All of my hog hunting buddies and I are having a tough time finding hogs up in the NE (Bowie, Lamar and Red River counties) now and it seems the population has been in decline for the past 2 years. I'm blaming a lot of it on a local guy who does lots of helicopter shooting as well as lots more hunters now having thermal.

Also the hogs I do find are now completely nocturnal (I probably don't see more than one group of hogs per month during daylight hours now) and MUCH more wary than they were a couple years ago.

Is anyone else seeing this trend?

Do you think the hogs will come back if the local guy were to cease helo hunting?

Hunting pressure certainly has an effect. Hogs are pretty dang smart. Weather and food can cause them to migrate as well. I'm assuming the helo guy is a commercial operator and is in the air a lot. I don't know if the hunters with thermals would have any major influence. Hogs reproduce so fast.

There's been a major decline in my area the last 3 years.

I think your summation of why is correct.

I saw the helicopter 2019 and 2020 winters. No one ever called asking for permission on my land. I would have given it to them. But maybe only 70 acres wasn't worth the phone call.

Well, we are not helicopter hunting in my area, so that is a non-issue, but we are missing hogs, particularly on properties we hunt extensively.

Same boat here. I have killed probably 100 pigs since I started there 6 years ago. I think the pressure is on and they know it.

No shortage here. The bacon bits even clean up under my bird feeder.

Couple cold February's.

But, more likely last summer's drought got a bunch of em. At least that's one theory.

Not only that, but it kept the sows from reproducing. They tend to not get pregnant when when prolonged nutritional stress kicks in and with the drought we saw the fat stores on hogs go down to next to nothing in many cases. When under such stress, females tend not to ovulate and hence cannot get pregnant. Boars will tend to have significantly reduced sperm counts as well, and so their chances for successful mating also drop even if they have a viable female.

So not only would some hogs not survived the drought, but of those that did, far fewer will reproducing successfully and so there were 1-2 generations that were far smaller than they would have been under normal circumstances.

No doubt, there were parts of the state where the hogs did just fine, despite the drought, such as along permanent waterways/source and where farmers irrigated fields and provided the hogs with plenty of calories. Some areas of the state were not impacted nearly as hard as other areas.

So now seems like a good time to keep the hammer down on them! As 45 has said, when you see a competitor drowning, stick a garden hose in their mouth and turn it on.

^^^^this! I have seen a decline in the last year, but we've still got plenty left that need killing.

We are seeing the same, my pig numbers are way down

-historic winter a few years ago
-last years historic summer
-the drought and all our surrounding wheat fields look as bad as they ever have
-the thermal game is probably more popular than ever

Those are my best guesses

In January 2023, we probably got 15 and had to work really hard, February maybe 5, then I went last month one night and didn’t see a single pig. And the place I hunt I used to see 50-75 EVERY TIME I went.

No, which means you are exactly right as it relates to your unique situation. Your ranch hasn't been as impacted by the drought in any way like our Briscoe County lease has. I do know the big freeze a few years back dealt a blow as shown by the pile of dead cattle your neighbor gathered immediately afterwards but there have been plenty of breeding seasons and litters to recover from that. Our range conditions are awful, but there is still plenty of water for drinking, but no rainfall for natural browse. Our hog population is constant if not on the rise. We put very little hunting pressure on our place, no thermal or helicopter hunting anywhere near us and we have plenty of hogs to hunt. Currently I'm seeing the normal number of litters. Our hogs are just as adaptive as yours. Ours have found a way to make it on very little food during the tough times. We have one feeder for hogs on 16k acres and when it's running for hunting we murder them there, only killing large, lone boars. Hogs in your area have adapted to the helo and thermal hunting by leaving your area, staying in cover or holding their position when they hear the Mule or get a scent.

How has your deer population been during the last two years? Judging by your pic's of the bucks you killed, it doesn't look like rack development has suffered at all. If your deer population and their habits are unchanged during this time of hog decline, your onto something solid in your belief that it's related to the hunting pressure from helo and thermal hunting.

The helo in your area really has to cover a lot of territory to hunt it. True he owns ALOT of acerage, but it's not all contiguous for hunting, creating a lot of pressure flying from pasture to pasture. I base these two statements on my reasonable assumption that I know who responsible for the air traffic and the lead hitting the ground.

