HOG HUNTING ON THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA!

[BaseballStud20]

I was sitting here thinking and recall an article I read in Game and Fish magazine a couple years ago about hog hunting on the olympic peninsula...I think it was somwhere up north of Montesano. Never really heard anything about it after that so I was just wondering if anyone else had more information about these hogs. Are they still up there?

[Shadow Cat]

I used to live just outside of Monteseno and had not seen any hogs or even any sign. I have heard of them north of there up around Lake Wynoochee. There are also a lot of bears up in that area as well. Good Elk area to.

[callthewild]

I live in Elma and there has not been any talk of the hogs for 2-3 yrs.  the last i heard of any being seen it was up the 88 canyon

[Shadow Cat]

I lived between Matlock and Elma (off Ford Loop RD) and hunted 88 canyon a lot and have seen very little sign of them in there.

[callthewild]

i think most of them have been taken. like i said i have not heard of any being taken in 2-3 yrs. but back in the day that was the place to be

[jackelope]

http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/367538/page/2#Post36753

they have now been reduced to the likes of sasquatch, loch  ness monster and a chupacabra.

i'm kind of glad we don't have them on one hand, but on the other hand i kind of wish we had them for the hunting opportunity and the table fare if they weren't so destructive.
i remember the article though.

[Michelle_Nelson]

If their were a reasonable size Hog population in an area you would know.  They can become a real pain in the butt for farmers.  The best way to describe them are miniture Dozers.  They tear up everything.  Personally I wouldn't want to see them even get a foot hold in Washington.  If ya want to hunt them California is close enough for me. 

In the south their were only two big game animals,  Whitetail Deer and Wild Hogs.  Once they get a foot hold in washington you'll never get rid of them.  They can have any where from 3 - 4 litters a year.  I know that Piglets can start their own family at around 6 - 8 months.

[jackelope]

from http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/regions/reg5/feb2102.htm :

Feral Pigs in Region 5- Wildlife Staff was contacted by John Batts of Graham WA, who reported that he had observed feral pigs near the intersection of Weyerhaeuser Rd 1967 and the 1000 Rd in the summer of 2000. He had been "surfing" the WDFW website and saw the fact sheet on feral pigs in Region 6, and realized his observation was important. This is the first time that we have been made aware of the potential for wild pigs in Southwest Washington. Mr. Batts was gracious enough to send a photograph he had taken of a piglet. This pig was one of a litter that was with a sow. The sow would not allow Mr. Batts to approach close enough for a photo. Feral pigs are a serious threat to habitats of native animals and must be removed. They are not protected nor regulated, and we encourage anyone with information about them in Southwest Washington to contact the Region 5 office. We extend our appreciation to Mr. Batts for letting us know about this important observation. (To see a fact sheet on feral pigs in Region 6, see: http://wdfw.wa.gov/do/jun01/jun2201a.htm).

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June 22, 2001
Contact: Jack Smith, (360) 249-1222
Steve Pozzanghera, (360) 902-2506



Wildlife agency seeks information on wild pigs


OLYMPIA – If you see a wild pig on the Olympic Peninsula, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) wants to know about it.

Seriously.

Jack Smith, regional WDFW wildlife manager, said he's received an increasing number of reports from people who have seen – and sometimes shot – wild pigs in an area stretching from the Quinault Indian Reservation to the Wynochee River valley.

"We're concerned that these critters could be spreading," Smith said. "Left unchecked, they can be extremely destructive to native vegetation and wildlife species."

Smith isn't talking about ordinary pigs that just slipped away from the farm. The ones he's concerned about can weigh 300 pounds or more. Sporting long guard hair, they are dark brown to black in color and have a generally scruffy appearance.

They also have tusks like a European wild boar and can be dangerous when confronted.

"Like wild boars around the world, these guys aren't known for having a good temperament," Smith said.

In fact, Washington's wild pigs probably share the same lineage, said Steve Pozzanghera, deputy assistant director for the WDFW wildlife program, who explains that at least one game farm imported wild boars from eastern Europe to the Olympic Peninsula in the 1930s.

"The pigs we're hearing about are probably the descendants of those imported boars and feral pigs that escaped from area farms years ago," Pozzanghera said.

Because WDFW currently considers the animals to be "feral domestics," they can be hunted without a license, Pozzanghera said.

And that, apparently, is what an increasing number of people are doing.

Smith said he had heard about members of the Quinault tribe hunting wild pigs on the reservation for years but has recently received reports of pigs being taken by nontribal hunters from Humptulips to the Grisdale logging camp site on the Wynochee. The clearest evidence was a photo of a slain pig Smith received from the owner of a sporting goods store in Montesano.

