Fit to be Hog Tied!

I

Ideal Tool

Moderator
Hello, I just heard a horror story about a "feral" hog. Two friends out deer hunting in MI. state game area spot a hog at least 500lb. In MI., if you have valid license..small game, deer, etc. you can take these animals year round. Just to be safe, they contact DNR officer. He says if seen :eek:again..shoot. Next day they do & bag it. Had to use quad to drag out to their truck. As they were loading, local farmer shows up & claims that was his brood sow that had been missing for a few months, threatens to sue for damage. Local sheriff is called, he sides with farmer. Hunters forced to pay going rate/lb...$500.00!
Hunters try to go above local DNR, only to find that officer was transfered to another county! I thought I might like to try for one of these critters...now not so sure?
 
They should have fought thatin court!

In nearly every state, "feral" swine are considered to be "property of the land owner upon which they are currently located"...

State owns them on state lands...

Also, the farmer admits it has been out of his control for more than a few hours... And by claiming ownership, he opens himself to claims of damage to the state lands... EVERY BIT OF ROOTING CAN BE LAID ON HIM AND HIS ONE BROOD SOW!!!

Brent
 
In response to "wild" hogs having escaped from game farms and have established a breeding population in Michigan, the DNR has encouraged the shooting of the hogs due to the damage they cause. However, the hogs that escaped were of the wild verity (Russian Boar?) not domestic hogs running wild. There is a visible difference. If I were to see a hog running loose, I would be sure to note the difference before shooting it.
 
Not at all surprising that a Sheriff gets it wrong.
Very informative link DNS, and the US map with all county's was also very interesting. Had never seen one like that. :)
Those hunters should get there money back for certain if not more!
 
Dahermit... The intent may be towards russian blooded hogs but the truth is that there is a bunch of domestic blood runnin' loose all over the nation. michigan is just starting to see the damages from the hogs. And to add, feral domestic bloodlines only need a few generations (LITERALLY) to begin to have very different physical characteristics. Snouts lengthen, legs will get longer, ears change and of course the leanness that is developed to gain great speed and endurance...

If I take picture of a domestic breed from a few generations of feral stock and black it out... You would never assimilate it to any domestic swine you ever seen... And then take into account the cutters and whetters and the pigs ability to decide fight over flight when it feels that a better response to threat... They can and do have the ability to do great bodily harm to animals and humans alike!

Brent
 
Kind of the same deal....there was a guy that had some kind of goat/ram on his property. They kept getting loose. Evidently he got tired of dealing with them and they basically were let loose. (This is in the Limerick area of PA outside of Philly). Anyway, those Rams are running around now and are considered shoot on sight. They are domestics or were. I have never seen one. My buddy has and another friend saw one in his taxidermist's shop mounted. From what I have heard about them they went "wild" several years ago now. So they were domestic but aren't any more. Again they are shoot on sight.

If I were those guys I would fight it.
 
Feral, by definition, is a domestic animal that has gone wild.

Besides, "local sheriff" (deputy sheriffs, LEO) cannot establish culpability nor assess fines, that is the court's jurisdiction.

And if the DNR officer was "assigned to a different county", you pick up the phone and call the different county and talk to him again.

Too many holes in that story for my tastes.
 
Not for nothing, but the value of a sow - especially an escaped one that you haven't been feeding for months - is far less than $500. At that point, you can't return her to your herd, she's basically nothing but a cull.

And how did he prove it? Did she have her ear tags in?

Farmer should have paid them.
 
Dahermit... The intent may be towards russian blooded hogs but the truth is that there is a bunch of domestic blood runnin' loose all over the nation. michigan is just starting to see the damages from the hogs. And to add, feral domestic bloodlines only need a few generations (LITERALLY) to begin to have very different physical characteristics. Snouts lengthen, legs will get longer, ears change and of course the leanness that is developed to gain great speed and endurance...

If I take picture of a domestic breed from a few generations of feral stock and black it out... You would never assimilate it to any domestic swine you ever seen... And then take into account the cutters and whetters and the pigs ability to decide fight over flight when it feels that a better response to threat... They can and do have the ability to do great bodily harm to animals and humans alike!
Click to expand...
The feral hogs beginning to look like "wild" hogs is true. Nevertheless, the current problem in Michigan is a very new phenomenon. Michigan has not had a feral hog problem in the past. The current problem has been attributed to wild escapees from game farms (Ted Nugent's game farm was blamed at first, but he claimed that his inventory was accounted for.). The DNR has maintained that the problem hogs are indeed game farm in origin, not domestic feral hogs gone wild like in the more Southern states.
 
Okay imo (and its worth every penney I'm paid:) ) this was a civil issue between the hunters and the farmer and the deputy should have walked away without offering an opinion. Had I been the hunters, my response would have been "sue me" because as others have indicated, the sow wasn't possibly worth $500, and the farmer is responsible to the state for all the damage it has done while "free ranging"....

In states without "free range" laws a livestock owner is responsible to keep their animals penned and/or under control at all times and are responsible for any damage caused by that animal while "out of control". For example, had a car hit the hog, the farmer would have been responsible for any damage the car owner suffered.

Now I really don't like lawyers or lawsuits but if these guys paid $500 for this hog, they should sue the farmer and the county sheriff's dept for sticking their nose into it.
 
Feral, by definition, is a domestic animal that has gone wild.
Click to expand...

LOL, that is clear as mud. What are the characteristics that define being "wild"? Is "wild" determined by lack of confinement, behavior, biological changes, or what?

Are free range chickens feral?

I like Michigan's definition. It handles things quite well for their purposes. Any pig free-ranging out of its enclosure "feral" and hence can be treated as such. So the escaped sow was no longer in her enclosure and was ranging free. Whether it happened yesterday or last year doesn't matter.
 
Did the old farmer a favor as far as I'm concerned.Probably won't have as much sleepless nights as he once did, cause when she left his land she wasn't lookin back!!!:rolleyes:Did he have any chickens???
 
The state of OK calls any hog running loose a "feral swine." "Feral swine" are fair game; no hunting license required. Three years ago i killed a huge American Landrace sow on one of our properties. That hog was a monster with 14 pig nursing stations. She had been wild long enough for the curl to leave her tail.

Not sure what that hog weighed. Field dressed, she pegged the 350 pound scale my neighbor has. That hog was good eating.
 
It is not logical to compare free range chickens to feral hogs. Chickens will return to their hen house to roost each night.
 
Dahermit, totally tongue-in-cheek,:rolleyes: Of course chickens come home to roost, but that old sow would have kept going, the only thing that keeps them still is farrowing, then its off to the races, looking for clean fresh dirt to ruin and crops to destroy!!!I never claimed to be even partially logical!!:p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top