I don't think it has anything to do with habitat since our deer, turkey and coon populations are all doing VERY well. However I'm sure we lost hogs during the brutal BIG FREEZE a couple years ago.

Our helicopter guy flies all 3 counties where I have hunting buds and also up into OK (where he crashed once) so he covers a LOT of ground. About 4 weeks ago they flew my perimeter two days in a row for 6hrs a day!!! So this is what I'm primarily blaming our local reduced #s on.

Hmmm...........solution?

Our rancher uses a helo twice per year to gather cattle. No one shooting hogs from the air but you can still count on not seeing hogs for a couple of days after this. Helo activity like you have sounds like a real issue.

Don't know the reason but hog sign is way down around Navarro Mills lake. I did see a big one disable a small car when hit and killed. Car on one side of the road and the hog on the other.

Lots of rain lately here has grass and weeds tall and thick so I'm not seeing them.
Still seeing a few acorns laying around too although they are getting pretty thin but the pigs seem to be keeping to the creek bottoms and low lands.
My property is mostly open with some small brush and about a mile long and 1/2 mile wide with deep woods on two of the long sides and one short side follows Walnut Creek most of the way around.
There are 3 major travel trails across my place and there are lots of deer, pig and a few coyote tracks on the trail but they only seem to be passing thru right now.
As summer and dry weather sets in, they will spread out again.

My neighbor has the sounders, and I don’t know why they don’t visit my feeders. But, I do have this fellow that has finally started showing up at a reasonable hour. Only problem is that I’m not there right now.

Hogs down on our ranch too since the big freeze. I wouldn’t say the numbers are “low” but definitely less. We’ve hunted them hard and have taken out between 30-50 each year the last couple years.

Still see a few sounders down in the creek which normally has running water except for this last year. There is still plenty of water in all the tanks though. Upland hogs are fewer and farther between.

I thought it was just me...I haven't seen a hog on my place for several months, although still see sign occasionally...just not to the levels of the past. More good news...my turkey population is the best it has been in the 8+ years we've owned the property.

Same at our little place, hogs are gone which is crazy because the last 15 plus years it's been overrun with lots of them.

The fewer hogs you have, the greater number of turkey eggs that will hatch!!

We have way more hogs and less turkeys this year thanlast

Nowadays, if I see many hogs, they are on any property that isn't one I hunt. The hogs seem to know where the pressure is and isn't. So they hang out where they are safe, on sanctuary properties. These hogs are adjacent to 2 properties I hunt, but the landowner isn't a big hunter and doesn't allow people to hunt or trap his property. My landowners report seeing hogs in this pasture just about any time of the day.

DNS: That must mean the non-hunting landowner has a very high tolerance for hog damage. Hard to figure.

Since the "Great Freeze," I probably haven't seen a dozen hogs on camera and saw none on the hoof this past deer season when I came home for a couple of weeks to deer hunt.

And I like it. I wish hogs were wiped from the face of this continent.

It can mean a lot of things. It could mean that he doesn't care about the damage (and I have had a landowner tell me this), or...

...he has dealt with jerk hunters previously and figures the hogs are less of a risk than a new hunter
...he wants to have plenty of hogs to hunt when he does go after them
...he truly doesn't understand the problem (which I find hard to believe)

Other reasons other landowners have given me include them
...not liking guns
...not liking hunting
...figuring it won't do any good
...already has a person taking care of the problem (real or imaginary)
...sure I can hunt, but I have to collect all the pigs (without driving onto the property) and dispose of them somewhere off property at a location of my choosing (as if I have places to take dead hogs, LOL).

Regardless of their rationale, their land and their rules. Eventually, those hogs will start to re-invade the adjoining places I hunt...

wiped from the face of this continent
Then the rest of us wouldn't get to hunt them.
Kid had some on the camera but last time I was there, only some hoof-prints next to one feeder -- no hogs seen that nite. I didn't stay up too late either.

