What is the purpose of castrating the feral hogs? If you really wanted them to stop reproducing shouldn't you just shoot them? better yet, kill the freaking sows

[This message has been edited by SpiDer2008 (edited 8/25/2010 1:18p).]

generally they will grow bigger and have bigger tusks, so they become more of a trophy when they are eventually killed.

Lots of folks call them barrow(s)

[This message has been edited by hellapark (edited 8/25/2010 2:45p).]

Letting them go so they can go tear up more pasture is just dumb

^agreed, only good hog is a dead hog

It does seem like a lot of time and effort to castrate the animal instead of just shooting it dead to begin with. It doesn't make sense to put themselves and their dogs in that kind of danger just so they can record it.

In a closed system, ie game preserve, I can sort of see the application here. In an open system, I see no significant population impact.

From the website, I also find this statement interesting---"We enjoy being able to release our trophies back into the woods for another day when they are bigger, badder and even more pissed off."

With most critters, pigs included, what is one of the side effects of castration?

And yeah, usually the ultimate feral hog management objective is reduced overall damage. Letting them go doesn't really do this.

quote:

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With most critters, pigs included, what is one of the side effects of castration?

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better personality, less arguments, and the ability to sing alto parts in the church choir?

Pretty much what I was going for.

I've seen some Cajuns catch a boar, cut it, and then split one of the ears so other hunters knew it'd been cut. They wanted them to get fatter and swears it takes out some of the bad taste on larger boars.

When I asked them about pigs tearing up their property and pointed out they let five big pigs loose in one month - they responded they didn't want to buy the feed to fatten a pig. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

I'd assume it's the same idea as to why people castrate Texas Longhorn bulls into turn them into steers.

When less energy and resources are going to reproductive areas, its redirected elsewhere. This is why you will find steers to be taller and having more horn than cows and bulls.

I'm sure you get better tasting pigs out of the deal, but they are marketing it as something else....
"These hogs destroy millions of dollars worth of farm land, ranches and orchards. They also damage poultry farms, irrigation systems, and fences. Us girls just want to try and help the communities by controlling the hog population...."

If you are letting them go, in an open system, considering how many males are still running around, what are you effectively doing in managing the population? You might be reducing the competition for uncut males, but they are still out doing damage.

It's an interesting marketing strategy to say the least.

Cutting a hog or a bull does make the meat taste better. And you don't have unwanted litters with the females in the herd.

But in the wild, it's just weird. And as population control, it's as useful as an abstinence lecture at Midnight Yell Practice.

Many years ago, the company I worked for installed a sewer system in the town of Sarita. The town was established as a community for the ranch hands of the Kenedy ranch to reside. Very poor and 100 % Hispanic.

One of the locals told us that most of their meat that feeds his family is from the wild game they catch on the ranch while they are work cattle including hogs, deer and nilgai. Evident by the 100's of buck racks that he had hanging in the fence around his house. He said that they had to lasso all of the animals. They were not allowed to carry guns on the ranch. He said that when they would rope small boars, they would castrate them, split one ear and turn it loose. When one of the families needed a hog, they would look for the big ones that had the split ears and go after them. The castrated ones were bigger, fatter and tasted much better than the others.

Regarding cut hogs growing bigger, if you castrate an animal before puberty, the long bones continue to grow pretty much their whole life. Hormones at puberty is what causes the growth plates on the end to seal over.

It's like the old Arabian Nights and the huge eunuchs guarding the harem. Bit of truth to it.

ghollow, thats a good story. I missed down there. I wonder if they still only have one flashing light in Sarita

SpiDer,
I do not know about the flashing light but I am pretty sure the checkpoint is still there. I have not been to that part of the state in years.

We had a lease in Webb county when I lived down there. Some of the ugliest country you could ever see but it sure grew some big deer and some fat doves and quail.

I miss it too.