On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:17:06 -0500, George Shirley
> wrote:


>>> Sounds a whole lot like any hog hunt in the south. Been on many a one
>>> when I was a kid. Nothing like a nice fat, acorn fed hog in the fall.
>>
>> So I have heard. Did you take them alive?

>Generally we would hunt them on horseback and load them into a mule
>drawn wagon after killing and bleeding them. they were always woods
>hogs, just turned loose to run free and eat what they could find. Hogs
>are terribly destructive of wildlife and of wild plants so not much of
>that is done anymore.
>
>Every year after the piglets were born and about two to three months old
>we would go into the woods and run the sows and piglets down but not to
>kill them. We would earmark (like a cattle brand but actually a piece(s)
>cut out of the ear) the piglets with the same earmark the sow had. All
>but one, that one got the earmark of whomever caught them and did the
>marking as their reward for doing the work.
>
>This was back in the forties and early fifties prior to "hog laws" being
>enacted. Hog law was also called the free range law and meant you could
>no longer let your livestock roam free but had to keep them fenced in on
>your property. Was a basic safety feature as loose livestock caused lots
>of wrecks on highways and some people were even attacked by the stock.
>
>I know there were cattle and hogs still roaming the woods freely in SW
>Louisiana in the seventies as I had some property near the Sabine River
>and had to fence it off to keep stray cattle out. Nowadays hogs in the
>woods in most southern states are considered feral animals and can be
>legally harvested any time of the year.
>
>the winter butchering of the hogs and cattle was a big neighborhood
>thing with everyone pitching in and sharing the work and the meat. My
>Dad had six brothers and sisters and they all had good sized families so
>you can imagine what it was like. Lots of food, the occasional music,
>everyone smiling and happy with the bounty we got. I don't miss it
>though, it was a lot of work, smelly, and went on until well after dark
>even starting before sunrise.
>
>George

Very interesting post, George. Thanks.

I live in rural (okay, small town) Texas. There are lots of feral
pigs around here. They don't come into town as far as I know, but I
have friends whose pasture land has been badly damaged by them. There
are pig hunting sites over by Cooper Lake State Park a few miles from
here.

Mostly folks shoot them. But a few take them alive and sell them to
suppliers for upscale Dallas restaurants where wild hog meat goes for
a premium.
--

modom
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