Ours have gone AWOL as well. We've trapped 250-300+ over past decade, and the trapping has always been unpredictable and erratic (kinda like pigs), but we haven't seen any in our hay fields for about a year. I'm good with it though. It's nice to not have to pull the baler/cutter/etc over mortar craters. Gives me an excuse to take the bow out and go looking for them too.

Last week I had to bait 4 box traps and 2 corrals across the ranch to get 1 sow and her litter of 7 in one of the box traps. I know there's more on the place, but they are getting real cagey.

Exactly right. They are not indigenous, cause untold millions of dollars of economic destruction, destroy quail and turkey nests, and compete with other indigenous animals for food. Should I go on?

Do I like to hunt kill hogs? Absolutely. But only because it may result in fewer hogs damaging the ecosystem, at least temporarily.

Yes. I wish all hogs were wiped from the face of this continent. As they should be.

I haven't been seeing them at the main place I hunt them but I think it's because food and water there is abundant right now and they don't need to move around so much. Last summer during the drought they were thirsty enough to come running 20 yards behind me to try to get to the pond, they definitely knew I was there they were just too hot and thirsty to care.

Grandsons tell me that they have left my place. I’ll go up soon and 4 wheeler around after the rain looking for tracks.

they're not gone, just moved on to better pasture

I feed them , I shoot them, I eat them

the damage they caused is a small fee to pay
for the pleasure of hunting them year round


They're all over in my neck of the woods

Pigs are still around. I killed a large sow out of a sounder of almost 2 dozen last week. Just had some of her for dinner.

^^^^^^^

Drought and lots of people using thermal these days= less hogs

They're back....

I 4 wheelerered my place after rain and didn’t see a track.

With pen trapping being so effective, and becoming more common, it makes sense that localized populations could see notable impacts. It is on our place. Heard thru the grapevine that a rancher a mile or so from us implemented an intense pen trapping program and over the last two years our numbers have decreased significantly. Didn't see a pig last deer season at all. Huge difference from the previous season where I could see 2-3 sounders numbering up to 30 touring thru the place pretty much daily. I'm not complaining, but they did provide some off-season entertainment. Actually killed three last weekend, all choates from the same litter, no momma to instruct them different.

I have had three pigs on camera in the last three years (all at night) in Fredericksburg Texas off of Lower Crabapple. In years past could see 20 a day usually

I tried using some hog slop to see if the smell would bring any in that might be in the area with no luck. I had planned on doing lots of hog hunting on our property this year but guess that isn't going to happen. Guess it saves me money on fuel for the many trips I was planning on doing to the ranch.

It seems across the state most guys are seeing pig numbers in decline

Where did they go? I and the area around me(South of Bowie) have been butt deep in them for years. I saw a sow and little ones a couple of weeks ago about 10 miles away. They’re mostly gone; but where and why?

I am just north of you on the red river, hogs are gone

I'm in Mason County, and where I hunt if is slim pickin's indeed!

I've had some Javelinas show up from time to time but no more hogs. It blows my mind that I have not seen them this year. I use to see them multiple time per week for years.

This is a BIG mystery???

Possible causes (probably several of these combined):
Heli shooting
Thermal hunting
Cold winter
Dry summer
Hunting pressure has them staying in thick woods and bottom land

I'm still seeing quite a bit of hog sign, but no where as many hogs as I was seeing this time last year

I heard it said that to just keep the population constant we would have to kill 70% of the current population. I have no reason to doubt this. If that is true, I don't think their numbers are down to the point that their population has been effected in the way it is being reported here. As I mentioned, we hunt a huge ranch with very little hunting pressure, no night or helo hunting and we're not seeing a reduction in #'s. Could it be that they have evolved to the point that their behavior to be even more nocturnal and their movements more cagey has become inherent?

Only S&W; nope, they are gone on my place. I have gone to their usual day time hangouts; Nothing. Ride a 4wheeler through the place and don’t even see tracks. Kids keep a couple of corn feeders going with cams and no pictures. I’ve quit baiting traps.

Interesting. No way they moved on to a larger neighboring property?

I guess they could have moved but no way of knowing.

Hard to tell. I'm just not convinced that numbers are actually down to the point that hunting and other factors decreased the population as significantly as sightings have decreased. Helo and night hunting will put a big dent in their numbers but also pressure them in ways that could effect their movements and range locations.

