# repairing ground torn up by feral hogs



## mtarrant (Aug 10, 2009)

This problem is getting to the severe stage in the sandy soils of east Texas!!!!

I have been discing then dragging, but bahai grass clumps really prevent good results! What is your strategy?
Disc then roll? 
Box blade with rippers down?

Also, I have heard that killing out the bahai will discourage the grubs that these hogs are looking for, I would really like to prevent rather than repair, but i haven't heard of anything that works. About half of my fields are bahia free and they see less damage, but they still get hit from time to time.


----------



## rherington (Sep 23, 2010)

I have the black clay soil and they love it here too. I don't believe it is the bahai. I have had them rooting in wheat, barnyard grass, wild sunflowers, bloodweed and anything else that grows. I am thinking the only way to prevent it is to eliminate the hogs.


----------



## jdhayboy (Aug 20, 2010)

Hogs will eat and destroy just about everything. Thats why i have a good set of dogs, run'em hard and kill them all!! I see your in texas, if your a couple of hours from the houston area I do travel and hunt other farms and ranches. If not I could probly help you find someone close by. Oh yeah and by the way.... ITS FREE!! We do it for fun.


----------



## mtarrant (Aug 10, 2009)

Problem is, kill all of them on the place, and in a week more will move in. I hunt them pretty steady, really looking for a plan for repairing hay fields!


----------



## Farmer Bob (Nov 15, 2010)

We have the same problem. We are along the river bottom and every time we cut and bale they root it up. If you find a solution please let me know.


----------



## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

And I thought pocket gophers were bad.


----------



## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

Swmnhay, I also thought gophers were a bad problem until we got our own place. Now, compared to feral hogs, gophers are a very mild annoyance, as are fire ant mounds.

This is not the answer that mtarrent or anyone else is wanting to hear, but repairing feral hog torn-up areas is only a temporary fix. The hogs will return and create the mess again sooner or later. Prevention is the best cure and that involves high-voltage electric fencing. Expensive, yes, but in my previous work life we had an electric deer proof fence and feral hogs never entered the 8-acre area. Hogs were around the area because they ate the corn within 100 feet of the electric fence that I put out for deer, and camera images showed them. Indications are that the fence need not be more than 28 to 34 inches tall. Obviously, electric fencing around a large hay field is out of the question based on the economic returns from hay production. Other types of fencing need to be considered, but even this option, if one exists, will be expensive.

Another option may be to allow hunters to work the area. One ranch in this area advertises weekend, night-time archery hunts including room and board and red-lighted stands for about $400. Another nuisance, yes. Personally, I don't understand the desire or craving to shoot an ugly old wild hog, except to try to eliminate the population. Hunting with dogs is also a temporary fix, and usually is not an option during deer hunting season, unless one doesn't care about what his hunting neighbors think of him/her.


----------



## mtarrant (Aug 10, 2009)

Thanks vhaby, you are not far from me so I am sure you deal with the same problem!
I thought about fencing, but heard cattle panels put 8-12" in the ground was the only way to fence out hogs.


----------



## jdhayboy (Aug 20, 2010)

Golf course next door to our place just put field fence up on our border fence and havent had any problems since then. Now if a hog wants in, they're comin in but its a deterent. If your place is big enough find a reprepable person with some good dogs and let them hunt all the time, if not get some traps. As far as the rooting, if you wana fix it, disc it. Fixing hog rooting sucks.


----------



## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

The electric fencing that I referred to in an earlier post was constructed of high-tensile, smooth wire. The lowest wire varied from about 1 inch to maybe 3 inches above the soil surface. As the wires were increased in height above the soil, the spacing between wires was widened, beginning with a spacing of about 4 inches between the bottom two wires. The bottom wire was hot and every other wire going up was hot, alternating with a ground wire between. The system was powered by a deep cycle 12-volt battery hooked to a solar panel to help maintain the charge.

mtarrant, since you are not too far from the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center, you may want to drive to Overton and view the exhibit at the entrance of this facility. The exhibit was set up by Dr. Billy Higgenbotham, Extension Wildlife and Fisheries Specialist. On display there are examples of hog traps that work well- one being a large area tear-drop shaped trap. This trap is constructed of cattle panel tied to T-posts. I've seen one of these traps contain 17 adult hogs in one night's catch, and have digital images of that catch, but I don't know how to post an individual image at this time.

The point that I want to make here is that these panels are not set into the ground, but placed on the soil surface, and they catch and hold well without the hogs digging out. A high-voltage electric fence as described above with the bottom wire and alternating wires carrying the electricity should work.

I have seen feral hog "highways" going under a two-wire electric fence designed for preventing cattle from getting into an alfalfa patch where the bottom wire was about 15 inches above the soil. The saying was that the hogs know that they were going to get shocked when they hit this wire, so they started squealing forty feet before they hit it.


----------

