Wild pigs are some of the worst invasive species in the Lone Star State, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). The animals are known to cause costly damage, eat through crops and spread disease. If you’ve encountered the opportunistic feeders somewhere on your land, you may have wondered whether you can kill the feral hogs on your property.
Yes, it is legal to kill feral hogs on your property in Texas, but there are some key factors you should be aware of before you do.
Feral hogs are not a protected species in Texas, and it’s been legal to hunt them on private property without a hunting license since 2019, as long as you are the landowner or have permission from the landowner.
According to the TPWD, feral hogs can be killed year-round on private land. The state even facilitates certain nighttime hunts of the wild animals. There is no bag limit on wild pig game. Hunter education requirements and a hunting license are required when hunting the animals on public land.
Still, Texans must follow local firearm ordinances and observe safety precautions.
While feral hogs pose a serious nuisance to Texas landowners — a statewide report from Texas A&M recently estimated as much as $500 million in annual damages — it’s important to know with certainty that what you’re shooting at is actually a wild pig and not a javelina. Javelinas are native to Texas and require a valid hunting license to be hunted.
The animals may look similar, but javelinas don’t wreak havoc on vegetation and crops, and there are penalties for exceeding the annual bag limit (two per license year) when hunting the smaller animals. Only a fraction of Texas counties have hunting seasons for javelina.