SAN MARCOS — After a competition to kill feral hogs left more than 1,000 of the destructive animals dead in Hays and Caldwell counties, plans are emerging to further control the population.
Both counties participated in the state’s Hog Out County Grants Program, a competition among counties to kill the most feral hogs and to educate people about the hogs from October through December.
The 28 counties that participated last year, including Hays, Caldwell and Williamson, earned points for the number of hogs killed and the number of participants at educational workshops.
According to the state’s Department of Agriculture, Texas is home to nearly 2.6 million feral hogs, the largest population nationwide, and one that’s growing. The Hog Out County Grants Program is one of two the department funds that is aimed at eliminating feral hogs, which damage property, crops and pastures.
The Texas AgriLife Extension Service estimates that the economic damage cause by hogs statewide is $500 million annually. The funds the department will award as a result of the Hog Out program are to be used by counties to implement a plan to reduce their feral hog populations.
The county with the most points wins $20,000. The second- and third-place counties earn $15,000 and $10,000, respectively.
Up to $60,000 is available for the program this year, said Bryan Black, a spokesman for the Agriculture Department. Counties that aren’t among the top three can receive an award based on the number of feral hogs taken, he said.
In Caldwell County, 1,025 hogs were killed, said Nick Dornak, watershed coordinator for the Plum Creek Watershed Partnership that organized local participation in the grant competition.
In Hays County, 110 hogs were killed.
Both counties issued a $2 bounty per hog tail in hopes of encouraging people to participate, but Dornak told Hays County commissioners Tuesday that residents said the bounty was not enough incentive.
“We didn’t do quite as well as Caldwell County but we didn’t know they’d have the added advantage of killing their hogs on a toll road,” Commissioner Mark Jones joked, referring to the portion of Texas 130 in Caldwell County, where drivers started colliding with hogs crossing the highway soon after it opened.
Black said the Agriculture Department will decide which counties will receive how much money, and that the grant recipients can use the funds to continue abatement activities, including aerial hunting.
Dornak is pursuing state funding for that tactic, meeting with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s chief of staff last month to discuss how to finance the use of a helicopter in Hays and Caldwell to hunt hogs. One idea is subsidizing private companies, he said.
Dornak is also leading the ad hoc Caldwell County Feral Hog Task Force, which he said held its first meeting this month. Among those in attendance were representatives from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and Caldwell County Judge Tom Bonn, according to the meeting minutes.
Dornak said the task force has started discussions on how to control the hog population outside of the Agriculture Department’s competition, as well as what to do with the hog meat.
“We could have folks donate feral hog meat that’s safe and inspected to needy individuals,” Dornak said.
But first, the group is looking into whether it’s legally feasible, he said, including contacting inspection facilities and food banks.
The Caldwell County Feral Hog Task Force is expected to meet Feb. 26 in Lockhart. Anyone interested in attending can call Nick Dornak at 512-213-7389.
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