Well it was pigs!

Possumjon · January 08, 2016, 10:25:00 PM

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

DanielB89 · January 08, 2016, 11:26:00 PM

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.

CRM_95 · January 09, 2016, 07:08:00 AM

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!!

Cyclic-Rivers · January 09, 2016, 07:16:00 AM

Good luck eradicating your pig problem.

katman · January 09, 2016, 07:37:00 AM

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.

David Mitchell · January 09, 2016, 11:14:00 AM

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.

wingnut · January 09, 2016, 11:22:00 AM

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

Swinestalker · January 09, 2016, 11:23:00 AM

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!.

Possumjon · January 09, 2016, 07:35:00 PM

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

Scott Barr · January 10, 2016, 12:18:00 PM

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

BWD · January 10, 2016, 12:44:00 PM

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.

TREESLEEPER · January 10, 2016, 01:45:00 PM

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.

habujohn · January 10, 2016, 05:17:00 PM

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.

elkhunter-27 · January 10, 2016, 06:34:00 PM

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.

Sam McMichael · January 10, 2016, 07:03:00 PM

elkhunter-27, your DEC is stupid.

Phillip Fields · January 10, 2016, 07:39:00 PM

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.

January 10, 2016, 09:50:00 PM

Good luck!

Bisch