NY Times article: http://tinyurl.com/6g24c4

Money quote: "Though a Marlin .30-30 rested by his knee, Mr. Kennedy
had no intention of firing a shot. Cornering a hog was the job of the
bay dogs, Toby and Buck, the bitch Fire and the pups, Whopper and Nub.
Then the hunters would release the catch dogs, Josie and Roadie, to
hold down their prey. Next it would fall to Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Watson
to restrain the hounds and tie the hog. If all that failed, if a hog
broke loose and went careering toward the road, the older men would
make the kill with the rifles."
--

modom
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> NY Times article: http://tinyurl.com/6g24c4
>
> Money quote: "Though a Marlin .30-30 rested by his knee, Mr. Kennedy
> had no intention of firing a shot. Cornering a hog was the job of the
> bay dogs, Toby and Buck, the bitch Fire and the pups, Whopper and Nub.
> Then the hunters would release the catch dogs, Josie and Roadie, to
> hold down their prey. Next it would fall to Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Watson
> to restrain the hounds and tie the hog. If all that failed, if a hog
> broke loose and went careering toward the road, the older men would
> make the kill with the rifles."
> --
>
> modom
> ** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
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.

On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:55:03 -0500, George Shirley
> wrote:

>modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>> NY Times article: http://tinyurl.com/6g24c4
>>
>> Money quote: "Though a Marlin .30-30 rested by his knee, Mr. Kennedy
>> had no intention of firing a shot. Cornering a hog was the job of the
>> bay dogs, Toby and Buck, the bitch Fire and the pups, Whopper and Nub.
>> Then the hunters would release the catch dogs, Josie and Roadie, to
>> hold down their prey. Next it would fall to Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Watson
>> to restrain the hounds and tie the hog. If all that failed, if a hog
>> broke loose and went careering toward the road, the older men would
>> make the kill with the rifles."

>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?
--

modom
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On 2008-06-21, modom (palindrome guy) > wrote:

yada.....

....and many Sunday newpapers. This is not new news. Feral pigs have been a
plague for 40 yrs. They were coming down out of the hills and tearing up
the meticulously manicured lawns of IBM's Silicon Valley campus 20 yrs ago.
Texas claims to have over a million feral pigs. BUT!!!... can't let everyman
hunter go out and kill the useless bastids cuz rabid tree-huggers get all
incensed. More non news from some twit noob journalist to fill space.

nb

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:55:03 -0500, George Shirley
> > wrote:
>
>> modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
>>> NY Times article: http://tinyurl.com/6g24c4
>>>
>>> Money quote: "Though a Marlin .30-30 rested by his knee, Mr. Kennedy
>>> had no intention of firing a shot. Cornering a hog was the job of the
>>> bay dogs, Toby and Buck, the bitch Fire and the pups, Whopper and Nub.
>>> Then the hunters would release the catch dogs, Josie and Roadie, to
>>> hold down their prey. Next it would fall to Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Watson
>>> to restrain the hounds and tie the hog. If all that failed, if a hog
>>> broke loose and went careering toward the road, the older men would
>>> make the kill with the rifles."
>
>> 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?
> --
>
> modom
> ** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
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

On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:24:11 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2008-06-21, modom (palindrome guy) > wrote:
>
>yada.....
>
>...and many Sunday newpapers. This is not new news. Feral pigs have been a
>plague for 40 yrs. They were coming down out of the hills and tearing up
>the meticulously manicured lawns of IBM's Silicon Valley campus 20 yrs ago.
>Texas claims to have over a million feral pigs. BUT!!!... can't let everyman
>hunter go out and kill the useless bastids cuz rabid tree-huggers get all
>incensed. More non news from some twit noob journalist to fill space.
>
What you talkin' about nb?

First it's what's called a feature article, not hard news. I know
it's not news. I liked the dogs' names, though. And the writing was
entertaining.

Second, the "tree-huggers" seem to have lost this battle. From the NY
Times article: "Across the country, game wardens, wildlife biologists
and livestock commissioners have started enlisting hunters to control
the population. North Dakota began an eradication program in January.
Kansas has hunted hogs from helicopters. Last month, the Pennsylvania
Game Commission ordered unlimited culling by licensed hunters. And new
regulations in Mississippi this year allowed wild hogs to be hunted,
taken, killed, chased or pursued on private lands at any time with no
weapon restriction." And I might add that hog hunting is actively
pursued in areas around a lake near here.

Third, I find anybody who takes a feral hog alive to be most
impressive. It ain't for nothing the hunters in the Times article
outfitted their dogs with kevlar vests.
--

modom
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

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
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On 2008-06-23, modom (palindrome guy) > wrote:


> What you talkin' about nb?

what i know to be true, modem.

>
> First it's what's called a feature article, not hard news. I know
> it's not news.

Then why the dispute?

> Second, the "tree-huggers" seem to have lost this battle. From the NY
> Times article: "Across the country, game wardens, wildlife biologists
> and livestock commissioners have started enlisting hunters to control
> the population.