I believe for certain their numbers are down, here we have a page of 90% of everybody reporting the same

Your place may be the exception

Now, I do believe they are the type animal to rebound quickly and may bounce back fast but as far as numbers being down, I believe for sure they are

Don't let up on the gas.

Bill Wilson asking opinions on hogs.....just somehow doesn't seem right, LMAO. Kind of like the teacher asking the students how to work a math problem.

But anyways.....

Bill I am 3-4 hours west of you and a little bit north. Much more open country, lots of cropland, mixed with mesquite pasture and shin-oak country. Drier and lots of sand. Our numbers are either down or they are packed in along the creek bottoms where me and most of the people I talk to really aren't seeing them near as much. Maybe we just aren't seeing them, but I really do think numbers are down. Opinions on reasons why vary.

Drought and cold? Maybe. For dang sure it has been dry. Pastures are in bad shape. Not much to eat. Not much water either and pigs stay close to water, won't spread out without it. But we have got a little rain lately and pivots are starting to run which lets them move around more and still be able to get some water.

Heli hunting- Yes we do have a pretty fair amount of it here. Ours is not the pay to take us up and shoot things kind of deal, ours is much more of a thing where landowners band together and pay someone to fly and do population control. Up here that is normally done twice a year, for 2-4 weeks each time. Fall once leaves drop but before it gets too cold to sit in a chopper without doors all day, and in the spring before the leaves get on the plum thickets and shinnery motts. This is right before planting season to knock pigs back before peanuts go in the ground. This year, spring of 2023, no one flew here that I know of. One of my hunting partners is a big local land owner who is tied into that group and he says no one flew. And as far as we know no one flew last fall (2022) either. But spring of 2022 they flew hard. Really hard. Spring and fall of '21 they flew (I went up with them one time) and 2020 they flew spring and fall as well. So several years of hard flying but not really any for the last 12 months. They really did hammer the snot out of them spring of '22 though.

Farmers and ranchers being the way they are, most don't spend money unless they see the need. Most of my family are farmers, so I know, lol. Last year peanut price was not good and due to price plus production costs being way up we had very little peanuts planted. In fact it was the least amount of peanuts I have seen planted here in over 20 years. We don't really do corn so peanuts are what gets hit here by pigs. No peanuts means not much damage, and not much crops drawing the pigs up out of the bottoms so that people can see them. Out of sight out of mind. Farmers didn't take damage last year, haven't been seeing them, flying cost is through the roof right now. Rancher friend of mine who always flies twice a year for coyotes did not this year. Coyotes are thick, but he says cost went up to $900/hour and it is just too high. And this is a guy who always flies because he hates coyotes so bad. So combination of out of sight out of mind, and high flying prices means no one justified spending the money.

But LOTS of peanuts going in the ground this year. Starting....now. Planting time is here. My son started yesterday. So the next 2-4 weeks is going to tell the tale. Are pig numbers really down, or are they going to start coming up out of the woodwork in the next few weeks getting after the peanuts going in the ground? I don't know. But I am ready for the aporkalypse just in case. Plenty of ammo loaded up for the HAMR and ready to roll on a moments notice if people I know start taking damage and I start getting calls.

Oh, and I will add as well. Lots more guys in the thermal game now than there were 3-4 years ago. And up here not all of them respect property lines or bother asking for permission. For sure more are getting killed night hunting. How many I don't know, but more for sure.

Trapping kind of comes and goes around here depending on price. A friend of mine whose family owns quite a bit of land has done well trapping this year. Pretty sure the other day at church he said he has trapped 180 something since November.

Not seeing any hog sign on our lease... No apparent tracks, no wallows, no rooted up areas, within the last 10 months i'd say.
have been seeing more Coyotes.

I'll be real interested to hear if they show up for the peanuts which are one of their FAVORITE meals?

Here on the ranch in Red River county I can hunt 5 nights and only see hogs 1 night out of the 5, but maybe kill 3-5 that night???? It's really weird.

