Excluding Wild Pigs from Wildlife Feeders

by

Michael Foster

Wildlife managers and hunters across the nation manage many properties for the betterment of the deer heard that utilizes those properties. Oftentimes game feeders are utilized to provide high protein supplemental feeds in order to increase body condition, antler size, and overall survival rates within the heard. Every year thousands of tons of feed are fed out to whitetails; however, much of what gets fed out gets consumed by wild pigs that readily displace native wildlife species.

To address the issue of wild pigs the optimal plan of action would be to implement an extensive trapping program focused on removing entire sounders of pigs in one trapping event. However, this plan of action is often time consuming and expensive and many hunters leasing land are unwilling or unable to implement a trapping program. Without removing wild pigs from the landscape, it is nearly impossible to prevent them from utilizing and damaging wildlife food plots. Fortunately, it is possible to prevent wild pigs from utilizing protein feeders.

In a study conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture and Agrilife Extension researchers erected welded wire fence enclosures of various heights and evaluated their effectiveness at excluding wild pigs from game feeders. Fence heights of 20, 28, and 34 inches were tested in two phases—during the summer and during the fall—and game feeders were monitored using infrared cameras for two weeks before and two weeks after setting fences. The result of this study showed that 20-inch fences only reduced adult wild pig access while the 28 and 34-inch fences excluded them completely. The study did not indicate the efficacy of preventing piglets from accessing the feeders. One would imagine the 4x4 inch panels utilized with 28-inch fences would allow piglet access while the graduated panels would not due to the size of the squares in the panels.

Researchers in this study found that adult deer visits to the game feeders did not decline significantly after the fences were erected. However, a different study by Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute and Texas A&M University indicated that fencing over 33 inches tall limited fawn access to feeding stations. Therefore, a fenced enclosure between 28 and 33 inches would be optimal for excluding wild pigs from game feeders while still permitting deer of all age classes to access them.

The costs of building a 28 to 33-inch tall fenced enclosure that is roughly 28 feet in diameter runs between $187 and $190. However, this is well worth the expense to a manager or hunter when they factor in the amount of feed being consumed by wild pigs instead of the whitetail deer it was intended for. So if you are managing your property for whitetails and are utilizing game feeders, consider erecting fenced enclosures to prevent wild pigs from benefiting from protein feeds.