Hamrick said the spread of wild hogs, which are a non-native species, could be attributed to homesteading and free-range hogs before free-range laws were enacted in the 1960s.

“But I would say most of them have been released by people, either private landowners or people with hunting club leases, wanting something else to hunt and not realizing the problems they create both ecological and sociological,” Hamrick said.

Hogs may not be transported without a permit from the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and hogs can only be transported in daylight hours, Hamrick said.

Although Hamrick says the rise in the wild hog populations can be attributed to hunters, hunting is also a popular form of controlling them.

Mass trapping with large corral traps is the most effective way to control the hog population, Hamrick said.

Hogs are clever animals, Hamrick said, which can make hunting or trapping them difficult. Hogs are also incredibly reproductive, highly adaptable and have diverse dietary needs, all of which adds to the difficulty of controlling the population.The battle against wild hogs has led to the formulation of a lethal dose of sodium nitrite to poison hogs, though, Hamrick said.

“The irony there is they use it to cure bacon and sausage,” he said.

A dispensing method for sodium nitrite that would not affect deer, bears or other wildlife has not been perfected yet, Hamrick said.

Local farmers have done a good job, Carter said, of putting up electric fences and hunting their lands to keep hogs at bay.

Mississippi State is working to get a study under way to determine the economic impact hogs have had on a statewide level.

Guedon has electric fences around his property and has hunters kill hogs, but still expects hogs to be a problem for his farming operation this year.

“We hired a guy last year for two weeks to drive around the fields all night long (looking for hogs),” Guedon said. “Either they would come out after he went home or before he got there.

“We will still sustain a certain amount of damage.”

Carter said the wild hog problem is one that is not going away anytime soon and will likely only get worse.

“Even with an aggressive control strategy, it’s hard to get ahead,” he said.