talk about Hogs ,Heres one about deer

[bersaguy]

Back many years ago they use to allow you to hunt wild hogs in management areas like Catoosa Wildlife areas but I don't think they have any hunts any more. I know another story about a state that made a similar mistake but it was with Deer. Evidently the Governor of Illinois in 1948 thought like PETA and he outlawed the hunting of deer in Illinois till further notice. Well over the years all the Governors followed suit. Well even though deer don't populate like hogs to do reproduce and they did so very proudly all across the state of Illinois till 1991. Even though the farmers complained to the Governors that they were losing a 1/3 of their crops or more to the deer it fell on deaf ears. People in big towns and small cities were complaining because the deer were eating their shrubs around their houses that also fell on deaf ears. In 1991 while a Jumbo 747 was on final approach for landing at O'Hare Airport a herd of about 500 + deer strolled out onto the runway and in a panic the pilots were able to climb back in the air causing air traffic controllers in panic mode because the skies where full over Chicago and they went on full alert and all planes had to take evasive action to prevent mid air crashes. They sent a crew out on the runway to chase the deer off but they were so use to being around humans it took the a long time and flights had to be diverted to Midway airport in Chicago. The mayor Of Chicago contacted the Governor about the issue and a plan was drawn up for the DNR to trap the deer and move them out to the farm lands in middle and southern Illinois. When the farmers heard about their plans they went crazy. They told the Governor that if they began trucking deer south from Chicago they would start shooting the deer as fast as possible and maybe in the truck drivers bringing the deer down there. The Governor said that it would be dealt with in another way and professional hunters were brought in and told to kill the deer and Neuhoff (spelling) Packing Company in Chicago would be paid to process the meat and it would be given to the Orphanages and homeless shelters and soup kitchens all across Chicago. When the Mayor asked the hunters how much of a problem he had they said the entire city is infested with deer and at almost epidemic proportion. The mayor of Chicago and all towns and small cities in Illinois filed a petition that the state of Illinois open a deer season and allow hunters to hunt them. It passed on first reading and the DNR made a seasonal schedule that began at the beginning of the following month which was September and ran through February for the first year with a no sex no limit rule for the first year. Bow, shotgun slug and muzzle loaders were all legal but no High Power rifles. a buddy of mine and his tow sons killed 88 deer the first season as he and his family own a large farm in Streator Illinois. They were feeding the entire small town deer meat.  Another thing the seasons helped was the auto insurance industry and policy holders because as the deer populations began to fall so did the auto/deer accidents and peoples insurance began to get lower as the accidents declined. It took about 10 years to get the deer population in check. About the middle of the second year the Governor was concerned with all the dead deer carcasses laying beside highways all over the state may cause disease so he began contracting people to clean up the highways and came up with another plan to continue feeding the orphanages and other charities so a plan was put in place to help the auto owner who's cars were damaged by a deer. If immediately after accident that person called a number they had listed a processor would immediately collect the deer and process it before the meat spoiled that state would pay that persons deductible charges on their insurance for the repairs to their vehicle. That was in place for the 1st 10 years of the deer season but don't know if it is still in effect as I lost my friend to cancer so have not learned much more but I think his sons are still doing it. The state paid them to pick up the deer, process it and if they could not deliver it because at that time it was not needed  they were paid to keep the meat in coolers and or freezers. I went up to visit him back in 1993 and at that time he had 10 large Chest type freezers in his processing area. I know this kind of a long read but it all comes back to the issue with the hogs. If they don't open up a season on them in Tennessee the situation with the Hogs will be much worse much quicker...............jmho

[DaveS]

The state of TN however says; that the hog program is working and they have seen a drastic decline in the hog population. I call BS on this as I'm seeing hogs now in places I've never seen them before! Right on their own WMA's!!

 

Dave

[Hozzie]

I can tell you that deer hunting was going on in IL well before 1991.  Cook county may have had some ordinance, but certainly, IL as a whole didn't ban deer hunting.  

[bersaguy]

I can tell you that deer hunting was going on in IL well before 1991.  Cook county may have had some ordinance, but certainly, IL as a whole didn't ban deer hunting.  

I stand corrected on the dates and it did have a limited deer season beginning back in 1957 after being closed across the state for 50 years. Cook County did not allow it till 1991. But they did band it for those 50 years statewide. I grew up hunting in Illinois and I know that we were not allow to kill deer in Cook County, Will county and Dupage Counties which was the area I lived in. Maybe farther south they had seasons but none around where I lived. It may have just been selected counties and I will do more research on it.

 

Deer Hunting 

Illinois has gained world renown for our deer population - and particularly for our big bucks. Illinois’ modern firearm deer season began in 1957, after being closed for more than 50 years, and white-tail herd growth and hunting opportunities have expanded ever since.

