Hog Hunting (Houston: leasing, homes, live)

[Jlc655]

Hello all,
Recently, some of my buddies have been discussing making a trip to the area for a hog hunt. We started looking online, and it seems like people want to charge an arm and a leg for a hunt. Something about paying a ton of money to somebody to help manage a nuisance doesn't feel right to us, but we also understand that farmers don't really want random out of state residents coming to their land and running around with guns. Do any of you guys have recommendations as to what we should do, or how we could possibly make connections with someone who wants some help managing their hog population?

Any help is appreciated!

[abelinkkin]

Sadly that is what hunting in this state has become. The biggest problem are guide services have leasing up so much land that the average Joe can no longer go knocking on doors and ask a farmer for permission to hunt his fields. You cant really blame the farmer I guess...who doesn't want an extra few grand coming in every year.

You can try looking at some of the National Forests like Sam Houston. I'm not exactly sure about their regulations on hog hunting. Most public land will only let you use shotguns. Outside of driving around and cold knocking doors a guide service is really the only option.

[ChristieP]

You've found the root cause of the feral hog problem. If land owners really wanted them gone, they would let hunters take them all out for free. Sure, there are some hunters who would trash the land, but I bet those are a small minority. Hunting any species isn't cheap: firearms, ammo, footwear, clothing, etc. It's one thing to pay to hunt something that will actually be able to feed your family (deer, turkey, doves, etc.), but 90% of the hogs aren't edible. So requiring someone to pay to get rid of a problem is just ridiculous...

[HEBres21]

Originally Posted by Jlc655

Hello all,
Recently, some of my buddies have been discussing making a trip to the area for a hog hunt. We started looking online, and it seems like people want to charge an arm and a leg for a hunt. Something about paying a ton of money to somebody to help manage a nuisance doesn't feel right to us, but we also understand that farmers don't really want random out of state residents coming to their land and running around with guns. Do any of you guys have recommendations as to what we should do, or how we could possibly make connections with someone who wants some help managing their hog population?

Any help is appreciated!

The days of free hunts are long gone (At least in Texas) something like 90% of the land here is privately owned. There's some decent deals out there if you look hard enough. But ya, hopping on someone's land I highly doubt will happen.

[abelinkkin]

Try making a post on the hog hunting section of this forum. Alot of guys with land frequent this site so you may get lucky.

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[escanlan]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

You've found the root cause of the feral hog problem. If land owners really wanted them gone, they would let hunters take them all out for free. Sure, there are some hunters who would trash the land, but I bet those are a small minority. Hunting any species isn't cheap: firearms, ammo, footwear, clothing, etc. It's one thing to pay to hunt something that will actually be able to feed your family (deer, turkey, doves, etc.), but 90% of the hogs aren't edible. So requiring someone to pay to get rid of a problem is just ridiculous...

Unfortunately many Yahoos don't just trash the land but also trash existing crops when they are growing, don't have a clue how to properly hunt and fire willy-nilly winding up shooting at homes nearby, shoot any animal walking by (YES I've seen the results of that) including locals domestic animals, cause fires, trash neighboring lands, never take the hogs back for processing and just leave the carcasses there causing all manner of problems, etc., etc.


Farmers that give permission to clear out the hogs can place themselves in legal problems by doing so. As a result much of what you see hunted on farm lands is approvals to friends, friends of friends, responsible hunting groups, etc. All others should just pay a guide company if they really feel the need to kill something.

[Irishtom29]

Sounds like some of these fellas are just interested in killing, not hunting. Target practice with live targets.

[loves2read]

Feral hogs are a bane to farmers and even suburbs in cities
But hunters can as others pointed out damage farm/ranch land when they hunt land
That is why guides are often necessary to act as intermediary and ensure groups don't do damage when hunting feral hogs and wind up perhaps shooting stock or other damage...

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by Jlc655

Hello all,
Recently, some of my buddies have been discussing making a trip to the area for a hog hunt. We started looking online, and it seems like people want to charge an arm and a leg for a hunt. Something about paying a ton of money to somebody to help manage a nuisance doesn't feel right to us, but we also understand that farmers don't really want random out of state residents coming to their land and running around with guns. Do any of you guys have recommendations as to what we should do, or how we could possibly make connections with someone who wants some help managing their hog population?

Any help is appreciated!

For an individual land owner the liability is simply too high. Start with wild life management, county extension offices, shooting ranges.