Why would anyone pay up to $500 to shoot a couple hogs? maybe with dogs and a great guide. If it was guaranteed or no pay, maybe.

Same with Nilgai and Aoudad. These are all invasive species.

I know Capitalism, which is great if you want to do it. I probably would if it was no kill, no pay.

Time and opportunity.

Same you reason pay to go to the movies or pay to eat at a restaurant. You are getting access, opportunity, and an experience to do something you would otherwise not be able to do on your own

Might as well throw axis, blackbuck, red stag, oryx and every other exotic into the pot. You pay for the opportunity to harvest something you wouldn't otherwise get the opportunity to. I wouldn't pay for hogs because my lease has them suckers running around. But I will pay to shoot an exotic especially axis because none of my leases give me that opportunity.

People like pulling the trigger. Hogs are the cheaper of all the so called “invasive species” aka exotics out there. Sounds like a win win for the guys with land and the means to provide whoever wants to hand over me cash a chance to go pull the trigger. Make some money and get rid of some rooters.

Theres alot of stuff people won’t pay for that other guys will, lets just leave it at that. lol

This is a common attitude. People consider hogs to be trash animals, invasive pests not worthy. There are a lot of folks that won't even spend the money for decent hunting ammo with which to shoot hogs, "Why would I spend good money on a POS pest?"



I started to write something like this, but you said it much better and more succinctly.

Ever been on a lease that didn't produce good deer? Did you get you money back? Probably not. IIRC correctly, Pig_Popper was on a lease where they didn't see a deer during deer season.

The question is sort of like asking why anyone would pay to hunt deer. I mean, they are all over the place. You can find them in San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Austin, inside the city limits they are so common.

I helped guide hog hunts for a couple of years. It was some of the most fun I ever had and sometimes one of the scariest jobs I ever had (not because of the hogs, but because of the hunters).

I would not pay to go shoot hogs, because our place is crawling with them. We've killed 40 something of them this year, and we are way behind our goal. Axis, Nilgai, Aoudads, etc... I don't have access to them. So, yes. I would pay to hunt them.

I have a lot of guys out of state that like to hunt them. I have groups from Ohio, New York, Missouri and Montana. Some of the guys I have from Texas, don't have a lease and no place to hunt them.

I use to have a guy that drove all the way from Winnipeg to hunt them.

I have no problem with people paying for hogs, nor people charging for hogs. I do have a problem with people crying about hogs, then wanting to charge those that are willing to help. I don't cry about a dead battery in my truck and then make somebody pay to jump start it. Either take their help or STHU - you either have a hog problem or you don't.

great reply's all.

One of the main reasons for outa starters who like ta hunt.
Miss the hog hunts. Did more hog hunting than deer.
My cousins know people who have went on hog hunts in
People who live in public land hunts are a blast.
Would recommend the back packing method for bring hogs out.

I'm sure if you looked hard enough you could find folks that would let you help control them. I don't see any problem with paying. It's fun to shoot hogs and I would pay something to gain a place to hunt. Obviously it would need to be within a budget. The smell is just too much for me to clean them. As they say" buzzards and worms gotta eat".

True, but hard enough can be darned near impossible. Cold calling is rough, particularly if you are not known to the landowners. I have knocked on a lot of doors and while some people are really terrific, some looked at me like I asked to date their underaged daughter. I introduced myself to one lady who yelled to someone unseen, "There's a man here to hunt hogs," to which I heard a male voice shout out, "No!" Most landowners have already had people to "help" them with their hogs that didn't want to help with hogs such much as to just have a free place to hunt, which is fine, but they aren't there often enough to help with the issue on the property. That is part of what makes getting places to hunt for free so hard. Landowners have been screwed over by hunters previously, not doing the job or not being responsible people (gates left open, trash left behind, bringing friends that were never okayed by the landowner, using the property as a campground/hog camp, shooting equipment or livestock, doing donuts in the landowner's sprouted winter wheat field (I actually have video of this as we were okayed to hunt that night and discovered somebody else there doing donuts in the field), etc. I now run about 20 properties in Montague, but only one came from cold calling. All the rest were from referrals. Once you get your first property, the referral process can start.

For guys that hunt 2 or 3 times a year, paying may be less expensive and a lot less time consuming than trying to secure your own properties for free.

Of course, if you live in the area and/or know a bunch of folks with land, your chances of finding properties improves. However, if you are local and/or know a bunch of locals, you probably are already working the system and have a place or two to hunt.

LOL... I see these type posts quite a bit.

The funny part is, that nothing about this is true.

1) Those who charge money to hunt hogs... WANT hogs. More hogs = More Money for them. They ain't "crying" about them.