[Hozzie]

I grew up in Manteno (Kankakee County).  I did quite a bit of hunting around those areas including Will County, but most of my deer hunting was done in Southern IL on my aunt and uncle's farm near Anna.  I am 38 so the years where there was a ban around it never affected me.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Hozzie

[bersaguy]

I grew up in Manteno (Kankakee County).  I did quite a bit of hunting around those areas including Will County, but most of my deer hunting was done in Southern IL on my aunt and uncle's farm near Anna.  I am 38 so the years where there was a ban around it never affected me.

 

well I am 66 years old and I can remember doing a lot of small game hunting about anywhere we wanted to hunt but my Uncles and their friends that wanted to hunt deer had to go to Wisconsin to deer hunt because there was not a season for it in upper Illinois they could hunt deer in. It did say in one article that a limited deer season was opened in 1957 but it didn't say in what areas of the state except for Cook county and a few counties that surrounded it were off limits. I lived in cook county barely. I could walk about 2 miles down the road I lived on and would be in Will County. The home I use to live in and grew up in is now gone along with every other house on that road and the entire area has become a wildlife refuge and is part of the Black Partridge Forest now. The area I lived in was mostly wetlands and the duck hunting was wonderful back then............... :woohoo: :woohoo:

[JWC]

I pondered hogs today. I don't really see what the State has against them. Best I could come up with: crop damage

They still grow crops in all the states where there are really large hog populations. Deer, turkeys, and even non-game species still thrive. Only difference I see is folks there get to hunt something year round if they want.

To me the added hunting opportunity outweighs any negative. I'd like for em to be on a property I hunt. Be a nice addition to my $150 per year resident sportsman license.

And outlaw or not if I ever see one while hunting in Tn I'm gonna shoot it and sneak the meat home :)

I dearly hope their stupid experiment fails miserably. Technically they can still be hunted if a property owner gets an exemption. I understand the idea is it will keep them from being stocked or spreading but who really gives a damn if they spread? Who wouldn't want another huntable species statewide?

[whitewolf001]

The state of TN however says; that the hog program is working and they have seen a drastic decline in the hog population. I call BS on this as I'm seeing hogs now in places I've never seen them before! Right on their own WMA's!!

 

Dave

This IS the government you're talking about here... 

[Guest TankerHC]

When I was looking for a place to Hunt Hogs in TN several months back did some studying on the subject. According to several different State's Fish and Game the "Russian Boar" problem can be traced back to one man. 

 

Back when I hunted in Maryland as a kid we had the same issue with Deer, but not Whitetails, as every State except one in the Continental United States has with Hogs. Today they act like theese Deer in Maryland, Northern Virginia are well managed and the Government did it which was total BS. These Deer are Sika Deer and they are not even Deer, they are Elk. A large Buck would dress out at about 30-50 pounds. 

 

Before I could go Hunting, I went through the NRA Youth Hunter Safety Course, they took us out and showed us the difference between Whitetail and Sika. you could shoot Sika Deer on the same stamp as Whitetail, but not until you took a Whitetail first. The second year I went Hunting in Western Maryland and Eastern Shore, the rules had changed. The Hunters had somehow got it changed and you could take your Whitetail or Sika, but you could take a Whitetail and TEN Sika, 5 Does and 5 Bucks on the same stamp. When I was a kid the woods were full of Deer, you could about take one with a rock. 

 

I am not making this up, and anyone who hunted up there can only vouch for this being the truth because I saw it with my own eyes every year for two or three years, walking through the woods and Mountains, there would be Sika deer dead all over the place. Blasted, had seen them blown completely half in two laying in the trail, I know on one Thanksgiving weekend walking down a trail in Snow Hill, Maryland that there were hundreds of them on this single trail. There were so many Hunters in the woods that you couldnt walk 3 feet without bumping into another Hunter. The Hunters were going out in groups just to kill them because they had ruined the Whitetail populations, those Deer were brought in early in the 20th Century by a guy named Clement Henry who's name is well known among Maryland Hunters for causing the ruin of the Whitetail populations. He brought them in from Japan.

 

Today there is the same situation with Whitetail. The State claims the Sika populations are managed and take credit for it. Well they didnt do it, the Hunters did it. I know because I saw them do it. My father wouldnt even take a Sika, said it felt like he was shooting a German Shepherd and not worth the effort to take one from what you got out of them. When they began culling them, he wouldnt shoot one and wouldnt allow me to shoot one either, said let the others do it, they were doing a good job, they can focus on that and we will get our Whitetail. 

 

One of my Uncles Hunts all over but mostly Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Owns a Hunting Camp in Virginia but has not even been Hunting in 3 years, he just goes down to keep the vegetation down around the Trailers. Reason he doesnt Hunt is because now the Whitetail populations are out of control. Just had this conversation with him back in September, the restrictions placed on Hunters now (Up there) have caused the Whitetail populations to explode. He said used to be he had to actually Hunt. Says today he cant even drive on the property without seeing 50 of them. And it isnt just his property, on the way, he says there are deer lying dead all over the roads, also says in some areas they are starving to death. Said he has never seen anything like it and has been Hunting in MD for 50 years. 

