Art: Yes Vienna is just South 11 miles from Hallettsville on farm road 530. If you've got relatives in Hallettsville, then I am possibly related as I am related to everyone in that town by blood or marriage. Strange world huh? Mikulenka's, Telschiks, Cheney's, Roth's, Pohl's, and anyone related to these clans.
Kieth, let me ask my father since all invites come from him. I'm sure he won't have a problem, but the rules will probably be strict. Lawsuit avoidance you know. It is a piss-poor world we live in when we have to consult lawyers in order to have over hunting guests. E-mail me.
Gizmo: Thanks for the advice. We have a tractor with a front-end loader, but we almost got the tractor stuck. The ground out there is basically sand on top of clay. The clay is hard but slick, and the sand just "floats on top." When it rains a few days straight, you can't get anything out there but possibly a 4 wheeler which we don't have. Anything heavier would sink to the floorboard quickly. A 4 wheeler pulling a 300lb hog will quickly destroy a lot of vegitation which is the reason we want to get rid of the hogs in the first place. Butchering on-site is an excellent idea. I'll try it next time.
Bad Medicine: You are correct. All wild hogs in the US have been imported. The pecary or Javalina is not actually a swine, but another creature in the same genus. It has feet in leiu of hooves. The Armadillo is also in the same genus. All swine (males) grow tusks. Hog farmers "detusk" the animals which is a nasty but relatively easy task like castration. The 2 types of hogs are the wild russian boar which was imported for hunting by europeans "boar-ed" with hunting our native game, and the run-of-the-mill domestic pig (pigus nicetoeatus), which for generations was just allowed to run wild. The practice was to find the babies in the spring, kill and eat momma, castrate the babies (males), and their tails would be cut off to signify that the hog was castrated, and indeed a tasty animal. Later in the winter, one would trek out and kill the hogs without tails for dinner. This was depicted in "Old Yeller" when Travis was trying to lasso a ferral-domestic hog from a tree-limb. TO hunt wild hogs in Texas you only need a hunting license (you have to have that to hunt anything in Texas). You may kill as many as you like, no bag limit, no season, no prohibited methods. You can dynamite them, use a machine gun (if you possess a class III)them, dart them, blow gun them, shoot them, spotlight them, use NVG's or any other method to include running over them in your vehicle. Some counties offer bounties, so check first. You may be able to make some money on their heads! You may use dogs, knives, or whatever. You are advised to give a courtesy call to the game-warden that you will be out hunting hogs (if out of regular deer season or at night), so that he doesn't have to wake up and check out the calls from the neighbors reporting midnight shooting.
(Most of my info on hogs is courtesy of TX Ag extension service, or TX Parks and Wildife Dept.)
RHC: I live in Harper which is 20 miles N. of Kerrville. If the Hog sightings are regular, and if they're on your mother's property, I'd be glad to swing down and kill as many as I have ammo for! Send me an e-mail if she's interested. If I have too much meat, I know people with rather large families who would greatly appreciate any excess meat that they can lay their hands on. She can also call the Kerr County Sheriff's office and speak to BJ (chief Investigator) or Rusty (the Sheriff), and inquire as to any deputies who might could use the extra meat to feed their families. When I worked there, we were always getting pig meat from one person or another, and it really helps when you're being paid below the poverty level.
Recon1: You can e-mail me too. As with Keith, I'll check with my father. Ft Worth is a long way to drive for an iffy hunt. I believe it is roughly 8 hours to Ft. Worth from Vienna. If you're both really nice though, his other pest problems are Squirrels (eating an estimated ton of pecans each and every year), and coons (just a general pest). We'll see.