Wanting to kill wild pigs itself, Missouri bans public hog hunting

The Missouri Department of Conservation banned the hunting of feral hogs on the 1,000 or so conservation areas in the state.  Hunters actually make it more difficult for the state to kill feral hogs, the conservation department says.  The state tries to lure groups of hogs to a trapping area with cracked corn. Pigs see a free meal and private hunters see a ready-made hunting grounds. Hunters will “take out a couple, and the rest scatter,” said conservation spokesman Joe Jerek.  The Missouri conservation staffers prefer to catch and kill pigs in groups, known as “sounders,” not go running around rural Missouri chasing after hogs they thought they were about to catch. Hunters also sometimes illegally catch and  move feral hogs around the state in order to give themselves more places and pigs to hunt. Besides being destructive and smart, the pigs are prodigious breeders, and a sounder needs very little time to replenish itself and then some.