I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. Feral swine have been verified in several counties in NY. Go to the DEC website and check out http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/70843.html  I hope this doesn't get as out of hand as it has in the south.

it will. once established they are virtually impossible to get rid of. DEC better do something and quick; those swine will thrive here.

I was reading some articles about this on line yesterday. Of course, PETA is whining about killing them already. They think the hogs should be trapped and then make determinations on an individual basis as to whether or not they should be killed. Those people carry things a bit far.

to say the least. peta needs to stay out of this one

checked out the DEC site and i dont see any places listed where they have been spoted or are already established. that would be some useful info to publish if the DEC really wants help eliminating them. i'll do my part if i see 'em.

Here in Kansas the KDWP feared that they were being trapped in other states and being released here to establish hunting herds so they outlawed the hunting of them and used helicopters with snipers to eradicate established herds.
After mistakenly stocking one of our local lakes with white perch (thought theyb were stocking wipers) and have now been found in other lakes they want to make it illegal to catch your own bait and use it in another location other than body of water it was caught. Half the fun of setting lines on river is taking the youngsters and catching perch in a farm pond and using them for bait on river lines. It's already illegal to posses a live white perch and when caught have to be killed. That should be enough. Those that don't abide to those rules aren't going to abide to any stricter rules.
I do like the KDWP idea of opening deer rifle season a week earlier and adding an early rifle doe season.

I've heard there are some over Cortland County way, supposedly got loose off a game preserve over there a few years ago.

I suspect that's how a lot of this gets started. A boar gets loose, starts looking for love, breaks down a fence where domestic stock is, and their off. There is one of those private game preserves near Savannah. I've never been a fan of those. It's fenced in, but, the place is huge and I don't believe anyone walks miles of fence every day looking for holes. As far as I'm concerned, if someone wants to hunt exotic animals, they should go where they are. Raising them like pets and shooting them from an air conditioned/heated cottage they call a blind is not a sportsman.

There was mention on this site earlier of "3" feral hogs loose in a state park and they were killed.....It's definately not as widespread as elsewhere, but the potential is there!
  Ummm.....don't think "escaped" exotics are the primary cause for feral pigs/hogs. Escaped/released domestics can become "feral," that is the main reason for the "feral" problem, from what I have read.  Either way, lets hope it doesn't get out of hand here in NY.

I didn't say it was the main cause, but, it is certainly one of the problems. Accidental release of non native species has been proven to be a problem many times over.

It is an open season on Feral Swine. That is the DEC's answer. It would be nice as you say to know generally where they are. There is a huge amount of open ground out there. Also exotics and game farms may have contributed to a few animals and their progeny. Just your regular hog farm escapes are the bigger problem. Studies have shown that they take on wild boar tendencies and looks after just a few generations.

I wish a herd of Elk would escape in NY. Now that would be nice.

We have the occasional Elk in NYS now. They come up from Pa where they have a season now from stocking. Hopefully enough will spill over to start a resident population!

I've got a buddy (knows it all) claims all you need is a 22lr to kill feral hogs. Well that may be true of hogs on the farm if you look at feral hogs they're snout is longer and head is flatter a 22lr is gonna bounce off that puppy tick him off and then he'll want revenge. Best medicine for em at short range 12ga foster slug anything farther i got a 7mm Rem Mag that's dead on at 200yds.

I believe you guys are right on both counts....domestic can become feral if escaped into the wild and exotics do the same but in my opinion are more dangerous due to the breed itself. Ever look at a Russian Boar up close? Just a mean fighting machine! Yikes!

I would certainly use something bigger than a 22 LR. I am sure it can be done; however any dear rifle would be better. Besides, it gives practice for deer season. That is why my chuck gun is my 30.06.

Has any one seen these hogs yet?Or better yet has one been killed in NYState.

Check out "Feral Hogs in Texas" to see how bad it is.  You have to kill 70% of the population each year to maintain the herd.  They have 2 litters per year, each of 5 or 6 or more.  Weather isn't a concern.

I wondered if it was as bad down there as they make it look on Discovery Channel. Killing off 70% every year must take a lot of hunting. Is it always open season on them? Is the meat any good?

Go to Texasboars.com. They will answer all your questions re feral hogs. Hunting them with bow, firearms, dogs, cooking them, etc. You have to be a member to post a question but it is the go to site re hogs. Supposedly, they're great to eat but how much pork do you eat in one year. They can't give enough away. There are so many, they are using helicopters to eliminate them to save the damage to farmers. You don't want them here.
Yes to open season all year. To see how bad it is, go to youtube and search hog hunting.

