In danger of being overrun by feral hogs, Texas is enlisting the help of rock ’n’ roll legend and noted hunter Ted Nugent.
As part of the Sportsman Channel’s “Aporkalypse: 2013” series — set for Aug. 25 and described as “an entire night of wild hog stories and adventures” — Mr. Nugent will join Brian “Pig Man” Quaca to shoot dead nearly 500 wild pigs on the farmlands of Texas.
The pig hunt will be part of an episode of Mr. Quaca’s show, “Pig Man: The Series.” The duo will hunt from the air, flying above hog-infested fields in a helicopter.
While the term “Aporkalypse” may inspire a laugh, Texas officials say the problem of feral pigs has reached critical mass.
“Two-thirds of the feral hog population has to be killed just to maintain their numbers. They are fervent breeders and we’ve found, for the money, aerial control is the most effective for feral hog management,” said Clayton Wolf, director of wildlife at the state’s Parks and Wildlife department.
Mr. Nugent and Mr. Quaca aren’t the only ones being encouraged to hunt hogs.
“We are reaching out to Texans asking them not to be too conservative with their harvests,” Mr. Wolf added. “We are encouraging them to [cooperate] with their neighbors, share costs and join forces. Working together is the only way we can gain the upper hand on this exploding nuisance and dangerous problem.”
According to Texas authorities, feral hogs inflict billions of dollars of damage to the state’s farmland each year, while also carrying more than two dozen diseases.
The Sportsman Channel’s “Aporkalypse: 2013” series begins at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 25.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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