TYLER, Texas — New laws are being announced almost daily as Texas Governor Greg Abbott signs bills passed by the now-finished legislative session. One of those bills, now law, is Texans no longer need a license to kill wild hogs.
Texas Parks and Wildlife estimates there are more than 1.5 million wild hogs in Texas.
The state is trying to fix the issue by allowing hunters to kill them year round or even gun them down from helicopters.
Now lawmakers have gone a step further. On May 31, Gov. Abbott signed a bill allowing the hunting of feral hogs without a license.
Joe Paddock or 'The De-Hoganator' as he calls himself, is a hog hunting guide in Chandler.
"I've been after about 20, maybe 21 years, tooth and nail it's consumed my life. If we didn't do nothing, we would be a wasteland," Paddock said. "They would read up everything. I mean, it'd be just a pigsty."
Paddock says hog hunting is necessary to preserve the environment.
"Ducks, anything with eggs, turtles, all the animals that nest on the ground would be just wiped out," Paddock said. "And you know, everybody's got to eat. And the more the farmer loses his the more he's got to charge for it."
While Paddock believes hog hunting is important, he does have reservations about opening it up to anyone with a gun.
"I don't see the doing away with hog hunting licenses is going to help a whole lot but maybe create more problems in the long run," Paddock said. "With people that don't have no education, no training or anything with firearms going out in the woods."
Paddock says even though it is not required, he will keep buying a license to support Texas state programs.
"I'm going to continue buying a license. Everybody, all the sportsmen, all the hunters, I know they want to help Texas," Paddock said.
For more information on safe hunting, you can visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.