# Who has actually shot a wild MI hog?



## Smallmouth Chaser

I have been watching this forum for a while and wonder who has actually shot a wild hog in Michigan (I don't count high fence enclosures)? If you did post some pictures. 

I was grouse hunting near the Tobacco River near Standish last fall and found an area that was all rooted up and and covered with hog tracks. I didn't see any, but the sign was very evident. My Dad's neighbor own's some hunting property in Roscommon County and has trail cam pictures of hogs and has seen them but not put one on the ground yet. I know they are here and something we are going to have to deal with I would like to see some on the meat pole.


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## 9

Smallmouth Chaser said:


> I have been watching this forum for a while and wonder who has actually shot a wild hog in Michigan (I don't count high fence enclosures)? If you did post some pictures.
> .


Good question.

I attended "THE" big feral hog meeting that was put on last spring here in Midland Co.. The ONLY person out of over 250+ who got up and related his hunting story of killing two hogs(in the Flooding area) was Compton and his story was old news since it occurred in 2007 and was in our newspaper. 

NOBODY offered to tell of even one other hog being killed in the surrounding Counties! NOT ONE!!! For crying-out-loud, 1/2 of the pics they handed out at the meeting were NOT even examples of hog damage.

There are a couple of folks that have recently posted on this board from my old township(Hope) where I lived and trapped for over 25 years one with a pic of two hogs and the other person noting he has seen damage. I know every farmer in that Township personally and if any of them have hogs damaging their crops, those pigs are already being recycled as chops. If not the farmers, there are a bunch of folks that live in an adjacent township that out-of-hand, have already taken care of those hogs.

I trap canines four months of the year for many, many years in an area that extend north up to Bombay Rd, east to Crump, south to Delta College, west to North Bradly, and back south to M-20 and I've seen NO sign of hogs since 2007 and that had to do with one sighting of 3 together off Monroe Rd!! If there are hogs in my trapping territory I've NOT seen any hog sign, albeit **** rolling sod for grubs which many think is hogs, and none of my property owners are complaining about there being hogs on their properties or neighboring properties I don't trap on !! I've had many people tell me that much of my trapping territory is literally overrun by feral hogs. Again, many folks don't read sign worth a darn, so they look but never see! :SHOCKED: LMAO


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## Rustyaxecamp

Exactly.

I was in Ace Hardware last winter and 2 guys walked in in full camo coveralls, stormed over to the gun counter (where I was standing) and asked the guy behind the counter, "Where would you recommend we go to get a shot at the wild boars?" They had driven up from Flint to hunt the baors that were overrunning the county.....

I know they are around, but like cougars, they aren't as prevelant as some make them out to be.


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## MERGANZER

I shot one in 2005! Haven't seen one since.

Ganzer


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## johnhunter

bioactive killed a huge Siberian boar in 2008 in Pittsford Twp. The story and pics are somewhere here on msf.


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## youngslayer

my dad shot one in 2006 winter never seen after that in west branch

he'll get the pics to u soon.


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## Lucky Dog

My brother shot one in Grand Traverse county back in 1979.


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## swamphunter

Its been 8 years since but I shot a 225 lb male in Marion Springs state game area ( Gratiot County ). My uncle and his brother both shot a sow and a couple of the piglets. It was obvious back then that there were pigs in the area, with all of the rooting we found but we have not seen one since.


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## skyblaster

My brother Biggbear has been slaying hogs at the Limberlost in Houghton Lake for years.......:lol:


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## Perferator

I had one come in to my bait pile while in my treestand deer hunting September of '07. It was so dark I couldnt see my pin sight. Could barely make out his silhouette. He probably weighed 200lbs max, had long brown hair, came in looking right up at me but couldnt figure me out any more I could him. He sauntered off like nothing was there. Sure did make for a good walk out. Some time later a lady down the road reported a large wild hog with big tusks grazing with her horse. Not much after there was another call into the township office of two small hogs with yellow tags in ears eating the grass in her yard....neither were far from my house where I'd seen the hog while hunting. This is Charlevoix county.

This past deer season while hunting Emmet county we saw several hog tracks and one area all rooted up.


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## sadworld

skyblaster said:


> My brother Biggbear has been slaying hogs at the Limberlost in Houghton Lake for years.......:lol:


thanks for the giggle


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## hunting man

My father shot 2 last year in Scio township near Ann Arbor. About 60 lb's each. He shot once and killed them both using #6 shot in a .410.


