Razorbacks in Arkansas

I thought I would bring up the subject. As hikers and backpackers, what concerns should we have regarding wild feral pigs in the state?

I had one nearly walk up to my hammock on the newer Buffalo River Trail(Hwy 14 - Maumee) this weekend. I wasn't afraid, but I wouldn't want to tangle with a wild hog if it was mad. I also feel woozy today, not that I picked up anything, I sure hope I didn't! I was wondering about all the diseases they could conceivably transfer to humans if we were to get some tainted water.

I've worked on the new BRT in that area and I can confirm there are a lot of feral hogs in that area. A real problem since you can't hunt in the park and they are really hard to control once they get established. They reproduce really fast also so their numbers increase rapidly.

I know hogs carry trichinosis, which is usually contracted in humans by eating undercooked meat, but you could get it from water contaminated by feces. I would think that any normal proper water treatment would prevent it.

Were the water falls over by South Maumee Road running?

Yes, the falls were running, although not as much as last year...I can't really recall when I was there last year. I was relieved to see that the tread had been built a few more feet away from the edge than the cleared path that was there last year! It's looking like a nice trail, not much left to finish between South Maumee Rd. and Spring Ck. I need to find out if there much cleared path to walk to the west of South Maumee Rd, I did walk on the short length of new tread there.

From the info I have the whole trail extension is at least marked with blue flagging. The section between Spring Creek Road and South Maumee Road should be completed this spring, to make 11 miles complete from Hwy 14 bridge to South Maumee Road. I'll have more info after I get back from my week of volunteer work up there the end of next month.

@ar.hiker You CAN hunt in the park. You can't hunt on or near the river.

I know you can deer and turkey hunt anywhere in the Buffalo Park.. not from any trail or across the trail or as zen said on or near the river.

What I'm still trying to figure out is the AGFC regs. They say you can hunt feral hogs with any firearm approved for a season which is open. If you look up fox season you'll see it says you can hunt I think Sept through Feb. with a .30 caliber or smaller.

OK, isn't a 30-06 a .30 caliber? I have to assume they mean .30 carbine ammo but then what do they mean by smaller? Smaller bullet weight? Smaller size of cartridge? They really need someone who's knows hunting to edit their regs.

True Zen.. but then a 300 Weatherby would be a 30 cal.. hahaha Would be fun to hit a fox with one huh...

I am amazed that .30 or smaller is all it says, thats 7.62 or below, and that is almost anything nowadays. I did get a new 7mm Rem. Mag. for Christmas that I haven't shot yet, that is technically smaller than a .30

Too bad the AGFC can't put a bounty on the hogs. That might motivate some of the more knowledgeable locals to take care of business.

From a Rush->white river float trip a few years ago:

Wild hogs can be hunted year round night or day if on private property. The COE here has a bad problem with them and has asked me hunt them at times. i also have a 7mm mag and that would be my main gun here for they are very tough. By any cal. smaller that is dealing with bore size not bullet weight. I have a 22-250 and also a .223 that I would use for fox and coyotes but not for wild hog!

Nice pics stingray! I nearly always see hogs on that stretch along with at least 30 or 40 deer and a bunch of other critters.

Have any of y'all been to the Petit Jean River WMA? It looks like an interesting area. There is also supposed to be a very large feral hog population there. I think sometimes the Game and Fish let folks do special permit hunts just to take out hogs. I haven't looked into it yet but I'm going to.

Huh... I've floated from Rush probably 8 times now and that's the only trip where I've seen hogs. I usually see deer, and even had one trip over my tarp line tie-out last year, but not as many as 40.

Probably because my mom and dad usually go with me and prefer a flat-bottom river boat. You don't see much when you're making all that noise. On this particular trip is was just me and a friend and we were in a canoe.

ar.hiker wrote:From the info I have the whole trail extension is at least marked with blue flagging. The section between Spring Creek Road and South Maumee Road should be completed this spring, to make 11 miles complete from Hwy 14 bridge to South Maumee Road. I'll have more info after I get back from my week of volunteer work up there the end of next month.

Is this the section that the American Hiking Society solicits volunteers for? I noticed they have a BRT volunteer group for April and October.

east_stingray wrote:Huh... I've floated from Rush probably 8 times now and that's the only trip where I've seen hogs.

We always canoe. The deer are especially think around dusk. It seems like we see two or three after every turn in the river. I can't remember not seeing a hog on that float. The last time we saw one around big creek and then saw a sow and a couple of piglets on the White while floating down to the access at Shipp's Ferry.