Kill wild pigs…now

Published 3:41 pm Friday, January 15, 2016

It matters not whether that trigger is attached to an AR, your deer rifle or to a trap, now is the time to pull the trigger on wild pigs!

The next 60 days offer the harshest weather conditions of the year in East Texas, and wild pigs will be increasingly on the move (sometimes even in daylight hours) on their quest for scarce food resources. Their mobility will make them more vulnerable to control via strategic shooting and trapping, the two methods that accounted for 92% of the wild pig take in 2010, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension landowner survey.

Strategic shooting can include baiting to a spot monitored by a game camera, approaching from downwind once the pigs are patterned and removing them with prejudice. Many are turning to nocturnal control efforts using infra-red or thermal imaging vision equipment because that is when pigs are most active. Those without the enhanced optics can use solar powered landscape lights to provide enough light for the pigs to be picked up using conventional scopes, particularly when the pigs can be baited to specific locations. The night vision equipment is also mighty effective while cruising cattle pastures as the pigs root for whatever food they can find on a cold winter night.

Trapping is the landowner’s number one weapon in the War on Wild Pigs. However, to be successful, pigs must be pre-bated and trained onto bait. Once this is accomplished, a trap of the appropriate size, based on the number of pigs in the sounder, can be erected. The minimum size trap I will build consists of four 15′ by 5′ panels with 4″ x 4″ mesh. About 25 t-posts 6 ½ feet long will be needed to support the mesh. I can build this trap, including gate for about $500. More on trapping protocol can be found in the Hogs in the Peaches section on http://feralhogs.tamu.edu .

Food is scarce and pigs are on the move. Now is the time to concentrate on strategic shooting and trapping to get as many pigs removed as possible as sows will begin having litters very soon. Besides, it’s not a bad way to spend some quality time outdoors now that the 2015-16 hunting seasons are winding down!