I believe the ones they did shoot here in the state were the ones at Letchworth State park.

Several years ago, the DEC got 2 and a bow hunter got the other one in Alleghany SP. They were true wild boar, not feral swine. There is a population in central NY along the PA. border. DEC is asking permission to control them but some misinformed property owners like the idea of a species to hunt all year long.

My uncle and I have seen them up on the mnt he lives on out by the VT NY border east of LK George. It is just a matter of time, and yah they are a huge problem in TX. I have a couple buddies of mine that have been trying to get me to come down because they cant keep up with them. Big problem BIG.

There's a ton of em in Albany. All elected or appointed by the elected of course.

WILD HOGS HAVE BEEN SIGHTED IN THE TOWNS OF DANBY, & NEWFIELD IN TOMPKINS COUNTY, SOUTHERN TIER

Good one Gutpile!

I've only heard of them being seen and/or taken in Central New York. As I understand it, the DEC has not established a season for them. In other words, OPEN SEASON, providing the hunter is in accordance with county/region firearms regs. and possesses a Small Game Permit. I also heard that the DEC has suggested that we refrain from shooting at them if there are more than three hogs together, so as not to scatter them. Not sure how I feel about that. If I have one lined up, I'm not going to wait and see if three more happen to show up. And especially if they're tearing through local farmland. As for PETA trapping them to eradicate the population...GOOD LUCK! (And PETA wouldn't be doing the work anyway. That would fall on the DEC and thus our far too strained wallets.) I'd suggest shooting as many of them as you can, and investing in a good meat smoker.

So...who's hosting the pig roast this summer???

has anyone heard any more about locations of these pigs. I went on a hog hunt in Ga back in march and it is amazing the devistation that these things create. A budding in broome county heard that they have spotted dozens but nothing is comfirmed yet.

Once you get them, you'll never get rid of them.  Have to kill 70% of the population every year just to maintain the balance.  Texas is even using helicopters to control them.  Also, NY will never allow dogs to hunt them.
Here's a article I wrote for a club I belong too.  It says how bad the problem is.

I got a DVD from NYSDEC re: Feral Hogs in NY. Short
story is, if you see them, don't shoot at the group. Reason
being, is that once shot at, they scatter, and make it harder to
kill them all. They request you call the DEC or USDA so they
can be trapped and removed. NYS is not interested in control;
they want 100% eradication of them. There is a population in
central NY. DEC is asking permission from property owners
to eradicate them, but some misinformed guys like the idea of
having another thing they can hunt all year long. It may
sound good, but here are the facts. Whitetail doe produce 1 to
3 fawns once a year and supposedly we have an
overpopulation of deer. Feral hogs produce 5 to 6 piglets
twice a year; weather is not a matter. We know what deer eat,
but feral hogs are totally different. They'll eat anything. Eggs
of ground nesting birds-i.e., geese, woodcock, turkeys, etc.
They'll eat amphibians-salamanders, crayfish, snails, etc.
They’ll destroy and root up agricultural crops-tubers, fruits,
bulbs, corn, etc. Also, lambs, baby goats, fawns or anything
else they can catch are part of their diet. In regards to why to
charge people to hunt them if they're such a nuisance, it's a
easy way to get some sucker to pay you to hunt them. A great
way to get info on feral swine is, go to Texas boars.com. or
type in, "The Feral Hog in Texas" on your search engine. It's
published by Texas Parks and Wildlife. They have a lot of
good info on hogs; i.e: How to hunt them, how to cook them,
hunting them with a bow, firearm or dogs.
Some guys are even releasing them in order to establish a
breeding population. Bad idea, as once established, you'll
never get rid of them. They are not worth the nuisance or
damage they cause. You will have to kill 70% of the
population every year to control them. Hopefully, this gives a
better idea of what a pain feral hogs are to the rest of the
country and why we don't want them in NYS.

I just read an article about a population in Sullivan county NY. A guy named Anderson has been shooting them for three years now and just recently killed eight of them in one setting. Hunters are reporting being chased in the woods by hogs. These hogs are Russian Boars, the most dangerous and the neighboring hog farmer admitted a tree fell across his fence and some got out before he could mend it.

i agree on the trouble we are in if they take hold. Like i said i was in Georgia this march hunting them and i asked at one point durning the hunt when the farmer had picked the peanuts in the field we were hunting. The answer was he hadnt and wouldnt be as the crop was a total loss as the pigs had rutted them all up. I was shocked.