Oh? What states are loosening restrictions on taking pig? "Enlisting
hunter" typically means professional hunters on contract, not joe public.

> North Dakota began an eradication program in January.

"eradication program" != open season

> Kansas has hunted hogs from helicopters.

Yeah, joe-public has two in every garage.

> Last month, the Pennsylvania
> Game Commission ordered unlimited culling by licensed hunters.

One state out of 50. BTW, define "license hunters". Again, what's the
change in state hunting laws?

> And new
> regulations in Mississippi this year......

After 30-40 yrs of problems. We'll see.

> impressive. It ain't for nothing the hunters in the Times article
> outfitted their dogs with kevlar vests.

Hogwash! I'll believe it when they are reclassified as vermin, can be shot
on sight, year round, and don't have to be dressed and disposed of, but can
lie to rot like the feral scum they are. Also, pigs are smart enough to
know the diff between private and public lands. Not gonna be a lot of
hunters willing to pay for access to private land when the owner figures out
there's $$$ to be made. This is ancient news to anyone who's tried to
hunt pig. I've heard TX is desparate and will let anyone hunt pig anywhere,
anytime. But, it's certainly not the case in CA or CO.

nb

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
> 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
> ** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
Go up in the Hill Country of Texas. Real Russian boars were turned loose
there in the fifties and ran rampant for awhile. I don't think anyone
was taking any 500 lb hogs live when I was hunting there. The ranch I
was on raised mohair goats, the rancher would refund your hunting lease
fee it you killed a Russian hog and you could have the hog to boot.
Seems they ate the little goats when they found them, same with the deer
fawns.

On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:09:10 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2008-06-23, modom (palindrome guy) > wrote:
>
>> What you talkin' about nb?
>
>what i know to be true, modem.
>
modom -- a palindrome, not a digital/analog communication device.
>>
>> First it's what's called a feature article, not hard news. I know
>> it's not news.
>
>Then why the dispute?
>
That's what I'm confused about. You wrote: "This is not new news.
Feral pigs have been a plague for 40 yrs...More non news from some
twit noob journalist to fill space."

Then I wrote: "First it's what's called a feature article, not hard
news. I know it's not news. I liked the dogs' names, though. And
the writing was entertaining."

The reason I said what I did was that I read your reply as a put down
of a non-news feature article because it wasn't news. To me this is
akin to rejecting a cup of hot tea because it's bad coffee. Am I
wrong? The story was supposed to be entertainment. But your scorn is
based on it's not being news. The story is therefore the product of a
"twit noob journalist" because it was what it was intended to be, but
not what it wasn't intended to be.

>> Second, the "tree-huggers" seem to have lost this battle. From the NY
>> Times article: "Across the country, game wardens, wildlife biologists
>> and livestock commissioners have started enlisting hunters to control
>> the population.
>
>Oh? What states are loosening restrictions on taking pig? "Enlisting
>hunter" typically means professional hunters on contract, not joe public.

I did a little Net searching to see about this. Sport hunters in many
states are indeed integral to feral hog control. What I came up with
is long and pretty boring to most people, but I can share it with you
if you like.
>
>> Kansas has hunted hogs from helicopters.
>
>Yeah, joe-public has two in every garage.

It is true that hunting feral hogs is not permitted in Kansas, I
learned. The reason is some stupid people release pigs into the wild
so they can hunt them -- a practice that has exactly the wrong effect.
>
>> Last month, the Pennsylvania
>> Game Commission ordered unlimited culling by licensed hunters.
>
>One state out of 50. BTW, define "license hunters". Again, what's the
>change in state hunting laws?

I'd define a licensed hunter as a person with a hunting license. And
it is my understanding that the change was to no limit on feral hogs.
>
>> impressive. It ain't for nothing the hunters in the Times article
>> outfitted their dogs with kevlar vests.
>
>Hogwash! I'll believe it when they are reclassified as vermin, can be shot
>on sight, year round, and don't have to be dressed and disposed of, but can
>lie to rot like the feral scum they are. Also, pigs are smart enough to
>know the diff between private and public lands. Not gonna be a lot of
>hunters willing to pay for access to private land when the owner figures out
>there's $$$ to be made. This is ancient news to anyone who's tried to
>hunt pig. I've heard TX is desparate and will let anyone hunt pig anywhere,
>anytime. But, it's certainly not the case in CA or CO.
>
What's hogwash? I don't understand. Also I don't understand your
statement "I'll believe it..." What will you believe?

Rotting pork abounding is not my idea of a good thing, but maybe
that's me. Paying for the right to hunt private land is pretty common
around these parts, and I suspect elsewhere, too. As you said, things
are bad here in Texas. In fact they're bad enough that landowners
will sometimes pay people to kill feral hogs. But it is also not
uncommon for landowners to sell hunting leases.

Incidentally, the guys who took the sow alive in the Times article
were going to sell it for meat. That's why it wasn't killed -- health
department regulations and all.
--

modom
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **