Feral hogs in north Jersey?

[bullwinkle]

Trout fishing Saturday in a small creek that goes through a spot I hunt in Morris County.

Heard movement behind me, and saw something black, I'm thinking bear,  walking along a quad trail along the bank.

It gets downwind from me an stops in its tracks.

It is <10yds away and I can see it is a pig, a boar I believe, based on the "smile' under its snout.

I freeze, and after a few minutes of it sniffing the air, it turns around and goes back from where it came.

It basically acted very similar to foxes I have had wind be in the tree.

Below is a pic I found online that is representative of what I saw.

Anybody on here heard of pigs in the area?

[NotJust22s]

Nope

[Swamp_Yankee]

There was a special season for feral hogs down in South Jersey a few years back-not sure if its still going on.  Never heard of them up here though.  From what I've heard hogs can go feral pretty quickly if they escape, but that usually happens where they are being raised in large numbers.  There really aren't any large scale hog farms anywhere in New Jersey, but I suppose at some point some hogs could have gotten out somewhere in the western Morris area.  

[Lunatic]

2 minutes ago, Swamp_Yankee said:

There was a special season for feral hogs down in South Jersey a few years back-not sure if its still going on.  Never heard of them up here though.  From what I've heard hogs can go feral pretty quickly if they escape, but that usually happens where they are being raised in large numbers.  There really aren't any large scale hog farms anywhere in New Jersey, but I suppose at some point some hogs could have gotten out somewhere in the western Morris area.  

The special season was during the 6 day. 
There should be no close season on feral pigs and limiting it shows me F&G has no clue 

[LittleM]

Feral hog(s) reported from Paulins Kill WMA years ago.

[Bones]

I’ve killed several in south jersey 10 years ago, I haven’t seen any around in a long time. But like swamp yankee said they go feral pretty quick and they breed like rabbits.

[NorthJerseyMike]

I live in Kinnelon... Can't wait to get me some pork chops! 

[bullwinkle]

Surprized me because the area is fairly developed and i run a camera 50 yds from where I saw it every August til Jan/Feb and never seen or heard of any in the area.

 

[Bones]

Maybe he got out of someone’s pen

[Trophy8]

2019-2020 Digest

Feral Hogs

With the ongoing presence of feral hogs in the Gloucester County area, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife will allow deer hunters in Deer Management Zones 25 and 65 to hunt feral hogs during the regular deer seasons. Feral hogs must be checked. Hunters who harvest a feral hog must call (908) 735-6938 to schedule a time to check in the hog.

[mazzgolf]

I hunt those zones in the south - I've never seen any sign. What happened was years ago (around 2009 I think? - some earlier thread I posted a link to a news article on this) some feral hogs were ripping up White Oaks Golf Course so an APB went out to all hunters and they were massacred  Seriously, the main area was White Oaks Branch WMA (the golf course is on the south edge). You hear stories of people claiming to still know where a couple are killed each year, but I've never seen any myself.

As for the OP, you should email DFW and report that immediately. If they take hold, it could be a disaster. If it's just some escaped pig, it's best to get on top of that now.

[Bucksnbows]

The OP should alert the Division to its whereabouts.  It is likely a single pig that escaped someone's pen.  I can't think of any sizable hog farms in Morris County, but lots of farmers and people with land keep a few.  The key is making sure there are not others to create a breeding population.  

[Jim_]

13 hours ago, bullwinkle said:

 … Anybody on here heard of pigs in the area?

I live, work, hike, hunt, in northwest Morris County and have never seen one. Anything is possible, but I would guess an escapee, too.

Must have been cool to see that thing, though. 

[Buck154]

Time to bring home the bacon 

[Bojaffa]

Maybe bring in the Mountain Monsters team from West Virginia.