Greg Stevens of Sparta is an avid hunter. Like many hunters, he has a game camera to snap shots of activity on his property near Chadwick.

For weeks he snapped eight-point or nine-point bucks. Recently, the bucks went away after nine hogs moved in. The camera got shots of them.

"They're a pretty big nuisance," Stevens said. "They eat all the acorns, turkey eggs and, I hear, even deer fawns."

"Haven't seen nothing come in since the pigs," Stevens said after returning from a morning hunt. "(Deer) don't like the smell of the pigs and run off."

Stevens says, when the pigs came through, it was like a mini-tornado touched down, uprooting and ravaging everything on the ground.

"There's no way to keep them from being there," conservation agent James Dixon said.

The Missouri Department of Conservation considers feral hogs vermin; they're no better than roaches. Open season has been declared on these hogs year round.

"The pigs are in Christian County," Dixon said, "in the Mark Twain National Forest and they're expanding."

The Department of Conservation believes the hogs were initially brought in for hunting proposes. Now they're multiplying into huge numbers and moving throughout the area.

For most of the year, hunters don't need a license to hunt and shoot any of these pigs. Only during November's firearm deer season is a license needed. Click here to view the tips and regulations for hunting hogs in Missouri.

You're asked to report any pigs you see.

Once a hog is shot, you can dispose of it or field dress it for food. Agents warn you to cook the wild hog long enough to kill any pathogens. It also asks you to take a blood sample from the pig once it's shot; this is not mandatory.

"Just mail it to see if there's any diseases," Dixon said.

Blood test kits are free and can be picked up by contacting the Department of Conservation. Return postage has already been paid.