Feral hogs are a major problem in the United States, and especially in the South, where the pigs degrade wildlife habitat, impact farmers, and damage private property. This has led some states to enact liberal hog hunting laws, and Georgia is the latest to pull out all the stops in its ongoing war on feral hogs.
On Friday, Georgia governor Brian Kemp signed a bill that legalizes drones for wild hog management and removes additional restrictions on hunters and trappers. House Bill 946, which passed unanimously in the state Senate, allows the use of drones specifically for locating feral hogs, although armed drones are still prohibited. The new law also allows hog hunting from motor vehicles on private land, and it removes the license requirements for trapping under the condition that all hogs are killed upon capture.
This last change regarding trapping licenses is important because trapping whole family groups of hogs (called “sounders”) has proven to more effective than traditional hunting techniques. Trapping was previously allowed in Georgia with a commercial or landowner license, but the process will now be even more streamlined. (Hunting licenses are still required for residents and non-residents, except when hunting on their own private land.) Using drones to scout properties and find wild pigs will make it even easier for Georgians to trap and kill hogs.
The law’s passage followed the legislature’s approval of a state budget for 2027, which earmarks $900,000 for wild hog management. These funds will support a new eradication incentive program as well as a state-run pilot program, according to the Capitol Beat News Service.
While this may seem extreme, the fact is that feral hogs are an extreme problem in Georgia and across the South. Texas, which has more wild pigs than any other U.S. state, already allows the use of drones, thermal scopes, and even helicopters for hog hunting. Mississippi also passed a law in 2024 legalizing drones for hog hunting, except during deer season.
Feral pigs are classified as an invasive species nationwide, where they cause between $1.5 and $2.5 billion in damage annually. In Georgia alone, they cause more than $150 million in damage annually to the state’s agricultural industry. Pigs carry all sorts of diseases, including African swine fever and nearly 40 different types of parasites, all of which pose a threat to people, pets, and livestock.
Feral hogs also threaten native wildlife by destroying habitat, outcompeting other animals for resources, and harming water quality. They’re opportunistic omnivores that will prey on deer fawns, small mammals, and game birds. State wildlife managers now consider feral hogs along the coast to be the primary predator of endangered loggerhead sea turtles, as the pigs gorge themselves on turtle eggs during nesting season.
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Over the past 10 years, despite Georgia’s liberal harvest limits, the state’s feral hog populations have continued to grow. Current estimates are around 600,000, and they can now be found in all 159 counties. With fewer restrictions and more technology at their disposal, hunters and trappers can now play an even bigger role in controlling those populations.
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