 

THEN, last week I read an article (Which I am going to try to find and post) about some State where the Whitetail Deer are also completely out of control, you wouldnt believe their solution unless you read it for yourself. I had to look and google to make sure I wasnt reading a comedy site. I didnt post it here because I STILL wasnt sure it was not a joke. The Deer in this place are out of control, they are damaging property and according to Fish and Game in this area, there should be about 14 (I think that is the number) Deer per square mile. Instead there are 200 per square mile. The recommendation was let the hunters begin culling, loosen restrictions and lower the populations, they are only hurting the deer populations by letting them get out of control like that. Thier solution?

 

Capture the Deer alive, the females and remove their ovaries then release them safely back into the wild. The wild they are talking about is Suburban Developments.  The populations are 15 times what they should be to support a Deer population and their solution is to remove ovaries and release them.

 

Fish and Game guys know what they are doing. Their hands are tied by the Green people, animal lovers and Liberal Tree Huggers (Who also happ[en to be responsible for many of the major wildfires in California).

 

The only thing, and that is THE ONLY THING that will get any population of ANY animal under control is Hunters, period. What do these people think, the Native Americans ate grass? 

[DaveS]

I pondered hogs today. I don't really see what the State has against them. Best I could come up with: crop damage

They still grow crops in all the states where there are really large hog populations. Deer, turkeys, and even non-game species still thrive. Only difference I see is folks there get to hunt something year round if they want.

To me the added hunting opportunity outweighs any negative. I'd like for em to be on a property I hunt. Be a nice addition to my $150 per year resident sportsman license.

And outlaw or not if I ever see one while hunting in Tn I'm gonna shoot it and sneak the meat home :)

I dearly hope their stupid experiment fails miserably. Technically they can still be hunted if a property owner gets an exemption. I understand the idea is it will keep them from being stocked or spreading but who really gives a damn if they spread? Who wouldn't want another huntable species statewide?

JWC; they're spreading anyways!!!

 

Been there done that!

 

 

Dave

[bersaguy]

Wild Hogs like someone has already mentioned has spread to about all the states and I think there needs to be concerns about this. Hogs are not like deer. Hogs can be and are dangerous and can be and in many cases be very aggressive towards humans. If small children are out in the yard and hogs are near by, those children are clearly in a very dangerous situation. Hogs can be and in many cases carnivores and will eat meat with out a second thought when hungry. I do know a farmer that has shot and killed several on his farm that were damaging his crops and his home garden. He shot them and then took his tractor and back hoe and buried them. he was totally legal in doing so as they were being a nuisance and destroying his property. I also know another farmer that has shot several on his property also but I think he did what I would do. He butchered them up as he would a domestic hog and put them in his freezer. I would be saving that 200 lbs of meat if I had freezer space for it. If the states that do have a large population of wild hogs don't take action and a child ends up dead from them I would be suing that state for having both the knowledge that they have a problem and also are not doing anything to remedy it................jmho  

[Guest TankerHC]

Wild Hogs like someone has already mentioned has spread to about all the states and I think there needs to be concerns about this. Hogs are not like deer. Hogs can be and are dangerous and can be and in many cases be very aggressive towards humans. If small children are out in the yard and hogs are near by, those children are clearly in a very dangerous situation. Hogs can be and in many cases carnivores and will eat meat with out a second thought when hungry. I do know a farmer that has shot and killed several on his farm that were damaging his crops and his home garden. He shot them and then took his tractor and back hoe and buried them. he was totally legal in doing so as they were being a nuisance and destroying his property. I also know another farmer that has shot several on his property also but I think he did what I would do. He butchered them up as he would a domestic hog and put them in his freezer. I would be saving that 200 lbs of meat if I had freezer space for it. If the states that do have a large population of wild hogs don't take action and a child ends up dead from them I would be suing that state for having both the knowledge that they have a problem and also are not doing anything to remedy it................jmho  

 

Last year Field and Stream had an article about the spread of wild hogs (The reason I know it can be traced to one man on the Boar, they named him and how they got out), The F&S writer wrote that all but one of the Continental US has a Hog problem except one, Rhode Island and up until last year Rhode Island had never seen a wild hog, they are there now but not in large numbers, F&S said they give it about a year. Every State that has them has a problem, worst being Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia with Alabama and Tennessee close behind and still a problem but only going to get worse.  

Edited January 29, 2014 by TankerHC

[JWC]

The biggest proble TN has is that we don't have more of them and a nice liberal year-round, day or night season to shoot them. JMHO.

But hey I like to eat pork and don't really like buying meat at the store. Don't really trust where it came from, how it was produced, or handled.
If I could harvest pork the only thing left to buy is chicken and would probably go to buying local grown because I'd have more money to put toward it. Hell i think we oughta work towards getting a population of feral chickens too!