On our place there is right around 250 mature pecan trees

We had a terrible wheat fields and almost ZERO pecans this year

I too will be curious if we can some better wheat and have a pecan crop if they return

If they don't, its gonna get kinda boring lol

Both of your posts, great info. Since there's no farming on our place and all the heli-hunting you mention is likely East of us, that could explain our numbers being stable.

I was on a very large ranch in NE Texas about 3-4 years ago and the LO was having helo hunts 3-5 times a year. The helo hunts were killing/crippling 300 to 500 hogs per 3 day hunt. Over a 2-4 year period that will put a major dent in the hog population plus change their normal range.

My buddy who traps the hogs sent me this picture yesterday. These two boars have been running together, and showing up where he feeds cattle. All he had with him was a single shot 22, he popped both of them in the head with it.

What I am starting to think around here is, the hogs migrated from the farmland/crop areas out to more of the cattle/rangeland areas when food on the crop land got scarce. I think when they crops come back the pigs will too, but it might take a little while for that to happen. maybe a few weeks, maybe several months. But they will be back.

Makes sense.

Yes, it will. With the #'s you provide, this sounds more like a conscious attempt at population control if not an all out attempt at extermination. I was under the impression that it was recreational, commercial pay as you go hunting.

Our flying up here is not recreational at all. It is flat out an attempt (yes attempt, because actual eradication is impossible) at eradication for crop damage control purposes. The years they fly hard they kill 800-2000 pigs a year in targeted areas in our county. Which is one reason it is pretty hard for us to try and enter a big pig contest up here. Flying and thermal crop protection hunting always starts at the top, shooting the biggest and working down. Last spring right around one of my normally very good hunting areas they flew it and in 2 hours they killed 138 within a 3 mile radius of where I hunt. There are still pigs around up there but that changed the face of our night hunting completely in that area. For now, lol.

Hardly any showing up on our places this Spring. Used to see 60+ during a night at our Delta County place, now 0 - 20 (last time I went - a couple of weeks ago - I saw none)

Which counties does this take place in?

I don't know about other places, I'm not tapped into landowners in them. But from my personal knowledge I am speaking primarily of Collingsworth County, and I know parts of Childress, Hall, and Wheeler counties. Flying is expensive so usually it happens where pigs are really getting into farmers pocketbooks and can figure out on the correct side of a profit/loss statement. Primarily places where irrigated peanuts and corn are grown, though pigs can really do a number on milo and other grain crops at times. But there is not as much money in cereal grains as there is peanuts and corn.

At any rate the financial reasons for heavy control are multi-faceted. Peanut seed is expensive, fuel to put it in is expensive, and something folks don't always realize is the optimal time frame for the planting window can be narrow. Which means not only is it expensive to replant, a farmer may or may not even have time to do it once you figure in storms and available moisture. Maybe he has already moved his equipment to another field miles away and can't get back in time. Plus many are often in a jam to get done so they can swap over and start planting cotton. If you don't go back in and replant, then you suffer from reduced yields, sometimes heavily reduced yields. I have seen large areas of multiple acres before where over 50% of the seed has been eaten. Because peanut seed is, well, peanuts. And pigs like peanuts as much as we do. They will put their nose down in a row and follow it, straight as a machine.

I'll put it this way. A couple years ago ONE of my sons peanut fields had $2500-$3000 in replanting costs, and he had already moved his equipment somewhere else and had to move back. It doesn't take long to pay for a thermal or a half day of flying at that cost, especially of you team up with a couple of like-minded neighbors. That year me and my hunting partners killed 47 pigs in and around that one circle. And only half of it was planted in peanuts, the other half was cotton.

We still have hogs but not as many as in the past. Last few years there has been a local nearby that is buying them. Maybe there is more of that going on.

I was talking to a 20 year friend and 50 year resident of Titus Co., I ask him if he was seeing more, normal amount or less hogs , he quickly answered , LESS. He said he felt like it was the disease that they carry and when they become stressed for what ever reason , it spreads to the entire range. He was mowing his target range today and found 3 hog skeletons that he HAD NOT shot and he doesn't allow other hunters without him along. It seems that maybe we could get TPWD to chime in , about the disease.

OS&W, the ranch owner I spoke of was doing it purely for the $$$. He has numerous contacts with fat pockets. Rumor has it that the LO has moved south and purchased another large ranch.

