It's a personal decision, but I try to take out as many as I can — including the small ones.

It's easy, you just don't lead them as much.

Those little guys are gold,
I take them home and bottle feed them for a bit and they will be like your personal puppies but more connected to you that a puppy. Then sell them.
I have sold them as pets at 5 lbs and raised them for a couple months, They are a blast to have around but as they grow (just a few months old) they will start tearing stuff up, like your yard, your ankles etc... cause that is what pigs do and then it is time to find them new homes.

You'd kill them if you saw them in 4 months. Shoot them now and avoid letting them reproduce.

I would either keep and attempt to raise to a bigger size or shoot them and eat them or shoot them and feed the buzzards and coyotes. Im not in on hog management.

I have really softened up as I have gotten older (48 now). I used to be a cold blooded killer. Now, I still kill hogs, and even piglets too, but I have a little more empathy for them now as I get older. Was out hunting the other night with my thermal and no hogs or coyotes came out. I could not bring myself to shoot a jackrabbit and they were hopping around and appeared to be having a grand old time in the pasture.

Not going to lie, since i dont own land and hog hunting is still just a fun way to get some extra meat and frankly, "sport", I'd have a hard time shooting them that young - especially if I had a moment to think about it. It's such a hypocritical world we live in, hard to pass judgement - I'd happily shoot them in 3 months without a second thought. But, real small like that, especially that close and personal, it'd be tough.
That being said, if I didnt have a place to take them - I'd probably have still shot them. Leaving them out there alone would be worse than a quick shot behind the head. But again, super easy for me to say from behind the computer screen.

I showed up to deer camp one Saturday afternoon. My uncle was there sitting by the fire barrel. He'd hunted that morning so I asked how he'd done. He said he hadn't seen many deer but he'd killed a "little pig," and put him in my fridge. I have a really big side x side fridge in there so it's not unusual finding a whole quartered deer or pig in it. I go to get a beer expecting to see a big steam table insert loaded up with pig parts. No pig. I poked my head out the door and hollered at him if he was sure he put the pig in my fridge? He hollered back he was sure, so I looked again. Still no pig. I hollered back at him again, "You sure? I'm not seeing it.". He gets all flustered iike he did and shouted back, "Yes, dammit! He's behind. the milk"! LOL!!! I'll never forget that. He had the whole pig butterflied in a gallon freezer bag.

We grilled it like a split chicken over mesquite coals and it was really good.

Take them all. Shoot mama and the piglets will show back up.

I guess I've just gotten too soft in my old age. I can sorta understand the aggressive approach to hogs where you shoot anything that can oink, but I guess it's sort of a personal thing. I was talking to a guy that is even older than me today, that owns the properties I manage and hunt on, and he said he certainly couldn't shoot a tiny baby. He loves the fact of the amount of hogs I shoot on these properties, but I guess it's to each his own

I like hunting, but deep down I don’t enjoy killing. Most animals that I’m able to kill get a pass. I’d rather watch them and photograph them any day then to kill them. The exception are pigs and coyotes. None of them get a pass. Pigs are the rude dudes of the outdoors and are so destructive to everything else. If you let any live then don’t tell me about it. Shoot them little or big.

Fry them up like they were rabbits...

Hmmmmm. I draw the line where the relationship transitions from being transactional to relational. That line is different for different people, and is also situational.

X2......except I would put a few other critters on that list of no mercy extended like rattlesnakes, copperheads, skunks, raccoons and possums.

Kill 'em all! Even pregnant sows before they drop. 7 or 8 with 1 shot that way.

I am not a hog trapper. With a gun, I can pick which hog to shoot. The other ones usually run away. It is best for the land to kill all of the hogs. If you find it difficult to kill a baby pig, I get it. No judgement passed here.

When it comes to deer hunting I've become more of a watcher than a killer. When I see the damage hogs do to my pastures it makes me realize that they all have to go. I don't like the idea of shooting baby hogs but there is really no alternative IMO.

Some folks have no business on a hunting forum.

It's not like I haven't killed some young ones, I just find it difficult to live with killing the tiny babies. I was just curious about the attitudes of others about it. I guess we all just have our individual feelings and it is what it is as far as the way we do things.

X4

If your gonna eat it ain't no difference than killing and eating a Bass.

The only thing I feel when I shoot a hog is recoil

I have often thought about this when I have piglets trapped. So far I have killed them all but if I had more time and desire I would kill all the females and release the castrated males.

I don't give hogs a second thought. They are feral... no different than a rat. I don't shoot native species unless I'm going to eat it. I'll feed ferals to the coyotes, including other coyotes.

^^^^^

That would address their ability to reproduce...but does nothing to curtail the damage they do (rooting, contaminating water sources, spreading diseases) or the competition for food sources and bedding areas with the deer population.

Best solution is a mindset of eradication (read...kill them all).