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 Wild pigs marching into Virginia 
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Boss Gobbler

Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 10:59 pm
Posts: 2851
Location: Roanoke
Post Wild pigs marching into Virginia
Quote:
There’s a population explosion of large, wild animals in the Virginia woods, and it’s not the cute, doe-eyed kind that conjures images of Bambi.

They have razor-sharp teeth, curling tusks and a nasty temper that prompts some to charge humans. They’re called feral hogs, wild pigs or big boars, but the names are lumped together because, said Mike Dye, a biologist for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, “a pig is a pig.”


Article can be read here................ http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ ... story.html

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"What gets us jangly is the suddenness of everything. We hunt turkeys because we want to hear them gobble, watch them strut and all that, and we hunt them with shotguns because we want to be close to them when those things occur." - Jim Spencer


Fri Jan 03, 2014 3:44 am
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King of Spring

Joined: Thu Apr 01, 2010 8:48 pm
Posts: 790
Location: Westmoreland co. Va
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
Let them come to the eastern Va. i'm pretty sure there is enough hunters here to take care of it. I know i killed one in Florida a few years ago an it was a big sow she was tough as shoe leather we boiled an grilled it an everything, the only way we could get it to taste good was in a crockpot for 24 hours with bbq sauce.

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Fri Jan 03, 2014 10:53 am
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Longbeard
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Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2004 8:24 am
Posts: 182
Location: Knoxville, TN
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
Trust me, you do not want any part of pigs in Virginia. They are making a mess in Tennessee.


Fri Jan 03, 2014 10:55 am
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2 Year Old

Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:57 pm
Posts: 65
Location: King George VA
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
they will become a bigger problem than yote's


Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:59 pm
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Longbeard

Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:54 pm
Posts: 172
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
Trust me when I say hunters can not take care of this problem!! They have invaded Culpeper county and have spread out like wild fire. These pigs become very smart and nocturnal. They constantly stay on the move, never staying anywhere very long. They multiply like crazy with a path of destuction behind them. They have been hunted hard in that area. Baited, spotlighted, shot on the spot whenever they are spotted, and there is more every year.


Sat Jan 04, 2014 12:29 am
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King of Spring

Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 10:22 pm
Posts: 310
Location: bland county va.
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
they have been in bland county va. for 5 years or so.. not my part of the county yet. and hope they dont..


Sat Jan 04, 2014 8:44 am
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Boss Gobbler

Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 10:59 pm
Posts: 2851
Location: Roanoke
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
Yeah I have attempted to hunt them once or twice on the east side of the county. Hard to get permission on the best places.

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"What gets us jangly is the suddenness of everything. We hunt turkeys because we want to hear them gobble, watch them strut and all that, and we hunt them with shotguns because we want to be close to them when those things occur." - Jim Spencer


Sun Jan 05, 2014 9:33 pm
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2 Year Old

Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 12:45 pm
Posts: 96
Location: Windsor, Virginia
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
Saw a big black one with huge tusks on the back of a guy's truck in Blackstone VA on 1/3/14...


Mon Jan 06, 2014 8:32 am
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King of Spring

Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 7:40 am
Posts: 2696
Location: Baltimore, MD
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
I agree that you don't want them there, TX and other states have very liberal hunting and still have big problems. I like to hunt them and if VA gets a good population I will probably get a license and hunt them. Was actually thinking of hunting some pigs this spring. If anyone is going let me know.

Vic

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Vic

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Mon Jan 06, 2014 10:16 am
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King of Spring

Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2004 8:30 pm
Posts: 988
Location: Lexington
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
It really burns me up, how some folk are selfish enough to release these for their own sport, without regard to the damage they do to others. I hope they can slap felony charges on anybody caught releasing them.


Mon Jan 06, 2014 9:54 pm
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King of Spring

Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 4:50 pm
Posts: 2647
Location: central Va
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
Neill I believe the article greatly exagerates the "hunter release" of pigs. It could have happened and I agree with your sentiments. However anyone who has raised pigs can tell you they are extemely challenging to keep penned. Many think you can casually keep hogs then don't extend enough effort to recover the lost or repair fencing. I may be wrong but think the spotsy/culpeper pigs got started from lost stock.


