Are Wild Hogs A Curse Or Potential Savior, by John Alden
Skyrocketing inflation, supply line shortages, Big foods shutting down processing plants over the Fauci Flu. Well you get the picture.
Anyone who buys food at the grocery store knows the prices are going to the moon and there is no end in sight.
This whole thing could come crashing down as soon as the underappreciated true American heroes the truckers say screw this and stop driving. Everything we Americans use is delivered on a truck and could become a non-item at the drop of a hat.
A forced Vaccine mandate on Truckers will do just that and its coming! The Department Of Transportation will make the clot shot a mandatory part of a driver’s required physical. It’s that simple. No Shot, No License, No job, No food delivered. The Criminals in DC know the Trucking industry will revolt and stop driving creating more chaos and that’s their plan.
Now I live in a small community and am always looking for potential food sources to feed my family and friends when SHTF, I have my book on foraging, I’ve learned how to make snares and trapping, how to procure clean drinking water and the like.
One of my favorite things to do is ride my four wheeler to the island every afternoon and as a guy that loves BBQ I’m always thinking to myself these pesky hogs are everywhere, they have large litters, their easy to find, easy to trap, are self-reliant, they need no feeding or water every day and mostly stick around the same general area.
Most people see a monster that likes tearing up there veggie garden or eating the family cat, However I see a renewable food source.
We as hunter’s farmers and survivalists should take a second look at the menacing wild hog population as just that, a reliable food source for when the gears of America finally stop and they will.
The really smart people will set up processing facilities so they can buy the deceased and live hogs, process them and sell or barter the meat to people in need for silver, ammunition or other valuable items or services creating a whole new industry.
I believe everything happens for a reason so maybe the wild Hogs are a true blessing in disguise.
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Another case for using NODs with suppressed sub-sonic ammo.
In a time/place where reliance on wild meats is ongoing, announcing the taking of some critter with an echoing high-velocity rifle shot might be akin to ringing the dinner bell – for guests you really didn’t want to invite.
i keep saying this too,if you ever want to see the tactical application of nods laser and thermals just hop on youtube and watch some hog hunting videos. dudes will pull up at night and slay up to 100 pigs! you are feeding the whole community off that hows about hearts and minds and network building. Just like Native Alaskans the younger folks trap and hunt and share the catch with the elderly.
i think those in texas and hog infested areas will be ok, i keep joking with my friends in texas but its true. it may be a blessing in disguise.
In a grid down environment wild game will be mostly be unavailable especially in suburban areas; Country folks will have better pickins. I estimate 50-75% of most game will go to feed the foxes and scavengers because many folks dont have killing, cleaning and preserving skills unlike most of the folks reading in this community. Most meat will be ruined or spoiled. Sharing wont be a thing but with just a few.
Harvesting wild game is not even in my feeding plan but I do have salt curing, smoking, canning and preservations skills in case some meat presents. In the first week, shots will ring out 24/7 with the hungry killing anything edible including cats, dogs, birds, squirrels, rabbits, deer and hogs(if around). After 30-60 days the cannibals will be foraging and in 6 months it will be mostly over.
Study the Holodomor and get back to me if you think Im off on estimations. Hungry folks will eat anything and everything including you!
R
I have killed well over a thousand feral hogs, been shooting them for over 25 years now. The feral hog is unquestionably a huge benefit for the survivalist. People talk about all the game being shot out during SHTF. They are wrong, at least as regards feral hogs- they are the cockroaches of the wild.
Several university and Department of Wildlife studies have shown that in order to maintain a ‘steady state’ population of hogs you must crop at an 80% level. That’s merely to maintain stasis in the system. Anything less and you will have hog populations expanding. A sow on good ground will drop three litters of piglets per year. Those litters will run 6-12 piglets apiece. The hog is an omnivore, they will eat roadkill, bird eggs, and almost every manner of green vegetation- all they need is a bit of water and some cover to thrive. While they may be the bane of farmers and run deer away from hunters feeders, the Eco Nuts hate them as an “invasive species” but they are the survivalists best source of wild, long term protein on the hoof.
Feral hogs will keep me and mine fed LONG after TSHTF. The best setup in my opinion is an AR15 with a thermal scope and a suppressor- light, high capacity, cheap to shoot, low recoil moderately quiet. Hogs are not immune to bullets despite all the crazy tales you will hear. I have killed hundreds with the 5.56 and lost very few. A decent bullet, well placed will kill them. Nothing wrong with the .300 Blackout, 7.62×39, 6.8 or even the typical “deer rifle” but they aren’t necessary.
havent been hog hunting yet but looking at next year. As i got invited by some buddies actually this week, they did a helo hunt and sent mesome video, I have seen an old timer on youtube dropping hogs with eye shots with a 22LR rifle. so they are not bullet proof as some think!