Well I've had 20+ hitting the back pasture last 2 days hour before dusk. Decided do go sit and wait for them an hour ago. Red dot was dead, so I took back up with iron sights. Hogs came in to 20 yards and I shot boss sow. Pigs and piglets scattered everywhere and I proceeded to miss next 10 shots. Over saturation of targets is what I'm going with.

If they stay gone, I’ll plant my first wheat crop for deer in 5 years.,

Yes they do. Of course, that goes for most hunters, particularly trophy hunters but also anyone trying to get rid of hogs. Everyone starts at the top. The biggest targets offer the most bragging rights for the easiest shots. They are also flat out just the easiest targets to hit because they are the biggest targets to hit.

Well I guess I have a partial answer to the question. This picture was taken by my hunting partner/farmer friend this morning. Breaking this field getting ready to plant. All those dark lines are rooting since the rain a couple of days ago. Peanuts were on this field last year. Possibly lends some validity to my theory that with it having been so dry the pigs were staying down in the wet bottoms. Now that it is warming up and we are getting some rain and pivots are running they are coming up out onto the flatland/cropland to feed and spreading back out. Going to need to try and hit these guys in the next few days.

That is just the pigs looking for leftover peanuts from last years harvest. You can use your imagination and think about what it looks like when there is nice fresh seed planted every few inches in nice rows for them to root down.

Found 4 at the feeder last nite. Know I hit one and they just stood around trying to figure ot what was going on. Need to get a support for shooting off the ATV. Also got the fly rod out, get a black bass, striper and 2 gills in 15 min. Didn't get a catfish but a couple strikes. Put some steel plates together. Time for a nap.

These are now on the kill list; 'just a question of where they'll be on the place. 'Gotta mix more bait.

A few updates just for informational purposes.

Now that we are getting some rain, farmers are running pivots and breaking the ground getting ready to plant, the pigs are showing back up again. A group here in the county decided they probably should have flown for pigs this spring. So, last Friday they flew. Of course now there is full cover from the trees, plum thickets, shinnery and the pigs are really hard to see and find. If they stick to cover and don't run you fly right over them. They flew 18 miles of country along the river and only killed 47 pigs which is a really low number for that flight. But like I said the flying was difficult, about 6-8 weeks too late. So are pig numbers down, or just timing on the flight really bad? I don't know. I guess we will see and at this point we will know pretty quick.

Tonight I start one of my all night crop protection rotations on one of my sons fields. $15K of organic seed going in the ground today. New field, no history on it, but for sure there are pigs around there. I guess we will see how long it takes them to find this field and how bad it will get. I pull duty tonight, another friend gets tomorrow night, then I am back on Wednesday night before I am out of town for a couple of days. By this weekend there will be peanuts going in the ground all over the county. Later this week a field I know is going to get hit will be planted. How bad it gets there will be a very good indication on pig numbers. That field is dead center in the area they flew last week.

I still don't have any hogs but do have some javelinas showing up.

Have hogs coming in to 2 of my corn feeders now on my property where I have rarely seen any over the last 10 years, probably flushed out of the river bottom a mile away....

Still nothing on my place, and we just skinned the one from the neighbor’s place, so it seems we are out of hogs.

Just got back from Navarro Mills lake zero hog sign where I was fishing.

Greening up on my place pretty well and only a lone boar showing from time to time over the last week. Only one I've seen in months.

If this continues, I’ll plant my first food plot in 20 years.

I haven't been down to San Saba for a few weeks now after killing six hogs (my best weekend yet down there)...what, three or four weeks ago? I talked to my nephew today and he says there is no discernible decline there, nor is there where he guides down a little further south. Not that I think that means anything about numbers along the Red or in the Panhandle...just wanted to add a little data, subjective though it may be.

Still nothing at our place. They must of known I was getting a DNV scope to start taking them out.

After spending nearly 2 weeks putting in lots of hours out watching/protecting fresh planted peanut fields I can say for sure hog numbers are down in our area. A couple places took a little damage but not much compared to years past. Sure, there are some pigs around, no doubt. But I just have not seen the large sounders of hogs wreaking havoc like I have in years past. Actually I have had to work pretty dang hard just to kill a few pigs here and there. Looking at my FB feed from 2-3 years ago this time of year, we were hammering them hard every few days.

