Your friend is correct

Landowners don't have a feral hog problem (where he's desperate to let any strangers come in and eradicate )


damages from hogs are acceptable vs damages from idiots with guns and 4x4

I have a place with hogs galore... but I'd rather shoot them myself, take paid hunters at $250/weekend
than let strangers come in to shoot them

Let me put it this way. Saying there is not feral hog problem because landowners won't let people come and hunt for free is like saying your buddy isn't really sick if he won't let a random stranger off the street come in and practice medicine on him for free.

Much respect... Had gotten permission ta hunt hogs on privete land.. One instance, driving back from a hog hunt at sabine. Had been seeing hogs on a high line... Seen a guy riding atv. asked for permission... put up a stand & hunt, got the okay, for hogs, then asked for guys phone #'er so could call let him know whin would be out thar, ta sho respect. He might not of heard me, drove off... Never did hunt it though, outa respect... Their are land owners, not in it for the money... Hunted several...
They seem ta forget 90% of hunters are thar ta hunt, & in case of hog problem HELP out. NOT ta destroy property... & That the hunters are offering thar time & money, gas back & forth, time is money...
GT653 your time tis valuable. Your friend has some good advice, have priced the NV & Thermals, & then the price of the AR... Have two AR's mine was set up for hogs, close range. Mil-dot scope over & green dot laser under, bore sighted for close yrds, type of set up i had, down by creek, & for my hog hunts on sabine...

if ya can find a lease that will allow hog hunts at night, with good sign , i did it flash light off with pistal on hip in the 80's, huntsolo, had a blast... NV & Thermal tis alot Safer... & if would have gotten hurt, hunt privete land here, even after 30 yrs away, they given me permission ta hunt, i take responsibility...
Tis how we do it here...
Good thread, interesting posts, can learn alot..
Stay Safe...

1. There is a hog problem in Texas. Plenty to read about that. Just Google it.
2. There is an idiot problem in America. Plenty to read or watch. Try Google, You Tube, or CSpan
3. There is a litigation problem in America. Billboards, Bus Stop Benches, Taxi Cabs, Phone Books,Endless Commercials

It’s not about Money. It is about trust.

I don’t hunt with anyone I don’t trust. I don’t engage an outfitter without doing a lot of research to make sure they are trustworthy.
I don’t have relationships with people I don’t trust.

You don’t open your gate to anyone with a good line and a rifle and expect to have a positive outcome. Hogs can wreck your land. People can wreck your life. Too many options for the hog problem without being reckless with strangers.

Happy hunting.

Best response so far. Spot on.

As in most things today it is about risk verses reward.

Geez the responses on here get so drawn out some times. Your friend is wrong, there is most definitely a hog problem. Get your rifle and night vision and help fight the good fight.

@jiggamitch. Sometimes an education requires a long drawn-out...education.

Great responses here, very logical arguments and examples that back the idea that -despite the scientifically well-documented feral hog problem in TX- letting random hunters on private land for free isn't generally a good idea. I think your friend subscribes to the common misconception that because land owners aren't opening their lands to hunters, there musn't be a real problem. If you've never seen the damage down to thousands of acres of crops, if you've never seen gigantic sounders of hogs materialize out of nowhere to wreak havoc, then you're not looking too closely. I recently drove from Brownwood to Austin and spotted four separate sounders of hogs moving around in daytime, visible from the road. Imagine how many more there are out there that move and feed primarily at night? We live in a litigious society where people can be exposed to -and suffer greatly from- frivolous litigation brought by individuals. A few years ago, I was invited by a friend to participate in an eradication "hunt" at his family's ranch in Bastrop. We planned to ambush a large sounder of hogs that was wreaking havoc on his cattle feed and crops. There were about 10 hunters there, all but two members of our lease who know each other well. There were two other guys that came along as friends of some of the members. During that night's hunt, one of these idiots was doing some pretty dumb stuff (long story) and got himself mildly injured because of his own bad decisions. A week later, he sued the ranch owner and his family and this turned into a many-month nightmare for everyone involved. This was a friend of a friend, someone who had actually been at the ranch before. Imagine this situation with just random people you don't know, carrying and using guns on someone's property.

There is definitely a pig "problem" in Texas. They compete with the native wildlife and they are everywhere, the population is explosive. If you havent seen a large sounder off I 20 at night then you dont drive on I20 much.

I think they are cool and would rsther have pigs than not have pigs. And they are so fecund, you never run out of pigs.


