Why don't we have wild hogs in West Tennessee?

DeerCamp

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Really - just a curiosity.

Considering we are surrounded by them on all sides, made me wonder what it was that has kept hogs from getting into West TN.
 

PickettSFHunter

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Hogs are strange critters about moving very far. We have had them in my county for over 50 years and there are still certain roads they just don't cross. The way they move very far is in the back of trucks getting dropped off to hunt. Pretty popular for a certain group of hunters to catch hogs and drop them off.
 

Terrier

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Really - just a curiosity.

Considering we are surrounded by them on all sides, made me wonder what it was that has kept hogs from getting into West TN.
You should consider yourself lucky. I like to hog hunt just as much as anyone would, but I for dang sure wouldn't want them around my property. They're pretty destructive, and can be damned dangerous to stumble upon if you're out and about.
 

DeerCamp

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You should consider yourself lucky. I like to hog hunt just as much as anyone would, but I for dang sure wouldn't want them around my property. They're pretty destructive, and can be damned dangerous to stumble upon if you're out and about.
It was more just a curiosity than anything. I've heard they can be pretty destructive. It just surprised me that we don't have them.
 

Remington700

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Shelby Forest has them, LBL has them, and I've heard stories for years about them being in extreme southern Hardeman/McNairy counties around Pocahontas, TN. We're lucky they haven't exploded....yet.
I grew up hunting Hardeman and McNairy in the 90's and early 00's. I still hunt Fayette and have never seen a wild hog. Wonder if they have recently moved in? I have heard about gators around Bolivar and of course cougars in those areas. I have witnessed emus running wild 🤣
 

Spurhunter

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I grew up hunting Hardeman and McNairy in the 90's and early 00's. I still hunt Fayette and have never seen a wild hog. Wonder if they have recently moved in? I have heard about gators around Bolivar and of course cougars in those areas. I have witnessed emus running wild 🤣
It could be an old wives tale, but I hunted a big club in Pocahontas for a year and I heard it a lot.
 

Boll Weevil

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From the TWRA website:
In Region 1, Big Hill Pond State Park(McNairy Co.) Huntable Lands: The portion that is south of the railroad tracks is open to hunting during the statewide seasons. Wild hogs may be taken during deer season by licensed deer hunters.

I've no idea their population but if there's a wildlife regulation in print, there's apparently enough to hunt. Personally, I hope they either stay where they are or are altogether eradicated.
 
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bowhunterfanatic

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They are definitely in parts of West TN. One of the landowners that allows me to hunt had a bunch trapped on one of his properties a few years back. On a separate property he owns 8-10 miles away we get sporadic pictures of a few from time to time. We've been very fortunate that they haven't totally exploded in our area the way they seem to in other places.
 

Weegee

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Kind of like hunting turkey over bait, illegal but apparently being done.

I think they way TN handles hog hunting is a bit counterproductive, if they would allow hunting them a bit more aggressively, folks wouldn't be moving them around, or at least not as much.
But when they've studied wild pig populations, hunting isn't an effective method of reducing their numbers.
 

Union Co. Boy

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We have a lease in Benton County around Big Sandy. Got a pic of a hoss of a boar hog one year and never saw him again. The next year one of the guys heard something making a ton of noise behind him as he was preparing to shoot his first ever buck. When he glanced that way, there were three hogs coming out of a thicket. He shot the buck and didn't look at the hogs again. Another member made an emergency pit stop on the way to the stand in the dark and had one grunting and walking around him in the dark. Now THAT was a helluva funny story at lunch! All this transpired in two years. Only the one pic ever and no more sightings or encounters. 700 + acres, 25+ stands, 18 cameras, 13 members. No sign anywhere either. Go figure.
 

Grnwing

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Seen them on the Wolf River pretty regularly 2-3 years ago but have not seen them last year or this year, yet. I do not care for them at all and they are a nuisance to landowners.
 

FTG-05

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But when they've studied wild pig populations, hunting isn't an effective method of reducing their numbers.
And is actually counter productive in two ways:

- Dipshi! "hunters" who trap, transport and release to increase hunting opportunities
- Hunting them moves them and spreads them out
- Dipshi! "hunters" who trap, transport and release to increase hunting opportunities
 

Omega

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Clarksville, TN
But when they've studied wild pig populations, hunting isn't an effective method of reducing their numbers.
And is actually counter productive in two ways:

- Dipshi! "hunters" who trap, transport and release to increase hunting opportunities
- Hunting them moves them and spreads them out
- Dipshi! "hunters" who trap, transport and release to increase hunting opportunities
Hunting doesn't IMO, hurt the control issue, not allowing hunters to use known means, like at night with bait, to hunt them does. As to the trap and release, that is not hunting, and since it is illegal it will, and does, still happen. Most times, sounders stick together, so while a sounder may be moved to a less pressured area, they don't create more sounders, at least any more than they would have anyway.
 
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