We aren't totally out of the woods on planting season yet but with it winding down I'm going to say that from what I have seen here our levels are probably half of what they have been at times in the past.

I've got a barrel I am still getting some action on and some fields I can pick up some strays here and there. But it has been 8-9 months since I have really tied in to a big sounder of pigs. I really thought planting season would change that but it didn't. Not yet anyways.

We had an entire sounder disappear about a month ago. Months of them hitting 2 feeders like clockwork, then one day they were just gone. We're wondering if someone near us started trapping them.

My feeders ran out of corn while the wife and I were on the road. I refilled them when we got back, and that was maybe 2 weeks ago, but deer have just now started to show up at the feeder. As for hogs, it’s been a long time. The neighbor trapped one for me, but since then he has seen no hogs either. I did trap and shoot a lot of hogs a while back. I think I cleaned out a whole sounder, and maybe I’m the reason we have none now.

I have had very, very few hogs since the big freeze 2 years ago. I think it wiped most of them out around my place. I used to get pics of 10-20 every single day at my feeders, and I used to go out and see them every single time I hog hunted. Now I might get one or two pics a month of a single hog.

All of these posts do make me wonder if the population did better the further south you go?

Say Houston, San Antonio and south

For North Texas, Oklahoma area guys it seems to be fairly unanimous…the numbers are way down

Was the big freeze as bad way south Tx are the numbers better?

I can recall it being -11° w the windchill -16° up here and maybe that did or didn’t kill a lot off or maybe it did or didn’t stop or slow down reproduction IDK but something has occurred

Well I just bumped a sounder, running hell-for-leather, while I'm driving around, wiring open un-tripped corral traps. Dam little ones everywhere.

I'm down south in Hebbronville and have seen zero hogs. And we use to be covered in them for the last 15+ years. Have no idea what happened to them.

Just repaired my circle trap (hog smashed my gate.) Baited it up and will hopefully have the last remaining sounder in north texas by the sound of it. I'll be glad if they never come back, but that's wishful thinking. Doing what I can to help the turkeys out.

Yes. Ive chalked it up to hunting pressure by me.

After the bigger freeze 2 years ago i had cam videos of sounders with very young piglets - surprised me TBH. It was even colder then. (-7F Air Temp in Denton County)

After several months of no hogs, had a young, decent-sized boar start hitting the feeder last week.

Went out Sunday night, loaded for bear. Over a period of about 90, I watched him zoom around in the distance like a crackhead.

Got distracted trying to video what I hope were Starlink satellites with my phone. Check the thermal, and he's now within pistol shot, just staring at me. Tossed the phone, yanked the trigger - only to hear a 'click.'

I figure he's in Mason County by now.

For what it's worth, I don't think the freeze had much of an impact at our place. I found zero dead hogs that had an original number of holes.

Well after a couple weeks of almost no damage to our peanut fields we decided pig numbers were way down and let our guard down. Had plants pushing up with seed leaves on, we should have been good to go. Came out to start spraying today and found out we got hammered over the weekend. Time for me to get out my HAM'R and hit back. We will be out tonight to see if we can catch them on two different fields. May be a lot of walking in plowed sand to get on them, or we may get lucky and catch them along the road. They are coming in from several directions.

Just a couple of the multiple spots of damage.

^^'Hope you kill them all.

My hogs disappeared 11/21 (Austin Co). Neighbor down the road started working with a guy from SBE that runs dogs and neighbor has trapped 6-8 sounders. I have had 2 boars tearing up several areas for 4-6 weeks. First hogs in over a year. It's been so wet it was hard to get to that area and typically is up wind from the house. I was finally able to kill one Thursday night. First hog down is about 14 months. I was averaging 25-30/year for several years.

What a shame.

Kry226, tell me about it. What is bad is that most of the plants are up, but a few aren't. They are rooting up 5-10 sprouts just to find the one nut that isn't up yet. But they paid for it last night. Doubt they will be back for a few days.

