North East Georgia WMA's Holding Good Hog Populations?

There were definitely some (lots) of them caught live in Fla. and transported up here by some connected folks who wanted something to hunt year-round. They used to talk loudly about it in a local restaurant and didnt care who heard them. Nothing happened to them but the rules were changed so they were not able to hunt hogs on National Forest land all year, just when small game, deer and turkey season was open. Which undoubtably helped the hogs multiply.

ripplerider said:

There were definitely some (lots) of them caught live in Fla. and transported up here by some connected folks who wanted something to hunt year-round. They used to talk loudly about it in a local restaurant and didnt care who heard them. Nothing happened to them but the rules were changed so they were not able to hunt hogs on National Forest land all year, just when small game, deer and turkey season was open. Which undoubtably helped the hogs multiply.

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great....hope they don't like zebra mussels...

Rabun said:

So the hogs in N Ga mtns didn't migrate/expand range from other areas of Ga and neighboring states? I thought that was the case but it wouldn't surprise me at all if some morons released them.

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Hogs have been in the mtns all across the southeast since the 1800's, just not in extraordinary numbers. They have been the result of free ranged livestock. This was the most common, and in fact, the only way of keeping hogs for a long time. Just free range them and go shoot one when you need it. Finally, their exponential growth rate has caught up with us, and individuals releasing them have further compounded the problem. I'll try to post some photos tonight if I have time. Some pictures of wild hogs in NC and Tennessee in 1910. Tennessee started having official wild hog hunts in the early 1950's which attracted LOTS of out-of-state folks and celebrities. Most hogs were run with dogs. A couple years back, I found an outdoor article stating Old Lake Burton and Colemen River WMA's had good, established hog populations. That article was written in the 90's.

I remember when Cohutta, Warwoman, Coleman river and Rich mtn. were pretty much the only WMAs with huntable populations of hogs in North Ga. Now theyre everywhere. Some of it was from natural dispersement but plenty were stocked too.

Well they did add that may hog / coyote hunt to alot of the wmas it looks like. Maybe they could add a couple slots like that on the regular n.f. prob wont help a whole bunch by now . I try to stay after em during small game season.

ripplerider said:

I remember when Cohutta, Warwoman, Coleman river and Rich mtn. were pretty much the only WMAs with huntable populations of hogs in North Ga. Now theyre everywhere. Some of it was from natural dispersement but plenty were stocked too.

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This^^^ there has been small pockets, but they stayed in the afore mentioned areas. Now they are EVERYWHERE. A lot of the guys that had clubs in middle Georgia would trap them and then bring them up here and release them. Tray Mtn is a classic case 20yrs ago there were no hogs there, now it's covered up with them.

Unicoidawg said:

This^^^ there has been small pockets, but they stayed in the afore mentioned areas. Now they are EVERYWHERE. A lot of the guys that had clubs in middle Georgia would trap them and then bring them up here and release them. Tray Mtn is a classic case 20yrs ago there were no hogs there, now it's covered up with them.

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You and RippleRider are right, Unicoi. Look at this excerpt from the book "Wild Pigs in the United States: Their History, Comparative Morphology, and Current Status" by the UGA Press. It says that in the 70's, their range in northeast GA was limited to Towns and Rabun counties, and limited to WMA's within those counties. That pretty much means Old Coleman, Lake Burton, and Warwoman.



Here is a wild pig distribution map from the University of Mississippi that was produced in 1982. You can see the pig range in northeast GA is exactly like you and ripple had said. The north easternmost corner of the state.



I think that a lot of people would also be interested to know also that DNR itself has been a great contributing factor to the pig problem. You know how DNR traps and relocates problem bears? They did that with wild pigs in the beginning, and did it often. Sometimes trapping 12 or 20 pigs at a time and releasing them on game lands. It happened very frequently in GA, Tennessee, and NC. Also, a lot of people not only transported them, but we saw a rash in the 70's where guys all over the state were purchasing hogs, and Eurasian and/or Russian boars to release on their own lands and hunting clubs or leases. This happened quite frequently. People just wanted increased opportunity to hunt on their land, and just let hogs go. Ultimately, the hog issue we face today is a trifecta of many different factors occurring over the course of time. The early Spanish settlers. The Appalachian homesteaders. Game preserves. Farmers. Free rangers. Hunting clubs. Dog runners. The common denominator is humans. Hogs are a human created problem here in America.

Kill em all!

Whitetailfreak, it's interesting to see that your neck of the woods, according to the map, used to have one of the most widespread and robust populations of hogs in the entire state. Seems like they were in the Toccoa River Drainage early on.

Where did you find that book Kyle? I'd like to read it. Interesting that it doesnt mention Cohutta.

Yep. You can see from that 1982 distribution map that hogs were indeed present in the Cohutta area during that time.

Here is an example of where you can find the book ripple:

https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Pigs-United-States-Comparative/dp/0820331376

They think a lot of that book dont they? $530 for a new hardback copy! I think I'll stay with the paperback version or better yet see if the library can get it.