Not convinced that feral hogs are a problem in North America? Take a gander at the video on the right.
That’s a pretty good infestation, but unfortunately herds of that size are not terribly unusual across much of the Southern United States. Texas and the deep South in particular have a massive hog problem.
Most of the affected states have listed feral hogs as a non-native invasive species. The majority of those jurisdictions have no closed season on hogs and allow hunters, ranchers, and farmers to kill as many as they can. Because the infestation is so great in some areas, many farmers and ranchers kill as many as they can, much more than they can possible process into usable meat, and leave the carcasses to rot in the field.
I’m not a big fan of hunting in this method. I prefer to use every bit of every animal that I kill, but when you’ve got literally hundreds or thousands of hogs destroying crop and grazing land, it’s difficult to control them AND utilize the critter for food, leather, and other products.
Texas just passed a law making it legal for landowners to sell “hunts” on their land for feral hogs using airborne gunners in helicopters. I use the term “hunting” lightly because I feel that it is important to differentiate between ethical subsistence hunting and pest control. Given a non-native invasive species like feral hogs, I’ve no problem with people flying around and shooting the things and letting them lie where they fall.
It’s fun, it’s great sport to target moving critters from an airborne platform, and I applaud the land owners for finding a way to eradicate feral hogs from their property without spending a ton of cash on professional hunters and trappers. But lets not mince words: this is not hunting. It’s pest control in a target rich environment.