Dumb question, but I keep hearing that feral hogs have a disease (forget which one) that would make consuming them a bad idea. Is this just hogwash (couldn’t help myself), or is there something to that?
you might be thinking of trichinosis which bears carry sometimes. people get bear meat tested for it. but if your are taking wild game and its questionable dont cook it rare. cook it thorough which is why people jerk smoke or down right char the meat for thousands of years.
It could also be confused with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer in which you are at risk from the prions.
https://wildlife-damage-management.extension.org/feral-hog-diseases-and-health-risks/
found a list of diseases carried
American Yeoman, I’m intrigued by your success using 5.56. What good bullets do you recommend? Would you use the same for Whitetail?
Many years ago I got a deal on several cases of Winchester 64 grain power points. Been using them ever since. I’ve killed 3-4 deer with them during that time as well.
For meat I cannot disagree about the above thoughts.
For everything else INCLUDING Clean Safe Water supplies the wild hog is a hazard. Hog shit or human shit same difference in surface water. Plenty of zoomorphic diseases to “Share” with you, your kids and homestead activities. A danger to your domestic animals including your Dogs (working and Pet) and DESTRUCTIVE beyond understanding as they destroy your chicken coop, eat-scatter your chickens and so on.
So, Meat you’ll have until SCURVY destroys your teeth, skin and immune system as the wild hogs destroy the fruit trees, gardens and wild forage foods for their feed. Historically it wasn’t always “Hillbilly” stupidity that caused their snaggle toothed scrawny look. It was wild hogs eating up their gardens and Hog Parasites infesting their bellies.
Fun to HUNT well away from your family and homestead. Not something you want near them.
You should never get scurvy. There’s something even more prevalent than wild hogs and that’s pine needles; as in pine needle tea. Aside from it making antiviral shikimic acid it is also full of vitamin C I think. I learned this on here from NC. Pretty simple to make I have done it 2x. You can see some videos on YouTube on how to make it.
Hogs can definitely cause a lot of problems, but the issue of water contamination is not going to be coming from hogs any more than any other animals. If you aren’t taking care to make your water safe to drink you probably aren’t going to live long enough to have to worry about any of the other issues you’re bringing up.
Scurvy is not something you will have to worry about if you have any basic knowledge of wild edibles. Like Luke said, pine needle tea will provide all of the vitamin C you need, and should be something you use now for supplemental vitamin C. There are TONS of plants out there that can and will provide the vitamins and minerals that you need, if you take the time to learn, and hogs can’t destroy all of them.
As for parasites- cook ANY meat from a wild hog very well.
Spruce Beer is freaking good.
I’ve been meaning to try some spruce beer ever since watching Townsend’s video on it. That and mushroom ketchup. Other Vit C sources include strawberries, tomatoes, and chiles. All totally growable plants. Heck, we had volunteer tomatoes spring up into a small jungle at the foot of one of our pecan saplings. Not sure how the seeds ended up there, but I’m not complaining.
Friend of mine made it once. Pretty good stuff. Using the same recipe from the video. Townsend’s description of it is spot on.
Hogs may get some other crops, but I can’t imagine all. With regard to food other than meat, I’d suggest planting edible landscape – Filberts, American persimmon, blueberry, ground cherries, to name a few different items. If these things create a haven for wild animals, then the food has just come to you.
The feral hog certainly ain’t the whitetail deer. In my region we use to have a healthy deer population. That has completely changed in 5 years. DNR mismanagement, doing away with back tags, DNR importing natures predators in the form of Wolves, Bobcats and Mountain Lions then denying they brought them in and planted them, CWD, Blue Tongue, mites, attempted eradication in certain counties because of the CWD. In another 5 years, I doubt we will have any deer left. 5 years ago, I could pick and choose what I shot, now the first buck that comes along gets shot and we try to preserve our local doe and fawn herd on the 300+ acres, but it is not working.
Predators and Prey come and go.
This includes all shapes and sizes.
I used to have 20 doves I would feed every morning. Then a Martin’s Hawk (Actually a small Kestrel I believe) moved in and ate all my friends. Killed quite a few of them right in front of me.