Check out the youtube videos about this topic.

Sunday Rochester D & C ran this on the outdoors page:

Here is another article. This bow hunter took a pig, about 10 miles from my home.

Posted By TH on 07 Nov 2011 07:49 AM
Here is another article. This bow hunter took a pig, about 10 miles from my home.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com...1111060369

I saw this in a different paper. There have been other unofficial sightings in that area. This may get out of hand faster than the DEC thought.

I see a ton of deer behind my house. I hope this being @ 10 miles away, that I do not start seeing pigs. I will have to be careful with the dog. He'll go after them if up in my compost, and don't need the vet bill.

If these things get a foothold in a large wild area like the Adirondacks, it's all over. You'll never get them all with that much room to run and hide. 

Haven't seen any in my area (Ithaca/Lansing), but I know they've been seen off of Rt. 13 heading to Elmira from Ithaca.

I'm seriously surprised we haven't seen them at our camp in Alfred....a great deal of that area is overrun with buck thorn....great hiding and food and mature red and what white oaks loggers didn't get...not to mention the wild blueberries and skunk weed...beech and shag bark hickories...swamp lands and over grown orchards...it's why the bears love the area

That's because they here you coming Badger and run for the hills!

Ya just the way the bear do too...lol

Here s something I found...you guys that have them in your area and get to hunt....Something I didn't know....



Raw Pork may contain a swine disease known as Aujeszky’s disease or pseudorabies.
It is incurable and fatal to Dogs. However the bacteria are highly susceptible to freezing. Any Raw Pork or Pork bones that have been frozen for three weeks at a suitably low temperature will be safe for your Dogs to eat. As raw Pork bones are so good for the Dogs to chew on don’t let the dangers of raw Pork for Dogs put you off. Either freeze them yourself or when you buy them check with the Butcher how long they have been frozen for.
Dogs can eat cooked pork but always without the bone. Cooked bones, as I will explain later, are very dangerous for Dogs and should never be given. Do not feed Dogs Pork bones unless you know they have been suitably frozen.

Also, the fecal matter of feral swine has some bad stuff in it that if your dogs or other animals drink water from around one of their wallows, it can get the dogs really sick.

I don't give my dog bones, period.

We give our dogs beef marrow bones. They will work on them for days and then we can fill them with other mixtures just for fun. They do great for keeping their teeth shiny.

Hey all so what are the predictions on the feral population after such a mild winter.....

Good thought. They are hardy creatures, but you would think a mild winter would help keep the population healthy. 

I don't think coyotes would mess with mama or even a juvenile pig a couple months old. The deer that I have seen lately look very healthy compared to last year at this time. By March last year, most deer looked like they had been dragged down a couple miles of bad road. I don't think the ground froze in most of the state, so, pigs can forage like winter never came. That will probably give them a jump start that they didn't need.

One of the articles someone posted stated that they are true Russian boar, not feral swine. It's got to be much colder in Siberia than in NY and they survive there. I posted the question on another site, if feral swine have any natural predators in the US. Answer I got was only cougars.

Some escapees are true Russian Boars; however, feral swine take on characteristics of wild boar even after just a couple generations. These feral swine are often much larger that wild boars as well since they have been breed to be bigger as domesticated pigs to offer more meat. 

Posted By preacher626 on 15 Jun 2011 01:04 PM
I've only heard of them being seen and/or taken in Central New York. As I understand it, the DEC has not established a season for them. In other words, OPEN SEASON, providing the hunter is in accordance with county/region firearms regs. and possesses a Small Game Permit. I also heard that the DEC has suggested that we refrain from shooting at them if there are more than three hogs together, so as not to scatter them. Not sure how I feel about that. If I have one lined up, I'm not going to wait and see if three more happen to show up. And especially if they're tearing through local farmland. As for PETA trapping them to eradicate the population...GOOD LUCK! (And PETA wouldn't be doing the work anyway. That would fall on the DEC and thus our far too strained wallets.) I'd suggest shooting as many of them as you can, and investing in a good meat smoker.

Amen preacher, DEC has said if you see one and process a small game license you can hunt and shoot them. All I can say is if they show up in Delaware county we are having a piggy roast.

On Sept. 18th, at 7 pm., the Elma Conservation Club, 600 Creek Rd., Elma, NY will hold a seminar on the "Status of Feral Swine in NYS". A representative from the NYSDEC will talk about the biology, habits, reproduction rates, environmental threats and agricultural damage done by feral swine. A question and answer period will follow. This is open to Club members, their guests and the public. Hope to see you there.