"I've heard of about 10 taken since Mother's Day," Smith said. "If wild pigs are proliferating on the Peninsula, we need to know about it."

If you see or shoot a wild pig on the Olympic Peninsula, Smith asks that you contact him at (360) 249-1222. If, however, you're interested in information about where to hunt wild pigs, Smith asks that you instead call one of the sporting goods stores in the Grays Harbor area.

"I'm really not interested in becoming a wild pig hunting guide," he said, "and I know that sporting goods dealers in Montesano and Aberdeen have more information than anybody about where and how these pigs can best be hunted."

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http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=10799#

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http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=148

[Krusty]

The wild hogs on the Peninsula are just like the wild turkeys...

"They are where they are, when you see 'em, because that's where they were, when you saw 'em."

They may never be there again.

It's a very old, and in my opinion a very stable population. When lots of people get to thinking about them ,and therefore looking for them, more are seen and killed.

The problem with media based scouting reports, is the more likely the "scout" is of making money from it, the more encouraging the scouting report.
I NEVER trust the guy who owns the resort, the grocery store, or the gas station.

Beware of reporting to the WDFW, it's also my opinion that they are "testing the depth of the financial opportunity" here.
How many hog tags can they sell?

There are other non-indigenous game species, that we now apply for tags, to hunt.

Krusty

[jackelope]

those reports are from 2001, and if i remember correctly, there was no season, license required, limit, etc....so i guess they can't sell any tags.

[Krusty]

Jackalope,

I am well aware that those are old reports.

I am still wary of reporting or discussing hogs with the WDFW. Both actual populations and locations, and even any interest in hunting them.
We have not had a season in the past or had to buy tags, but if the WDFW sees a viable financial opportunity, that could change.

At one point in time we didn't even need tags for bears, they were "varmints", and that has changed. 

That didn't happen for the money it could generate, but for the money it could save. The state enlisted us as a free management tool, and stopped paying for a control/bounty system.

Krusty

[actionshooter]

Guys, I've got to call BS on this. I don't believe they were ever there. I have lived and hunted in that area for over 20 years. I know a ton of people who live and hunt in the area. I personaly know no-one who has seen them, heard them or seen sign. I have never seen a picture and no-one I know has ever seen a picture. I believe this was fabticated by a local sports shop (which will remain name-less) to drum up buisiness using the rag Hunting and Fishing News as an advertisement.
 This is my opinion, if some one can show me any evidence please post it! 

[Parker]

I'm no expert but I do know a couple of things about pigs. 
They are an amazing animal when it comes to their ability to go wild.  A domestic pig will begin growing long hair within about two weeks of escaping.  Such a pig would look pretty similar to a wild pig already, but the really amazing thing is that their offspring will already have an elongated snout and possibly teeth (tusks) as well.  Also, a pig can have several litters a year.  Taking that into consideration, and the fact that pigs tend to be fairly smart and independent (making them prone to escaping), it doesn't seem like it would be that far out there to find a feral pig roaming around the sticks.  On the other hand, they are incredibly destructive, so if there was a good sized population people would know. Just my two cents! 

[boneaddict]

Dang it action shooter...wasn't the Rambo First Blood movie filmed in that area.  Didn't he kill a wild pig for food with a spear.  There was your evidence, but I think he ate it.

[Krusty]

Actionshooter,

Wow dude, it takes a lot of balls to call a guy a liar, especially without saying what locality this businessman might be in.

I know a guy, a personal friend of mine, that owns a sporting goods store, and has killed a Wynoochie hog.
I wasn't with him, but if that's where he said it came from, I believe him.

His shop is a lot closer to the area pigs are rumored to be than I am, but he's not in any position to make huge financial gains by "outfitting" hog hunters, and he doesn't like media attention so I doubt he was motivated by fame.

There was a day, when a man's word was taken for that.
If he said he climbed a mountain, or shot a pig, or whatever.

Remember guys and gals, the grizzly bear, and the mountain gorilla were the same as Oly pigs... nobody wanted to believe either of them existed either.

Feral pigs, whether part of a "lost herd" or recently escaped livestock, have been proven to exist, both by the WDFW and the State Patrol.
In the last round of media frenzy, one was struck and killed by a lady in a car, and the WDFW spokesman said he thought that accident and others combined to have killed more pigs than hunters had (that he knew of).

I have never seen one, but I won't fall over in shock if I do.

There's a planted and well known flock (or flocks) of wild trukeys in the area, and I spent three hard years looking for them in and out of turkey season... I never saw bird, nor turd.

Every year or two, somebody reports taking a turkey from the southwest borders of the park.
Must be a popular place for liars?

Krusty