A chance to get back

Contest designed to help decrease hog population

By WAYNE STEWART Palestine Herald-Press

Wild hogs have inflicted a great deal of damage on East Texas landowners, now they have a chance to get back as part of a Houston County 4-H Shooting Sports project.

The First Annual East Texas Wild Hog Roundup will take place later this month and in March. The feral hog harvest will take place in Houston, Leon, Madison, Anderson, Angelina, Cherokee and Trinity counties.

“You can’t drive these roads around East Texas and not see some of the damage they’ve done,” said David Williamson with the Houston County 4-H Shooting Sports Program. “You can’t drive down the road without seeing a dead one someone hit with their car.”

Here is a complete set of rules for the seven-county hog harvest:

• All wild feral hogs taken must be harvested in one of the counties listed above.

• Only harvested feral hogs will be weighed in on the scheduled dates and only during the times stated below. All hogs must be harvested and no live animals will be weighed.

• All applicable state and federal hunting regulations regarding the harvest of feral hogs apply.

• Hogs may be harvested by gun, bow, with or without the aid of dogs or may be trapped.

• All hogs will be marked after weigh-in and will either be returned to the hunter or they may be donated for appropriate disposal.

• All weigh-ins will occur at the Houston County 4-H Training Center located on CR 4505 approximately 1 mile south of Crockett just off U.S. 287 South.

• Teams may weigh-in harvested hogs for an accumulated weight total on any or all dates that have been set for weigh-ins during the contest duration.

• All entries are by teams and each team must consist of two individuals for safety reasons.

There are three reasons behind the hog roundup, Williamson said.

“The shooting club is doing this as an environmental improvement project,” Williamson said. “We are doing it to make it safer on some of the roads around here at night; and we are doing it because nobody else, at least locally, has come up with a way to effectively decrease the (feral hog) population.

“Hopefully with this contest we will get as many as possible.”

The weigh-in days are set for Friday, Feb. 19 from 5 to 9 p.m.; Saturday Feb. 20, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 21, from 1 to 6 p.m.; Friday March 5, from 5 to 9 p.m.; Saturday, March 6 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, March 7, from 1 to 6 p.m.

An entry fee of $50 will be charged for each 2-person team. Checks should be made payable to Houston County 4-H Shooting Sports and mailed before the contest begins. Payment should be sent to 904 Mimosa Lane, Crockett, Texas 75835.

There will be prizes awarded on several categories. The first place team will be awarded to the team with the highest accumulated weight harvest during the contest period. They also will receive trophies for both team members, $500 guaranteed prize plus 25 percent of total entry fees collected.

The second place team will be based on accumulated weight. They will receive $250 plus 15 percent of entry fees; and the third place team will be based on accumulated weight and will receive $150 plus 10 percent of entry fees.

The team with the largest boar and sow by combined weight during the contest also will receive a new Matthews Solo Cam boa and a Knight Black Shadow .50 caliber in-line muzzleloading rifle.

For more on the contest contact Williamson at (936)544-5356.

 

Text Only