Georgia, USA – Feral hogs are wreaking havoc on Georgia’s farms, forests, and wildlife habitat—and the state is asking residents to help fight back. In return, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is offering a big reward: free hog traps worth $3,500 each.
The new Hog Down Awards Program is a pilot initiative aimed at controlling the exploding population of invasive wild hogs. These animals aren’t just a nuisance—they’re a biological and environmental menace. The DNR says feral hogs cause over $150 million in damages every year to agriculture, forestry, and wildlife habitats across the state.
“These hogs reproduce faster than deer and can destroy a field overnight,” said Ted Will, Director of DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division. “If you don’t remove the whole sounder—the entire family group—you’re barely scratching the surface.”
That’s why the DNR is promoting whole-sounder trapping, a method designed to eliminate entire groups of hogs at once. But there’s a catch: these traps aren’t cheap. A single unit can cost $3,500 or more, putting them out of reach for many landowners.
To bridge that gap, the state will award 20 traps over the next year to residents who step up. Georgia hunters and landowners can enter the program by legally removing at least 10 feral hogs per quarter and submitting time-stamped photos as proof. Each successful entry earns a shot at one of the quarterly drawings for five traps.
The program is open only to Georgia residents, and participants must agree to a polygraph test if requested. Roadkill, spoiled carcasses, and live hogs don’t count toward the total.
While hunting hogs helps slow their spread, experts say trapping is the only way to make a real dent in their numbers.
“If you just shoot a few, the rest get trap-shy,” explained wildlife biologist Charlie Killmaster. “But with sounder trapping, you take out the entire group—and stop the damage.”
The DNR warns that hogs carry diseases like brucellosis, which can infect humans during handling or through undercooked meat. Hunters are advised to wear gloves and cook meat to at least 165°F if they plan to consume it.
The Hog Down Awards Program runs from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. To learn more or submit your entry, visit GeorgiaWildlife.com/HogDownAwardsProgram.
This program is another reminder that Georgia’s hunters and landowners are the first line of defense when it comes to protecting property, crops, and native wildlife from invasive threats.
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Well the average farmer would gladly allow people to hunt the edge of his property. IF that hadn’t worked out poorly the last time.
I was invited down to northern Georgia by a friend to hunt pigs. My Son I & loaded up & headed south. We sat in a ground blind freezing our butts off in the rain the same weekend Texas “froze” a few years ago. We had the “secret sauce” for bait & everything. Nothing. Didn’t see a thing. Yes, it was C O L D that weekend. But these animals aren’t stupid. Give them the credit due to them for their survival instinct. I’m just surprised we don’t have more issues with them here in Virginia. Our time is coming… Read more »
please explain how this is not a commercial meat source!
Missouri Dept of Conservation discourages hunting hogs, MDC rather trapping whole sounders instead. Hunting takes relatively few…actually zero…whole sounders, and educates the escaping hogs very quickly, making them harder to trap. Fortunately, hogs are fairly limited in number in MO, in southern part of state….strays coming north from Arkansas. None north of Missouri River yet.
have full auto hunting of pigs meat would not be much good but 20-30 in one pass does slow population growth
They’ll never exterminate the hogs. There’s too much money in “hunting” them. The guides, the guns/ammo/scopes/night vision/thermal etc.
It’s become too big of a deal, with too many people making too much money off of having these invasive vermin around.