Editorial
Wild hogs remain rampant throughout different portions of Lincoln County and they are continuing to damage property in various areas.
A better solution needs to be considered than is in place now.
The hog problem isn’t new to Lincoln County. It’s just continued to escalate.
State Game Warden Lt. Gary Emmons said last week he continues to field plenty of complaints about the property damage and destruction these feral swine are causing.
Lincoln County isn’t unique. There are many other counties across Oklahoma that are experiencing these types of problems.
Emmons told us he’s getting complaints all around the Deep Fork where the hogs have plenty of places to hide. He thinks they are pretty thick from Wellston to Stroud and also between SH 18 and the Creek County line.
Another area he pointed to is west of U.S. 177 from Wellston to Carney to Perkins in Payne County and Meridian in Logan County. “They’re bad in those areas,” he noted.
The lieutenant put it simply. “They are ruining people’s property”
Between Jacktown and Sparks along the Quapaw Creek and any little creeks there are pockets of them, he reports.
State Game Warden Mike France in Pottawatomie County who assists Emmons in Lincoln County echoed what the lieutenant said.
“They are all over the Quapaw Creek just north of Meeker and they are all along the Deep Fork River. They are also on all the major rivers and creeks in Lincoln County,” he said.
Emmons points to a Noble Foundation study that states just to keep the wild hog population from growing 70 percent of them must be eliminated.
Another figure officials have pointed to is the Noble Foundation estimated the wild hog population more than 10 years to be one million. That would equate to 700,000 hogs needing to be eliminated in just to keep numbers from growing.
State and federal officials have various methods they are utilizing in an attempt to control and keep pace with these animals that are so destructive.
One wildlife official, Nels Rodefeld, mentioned to us about a year and a half ago the Wildlife Department has an exemption system that has been working. More than 7,500 private landowners at that time had filed exemptions to hunt feral hogs at night and there had been zero complaints from landowners.”
An additional solution could be opening up wild hog hunting and commercializing it. This would probably attract more hunters who are willing to spend their time and effort in going after these hogs.’ There would need to be rules and regulations just like there are with all hunting. Just like the exemption system that currently is in place, we would envision certain guidelines and requirements. However, be careful not to make it too restrictive.
This idea is sure worth consideration by state and federal officials and might be welcomed by those property owners whose fields are being destroyed.
We strongly urge this idea be considered by all those who could make it happen.