Well, thought I’d take a jog through the RSS feeds to see what’s going on with hogs in the news lately. Generally, this search leads to some blurbs and blips about wild pigs, and the occasional humorous story about wild hogs getting into some kind of trouble.
What I hadn’t hoped for was something like this bit, posted in the Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown, PA. Here’s the critical kernel, if you will…
Although the study did not conclusively link the problem to hunting preserves, it found much that implies they are involved.
“We found it alarming, the amount of hunting preserves that are actually bringing these hogs into the state,” Glass said. “Some of them actually advertise that there is no fence. There are shooting preserves in 15 counties, some of them have multiple shooting preserves, and each of the five counties where we have confirmed feral hogs do have shooting preserves in them.”
This is becoming a more and more recurrent story, and it’s really concerning me. First of all, it’s just wrong and irresponsible for anyone to import and establish breeding populations of invasive, non-native species in native habitats…especially knowing what we know now about ecology. To think these folks are doing this solely in the name of the almighty buck really galls me.
Fortunately, at least for now, there’s no direct evidence that the hog hunting operations or “preserves” are intentionally spreading the population of wild hogs, but even the incidental escape of breeders is a big problem and, if it’s not curtailed, it’s something that is going to have a negative effect on hunters and hunt operations down the road.
I love hunting wild hogs. I can’t say I’m not glad I have the opportunity to do so. But the conservationist (and yes, the environmentalist) in me would not be sorry to see these animals gone from most parts of the country. The long term effects of the spread of wild hogs is yet to be determined, of course, but most indicators are that it can’t be a good thing.
I really hate the thought that it is hunters, and hunt operations, that are causing the continued spread of these animals when our very justification for liberal hunting seasons and limits is that we’re trying to eradicate them. The anti-hunters won’t need a lot of this kind of ammunition to come after us hard and fast. Don’t be surprised if more states take the direction of Kansas and ban sport hunting for wild hogs altogether.
At the very least, I’ve come to believe that one of the best strategies to control the spread is to stop allowing anyone to profit from hog hunting…whether it’s guides, tresspass fees, or maybe even preserves that can’t seem to keep their stock contained.
