audio, stills, text and or video: Go to http://www.zReportage.com to see more - Wild hogs are not native to Florida. It's believed they were brought in 1539 by Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto as a food source. The Southwest Florida Water Management District considers feral hogs an invasive exotic species. They prey on native wildlife, compete with native species for food and transmit diseases to other wildlife, livestock and humans. Wild pigs are legally defined as wildlife and are the second-most popular, large animal hunted in Florida.
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Jan. 8, 2013 - New Port Richey, Florida, U.S. - Hog hunters use their truck to spot the location of their dogs Tuesday while hunting at Starkey Wilderness Preserve in Pasco County during the Feral Hog Hunt.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage/ZUMA

Jan. 8, 2013 - New Port Richey, Florida, U.S. - Hog hunter DARYL HARMON, left, and CREIGHTON HARVEY remove an 80-pound sow which Harmon captured and killed in Starkey Wilderness Preserve on Tuesday while participating in Southwest Florida Water Management District's annual Feral Hog Hunt in Pasco County. Hunters are often tasked with a long hike back to their trucks with their quarry, navigating the preserve's natural communities, including pine flatwoods, cypress domes, freshwater marshes, streams and lake swamps, sandhill and scrub.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage/ZUMA

Jan. 8, 2013 - New Port Richey, Florida, U.S. - A hunting dog pokes its nose through a dog box Tuesday before participating in the Feral Hog Hunt at Starkey Wilderness Preserve in Pasco County. Hog hunters are allowed to bring two assistants to aid them during the hunt, as well as their dogs, which are used to track and capture the hogs.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage/ZUMA

Jan. 8, 2013 - New Port Richey, Florida, U.S. - Hog hunter RICKEY KYLER, 20, of Dade City, places a GPS collar on his catch dog Lobo on Tuesday before participating in the Feral Hog Hunt at Starkey Wilderness Preserve in Pasco County. Kyler used a handheld GPS unit, which looks like a walkie-talkie, to track his dogs during the hunt.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage/ZUMA

Jan. 8, 2013 - New Port Richey, Florida, U.S. - Hog hunters gather to register Tuesday before participating in the Feral Hog Hunt at Starkey Wilderness Preserve in Pasco County. Each person who has a permit to hunt the area, including children and assistants, must complete a release and waiver of liability form before joining the hunt.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage/ZUMA

Jan. 8, 2013 - New Port Richey, Florida, U.S. - Hog hunter KYLE CRESCI, 20, of New Port Richey, releases T.J., one of the by a dogs used during Tuesday's Feral Hog Hunt in Starkey Wilderness Preserve in Pasco County. T.J. eventually caught the scent of an 80-pound-sow, which was captured and killed during the hunt.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage/ZUMA

Jan. 8, 2013 - New Port Richey, Florida, U.S. - With the sun settled into the horizon, hog hunters convoy into the Starkey Wilderness Preserve in Pasco County in search of hogs Tuesday during the Feral Hog Hunt.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage/ZUMA

hunting dogs Abby, Zada and Bo await the hunt from their dog box Tuesday while participating in the Feral Hog Hunt at Starkey Wilderness Preserve in Pasco County. Hog hunting dogs hunting dogs are divided into two categories, bay dogs and catch dogs. Bay dogs are used to find the hog's scent, and to pursue them, while the catch dog confronts the hog, holding them in place until the hunter is able to catch up to make the kill.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage/ZUMA

Jan. 8, 2013 - New Port Richey, Florida, U.S. - JASON GILLESPIE, 30, of Lutz, recovers the carcass of an 80-pound sow captured and killed in Starkey Wilderness Preserve on Tuesday while participating in Southwest Florida Water Management District's annual Feral Hog Hunt in Pasco County. Hunters are often tasked with a long hike back to their trucks with their quarry, navigating the preserve's natural communities, including pine flatwoods, cypress domes, freshwater marshes, streams and lake swamps, sandhill and scrub.
© Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/zReportage/ZUMA