Wherever Oregon hunters gather these days, the conversation works its way around to feral hogs — where to go, how to hunt them. Television shows like “Hogs Gone Wild” and “Pig Man” have raised the public consciousness, and everyone knows that the porcine predator is on the loose in our state.

My answer to the oft-asked questions is, “If you want to hunt wild boar, you can do it in Oregon, but if you want to shoot one, your best bet is to head to California.”

Still, I meet and talk to hunters every year that have bagged porkers on public or private land in Oregon.

Feral swine are listed as one of the 100 most dangerous invasive species in Oregon. According to Rick Boatner, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s invasive species wildlife integrity coordinator, Oregon is at a crossroads relative to this animal classed as invasive predator.

“There are two main populations of feral swine that we know of,” Boatner said. “One along the California border and another in Central Oregon, a little south of Madras, north up to Maupin and east to Condon, and back down roughly to the Prineville area.”

Boatner thinks it may be hard to eradicate the pigs in Southern Oregon. They come in from California, a state that boasts between 200,000 and 500,000 feral hogs. California wildlife officials gave up trying to control them long ago.

“Now, California has pigs in every county but one,” Boatner said. “In the 1950s they had about 5,000 pigs in eight counties.”

Oregon is where California was then, at a pivotal point in preservation and conservation.

Boatner is reluctant to estimate the number of wild hogs. “It’s hard to get estimates on them because they go nocturnal and they’re so good at hiding and they don’t take pressure.”

To keep track of the animals and find out where they go, a few pigs are radio-collared.

“One pig with a collar on it heard us start our ATVs and ran 11 miles,” Boatner said. “Another pig we have collared, her home range is 10,000 acres. Hunters by themselves can’t shoot enough to make a difference.”

But baiting is legal and dogs are legal.

Hunters can help. In fact, the Oregon Hunters Association has provided money for trail cameras, trapping programs and other efforts. The OHA recently gave $3,060 to ODFW to provide traps and technical assistance to assist in removing feral swine from properties in Wasco, Jefferson, Sherman and nearby counties.

ODFW is taking a multi-pronged approach: monitoring, trapping (currently on five properties in Central Oregon), aerial shooting and sport hunting.

One of the best tools is a rifle in the hands of a good shot.

“I would go with a 30-30, 30-06, 308 or 270,” Boatner recommended. “You want to use your deer gun. They will take a lot of lead and shot placement is critical on pigs. People can get hurt if they go after a wounded pig.

“They are tearing up the riparian zones big time,” Boatner added. “That affects the forage for deer, elk and antelope, which reduces the carrying capacity of the land, and also promotes invasive weed growth. So far we haven’t found any, but pigs carry 35 known diseases, 13 of which can be transmitted to humans.”

They eat everything from acorns to alfalfa, to rattlesnake and bird eggs. And they multiply. Starting at 6 months old, a sow can produce piglets at the rate of two litters of up to 13 piglets, every year.

“If hunters see damage or see pigs, I would like to have that information,” Boatner said.

He can be reached at Rick.j.boatner@state.or.us.

“Hunters want me to give them a place to hunt, I can’t help them though. And I used to keep a list, but it ran to over a thousand names,” Boatner said.

“Most of the pigs we know of are on private property and right now we have no landowners seeking assistance from the public, but we are running into some trespass issues. The animals move on and off of the BLM land and some hunters have connected by being in the right place at the right time.”

One place where hunters might find pigs on public land is in Central Oregon.

“We believe there are populations in the northwest Ochoco National Forest, northwest of Prineville and southeast of Ashwood,” Boatner said.

Landowners are obligated to keep watch.

“If a landowner or manager knows there are pigs on the property, they are required by law to contact ODFW and start a removal plan. If we have funds, we loan traps out and implement other tools,” Boatner said.

Too many Oregon oinkers have made the jump from farm to feral. Too many south-of-the-border swine have taken up residence in the Beaver State. Call them wild pigs, predators or pulled pork, they are cagey. Go ahead, hunt them year-round, they’ll make more.