Not sure if anyone remembers the post I made a few weeks ago with pictures of what i thought was possible pig sign here in mid michigan. Well a group of guys shot a 300 pounder out of those woods! Can't post pics as it was a gun kill but maybe I'll be able to add my own soon ;)
You have no idea what's you're asking for. At first I liked the thought of having live to shoot, that is until they ruined my deer hunting. Literally. Took just a couple years. Nearly impossible to pattern deer now.
Like I tell evreybody, if you don't have them now you will eventually!! We are overrun with them here. I don't mind having a few around, because they're fun to hunt and good eating. Problem is they are very destructive, and a few eventually turns into a lot!!
Good luck eradicating your pig problem.
I am with Daniel, can't stand the buggers since they really messed up the whitetail deer hunting. Shoot them every chance you get to slow them down a little.
It doesn't take long for a few to turn into a lot. They reproduce early in their life and they reproduce prolifically. As stated above, they can really wreck an area in a short time.
You will need to kill 90% of the population each year to maintain an even number. They have 2 1/2 litters a year with 3 to 10 piglets. The females become breeding mature at 6 months. So when the mom is having her third litter her daughters are having there first.
2 pigs can turn into as many as 300 in 15 months with good food.
Good luck controlling them.
Mike
Sorry to hear that. Prolific breeders and good mothers equal quick population increases. A saying down here is "A sow will have 10 piglets, and raise 12!.
Yeah they've been seen off and on here a few years so I hope their population won't explode. I'd live to get one but definitely don't want to mess up the ecosystem that's already established
I would be surprised if you end up with large numbers of pigs that far north. With very little fur to insulate against the cold, pig populations tend to explode in warmer temperatures with easy access to water. Here in California it is the latter that tends to set population limits. Scott
QuoteOriginally posted by Scott Barr:
I would be surprised if you end up with large numbers of pigs that far north. With very little fur to insulate against the cold, pig populations tend to explode in warmer temperatures with easy access to water. Here in California it is the latter that tends to set population limits. Scott
Adapt they can and will. Even Sibera is loaded with them.
A friend shot a sow last week that had a litter in tow. When he cleaned her she had 8 inside! They multiply fast. That was on Tensas NWR. Up in your neck of the woods Daniel.
Even in the UP where temps drop to 30 below we have them. I have killed three in the past five years and this year saw more sign around our camp. Did not hear of any getting picked off in rifle season though, which I thought I would.
In NY our DEC won't let us shoot pigs. Their theory: "It will make them disperse." Apparently they feel that uncontrolled breeding will keep them in the same area.
elkhunter-27, your DEC is stupid.
We've got pigs pretty close to our property in NC but I hope they don't make it to our property. That being said, I would almost rather hunt pigs than deer.
Good luck!
Bisch