OT - Hog seasons in PA

oldgerboy · Post by **oldgerboy** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:10 pm

Well, the PA Game Commission in response to the "protectors" and their court suit have declared a season for taking "wild hogs". They may ONLY be harvested, with no bag limit, during the fall turkey, deer, and bear seasons since the State Supreme court ruled them to be protected mammals. In PA they were argued to be an invasive species and harmful to habitat and crops but the courts did what they did.

The Game Commission could have set a much broader season but wussed out. There are a few areas that have a large and destructive populations ... I wonder what the "season" is going to mean to the local farmers?

RSY · Post by **RSY** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:19 pm

Give it a year, maybe two tops. They'll figure out their mistake.

scott

mescalero1 · Post by **mescalero1** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:41 pm

Seems you could " get after it " during season & make a dent

hfcable · Post by **hfcable** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:51 pm

some day,, some way, we will have to deal with the tyrannical powers the courts have usurped for themselves.

Scoutmaster · Post by **Scoutmaster** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:10 am

oldgerboy,
I'd be real interested in knowing where "a few areas that have a large and destructive populations ..." are. I have often found myself green with envy when hunters from other areas talk about hog hunting in their states. I have friends in Texas and Tennessee that often talk to me of hog hunts. Usually hog populations explode once established in an area. While I sympathize with the plight of the farmer, I'm more than willing to do my part and help out.
While were at it, anyone know where I can import a few prairie dogs? Groundhogs aren't as plentiful as they once were around here.

Don

ursavus.elemensis · Post by **ursavus.elemensis** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:17 am

I have read those lines in the PA Hunter's Digest (manual for hunters from the PGC) and always wondered about just where were all those feral hogs. I hike a lot in the back woods of PA and have never seen one, never heard one, and never heard anyone talking about one. Where are they?

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:43 am

Is Rosie O in PA again

AndyM · Post by **AndyM** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:01 am

So Far, from what I have been told - I hear the hogs are only located in the SouthWest area of PA. Greene, Fayette, and Somerset counties - but I am sure other counties have them established there.

I have never seen one in PA
[/quote]

Bluehawk · Post by **Bluehawk** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:08 am

Actually its a good step in correcting how it was written in the digest from the beginning.
the digest had the HOGS listed and written as DOMESTIC ANIMALS
If that had stood then anyone killing one would have been liable under the Pa Crimes Code Section 5511 which prohibits killing any DOMESTIC ANIMAL It was probably a small slip of the word when they listed it intending to be referring to domestic live stock pigs who have gone Ferral but by listing them as domestic animals then some animal rights group would have jumped on the first guy to kill one by the letter of the law
Now being classified as protected species the game commission has the authority to set limits or times Hopefully they will list them the same as the coyote in PA

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:46 am

hfcable wrote:some day,, some way, we will have to deal with the tyrannical powers the courts have usurped for themselves.

+1,000,000!

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:45 am

Yea, like some of other boys here from Pa. have said, "Where are they?". I too have spent loads and loads of time in the woods in many different areas of Pa. and have yet to see one. I do know of a couple of game farms up in North Central Pa., but obviously, they are stocked.

I agree with Scoutmaster, we need some p. dogs. Groundhogs used to be like flies around here. Crows used to be a lot of fun to shoot but with all the building going on, its just not safe shooting them out of trees like I did in the seventies and eighties. Man!, A 22-250 with a hot loaded 53 gr. Sierra BRHPBT bullet would explode those suckers.-----------Sixgun

tman · Post by **tman** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:35 pm

hunt in south central, south west pa. never seen one. don,t know of anybody else who has.

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:47 pm

Wait a few months....
Feral hogs can have 3 litters in 14 months...
They will....take over and destroy their habitat.
In the last month, a herd of pigs crossed the main
highway and rutted up 20 or so acres of cattle pasture...
They are nocturnal and i have yet to see one...but everday,
the cattle pasture gets worse.....
when they start to move into the suberbs and small towns
they will change there tune...

We can hunt them all year round.

homefront · Post by **homefront** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:58 pm

Time for a night vision scout scope.

cshold · Post by **cshold** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:53 pm

Sixgun wrote:Yea, like some of other boys here from Pa. have said, "Where are they?". I too have spent loads and loads of time in the woods in many different areas of Pa. and have yet to see one. I do know of a couple of game farms up in North Central Pa., but obviously, they are stocked.

I agree with Scoutmaster, we need some p. dogs. Groundhogs used to be like flies around here. Crows used to be a lot of fun to shoot but with all the building going on, its just not safe shooting them out of trees like I did in the seventies and eighties. Man!, A 22-250 with a hot loaded 53 gr. Sierra BRHPBT bullet would explode those suckers.-----------Sixgun

I too have the same question, and not just limited to seeing a hog.
I have been seeing less and less game animals in general over the past few yrs. What I have been seeing "lots" of, Fox, Coyote, Hawks.
In other words way to many preditors in my neck of the PA. woods.

oldgerboy · Post by **oldgerboy** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:47 pm

There is a fairly established herd of over a hundred in Bedford county not too far from the town of Everett. Bedford and Somerset Counties are the current spots. We had a small group here in Perry County but I have not heard anything recently.

bigbore442001 · Post by **bigbore442001** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:29 pm

I wonder if it would be worth a short trip to hunt feral hogs in the Keystone State? Are there enough numbers to warrant time spent in pursuit?
In addition, how receptive are landowners in that area to hunters asking permission? Are they pretty good about it or is it hard to gain access?

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:58 pm

There are LOTS of hogs in my area, but I rarely see them as they are nocturnal in the wild.

I have seen enough to make a trap. It's ready, but I gotta get the freezer fixed.

Here, piggy, piggy!

bigbore442001 · Post by **bigbore442001** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:15 am

Just curious. If they are nocturnal, where do they hide during the day ?