JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – When state and federal agencies receive a report of feral hog sightings or sign on private land, a member of the Missouri Feral Hog Elimination Partnership is dispatched to review the evidence and visit with the landowner. Trapping is a process that takes time. It’s a long-term solution to a long-term problem, so it’s important that landowners know what to expect when they embark on the process of eliminating feral hogs on their land.
The partnership is made up of 12 state and federal organizations that work together on feral hog elimination. Partnership members participating in on-the-ground trapping efforts include the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), USDA APHIS Wildlife Services (USDA WS) and the L-A-D Foundation.
“We respond to the initial request within five working days to let the landowner know we received their request and give them a timeframe of when they can expect a visit from us,” said Jason Jensen. Normally MDC’s private lands division chief, Jensen is currently representing MDC as an incident commander on the elimination partnership.
Jensen said when visiting with a landowner, they’ll be walked through the process, step by step on what will happen.
“We tell them how we’ll place the bait and game camera, how we ensure the feral hogs are hitting the bait consistently before we set up the trap, how it’s important that they get accustomed the trap before we set a trigger, and how we catch and dispatch them,” he said.
Jensen said the team works to communicate with the landowner frequently, so the landowner knows how the effort is progressing.
“When we get the full sounder of feral hogs, we will pull the trap and take it to the next site, but we can always come back if needed,” Jensen
