EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

How many folks routinely do this ? Do you mark them and if so, how do you mark them. What's your motivation to Barr and what have been the results of barring ?

I Barr every male hog I catch for the Barr Herd.  It's a tradition as well as better meat for the table, and produces some fine trophies.  I don't know always mark the males I Barr, but there's nothing better then catching a Barr hog wearing your mark, and you can think back and remember cutting him.

I had a blessed year with good friends and caught some real nice barr hogs that were true trophies, and to me that's what it's all about.  I'm not cutting them for tomorrow, I'm cutting them for two or three years later when he's truly a monster. 

I'm PRO-BARR all the way!

buddy if you are wanting to know how to mark them , figure out a combination you want to use and notch their ears . you can do it with a knife or tsc and about any farm and ranch store sells ear knockers that are easy to carry in your pocket and get it done quick . i wouldn't advertise the mark as you will be claiming ownership of that hog and could be held liable for any damadge it causes and releasing a hog anywhere but a state certified high fence property is illeagal  . :o

Where does it say in writing you can't release a barr hog?

And I wouldn't just make a mark up...do the time and research, find one you like and check in the county records to make sure it's not registered to someone else.  Usually most marks are passed down, as in the case of ours.

Type it in google releasing feral hogs Texas. U will find lots of places it says it. Most on official websites. Barr or not its still feral. I was looking up some stuff on AR and ran across a bunch.

I'm no Texan but I was under the impression it was NOT illegal to catch and Barr a boar and release him on the spot, it's just illegal to relocate him once you caught him.

I can't find anywhere it flat out says you can't release a barr hog on the spot.

It is the transport that makes it illeagal. According to Texas and ar law u can't transport a live hog unless it has passed a pseudorabies and some other test within 30 days prior to transport. So technically just catch cut release same spot a man can get away with. Move him to another spot and u could get in trouble.

That's the way I read it.

The only way u can legally do so is by taking them to a slaughter house or holding station like the buying stations or u can release them into enclosed private hunting areas.

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/animal_health/swine/2008Aug_FeralSwineRegulationsAndComments.pdf&sa=U&ei=DgrjUIjeNabX0QGt6YHwBQ&ved=0CAcQFjAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNHZLYaDDFHW2ZSeHoYpoIn6GEkHmw  
 
   call it what you want trapped and dog caught same you are in control of the animal . i don't care what ya'll do just be aware that when they go to enforce the law catching a hog with a dog or trapping is no differant when it comes to the state wanting to make an example out of someone . it's more about desiese control than weather the hogs can breed or not  .

Any mark we do will be a secret.

I remember reading that about taking control. I don't Barr never will they cost me to much money. I was looking at trying to sell the meat to help with expenses and have something to do with them when out of room. Turns out I can't legally do so without lots of red tape and added expense.

Halfbreed that whole passage was about transportation of feral hogs. There's not anything in there about releasing barr hogs on private property. I agree that an official can skew the rules to fit their agenda. But as far as I have read there's still no written proof.

  the part that will get you in trouble will be the releasing without testing for deseises [ lol how ya spell sick hog ] like i said the laws are more about tubecoulosis and psuedo rabies and now swine fever wich popped up at some livestock shows . texas parks and wildlife has no control over feral swine except for the fact that you need a hunting license to hunt them unless doing depredation work for a landowner .  this is all about future legislation about to happen with our hog problem and the more us doggers talk openly about catching and releasing on the www. where every one in the country can see will be a big part in the laws that are proposed . we and we alone are the ones that have allready been blamed for  sudden and mysterious boom in hog populations and distribution to places where feral hogs have never been seen . just something for you young gung ho dog hunters to be aware of , me hell i'm old i can live on the many memories and visions in my head of all the many dog adventures i've been invovled in over the last 50 years  lol

143.034. Penalty
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly:

(1) turns out or causes to be turned out on land that does not belong to or is not under the control of the person an animal that is prohibited from running at large under this subchapter;

(2) fails or refuses to keep up an animal that is prohibited from running at large under this subchapter;

(3) allows an animal to trespass on the land of another in an area or county in which the animal is prohibited from running at large under this subchapter; or

(4) as owner, agent, or person in control of the animal, permits an animal to run at large in an area or county in which the animal is prohibited from running at large under this subchapter.

(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor



         free range laws      i should of beed a prosecutor  lol .   

We're not the ones to blame for the boom and spread in hog numbers... hunting ranches are to blame for that. I know people that 10 to 15 years ago were selling and hauling trailer loads of hogs all over Texas and other states because the landowners wanted something else to hunt besides deer. That was mostly trap caught hogs... dog hunters had very little to do with the spread of the hog population. It's when the population exploded... so did the number of dog hunters.

And, it's not illegal to catch and turn a hog loose on the spot... that's already been confirmed by the TAHC. Transporting and turning them loose is illegal.

I could care less about the laws. I asked about barring hogs.

I do it on any place we're allowed to, never mark their ears, just half tail them.

We cut them for meat hogs.

Do you re-catch many of them ?

Not nearly as many as I Barr, but if I catch one I'm satisfied.  People who think you Barr them and go back and catch them whenever is sadly mistaken. 

Very few that I've cut, but caught a bunch that others have. Them big barrs travel... they don't stick around.

Interesting.....you would think that once they are cut they would settle into one spot. No need to trail sows or search for sows, I would think they would settle into a good area (food, water, cover) and just stay. Very Interesting.