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## TrekJeff

skyblaster said:


> My brother Biggbear has been slaying hogs at the Limberlost in Houghton Lake for years.......:lol:



PICS not required....:lol:


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## GSP Gal

We had three hanging on the buckpole in deercamp last year. This was in Clare county. My dad shot at one of them, wounded it, and it ran infront of a friend of ours and he finished it off.

Not bad eating.


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## Bear in the Woods

Take a good hard look at the Gratiot-Saginaw Game area. The south west area (South of Brant and east of Ashley). Plenty of hogs shot in that area. I know personally of 12 being shot in the last 2 years and yes there are plenty more left.

Word of advise-Ask nice and you may get to hunt for a hog. But the private land owners are pretty protective of just who they let in to hunt. There are hogs on the State land too.


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## MEL

skyblaster said:


> My brother Biggbear has been slaying hogs at the Limberlost in Houghton Lake for years.......:lol:


I heard there are some big ones around that area.


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## 9

These reports are all fine and dandy and they answer the original poster's question but I still haven't read what I'm looking for!

DNRE officals told me personally and specifically.......

"Village of Sanford *overrun* with hogs"

Sanford Game Area *infested* with hogs"

"Entire Sanford area has a serious *infestation* of hogs"

"Kawkawlin Flooding, especially the north end is *infested* with hogs"(area in and around the old N.... Camp)

I see no evidence of *"infested"* *"infestation"*, or *"overrun"*!!!!!


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## Riva

For what it's worth..On October 1, 2008, I had just set up in my stand for the afternoon bow hunt. This is in Forester Township, Sanilac County.
Prior to that day, I has absolutely no knowledge of or, consideration towards wild pigs in this state.

After sitting for only 5 minutes or so, I heard commotion on the ground in some thick pines behind me. At first, it sounded like several deer and, I heard what sounded like grunting. Then, all hell broke loose with the squealing of what was unquestionably, several pigs. It sounded like they were fighting. Scared the living crap out of me. So much so, that I got out my stand well before sunset and walked at a very, very fast pace to my vehicle.

While I did not actually see them, I will go to my grave that it was pigs that I heard that afternoon.


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## triplelunger

I'm not sure I understand this post. Are we _upset_ that we are not overrun with wild pigs? I think we should be happy we are not experiencing what they are in Texas. I personally hope I never see one in Michigan.


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## tommy-n

Some biologists and news media say we are over run with them, at least 5000 and multiplying. Granted there are some but this is nothing new, there have always been some in the wild since the depression when people could not afford to feed them and turned them loose.


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## Perferator

Seldom said:


> Good question.
> 
> I attended "THE" big feral hog meeting that was put on last spring here in Midland Co.. The ONLY person out of over 250+ who got up and related his hunting story of killing two hogs(in the Flooding area) was Compton and his story was old news since it occurred in 2007 and was in our newspaper.
> 
> NOBODY offered to tell of even one other hog being killed in the surrounding Counties! NOT ONE!!! For crying-out-loud, 1/2 of the pics they handed out at the meeting were NOT even examples of hog damage.
> 
> There are a couple of folks that have recently posted on this board from my old township(Hope) where I lived and trapped for over 25 years one with a pic of two hogs and the other person noting he has seen damage. I know every farmer in that Township personally and if any of them have hogs damaging their crops, those pigs are already being recycled as chops. If not the farmers, there are a bunch of folks that live in an adjacent township that out-of-hand, have already taken care of those hogs.
> 
> I trap canines four months of the year for many, many years in an area that extend north up to Bombay Rd, east to Crump, south to Delta College, west to North Bradly, and back south to M-20 and I've seen NO sign of hogs since 2007 and that had to do with one sighting of 3 together off Monroe Rd!! If there are hogs in my trapping territory I've NOT seen any hog sign, albeit **** rolling sod for grubs which many think is hogs, and none of my property owners are complaining about there being hogs on their properties or neighboring properties I don't trap on !! I've had many people tell me that much of my trapping territory is literally overrun by feral hogs. Again, many folks don't read sign worth a darn, so they look but never see! :SHOCKED: LMAO


Since we hog hunting enthusiasts now have our own forum it is becoming a bit more challenging to keep all of our info sorted out....but one thing is for sure, the hogs are here.

