How to Have All the Hunting Land You Want to Hunt
Hunt
Feral Hogs and Define a Landowner’s Problems
Editor’s Note: Do you want to have all the land
you need to hunt and even more? Instead of you looking
for land to hunt, how about if farmers and ranchers
call you to come hunt their properties? Predator hunters
often enjoy these kinds of perks. When coyotes, raccoons,
bobcats, foxes and/or feral hogs create problems for
landowners, deer hunters and turkey hunters, anyone
who can remove these predators generally has an open-ended
invitation and a warm welcome awaiting him to hunt new
property. Predators kill and eat newborn livestock,
including calves, lambs, goats, deer fawns, occasionally
adult deer, poultry, domestic
pets at times and turkey poults. They also destroy turkey
nests and the nests of songbirds. In years past, trappers
have kept predator numbers down. However, with the decrease
in fur prices for many years, the predator hunter has
replaced the trapper in many areas as the way to keep
predator populations in check. Therefore, to have all
the hunting land you want to hunt, become a predator
hunter.
Most of us never may have considered hogs as predators.
However, a feral hog like a possum will eat almost anything.
Hogs have very-keen noses with a more-acute sense of
smell than white-tailed deer. Therefore, in the spring,
when livestock give birth to their young, often hogs
will kill and eat the newborns. Hungry hogs also will
eat deer fawns and turkey eggs. Too, if you want to
see a cornfield, a watermelon patch or any type of agriculture
destroyed, turn a pack of hogs loose in it for one
night. Generally when hogs first move into a region,
many hunters get excited about having new animals to
hunt. However, within a year or two, they realize that
the hogs compete with native wildlife for food, destroy
green fields, often root-up roads and make a general
nuisance of themselves. More hog calls, cover-up scents
and lures have appeared in the marketplace in the past
few years, and more states than ever permit hog hunting
over an extended time. Alabama, Florida, Texas, South
Carolina and other states have designated certain portions
of their states with no closed seasons and no bag limits
on hogs. In many states, hog season runs concurrent
with predator season.
Define a Landowner’s Problems:
Yes, as predators like coyotes, foxes and bobcats as
well as feral hogs have become more of a problem for
landowners, farmers, deer hunters and turkey hunters,
the sportsmen who will come in and remove these nuisances
often will find the welcome mat out for them to hunt
deer and turkeys later on those same lands. Bob Wosniack,
a friend of mine from New York, a place where hunters
often have a tough time locating land to hunt, explains
that, "All you have to do to find plenty of good
deer and turkey hunting land to hunt, often for free,
is to solve the problems of the landowners. Whatever
problems they have, if you define those problems and
solve them, often they’ll let you hunt the deer
and turkey on their lands along with the predators.
I’ve gained permission to hunt on land that everyone
has sworn nobody can hunt by solving problems for that
landowner.”
Tomorrow: Find Land to Hunt
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