Cash In: Hays and Caldwell County paying bounties on feral hog hunts

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — Starting next month, hunters can cash in on their feral hog hunts in Hays and Caldwell counties.

The Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service have awarded Caldwell County $20,000 and Hays County $7,500 in grants to continue the feral hog management for the upcoming year.

In both counties, the program with include feral hog program for 2022 will include a five-dollar feral hog bounty, one workshop, one webinar, aerial control, a countywide survey and damage assessment and the continuation of a volunteer-led trapping effort.

According to the Central Texas Feral Hog Task Force, Texas is home to an estimated 2.6 million feral hogs that cause more than $500 million worth of damage each year.

In 2020, the task force removed more than 2,800 feral hogs and reportedly mitigated approximately $1,438,500 in ecological and property damage to landowners.

“The 2022 feral hog program in Hays County has a great opportunity for sustained success as we received both continued funding and support to coordinate on a regional scale with projects in Caldwell County,” said Nick Dornak, Director of Watershed Services at the Meadows Center.

Starting in mid-February in Hays and Caldwell counties, hunters will be able to claim two bounties per month. The county said a $5 per hog bounty will be paid by check on tails and/or certified buying station receipts

Participants must fill out a W-9 and participation form that be found online or from the Hays County or Caldwell bounty stations.

Bounties can be claimed at the following locations on the designated bounty collection dates and times:

The Hays County Extension Office at 200 Stillwater Rd in Wimberley is open for bounty collection on the second Monday of the month from Feb. 14 to July 11, 2022, from 8 a.m. to Noon.

Hays County Precinct 2 at 5458 FM 2770 in Kyle on the third Friday of the month from Feb. 18 to July 15, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In Caldwell County, Smith Supply Co. at 1830 Colorado Street in Lockhart from Feb. 17 to July 21 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The hogs must be killed in the same county the bounty is being collected at.

Landowners in Hays and Caldwell counties have the opportunity to take part in a program to place remote-operated traps on their property to help curb the population of feral hogs and to attempt to mitigate property damage.

Learn more about the programs available at www.feralhogtaskforce.com.