I've posted on other threads here that I've seen a good sized hog (certainly not domestic) come in to my bait pile while I was bow hunting October of 2007. It was well past shooting light so I just watched it. About a month later a large, tusked, hairy hog was sighted about 2mi from my house and where my stand was. In that same timeframe there were two smaller hogs, each with a yellow tag in an ear that were grazing in the backyard of a house not far from us. Same place, different hogs and sightings. This is in the lake michigan shoreline area south of Charlevoix in Charlevoix county.


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## rocky324

Perferator said:


> I had one come in to my bait pile while in my treestand deer hunting September of '07. It was so dark I couldnt see my pin sight. Could barely make out his silhouette. He probably weighed 200lbs max, had long brown hair, came in looking right up at me but couldnt figure me out any more I could him. He sauntered off like nothing was there. Sure did make for a good walk out. Some time later a lady down the road reported a large wild hog with big tusks grazing with her horse. Not much after there was another call into the township office of two small hogs with yellow tags in ears eating the grass in her yard....neither were far from my house where I'd seen the hog while hunting. This is Charlevoix county.
> 
> This past deer season while hunting Emmet county we saw several hog tracks and one area all rooted up.


 is september the new season :yikes:


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## Perferator

rocky324 said:


> is september the new season :yikes:


Yeah, that would be October. At least someone reads my posts:lol:


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## Robert Holmes

I would love to go to one of those DNR meetings and listen to the biologist describe how hogs hurt the deer population. The same biologist will show up at a meeting in the UP and try to impress hunters with a bunch of BS about how the wolves help the deer population in the UP. I think that these biologists are robots with built in tape recorders. They are good at telling people what their master wants people to think. The DNR is also very good at underestimating and overestimating animal populations too. I used to have excellent deer hunting a few miles out of St Ignace until the wolves moved in, now I deer hunt in Ogemaw Co. I have not seen any hogs yet but if I do I will shoot them too.


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## thebillcollector

I almost got one a few years ago. I was out scouting geese and I noticed two pigs in the corn field that I hunt. My mouth started to water. But I wanted to be sure that they were not loose pigs of a farmers. I knew they were not wild boars they were pigs. I stopped and knocked on a house that had a few cars in the driveway. No one answered and the pigs were looking at me. Then i walked around the other side of the house. I heard some noise and turned around and here come the pigs running across the road right at me. They ran right to me and up a little ramp at the side door and through a pig door right into there owners house. I decided I knew the answer on shooting them and turned around and left!!!!


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## welcometomyworld

I shot one in 2009 in Lennawee Co. Irish Hills area.


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## swampbuck

when this problem first started we had the escapees baited in west of houghton lake and in the Kawkawlin flooding.......We could not get permission to trap and they were noctournal. Now we have 2 traps but the hogs have dispersed and those who find them will not give a location because the think they will get them (they wont !) Today as I see it let them establish a population, The opportunity to stop them has passed. It might be nice to have another hunting opportunity.

I dont think there will ever be a substantial population in the NLP and UP.......As far as the SLP, They want to control our deer hunting in the North, Well they can control the hogs also. We have wolves to deal with........maybe its karma.

As far as hogs affecting thee deer herd, well I cant count how many hunting videos I have seen of hogs and deer at the corn spreader together. And some serious hog damage from a few years ago in Houghton lake has regrown better than ever.


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## bioactive

swampbuck said:


> when this problem first started we had the escapees baited in west of houghton lake and in the Kawkawlin flooding.......We could not get permission to trap and they were noctournal. Now we have 2 traps but the hogs have dispersed and those who find them will not give a location because the think they will get them (they wont !) Today as I see it let them establish a population, The opportunity to stop them has passed. It might be nice to have another hunting opportunity.
> 
> I dont think there will ever be a substantial population in the NLP and UP.......As far as the SLP, They want to control our deer hunting in the North, Well they can control the hogs also. We have wolves to deal with........maybe its karma.
> 
> As far as hogs affecting thee deer herd, well I cant count how many hunting videos I have seen of hogs and deer at the corn spreader together. And some serious hog damage from a few years ago in Houghton lake has regrown better than ever.


I agree that once the population is established the two critters will be forced to tolerate each others presence. However, when there is only a small number, the deer and turkeys find other places to hang out. At least that was my observation when I had hogs two years ago.


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## americangunnery10

Any pics from Michigan kills?


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## fishinmachine2

americangunnery10 said:


> Any pics from Michigan kills?


