Oklahoma House of Representatives
Mike W. Ray, Media Division Director
January 16, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: State Rep. Bill Mitchell
Capitol: (405) 557-7365
Lindsay: (405) 756-3910

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Land owners and renters would not need a hunting license to kill destructive wild hogs on their property, under legislation filed by a southern Oklahoma lawmaker.

House Bill 1860 by Rep. Bill Mitchell would allow a land owner or lessee to hunt feral hogs at night, without a license, "to protect crops from damage" by the animals. Mitchell, D-Lindsay, is a member of the House Committee on Wildlife.

Under existing law, a land owner or lessee must have a "depredation permit" from the state Department of Wildlife Conservation to legally hunt feral hogs "to control nuisance or damage..." The permit costs the hunter nothing but must be approved by a game warden or biologist, said Dennis Maxwell, the department's assistant chief of law enforcement. The wild hogs can be hunted any time throughout the year except during deer gun season and muzzle loader season, Maxwell said.

The department is concerned about nighttime hunting, because errant rifle bullets can travel long distances, Maxwell said. He also noted that "headlighting" is illegal in Oklahoma. State law defines headlighting as an "attempt to kill ... any deer, feral animal or other wildlife ... by the use of a ... powerful light at night..."

Mitchell acknowledged the safety concern, but pointed to the proliferation of the destructive swine. Maxwell said a feral sow will produce "two or three litters a year." Feral hogs are prevalent in southeastern and southwestern Oklahoma, "and now in the northwest," too, he said. "There are a lot of them in the Arbuckle Mountains," he added.

The animals can be found "any place with crops," and they "move up and down a river system," Maxwell said.

HB 1860 probably will be assigned to the House Committee on Wildlife after the Second Regular Session of the 49th Legislature convenes Feb. 2.

State lawmakers, wildlife officials, and landowners have wrestled for years with problems arising from feral hogs. In 2000 the Legislature passed, and then-Governor Keating signed, House Bill 1927, which painted a bull's-eye on wild hogs.

The law allows the killing of feral hogs on public property during any established hunting season, using weapons and methods authorized by the state Wildlife Department, and on any land "where the hunter has legal access unless prohibited by the landowner..."

HB 1927 mandates that no one may "willfully release any hog to live in a wild or feral state" on public or private land. A violation is a misdemeanor that can be punished with a $500 fine.

The bill also provides that anyone who willfully omits to keep "within a suitable enclosure" a domestic animal that person owns or "has charge of," or allows the animal to be unrestrained or to run at-large or knowingly causes a domestic animal to escape its confines, is guilty of a misdemeanor. The penalty is a fine of up to $50 and/or a county jail term of 30 days.

The bill defines a feral hog as any swine running at-large on public or private lands and whose owner "is unknown in the vicinity of the premises where such feral hogs are found."

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