This week Adam and I are in Western Oklahoma. We have a client whose property has recently experienced a lot of hog damage. Feral hogs are not native to this continent. They arrived years ago as early explorers discovered the Americas. These non-native invasive species are tough to manage as they repopulate quickly. This is because feral hog sows can produce 2 to 3 litters each year! Each litter size can range from 10 to 15 piglets. This means one sow can rear 30 to 45 piglets in a given year.

Adam recently tagged this large sow during a hunt in Western Oklahoma.

How do you manage such an active population? Trapping feral hogs has proven to be the most effective way to manage these populations. Trapping allows a landowner to potentially remove a large amount of hogs at one time. Entire sounders have been trapped and removed with trapping efforts. If trapping is not an option, intense hunting pressure is the next most effective way to keep hogs from doing damage to a property. Feral hogs react to intense hunting pressure. They will often leave an area that they feel is unsafe.

Baiting an area, where legal, will condition hogs to this specific location. When hogs become use to the bait site and start using it during daylight hours, then it is time to hunt! Put in time and hunt these areas. Not only will you be harvesting and removing feral hogs, but sending a message to them as well. The message is that this area is now unsafe! Hopefully this will result in hogs moving off your property.

Growing Deer together,

Matt