These below are all Michigan kills and not in a fence either!!!



fishinmachine2 said:


> My sons bow kill!!
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> My wifes kill!!
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> My first kill!!
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> Scott


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## Perferator

Scott, I think you might have posted those elsewhere and with my compliments responding....but just in case.....Excellent pics and hunts. You have a beautiful family and one that hunts, wow.


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## ttreewalkerr1

This past Sunday My son & I completed a 3 day hunters safety coarse. The DNR officer came in on day #2 for a couple hours, the topic of Ferrel Swine in Michigan came up,, he was disterbed about what the media has done about the Swine in Michigan he stated.
He talked for about 3-5 minutes on how it's way over blown, and he stated "if there was more than 20-30 in lower Michigan it would be nothing more than an urban legend."


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## ForestvilleJack

ttreewalkerr1 said:


> This past Sunday My son & I completed a 3 day hunters safety coarse. The DNR officer came in on day #2 for a couple hours, the topic of Ferrel Swine in Michigan came up,, he was disterbed about what the media has done about the Swine in Michigan he stated.
> He talked for about 3-5 minutes on how it's way over blown, and he stated "if there was more than 20-30 in lower Michigan it would be nothing more than an urban legend."


Finally somebody from the DNR being realistic about pig numbers. There are not wild pigs over running the state of michigan. The people that come on here on ask for a good place to hunt for pigs in michigan, should hunt right outside of the fences on any game ranch in MI that is about the only place you have a good chance of killing a wild pig.


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## mak

swampbuck said:


> As far as hogs affecting thee deer herd, well I cant count how many hunting videos I have seen of hogs and deer at the corn spreader together. And some serious hog damage from a few years ago in Houghton lake has regrown better than ever.


One of the concerns would probably be the diseases those hogs carry may spread to the deer herd.

The NLP already has a problem with bovine tuberculosis.

*Brucellosis, Pseudorabies, *African swine fever, hog cholera, and foot and mouth disease can be spread by feral hogs


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## Ice Hopper

Last year I thought I had a hog coming thru on a trail right at dark almost every evening in a tree stand. It sounded like a hog, as I've ranch hunted hogs several times. Blew me away to find out later in the season that it was a button buck with sort of breathing issue. He was making crazy pig like grunts on every other step. Other than the sounds he looked perfectly healthy...

I really think the DNR is over reacting to the hogs. The hunter density in lower MI is so extreme during deer season, I can't believe that hogs could ever over run the state. This isn't Texas or the Everglades, or the hills somewhere down south. We have a significant polpolution and flat land here. 

I'll probably tick someone off, but I wouldn't mind seeing a huntable population of pigs. They might be able to feed some hungry unemployed household!

Just my opinion.


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## Perferator

Ice Hopper said:


> I'll probably tick someone off, but I wouldn't mind seeing a huntable population of pigs. They might be able to feed some hungry unemployed household!
> 
> Just my opinion.


I do too. Problem as it is, for a huntable population situation you would probably see hog numbers way higher than now and much more damage/nuisances.

It's my dream to whack one with my 45-70. I'm waiting for one to come in to my deer stand or see one in a field eating.


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## Putman Lake Campground

Rustyaxecamp said:


> Exactly.
> 
> I was in Ace Hardware last winter and 2 guys walked in in full camo coveralls, stormed over to the gun counter (where I was standing) and asked the guy behind the counter, "Where would you recommend we go to get a shot at the wild boars?" They had driven up from Flint to hunt the baors that were overrunning the county.....
> 
> I know they are around, but like cougars, they aren't as prevelant as some make them out to be.


I"ve seen two cougars myself in Kent County. They are here, but like many of our predators they don't like to be seen. 

I've questioned the Hog population too. I've questioned whether or not the reports the way they are to make sure we keep the problem from materializing? 

On the other hand a distinquished gentleman reported seeing hogs this past weekend in this region (NE of us) while scouting new hunting areas. 

www.putmanlake.com
231 745 2621


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## MEL

:16suspect

Welcome to the site.


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## Putman Lake Campground

MEL said:


> :16suspect
> 
> Welcome to the site.


Thanks Mel!


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## MERGANZER

Not 1 but 2 cougars in KENT county!!!!! Well we dont need to worry about the hog population there getting out of hand because the cougars will get em!!!!:lol: In todays day and age of trail cams every 50 yds. I am sure if the cougars were running rampant we would have picture evidence. Different day but same crazy stuff here gotta love it.

Ganzer


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