In Wyoming we had more jack rabbits on our mountain then you could imagine a few years ago. FAR more than the area could sustain. But then Coyotes, Badgers, Eagles, Snakes, and Weasels moved in and ate all the Jack Rabbits.
Some years we have several families of 10-20 mountain Sheep. Then they get a Cougar on them who will eat every single one of them. Starting with the Lambs. Takes about 4 months for a Cougar to eat 15 lambs and sheep.
The predators in your areas will eat all the sick and dying prey. And then healthy prey populations will move in. Then healthy predators. So on and so forth. That’s how populations in the wild work. A constant state of flux.
5 years ago we had no Mountain Lion, no Bobcat; 15 years ago we had literally no wolves, and it was that way for 30 years prior. I know what DNR did, my dad ran one of biggest Pro-Shops for archery in the state back then and DNR essentially told us what they were going to do; basically they sat in our living room one day and asked my dad’s opinion. The other Fudds did not listen and did not fight back, now we are in a sorry state. IMO the deer population is doomed. Let us know when you want all those predators sent your way Johnny, if I had it my way you can have them all, one way because their population is out of control and we’re not legally allowed to do anything about it.
The good thing about predators in Texas- mountain lions- because they are the only animals that pose a real threat to hogs, is that they are an unregulated species here. They are so uncommon that you can shoot them without penalty at any time- same applies to elk oddly enough….We do have a few bears, they are protected, but honestly, there is minimal habit for them. We just don’t see many at all.
No pack of coyotes is going to think about tangling with a sounder of 10-20 hogs, the hogs would grind them into mincemeat and eat them. I’ve chased hogs across a plowed field (not recommended for your suspension btw…) for nearly a quarter mile at 35-40 MPH in a pickup, they are FAST.
Those predators will eventually starve to death and the cycle will start up again.
An open eco system will always change….
I consider myself fortunate that I am old enough that I had Grandparents that lived through the Great Depression. I stayed at their house quite a bit, and was fed vegetables out of the garden, some wild game, and a lot of catfish out of the river. The Depression had long been over by the time I was around, but I don’t think they had changed their way of doing stuff much. One lesson which really stuck with me was the one of the two large Black Walnut Trees in the yard. Every fall they would dump tons of nuts, which my Grandfather harvested, cracked open on an old anvil, and then proceeded with extracting the kernel. I would come by and eat handfuls of them much to my Grandfather’s displeasure. Anyway, my point being, is that there are nut trees all over the place, walnuts, hickories, pecans and various species of oaks even in inner cities. Most people seem to me to be completely unaware of what a delicious and nutritious food source nuts are. In my AO, I am working on growing chestnuts, which were once a very important food source for wild animals and people alike.
There is an excellent book that I have read several times called- Tree Crops, A Permanent Agriculture. There were/are entire cultures based around tree agriculture- think Olives and Figs in the middle east and Mediterranean Europe. Cork trees in Spain and Portugal, Rubber trees in SE. Asia etc….The bonus is that most people, unless it’s an obvious fruit or nut tree that’s actively bearing, have no idea that you can “EAT STUFF FROM TREES”….Lol, they don’t think of it as a food source. We have lots of Edible Landscaping every place that I live or might live in the future….
Interesting article, I’ve had similar thoughts. My grandpa told me that when his dad was a kid during the Great Depression that whitetail almost went extinct. When Sammy Starving Suburbanite goes out with his rusty pump shotgun with only a vague idea that he needs to shoot an animal, he’s probably thinking of deer. Hog populations are a lot more resilient than deer, being omnivorous, MORE than capable of fighting back against predators, and having such numbers. I think hogs have the potential to be an excellent community food source if they’re in your area. Regarding hunting methods, as mentioned above, ARs and NODs are one of the more efficient ways to do it now, but one might might want to look into other methods of killing them besides shooting in case you can’t use firearms for reasons of either economy or OPSEC. Another anecdote from the 30’s is that a lot of conventional fishing stopped, but noodling and trout tickling became very popular.
If I was feeding people as a necessity vs. just killing hogs for fun and a few eaters, I would snare or trap the hogs. I’ve done both. Hogs, like most animals- people included, are creatures of habit. They snare relatively easily if you find their routes to travel. Snares are cheap, quiet, and work 24/7. Round “pen traps” work quite well too. Most of the pen traps I’ve used were made out of cattle panels- easy to find, relatively cheap and lightweight.