When I see people on here that catch a lot of barrs my first thought is wow, someone is cutting a ton of hogs around there.  Clint that used to be on here all the time is probably the all time barr catcher and the country he hunted in had plenty of hunting going on and I dont believe a boar was cought or trapped over there that wasnt cut.  I don't know what the numbers are but to catch them with any consistancy you have to cut a lot of them in an area where they have plenty of food and water for them to stick around at all.  Some of the guys in Lousiana that talked about it years ago would build a big pen in the woods they hunted.  They would keep those cut barrs in that pen for lets say 30 days and feed them and then just open the gate one day and they say those hogs would always stay within a reasonable distance.  Almost like a calf mothering up in a set of pens, its just home from then on.  I've turned plenty of hogs (not just barrs) loose and while I may see relatives or off spring I dont often see the actual hog that was released.

How much of a growth difference you think there is between barrs and boars ?

That would be an interesting number to see.  I don't think it changes the potential for their frame at all just the amount of meat and fat on that frame.  I guess what I am saying is a boar that has a huge frame is still going to get bigger than a barr with a smaller frame, some of the size is genetically predetermined.  With a lack of hog on hog fighting you usually have large teeth (especially if the whetters were knocked out) wihch makes most hunters happy and the any additional weight is an added bonus.  The table is where the biggest difference is noticed.

Why does it taste different? Same food sources, but eat more of it. But if they travel more or just as much as a regular boar I wouldn't think their would be a difference in.....?...tenderness? Lack of testosterone? Not debating, just thinking out loud. What is it that makes the difference?

I believe it's the testosterone. Same idea as banding calfs ?

I agree. If u catch a big boar just slipping around doing its thing and u drop him dead with a bullet in his tracks he taste just as good as a sow or Barr. The only difference may be fat content.

I like the idea of turning potential future trophies loose. I don't care to eat them.

I'm pretty sure if the farmers caught us catching and releasing hogs that would be the end of us hunting there.

I dont know of many people barring hogs in a crop land setting.  But in dense woods and swamps, whose counting?

Most of the land we hunt backs up to farm land but I guess at the deer lease or something we could.

It's not for everyone.  If you have the places to do it, I encourage people to try it.  It's a win win, you take away all breeding potential, and increases the potential for better table meat, not to mention the trophy aspect.

Some places I will barr and some places I won't. Depends on land owner.

I hunt a big 20,000 acre cattle lease, in S FL barring and turning a hog loose is a way of life to most ppl born and raised here. Alot of ppl even knock there wetters out. Everyone does it and make fun of the ppl that dont. Plain and simple. I use to mark hogs until the deer hunters started recognizing the ear or tail marked and shooting my trophy barrs for sausage. Now I just cut there nuts and turn them back loose now no ear mark!

The place I hunt now has a rich tradition of cutting them and turning them loose. I have caught more barrs in the last month in S FL then I had in 2 years in N FL.   

I catch a lot of Barrs in FL as well. I don't know who is barring them but I would love to meet them and thank them. Have some great meat and trophies. I have since barred some myself to return the favor to whoever else is out there.

If I catch a real nasty boar with good teeth and size I recommend not barring such an animal but letting it go to pass it genes on. Assuming of course you are permitted to do such a thing.

It is called 'boar taint'.. Same reason all show pigs are cut hogs. You may get lucky and can eat a young boar or catch a feed grain boar that's not bad, but trust me you'll know the smell and taste when you do get ahold of it. I've seen some guys ruin whole batches of sausage by adding a boar hog to it

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar_taint

We cut hogs for 2 reasons, trophy aspect and and sausage aspect. Honestly the return rate is very low. It's always a special event to repo one of your own Barrs. Not everyone has the property to do it, but around east Texas where we hunt everyone I know Barrs hogs

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We cut hogs for 2 reasons, trophy aspect and and sausage aspect. Honestly the return rate is very low. It's always a special event to repo one of your own Barrs. Not everyone has the property to do it, but around east Texas where we hunt everyone I know Barrs hogs
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x2!!!!!! It is nice to catch one a year or later down the road and see your mark or recognize the hog! Its crazy how fast they will grow.

First off halfbreed it is not illegal.  I called and talked to the representative state man for my area. The state lawyer talked to texasj on this issue and its not illegal. You can also transport and release hogs if they have been tested. It cost $3.00 per hog thats pretty cheap to test a trailer load.  Barring is a tradition for us in easttexas . EVERY dogman within 35 miles of my home barrs hogs. I hunted with guys for years if a dog killed a choate that dog got his assed whipped as if he was trashing  Barrs do taste better as I said before any pork you eat out of the store is either Barr or sow. NEVER  A BOAR. It is very seldom I catch one of the barrs I cut. But everyone around me barrs hogs i catch there's and I guess they catch mine. I mark the ear and only knock the switch off the tail.(so I have something to get a Holt to if I do ever catch him again  . The barrs in our country get educated and will run as far and as hard as any boar,when they bay they are mean and ruff. They also will dump dogs in sows. As i have a different opinion on hogs dumping dogs but that is for another thread  .

  well i guess the laws are like our game laws you ask one specific game law to five differant game wardens and get five differant answers  lol .  just out of couriosty i have asked my rep to do the research and give me info on excactly just what the rules are . for my own use , because i have been going by the origanal set of rules they posted on their own tahc chart when the whole mess started years ago being in east texas now and nothing but a few pea farmes and hay meadows if it's legal i'll load north east texas up with them . and this is an texas animal health commision deal not game wardens and ag ext. office . i'll post all my findings on the matter being proven wrong or not .  i know what the free range law states and i posted them , but we'll see  lol  ya'll don't be getting all sensitive on me now i know this is a sensitive subject but will be really usefull information to get cleared up