ANSON COUNTY, N.C. — Feral hogs have damaged crops in Anson County, and hunters are seeing more of them.
A group of boars showed up almost on the doorstep of an Anson County home.
Channel 9 ventured out with Brandon Lynn, a local stock car driver and hog hunter, to the fields where he and his father are guides for people who hunt local boars.
“The situation the other night was totally something that does not happen all the time,” said Lynn, of Crib Creek Outfitters.
But it’s becoming more common.
Feral hogs are reproducing rapidly, churning out litters two to three times a year. Females can reproduce after six months.
“If you do the numbers, the multiplication on that, it’s outrageous,” Lynn said.
The Department of Agriculture estimates that feral swine do $1.5 billion in damage a year nationwide, $800 million of which is damage to agriculture.
Hunters are doing what they can to fend off the hogs.
“Whether you get one out of the group or two or 10, you're always doing the farmer a favor,” Lynn said.