But they have value. When are plenty of people willing to pay, why give it away for free?

I've seen the damage and problem from the hogs first hand. I've also seen how hard it is to find a place to hunt for them without paying some ridiculous fee first hand. I didn't get to spend my childhood hunting, it's something I picked up as an adult. To date I've never found a reasonable lease in my area, and at first was even dumbfounded by how hard it was to find a place to hunt pigs at a reasonable rate. After reading stories from landowners on here, and other places, I started to understand why. I currently hunt a WMA regularly, and hit alot of other public land in the area during bird season. With the stuff I've seen personally, and heard from the wildlife manager, and the mammalogist that work the WMA, I absolutely understand why landowners are so unwilling to allow random hunters. You have guys coming in with their buddies, getting liquored up and declaring war on everything that moves, or littering heavily, tearing things up at random, even things listed as off limits. That's not even to mention fire dangers, firearm dangers, and petty lawsuits. I can't tell you how many times on public bird land I've spent more than an hour walking out a short distance of 100-200 yards because I was busy picking up previous hunters trash, and hulls before I give up because I can't carry anymore. I almost had a place to go hunt pigs on private land once, and even at my insistence of a contract indemnifying the landowner from any legal actions by me, and holding me responsible for any damage, I couldn't get the guy to commit because of past hunter behaviors/issues. It really sucks for those of us who act as responsible hunters. It seems regardless of whether there are more of us than them or not, they do so much damage to everyone's rep that we all get to pay for it in some form or another. At this point, the only fix I see is to hope the next generation leads the way better, but that still starts with us. I teach my kids to clean up after themselves, and the people before them, and hope the kids coming from the land wreckers see the light their forebears didn't. I can't be mad at landowners being unwilling to allow a hunt, I've seen the damage first hand, and it can easily be worse than anything the pigs can do.

I agree with that. You just can't trust everyone. Some close family and friends maybe but even then you can't trust all your relatives either. I wouldn't even want it to be known that I "let" someone come shoot anything.

Sounds like youre buddy has it figured out!

I’ll keep and short and nice

We have a 225 acre spot and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve saw 15-30 pigs on a sit


They may wreck us for a handful of acres a year..every year.

I still wouldn’t let you hunt them for $300 a day

I said I’d be nice but 1 million in land...you can stick that $300, I’d said I’d be nice

So be thankful there’s even an opportunity to hunt them for said price

Don’t like it, buy your own dirt and get back with us

Buy it, it’ll be fun...I mean I woke up one morning and the money fairy dropped a pile under my pillow

Dollars to donuts you and your buddy live in apartments, own 0 realstate, drive lifted 4x4’s with Browning stickers in the back glass and B about lease prices

I just cant help myself...

Before you biatch about land owners and their prices...become a landowner

It’s easy, super easy, anybody can do it...

I can’t help it sounds like a millennial wine azz to me

I think their is a couple of problems here that could be aligned.

There are a lot of hogs and they definitely can cause problems.

Therefore there are a lot of landowners who need more killed, not because hunting will ever eliminate them, but it can keep them knocked back a little.

There are a lot of folks that would like to hunt them but either need access, mentoring, or both.

There are solutions, one of which is mentored hunting programs. Texas Youth Hunting Program (kids) and the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (adults) mentored hunt programs are both administered and insured by the Texas Wildlife Association. The landowner is protected and can know they will have qualified and trained Huntmasters running the hunts. I could say a ton, but to keep it brief, everybody wins, including the hunting community and perception of hunting in society as a whole.

So, if anyone wants to participate in any role to help solve some of these problems, they can. A landowner who wants to host a hunt. An experienced hunter that wants to help guide and mentor hunters. Or an inexperienced hunter who wants to learn and get some meat.

Mentored hunts do so much to work against the problems of limited hunting access which limits hunter recruitment which limits the good standing of hunting in our society. Texas could and should be a leader in our country in this and I hope everyone who can will participate in these or other programs somehow.

Anyone heard from GT653 lately ?
Proof tis in d pudding...

unless some one sent a PM...
Dont think any one gave an invite...

Tis thinking his Friend twas trustworthy...

Rifle & Night vission scope b expensive & tis useless if dont have place ta hunt...
In 80's got on lease for $200.00 year round hog hunting...
Other leases twas on, didnt even see sign... & WMA (public land) no night hunts for hogs...
Ya all bout Trust... interesting thread...

Stay Safe...