 03:57 PM
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You might be able to tell if theyre holding one hoof up and have there nose up like a snob. They probably turn their nose up to the ladies too or could be besties, but no scratch and sniff. bang


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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: Texas buckeye] #5804509 06/25/15 02:10 AM
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Originally Posted By: Texas buckeye
I have seen plenty of posts about hogs missing parts or all of ears, and it is almost always attributed to dogs grabbing the ears. Is it possible the dogs are doing the tearing/biting the top half of the ear off?

I could also see this as a way to mark a hog, and also as a bounty as some counties will pay for each hog captured and this may be a way to get some money for them??

flag


Yes, I've seen plenty of hogs with 'damaged' ears (ears get crushed between dogs teeth, tissue becomes necrotic and falls off). Those types of injuries are very distinct (ear is ragged). The hogs I am seeing have neatly 'cut' ears, straight across, straight line, fully 1/2 of the ear (top half).

There is no bounty for hogs in the county I live in, but that doesn't mean someone wouldn't take them elsewhere. Doesn't seem economically feasible though.

I'd say this 'practice' is likely meant to 'mark' the hog (barr hog), but sheeeeesh...anyone with normal eyesight could spot an ear 'clipped' hog just fine. Half an ear....would show up on satellite photos!


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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5805925 06/26/15 12:12 AM
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My brother and I got a new lease last year and it's the first time I've seen there ear's cut off , I mean all the way off, we have several pic's of these hog's and my brother killed one after deer season . I don't get the reason either.

Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5806037 06/26/15 01:50 AM
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Years ago, I heard of property owners catching bad hogs and cutting their ears off. They did it if they had people jumping their fences and hunting their property with dogs. It's hard for a dog to catch a bad hog with no ears....

I also know that we would catch small boars and neuter them and clip the tips of their ears and release them on our lease. They were easily recognized as barrs.


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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: Tommar] #5806453 06/26/15 01:09 PM
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Originally Posted By: Tommar
Barrows are better eating than boars. That's why they castrate them. Do it when they are small, let them grow up.

The ear thing must be a way to recognize them as castrated from a distance for hunting purposes later.


This makes the most sense.

I don't understand your reasoning though for being upset....it's ok to cut their nuts off but not trim their ear?

Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: DocHorton] #5807414 06/27/15 12:11 AM
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Quote:
I don't understand your reasoning though for being upset....it's ok to cut their nuts off but not trim their ear?


Anatomically....hogs are quite easy to castrate, owing to the location of the testicles (up high on the rear and very much exposed). While I am sure...this does not make the procedure any more appealing to the hog, it can be performed quickly (even by a novice). So I am not particularly adverse to the castration of the hogs (though best done when they are young).

I don't however see the need to remove large sections of their ears...for the following reasons:

A hogs second most acute 'sense' is their sense of hearing. The ear (outer) is used like a 'funnel' to gather and channel sound to the inner ear. Removing fully 1/2 of each ear..compromises that ability.

The ears aid in dissipating heat. Yes, perhaps not to a large degree...but helpful nonetheless. Hogs are not completely without sweat glands, but the few they possess... do little to help control body heat. Instead... Hogs rely heavily on evaporative cooling of another sort. When possible...they will wet as much of their bodies as they can (in water or mud) and let that cool them. So, every square inch of skin is valuable, particularly that which has blood vessels near the surface.

I don't know if you've had a chance to observe hogs in the wild...but they use their ears (like flyswatters) to remove (or keep at bay) flying insects (mosquitoes and flies) from about their heads. They will shake the head (like a dog shedding water) so briskly...that you can literally hear the slapping sound of their ears from 50 yards away.

Lastly, when traveling in darkness...the ears help provide a tactile clue to obstacles that might present a hazard. In open areas...that would not present a problem...but in heavily wooded areas, crowded underbrush or fence crossings, it does aid them.

Point being...whether the loss of THAT much ear proves to be a significant hindrance or not...it seems entirely unnecessary for the purpose of identification only.

IMO,castration does nothing to decrease the animals ability to survive in the wild (save the possibility of infection) whereas removing large portions of their ears...likely has some effect. Hence my objection.


Flint.


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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5807818 06/27/15 12:12 PM
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I have heard of notching the ears so they can tell later.
The castration part serves 2 purposes from what I understand.
1. It eliminates them from breeding.
2. It will cause them to put on more weight so they can be trapped / caught later from an increased bounty.

I have 2 guesses on the 1/2 ear cut.
1. They are easier to see on camera or at a distance.
2. There are several groups that are cutting and that's "their mark/brand".

Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: flintknapper] #5807954 06/27/15 03:11 PM
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Why not a butane torch and a brand? we do it to cows and horses. scratch


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Re: I just don't understand this.........? [Re: Simple Searcher] #5807977 06/27/15 03:44 PM
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Originally Posted By: Simple Searcher
Hog dogger or trapper may have kept the ears for a bounty, not unheard of.

Yes they do. I have caught 3 or 4 hogs without any tail or short stub that I suspect have been cut off for a bounty. They release the hog to grow and get bigger for future fun. Some counties change the bounty from time to time to stop things like this. I have also seen a few cut hogs over the years that have an ear tag.


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