Outdoors: Hogs gone wild in Georgetown

In a state with a growing feral hog population, consider coastal Georgetown County a real hot spot.

“They have really increased their range in South Carolina over the last at least 10 years and the Georgetown area and the Santee Delta is kind of the epicenter,” Jamie Dozier, a S.C. Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist, said from the Yawkey Wildlife Center on Tuesday.

Take a look at S.C. DNR’s 2010 Wild Hog Distribution map, with red marking areas of high hog density, and one area stands out – the area surrounding Georgetown’s Winyah Bay is a big red blob. See the map at http://dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/hog/pdf/HogDistMap2010.pdf.

One of the Georgetown areas located on Winyah Bay where the hogs have and continue to cause the most problems is on North Island, the barrier island on the north side of the bay.

“We still have hogs and they are still doing a tremendous amount of damage,” said Dozier. “The worst thing and easiest to see is they are rooting up the loggerhead (turtle) nests when they lay them typically in June, July and August.”

The hogs also damage the landscape and native plants and harm the nesting success of ground-nesting birds.

Dozier says it is difficult to determine how many hogs are on the island, which contains 1,410 acres of uplands and 1,703 acres of marsh.

“There’s no good way to come up with a population estimate but it’s in the hundreds at least,” said Dozier.

The annual February hog hunts on the island are a much-needed effort to keep the hogs under control and the three hunts are being expanded to three days this year. In previous years the hunts were scheduled for Fridays and Saturdays, but this year will be held Thursdays through Saturdays. The dates are Feb. 9-11, 16-18 and 23-25 with hunting from sunrise to sunset only. North Island is only accessible after crossing Winyah Bay by boat.

While Dozier considers the island’s hog population to number in the hundreds, the hunts don’t put a huge dent in the population.

“We saw 38 hogs that were taken last year, and we know that was a minimum number,” said Dozier. “We don’t see every one that comes out. I think (the hunts are) at least keeping them at a level number and they don’t seem to be increasing in the last several years.”

Georgetown’s hog issues are part of what is essentially a nationwide problem. There is even a TV show – Hogs Gone Wild on Discovery Channel – based on the escapades of the non-native species mainly in the Southeast.

“All over the country hogs are just going crazy,” said Dozier. “You just see news coming out all over the country about feral hogs causing problems. In Texas, they passed a law where they can hunt (hogs) from helicopters and they call them pork choppers.”

For more information on the hog hunts, contact the Yawkey Wildlife Center at (843) 546-6814.

Notes

•  Deer Management | The S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) governing board adopted revisions to the comprehensive deer management recommendations in December 2011. DNR staff has developed the technical wording that would be necessary to make adjustments to the current laws in order to put the deer management recommendations in place. DNR seeks public comment on these revisions and technical wording.

See the comprehensive deer management recommendations at this web address: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/deer/management.html.

All comments can be submitted to Amanda Stroud, Public Information Director for Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries at strouda@dnr.sc.gov. Comments will be accepted through midnight, January 20.

•  Seacoast Anglers Association | The club will meet Monday, 6:30 p.m., at the VFW Post 10804, located at Hwy. 57 and Hwy. 9 in Little River. Happy hour is at 5:30 p.m. including food and beverages. The guest speaker will be S.C. DNR biologist Kris Reynolds, who will discuss fishing the creeks of the South Carolina coast.