Stalked a sounder of about 20 pigs last night. Moon was really bright and we got a little greedy, tried to get too close and got busted. Had to start shooting with them on the move. We still hammered them pretty hard though. Lots of littles got away but the 3 biggest sows took the dirt nap out in the field. 2 more decent sows made it out of the field but they were hit pretty hard and struggling. I doubt they will make it. 3 Big sows went from probably 175-210 or so on weight. For sure got some big baby factories taken out.

I can really appreciate how you guys who try to grow stuff feel about pigs and I understand why you'd like to eradicate them. I'd be kinda bummed if they all disappeared, though. I enjoy shooting them.

It's been a few weeks and I need to get back out there!

Well the good news for those who like to hunt them is that eradication is never gonna happen, not even close, lol. Not without poison. And I'll be honest about it. I love going out and shooting them too. Just wish we didn't have to have the crop damage to go with it. But that is part of it.

I guess they could eradicate them if there was a way to mitigate all the collateral damage to all the desirable wildlife out there, but they won't because there isn't. One thing about your perspective and motivations---killing hogs probably gives you much more satisfaction than I get (and I'm not complaining at all!).

It'll be interesting to see how this pans out as the summer wears on. This has been an interesting discussion.

Well, sitting and talking with my main pig killing compadre last night while we were waiting on pigs, several topics were discussed. He is a big farmer and rancher, has lots of places scattered over 2 counties. Also like me, he has a degree in Wildlife Biology, and is very interested in the status of various wildlife species and keeps up with habitat issues. He is a very smart and observant guy who has been farming around here his whole life. He sees the cycles come and go and has a very broad perspective from both the education/biology side, and from the practical/hands on side since he deals with his own crop damage all the time. He helps me on my places, I help him on his.

Anyways. We both agree total numbers are down. Still plenty of pigs around but not what they were 2-3 years ago. My theory is quite a bit of it is rooted in compensatory reproduction. Pig numbers were high, then drought, hard winters, and in our area in particular the last 12-14 months the crops our pigs feed on were in very short supply due to crop prices and the corresponding crop rotations involved there. Basically population was up and resources went down so litter size and survivability went down as well. Plus with the reduction in cover the pigs that were here got hammered by thermal and aerial gunning. In addition to that the areas that did have the resources, the pigs migrated there. Which is another reason lots of folks are saying no pigs, but others are saying we have as many as ever.

In regards to that conversation he said the last couple of weeks he is all of a sudden seeing pig tracks everywhere. Not always lots of tracks, not necessarily big groups of pigs (though some are), but seeing at least some tracks on every one of his places. Places where he has not been seeing any sign at all the last 6-12 months. Up here we have gone from a pretty hard drought to being very, very wet in the space of about 4 weeks. All of a sudden we have water everywhere that is staying around and not drying up. Tons of cover. Lots of food. It has created the perfect opportunity for pig dispersal and spreading back out. Our theory is that the next 12-18 months as we come into the La Nina that there is going to be a pig explosion. As the pigs spread back out into their old territories which once again have plenty of resources litter sizes will go back up. There may not be as many big pigs but I bet 12 months from now there are going to lots of smaller to mid size pigs.

If I'm wrong y'all can come back then and tell me I was full of it. Which I might be, lol. Would not be the first time.

Oh, and as far as getting the satisfaction about killing them. I know one thing, that from my perspective I have no remorse about killing any and all of them I can. Littles, bigs, sows, boars, whatever. I don't hate them. It is just a problem to be worked in a methodical manner. The big baby factories always take priority. Even over nice big boars. I do hunt big boars for fun. I like it. It is a rush. But in a field full of pigs the big sows get hit first. Every time.

Well I camped out, fished all weekend, three days straight. Found new hog sign almost everywhere I looked. The corn is up and the creek is almost at normal level. Might shoot a couple if luck is with me.

Great job hammering those sows!

After about 6 months of not seeing hogs I finally have some back. Time to head out there and take some out.

Yup, sparse in west Texas, I feel your pain

Kamps, is that you?

They've all moved to my place. The travels of these wild hogs comes and goes. Sometimes I'm loaded with them, sometimes it's hard to find them.