2) Those who don't want hogs on their place probably have someone they have given permission to hunt. But they don't charge.

Don't assume that just because someone has hogs that they charge to hunt them. Also don't assume that those crying about hogs will let you have access to shoot them. I sure wouldn't. Frankly, I'd much rather have the hogs than an unknown quantity shooting up my ranch. Deer season factors into some permission to hunt places too.

Hogs are the cheapest medium game hunt you can go on and the meat is good except large boars.

It’s why they are so popular to hunt.

Lots of folks up this way want to hunt hogs but not pay much to do it.

They can be hunted for us in warmer months, much warmer in Texas in February than in Wyoming, lol.
Meat is great if taken care of, good for sausage etc ....

You would not believe how many folks expect to come down to Texas though for cheap or free hogs.
The attitude why pay for your problem is constantly spouted. I just want to help you.

$500 for a unlimited hog hunt is a bargain these days. Most I see now are pay for 1 or 2 hogs then extra.

Folks up here also don't understand how smart hogs are. We've taken friends down to Texas to hunt the family place, eye opening for sure. They won't listen to what you tell them about how hogs act and how to hunt them.
These days no friends go down to hunt with us anymore.

I constantly tell folks hogs do damage. LOs with problems are trying to recoup some of the cost the recover hog damage. It falls on deaf ears it seems.
Not paying to help with a problem you cause, WTH is that attitude ??

QSYB has a point. A person has a bad battery/or needs yard mowed, ya dont charge for help.

Hunters have cost also, gas, wear & tear on vehicle, & thar time tis money. Hogs are a pain in the rear
for land owners, thar tis money in it. Know for a fact, hogs get traped & are released in other areas.

Thars guys up here that go on hog hunts. & have asked cousins ta go, lower cost. He told em if he wants
ta go hunt hogs, he could come down & hunt with his cousin.

That's NOT attitude, not every one in pays $500.00 ta hog hunt.
Do they have attitude ? i hunted my land, got permission from people, &
yes first lease got on twas for hog hunts. But mainly did Public Land, WMA's.

Hog hunting tis big buck$ just like deer leases. If people have the money/time
as posted, i miss my hog hunts. But ya can't say people have attitudes
cause they don't pay, ta play.

If I didn't have a lease or place to hunt $500 for a couple day hunt and enough meat to fill the freezer sounds like a decent deal. I can see why people pay it.

If I have quite a few showing up then I will occasionally let someone hunt pigs on the farm, but I have to know them real well. I do not charge anything, but they have to hunt by my rules and can only hunt while I am there. I will put out corn and let them sit in one of the blinds and they have to take the hogs they kill with them.

I learned a long time ago that common sense and respect of other's property is low on the list of priorities for many. I have picked up corn sacks, beer cans, wrappers, pulled out stuck trucks and had to deal with fools that think they can hunt whenever they want. The neighbor and I agreed to let some hog doggers come out and the next morning the glass was shot out of the neighbors John Deere tractor cab, of course no one knew anything about it.

I used to be butt deep in hogs but now seldom see one on game cams. South of Bowie.

Too much liability for free hog hunts to unknown people. I have a nice place to stay, nice heated blinds, corn feeders with lights, road corn, nice cleaning area with free ice. Heck yea people are going to pay, no free rides here.

If I couldn't sell hunts I'd shoot them myself before I let some stranger loose on my ranch with a gun.

Hog hunting is a lot of fun and costly. Thermal scanner, thermal scope for the AR. Want expensive do a helicopter hog hunt. We have a lot of fun in my hog rig.

I’ve never charged anyone to hunt my place. It’s mostly taken up by some young adults that have been hunting there ever since they could pull a bow or shoot a rifle. 2 are getting married next month and I know where they will want to honeymoon. Same damn place they started honeymooning when they were 18 yoa.

I talked to a lawyer friend and he said I would be a damn fool allow hunting or lease. Somebody gets hurt and I’m hiring lawyers.

Buy land. It’s a lot better investment than the stock market.

The King's game. Let 'em eat cake.

If you are worried about getting sued, then you can alleviate that risk by posting Chapter 75A Agritourism signs. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.75A.htm

Those land payments hurt for a long time but when it’s all paid for there’s nothing else like it.