How do you kill them once you snare them?
The same way stone age people all over the world killed things caught in pit traps.
Is this a serious question?
Think you can bring one down with a bow? You had better have your ass in a tree. And following the blood trail would be suspenseful I assume. Crossbow maybe? I don’t know much about the behavior of hogs.
Have fun with the video. I first saw it when I had a buzz and damn near died laughing.
https://mobile.twitter.com/catturd2/status/1448287627191390210
Arrows will kill them quite well. Usually, you will track them for some distance- all depends on “the hit”, just like with deer or elk etc….
Snares will choke them to death in fairly short order.
This is what I use-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2fPNjaOEvQ
They run about $8 apiece. I can’t mess around with building them for that money in terms of time etc….
Ahhh thanks for the link. I have never trapped except for the ones that clamp down. Had know idea how a snare trap worked. I thought you would end up with a a pissed off hog.
Yes NC…..we were discussing OPSEC so I was curious on the best method to dispatch a pissed off 350lb boar without making much noise.
I’m not your friend, so don’t talk to me like you know me.
Of course,dickhead….you like that better?
I own this place, slick. Keep it up, you’ll get gone.
Hey guys,come on,we all have the same basic goals ect.,we turn on each other we lose.
Lets all try and remain a dis functional family!
I wasn’t aware you knew specific commenters in person. Because you don’t.
People from the internet are exactly that. And I don’t suffer fools, real or imaginary.
When someone has made zero effort to support what I do, yet finds the time to comment on everything, I’m immediately both suspicious and strongly annoyed. But not as bad as people who think they can come on my site and lecture me on how to run my business.
Fair enough,I will no longer comment/your site/your playground.
That said,will in future read what is here and thus will thank folks ahead of time for their contributions,best to all.
Yes sir, feral hog are a resource available to anyone who will put some effort to gaining protein. My hog gun is a Savage 24F Predator in 30/30 Win. over 12 gauge combination. Red dot sight on top so can be used after dark (spot lighting nuisiance animals is forgiven by state but a good idea to let game warden know what your plan is).
We put the meat in coolers for about five days, immersed in ice, replacing said ice every two days. Removes more blood and (I think) makes the meat even tastier. As long as the animal isn’t a rangy old boar, meat is delicious.
Use Trailboss powder to safely make subsonic ammo. It is easy and makes a .30-06 quieter and more accurate than high velocity .22, but do not reuse the cases unless you can check to see if they have shrunk more than a few thousands of an inch creating a headspace problem. Increase primer flash hole size until the case no longer shrinks. Using old cases is best for some. Use flat base 150 grain bullets, or round or flat nosed for heavier bullets. A .30 cal 180 grain round nose has a whole more penetrating power than a .22 at the same velocity. .22 mag is better than .22, but it is louder. Use standard velocity .22 that is subsonic and the forest will soak up the noise. Yet all this is a pipe dream.
Keep buying food until there is no more room to store it, but also invest in seeds, soil, fencing and tools to grow food. Get a solar power water pump to irrigate gardens. The Dankoff pump is portable and can be used to help your neighbor. We do not need a starving neighbor. Get seed for them too. I know plenty of hunters who believe they will be able to hunt, yet in good times they often come back with nothing. Hunting will become a dangerous activity as other hunters will take your game and even you. During the Depression there were people slowly starving in NW Montana that is currently is loaded with big game. Some areas are easy to hunt, and some hunters are better than others. I know a guy who gets elk always on the first day of bow season. I ain’t that guy.
How much elk or deer can you haul without a vehicle? Got horses? Bear and wolves will take your kill if you do not. Save money big time by buying dry staple goods instead of expensive long term processed foods. Use the savings to buy meat protein, and a pressure canner. I pressure can bear to kill any parasite that might be in there. I would do the same for hog meat, or fry it good and hard. Because my garden can support chickens and rabbits, I can do without other meat. Becoming self sufficient is necessary, and it can be done without much money. Once the food is gone, we gotta grow it.
Trailboss is a quality product.
I wish I had a knack for growing things ‘on purpose’, but I don’t. My gardens turn our to give only sparse return on my work. Probably doing something wrong or not enough to make the difference.
I’ve learned instead to study on native plants that grow in my area and learn how to spot, harvest and process these foods into something I can gather and eat. I live in a small city so have this option, while others don’t bother to learn this while they can right now. The internet is a learning resource – use it while you can !!
Thank you for the OP and others who made positive contributions to the discussion.