Hog + a few hours in the pokey

[Deleted]

Had one of my guys on my Illinois lease call me. Seems he killed one of the feral hogs that we frequently see running our lease yesterday. The clinched is, a trespasser apparently saw him do it, well inside of our property lines, and called the local Barney Dude clone that is the so called lawman un the podunk town.

Anyway, when he came out to his truck, he was arrested for destroying private property valued at less than $300.

Cost $160 to get out of jail.

We tried to fund out who made the call and they wouldn't say. More once this plays out. Going to be interesting for sure.

[copper1]

Be my guess there is more to the story than what you were told. There usually is when somebody gets arrested....
Unless its illegal to shoot feral hogs in Illinois?

[Woody Williams]

They need to fine the "farmer" that lets his hogs run loose..

I had a bunch in there last year rooting up a winter wheat field. I saw a sow and piglets close to the same area youth hunt weekend.

PM me exactly where this happend at ..

WW

[Woody Williams]

ILLINOIS FERAL HOG STATUS AND REGULATIONS

Union County, in 1993, was the location of the first reports of feral hogs in Illinois, with
additional reports since then from Gallatin, Hardin, Johnson, Lawrence, Massac, and
Pope Counties. It is believed that they were brought into Illinois by individuals interested
in establishing a population for hunting purposes. On August 24, 1995 Tom Busclas, a
farmer in Massac County, shot a wild pig that was trying to get into his domestic herd
and breed with sows in heat. The pig had the long snout, humped shoulders, and black,
wiry hair like a European wild boar. On July 6, 1998, three hogs were spotted on the
property of Mark Frye in Hardin County. These hogs all had the look of the European
wild hog. Several hogs have been shot in the Grantsburg area and Union County Refuge
in the last 10 years. More recently, hogs have damaged clover plots near Cypress Pond
State Habitat Area. Several have been shot in that area by landowners.
Feral hogs are not protected by Illinois laws. Landowners experiencing damage can
shoot them. They do not need a hunting lisence. Presently, nuisance wildlife damage
permits cannot be issued for feral hogs since they are not protected by Illinois laws and
therefore the Department of Natural Resources has no authority to issue a nuisance
permit. Because a nuisance permit cannot be issued landowners cannot bait or shine to
control these animals. Control of these animals has to be during daylight hours or they
can be taken after dark if encountered while legally hunting another species.

163.191.72.105/ORC/Wildlife/ReportsW/General/FeralHogs.pdf

Now, the question is what is the definition of "feral" in Illinois?

[Woody Williams]

What are feral hogs? They could be any free-roaming domestic swine, European wild boar or any of their hybrids

www.lib.niu.edu/2001/io010202.html

[Deleted]

There is no more to the story, yet but there will be. We have a lease that was considered public hunting at one time before the owners contacted me about hunting legally and them making some money off of it and limiting their liability some. That was 8 years ago. The local law officers, named Pee Wee Darnell hunted the property illegally for years. He was asked to join the lease at a discount rate 8 years ago, but declined.

Yesterday morning, the fellow that was arrested confront two trespassers on part of the lease. One of them was Pee Wee's son, both were on ATV's riding through one of our best hunting areas. They were asked to leave and not come through the area to where they said they were going. All was calm at that point.

Later that afternoon is when the hog was killed. There is no way it was witnessed by anyone other than some on the lease without premission.

Pee Wee confronts our guy and asks him if he shot a hog, which he did not deny doing, because we see hogs from the neighboring hog farm almost daily. They have no fence to hold them in, and roam our property with will. Now they are wollering and tearing up food plots and farm fields. We are in the process of taking back some of their liberties.

Once he was placed under arrest, PW would not tell who made the call in the first place. Could have been junior?

Not much else to it. Locals want the land that we have. Including Pee Wee. Landowner rights mean nothing to them.

[Sasquatch]

I can certainly understand your being frustrated at the loose hogs tearing up your plots and running wild.

I can see why the locals might be sore at you.... ( I'm not condemning leasing--I lease a very small property) If I had the run of a property and someone from out of town had suddenly shut off my access I would probably not be overly fond of them. I would respect the situation, but lets get real, I'd be unhappy. I'm not defending trespassing or bad blood here... I'm just saying you might expect the cold shoulder. I'd have my hunters refrain from shooting the local farm animals until you have exhausted all other legal channels. I can just see the locals standing around in the general store and grumbling about an "outsider" shooting farmer brown's pigs. There is just no way to make this look good from the local perspective. Just sayin!

That said, from reading the law it sounds like the Cops might be in the wrong. It'd probably cost more to fight it in the long run. Tough situation, good luck.

[Deleted]

As this progresses, there's more. First off, the fellow that was arrested is a Illinois resident, that wanted to continue to hunt the property 8 years ago, when it went under lease. There are several neighbors now coming to his aid because of the farmer allowing his hogs to run loose. They have been seen doing hog damage several miles from where the farm is. This is going to end up coming back on Pee Wee as a false arrest.

In the mean time, we have 50 or so hogs loose on the property. I'm sure some of these are now feral and have no clue where they are supposed to be or how to get there.

[firstwd]

Bacon? Bacon? I smell BACON!!!

So, Tom, hog reduction hunt after deer season?

[Deleted]

Most likely. Depends how this one turns out.

[hornharvester]

If ferel hogs are legal then I'd be killing me some hogs! Isnt it just amazing what people think they have the right to do? LOL h.h.

[practicalsportsman]

Be sure it was not tagged, if he shot a tagged hog that is distruction of property. Be sure it's wild ,but as you said a local farmer has some loose, and if it's one of his it's private property. Be careful at what your shooting.

[Deleted]

It WAS one of his, and it was trespassing, same as the others that are there. They are doing damage far in excess of what the hog is worth.

[trapperdave]

thats your angle, sue the farmer for damages caused by his uncontained livestock or tell him all will be shot on sight, his choice

[happydad]

Timex is not telling any fibs here.

I was able to hunt this property after I tagged out on the Indiana side and these hogs were standing around like nobodys business.

No fences, just doing what they want and going where they please.

I have a couple catchdogs (pitbull) that would have a field day up there, 1 female (35 pounds) named lollipop that will hit one head on and a big 90 pound male named buddy that will rock ones world.

I think I would have to get the DNR involved the next time I seen 1 of the hogs on the property.

[oneshot]

Good luck with your problem. It's probably gonna be tough fighting local LEO who thinks he is king. I hope you take him down.

[raporter]

Nov 24, 2011 5:11:18 GMT -5 oneshot said:

Good luck with your problem. It's probably gonna be tough fighting local LEO who thinks he is king. I hope you take him down.

I hate those big ego jerks.

[Deleted]

happydad, welcome to the forum. I have your email about getting on for next year, waiting to see what changes we have between now and then.

[huntingman]

How did it all turn out?

[Deleted]

Still pending in court