Wild pigs still hogging local hunting spotlight, San Diego pigs

[RoosterKiller]

Personally I think pig tastes better than deer. I like all year hunting.
I welcome the new addition to the county.

 

[fallbrook79]

Personally I think pig tastes better than deer. I like all year hunting.
I welcome the new addition to the county.

i hope to have an opinion on that someday the venison backstrap i had yesterday was pretty good.i guess ill try and find one of these S.D hogs tomorrow.

 

[3056_HUNTER]

i guess we will wait and see.....my freezer is getting empty....went through 4 hogs in 4 months. a trip so SD might be in the near future!

 

[weekender21]

A trip to SD will offer good hiking opportunities. I think the hog hunting success is around .000012% so far. Maybe in a few years.

 

[sdnative13]

A trip to SD will offer good hiking opportunities. I think the hog hunting success is around .000012% so far. Maybe in a few years.

well said I knew I was doing something right hiking 6+ miles a day lookin for pigs. The exercise is great however

 

[weekender21]

You are not alone SD!

 

[DFG_Bear]

Rifleman,

California probably has the most liberal laws and regulations relating to wild pigs than any other state that harbors the species. Landowners may shoot them on sight if they're in the act of causing damage, we issue as many depredation tags as a landowner wants, we have no bag or possession limit (unlike any other species), and you can hunt them year-round. Also, the tags are relatively inexpensive (I know - not $11 per book of 5 like they used to be: don't get me started).

-Marc

 

[weekender21]

I think I paid $7 for five the first time I bought them...At least all that revenue is being used to improve hunting in CA....RIGHT? :bag-on-head:

 

[RIFLEMAN]

Marc,

California probably has the most liberal laws and regulations relating to wild pigs than any other state that harbors the species.

Without going through a state-by-state comparison, Texas and Hawaii come to mind as states that have far more liberal regulations than we do. There are also several other states experiencing feral hog populations for the very first time, and are purposely avoiding the establishment of any regulations governing their take so as to encourage their eradication.

Landowners may shoot them on sight if they're in the act of causing damage, we issue as many depredation tags as a landowner wants, we have no bag or possession limit (unlike any other species), and you can hunt them year-round.

Despite all this, would you not admit that, directly or indirectly, the feral hog is managed more towards propagation as the goal rather than eradication or reduction? Otherwise, it would be reasonable to expect that the feral hog not be classified as a big game mammal with specific hours and methods of take, etc. The gloves would be off, so to speak.

Also, the tags are relatively inexpensive (I know - not $11 per book of 5 like they used to be: don't get me started).

LOL. No, don't get ME started! For us houndsmen, the sticker shock was almost too much to bear. Talk about adding insult to injury...when the tag program first got started, we were told it was going to be temporary in order to fund the effort to accurately map the distribution and population of the feral hog. Seeing it climb over the years wasn't too big of a deal when we are talking going from about $7.80 to $9.20 for a book of 5. But then seeing it jump to $15.75 for 1 tag (not so coincidentally, when Schwarzenegger took over with a $38 billion deficit) when Fish and Game Code requires that monies generated from the sale of hog tags be directed towards the management of the feral hog was ridiculous. I would bet that the cost of managing the hog did not climb proportionally to the cost of the tag to hunt them...

 

[DFG_Bear]

Josh,

Despite all this, would you not admit that, directly or indirectly, the feral hog is managed more towards propagation as the goal rather than eradication or reduction? Otherwise, it would be reasonable to expect that the feral hog not be classified as a big game mammal with specific hours and methods of take, etc. The gloves would be off, so to speak.

I do not manage the wild pig (technically different from feral hog) in California to propagate the species, despite what some critics may say. The DFG management plan calls for projects to identify new populations and curtail their establishment. Furthermore, the DFG Commission has a policy (found in the back of the Fish and Game Code book) which instructs them to approve most any project that is designed to eradicate wild pigs or prevent their spread into new areas. Remember, first and foremost, the wild pig is an invasive species in California - and a very difficult one to eradicate.

LOL. No, don't get ME started! For us houndsmen, the sticker shock was almost too much to bear. Talk about adding insult to injury...when the tag program first got started, we were told it was going to be temporary in order to fund the effort to accurately map the distribution and population of the feral hog. Seeing it climb over the years wasn't too big of a deal when we are talking going from about $7.80 to $9.20 for a book of 5. But then seeing it jump to $15.75 for 1 tag (not so coincidentally, when Schwarzenegger took over with a $38 billion deficit) when Fish and Game Code requires that monies generated from the sale of hog tags be directed towards the management of the feral hog was ridiculous. I would bet that the cost of managing the hog did not climb proportionally to the cost of the tag to hunt them...

You were told correctly, in the start, by the people who were in charge at that point. The tag fee increase was not initiated by the DFG, but by another department within state government. While conducting an audit, they found the pig tag fee to be inconsistent with other big game tag fees, and independently increased the pig tag fee. The DFG only found out when the tags started to go on sale that year, which by that time, was too late to do anything about it. At least that's the story that was told to me. Also remember, pig tags cannot be used to compensate for any general fund shortfall - they are legislatively bound to wild pig management (I'm pretty sure you already know that though).