I have young kids and work obligations that take up a lot of my time. I don't keep a lease in Texas because I don't love that style of hunting, don't have the time to hunt enough to make it worth it, and don't have time to do all of the off season work that makes it worth it. I very much prefer to do one or two out of state/international trips to get my hunting fix, and supplement it with some local duck hunting. I also take a lot of new or very casual hunters out for hogs. While I could take them out to some public that I don't scout regularly and hope for the best, it makes a lot more sense to me to spend a few hundred bucks and go somewhere that I know there will be hogs and not a bunch of other hunters. Personally, I love hog hunting and eating hogs, as well. I am at the point in my life that I have more money than time, so I am happy to have the opportunity to pay to hunt hogs.

I have a question that I thought about when these topics come up.
For those that don't like the idea of paying for hog hunting.

What if a land owner tells you I never charge for hog hunting but I charge a fee to access my property, a trespass fee. You get to hunt all the hogs you want but I charge a fee to everyone to cover any damage you might do while hunting?
Deer, hogs , predators, whatever etc. you pay a trespass fee to get on my land.
Would that sound reasonable to you?

Myself and one other hunt a place in east Texas for free in exchange for hog control. We are on call when there are hog problems and do other work days on the property. I now consider the landowner a close friend. We tried to add a third hunter to help. First ones just stopped going. I think some hunters think they are going to be able to just walk the woods and "blast a bunch of hogs" but find out it is not always that easy. Then even with us providing a tower stand and feeder in place with rules like not entering the back 2/3 of property and contacting the landowner when coming and going, each dropped out because they wanted no rules. We are talking free here. The last one we interviewed came back the next day with a guest after we told him no guests, then shot up and destroyed our reactionary targets on our gun range using high powered rifles. We gave up on adding a third partner and already tore the guest stand down. We are the exception obviously, but I don't know why a landowner would ever offer free or inexpensive hunting.

I did that 2-3 years ago. Sign is next to my pavilion.

Agri-tourism refers to outdoor activities where fees are charged. You do still benefit from many of the protections provided in Chapter 75 in the TX Civil Remedies Code.

In my opinion, that's a lease too. Probably falls under selling hunts by the day, weekend, or whatever.

Still paying to hunt.

I'm certainly not against anyone paying to hunt hogs, or anything else. If that's what they want to do, then I wish them the best.

I have paid to hunt deer before. Not many times, but a few, with mixed results. But hogs and coyotes... I have PLENTY of land to hunt for free. More than I can probably get around to.

Opinions; and I’ve heard a lot about greedy land owners from this site.

I’m a land owner who has gotten old and doesn’t hunt that much anymore. But, I keep my feeders filled for grandsons and guests. It’s a small 133 acre place about 75 miles from D/FW. I don’t live there.

But, nobody owes me anything and I don’t owe anybody anything. I remember paying for access to other peoples land to hunt. If the LO figured his wildlife was more than I wanted or could afford to pay, I looked elsewhere.I usually went to National Forests which means I often hunted out of state.

On the occasions that I got invited to hunt locally, I cut and stacked a lot of firewood and did other work to help them.

A young couple have hunted and killed some nice bucks on my place this year. Bucks that I would have liked to see. Yeah, I’m a little chagrined but firewood is cut and stacked. They even cut and split some to bring to my home in Hurst. A grandson and his buddy found a flat rear tire on one of my tractors, pulled it off, took it in for repair and didn’t tell me about it. I’m a little old to wrestle heavy stuff. It’s appreciated.

My recommendation is to hunt public property or find a landowner who could use some help. I can’t recommend buying land at these prices. And, my taxes, due to inflation, are dang sure more than a deer lease. I’ll probably sell this year. I know other owners with land about 100 miles from D/FW who are in the same boat.

If you’re young enough, hunt up a female who has a daddy with a ranch. Son in laws with calluses are a good deal. Especially if they can build fence.

Real estate taxes, after this many years, and inflation, is hitting me hard. It’s hitting that other greedy land owner hard also.

Every time someone complains about lease prices, shooting pigs for pay, high fence, they typically have 1 thing in common…

They don’t own or maintain any land…

Because the answer is always buy your own place and do what you want, how you want and when you want.

I watched about 50 pigs on my 100 acre wheat field last night but I was after a doe so I didn’t shoot any

But I am telling you, I wouldn’t allow a stranger on my place with a rifle for $1000 a pig

But it’s my place….

I’ve got an opinion. I have been on a lease since 2008, same one. We have a great deer population, I usually get my to bucks the first week of the season. But , we have no pigs. I like hunting them and they make great smoked sausage .

So yes, I typically pay once a year, sometimes twice, to kill a pig or two and I’ll keep doing it especially if I enjoy being around the LO which in this I do , he’s an active member of this forum as well

'Sure wish you hadn't said (posted) that.

Mine are (mostly) nocturnal, so I couldn't (ethically) charge for pig hunting if I wanted to.


This.