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Comment by mywittyname | Hacker News Reader

I think the more effective programs for population control involve allowing hunters to tag more of a particular animal along side lengthening the hunting season for them.

People largely enjoy hunting enough that they don't need an economic incentive to do so. Pigs are pretty tasty too.

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Wisconsin has open season year round on feral pigs with a small game license.

Land owners don't even need a license to shoot them.

However, that hasn't wiped them out.

Are they good to eat? If they aren't good as food, or for fur/skin, what's the motiviation to hunt them? Pure sport maybe, but many hunters will elect to spend their time and ammunition on something more desireable.

Feral pigs are just big pigs with overgrown teeth and more hair, something about freedom makes them even more aggressive than they normally are so never get near a wild souder (group). Yes, they are good to eat if in good areas but they usually have worms so cook well. Many ranches have cage traps set for this very reason. TX declared open season on feral hogs and offers a bounty per tail as funds permit, there is no reason to "cobra farm" them as prolific as they are. Enterprising souls have even offered "chopper rides" for the shared cost of ammo & fuel so you could hunt down a sounder and kill them with a variety of full-auto fire weapons (M60, M240, Mini-gun, etc) from the safety of the air. Yes, it sounds horrible till you consider the amount of damage they do to everything in their path and with a population of 10mil+ you aren't really making a dent.

IIRC the real issue is that if you pay someone to process the hog for you, for both the cost and quality, you're better off going to the store.

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