Tue Jan 07, 2014 2:12 pm
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King of Spring

Joined: Thu Apr 01, 2010 8:48 pm
Posts: 790
Location: Westmoreland co. Va
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
This situation kind of reminds me of when i was a young hunter in King George Co. in the late 80's early 90's you never heard of coyote or anyone who seen one an if someone killed one oh my it was in the newspaper an the talk of the town. Now here it is 2014 they have migrated, were now they have problem with them in the northern neck. I have buddy's who do nothing but hunt coyote's day night where ever an when ever. I feel as if they do migrate this way it just gives me another thing to hunt, I have hunted turkey's in south Georgia where the hog problem is supposed to be one of the worst places in the state an didn't notice any difference in the turkey population it seemed like they're were more turkey's there then here in the Northern Neck.

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Tue Jan 07, 2014 3:55 pm
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Boss Gobbler

Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 10:59 pm
Posts: 2851
Location: Roanoke
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
Bird Dog wrote:
Neill I believe the article greatly exagerates the "hunter release" of pigs. It could have happened and I agree with your sentiments. However anyone who has raised pigs can tell you they are extemely challenging to keep penned. Many think you can casually keep hogs then don't extend enough effort to recover the lost or repair fencing. I may be wrong but think the spotsy/culpeper pigs got started from lost stock.


I do believe you are right that most are escaped livestock turned feral. However the ones in Bland & Giles county were released by someone wanting to hunt them and charge others to hunt them from what I have heard.

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"What gets us jangly is the suddenness of everything. We hunt turkeys because we want to hear them gobble, watch them strut and all that, and we hunt them with shotguns because we want to be close to them when those things occur." - Jim Spencer


Tue Jan 07, 2014 4:16 pm
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King of Spring

Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2004 8:30 pm
Posts: 988
Location: Lexington
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
Here's the thing on escapees. If you look at a map of confirmed feral pig locations in VA....they've mostly popped up in the last 10 years or so. There's been farm pigs in this state for hundreds of years. Now the sudden spike in escapees?


Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:24 pm
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King of Spring
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Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2009 5:12 am
Posts: 2451
Location: Midland, VA
Post Re: Wild pigs marching into Virginia
I know this is the deer section but posted below an article done by Lovett Williams in 2012. Also a couple of the turkey symposium books stated the same. And since I don't hunt deer I am ignorant to the fact.

My question would be how is the deer population affected by a wild hog population?

I seen a lot of crop and forest damage. Where I hunt in Florida on the potato farms they do a lot of crop damage. At Ft. Stewart GA I usually hunt every spring the damage they do in the training areas is unbelievable.

Here is the article:

We have recently experienced an increase in the wild hog population at my favorite local turkey hunting spot, and it seems that the turkey population has decreased in inverse proportion to the increase in hogs. I contend that since hogs eat much the same food as turkeys — but in voracious and plant-killing amounts — not to mention the possibility of nest predation, that hogs are affecting the turkey numbers. What is the current thinking on this issue? — Chuck

We asked well-known turkey biologist Lovett Williams to address this question. Here's his response:

"I’ve worked with wild turkeys for many years in Florida and have examined more than 300 turkey nests in wild hog country, but I’ve never seen evidence of a hog destroying a turkey nest. No doubt, a hog will eat a turkey egg if it finds one, but I don’t think hogs are serious nest predators, as is sometimes claimed.

"Do hogs eat some of the same foods as turkeys? Hogs like acorns as much as turkeys do, but when it comes to serious hogging of turkey foods, you can relax — the turkey has no serious competition. Deer, mice, jays, crows, squirrels, chipmunks, woodpeckers and large blackbirds eat as many acorns as feral hogs do. More important, turkeys can thrive on hundreds of food items that hogs and other acorn eaters don’t eat.

"Some of the best turkey populations in the southern United States coincide with the densest feral hog populations, with no evidence of serious competition. Turkeys even benefit from wild hog rooting by following close behind hogs and finding foods the pigs uncovered but missed.

"There are good reasons to exclude or eradicate free-ranging hogs at some places and control their numbers almost everywhere, but turkey nest predation and competition for food are not among them."



Earl

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Wed Jan 08, 2014 7:26 am
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