Friends kill 460-pound feral hog in Texas. ‘Never expected to catch one that big’
Two friends made quite the catch while hunting feral hogs in Central Texas last week.
A farmer down the road from the home of Nathan Wright, 17, in Proctor gave him a call July 29 to tell him feral hogs were causing damage on his land, chowing down on his crops and disturbing cows, KTRK reported.
Wright and his friend Colton Roberts, 20, loaded up some hunting dogs and headed down to the farmer’s land, according to the outlet.
The duo released the dogs,which cornered a wild boar, allowing Roberts to catch it by its back legs so Wright could stab it, KTRK reported. It weighed in at a whopping 460 pounds, the friends said.
The pair killed two more wild hogs that day, but neither as big as the 460-pounder, according to WFAA.
“It might have been the biggest hog we’ve been upon,” Roberts told the outlet. “But never expected to catch one that big.”
Feral hogs are considered a nuisance in Texas. Roughly 2.6 million of the estimated 4 to 5 million feral hogs in the U.S. call the state of Texas home, according to experts at Texas A&M University.
Feral hogs populate 99% of counties in the state and are responsible for an estimated $52 million in damages to Texas agriculture yearly.
The creatures are also known to damage landscapes in both suburban and urban areas across Texas, the university said.
In an effort to reduce the state population, hunting feral hogs is legal and doesn’t require a hunting permit.
“They’re a big nuisance down here,” Wright told WFAA. “Everywhere you have corn you’re gonna have hogs. They’re gonna tear it up.”
Wright and Roberts said they plan to donate the meat to a family in need, KTRK reported. They’re also looking into leading guided hog hunts in Proctor, according to the outlet.
“It’s just a big adrenaline rush for us is what it is,” Wright told WFAA. “And you get up there close and you get a big adrenaline rush and I guess that’s what keeps us stuck to the game.”
This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 10:24 AM.