"American Hoggers" is a new original real-life series that follows Krystal "Pistol" Campbell, her father and brother through their struggle to rescue Texas residents and ranches from the devastating chaos caused by millions of invasive wild boars.
We had a chance to chat with Krystal about the show and her interesting job.
Starpulse: Why are there so many wild hogs in Texas?
Krystal: Quite frankly, there just are not enough people who are both willing and capable of handling the situation, but that’s ok…I like to call that "Job Security." Hogs mature pretty quickly, a female is capable of reproduction as early as 6 months old and can have as many as 10 (give or take) piglets per litter. When ya sit back and think about it, the rate of repopulation is overwhelming.
What's the worst thing that's ever happened while you hunted a hog? The funniest thing?
I’ve been lucky that nothing too terribly bad has happened on a hunt (knock on wood). There was one incident when I was the first to arrive at the catch and the pig was a manageable size so I went ahead and grabbed him by the hind legs and flipped him. As I put my knee into his shoulder, one of the dogs knocked me over and the hog jumped up, spun around, and grabbed a hold of my leg. I had my leggings on so he didn’t penetrate skin and I was able to regain control of the situation with much thanks to a good pack of dogs and a boot heel.
The funniest thing that has ever happened was on the hunt in which I killed my first hog. I was about 6 years old and had trailed behind my dad on many hunts. I was riding double with my brother on a feisty little paint horse. When we got to the catch, my adrenaline was so high afterward I felt brave enough to ride that paint horse by myself. I was showing off and got him into a lope, I felt like such a badass. The trailer door had been left open and in a rough lope, that pony bailed into the trailer with me still on him! The top of that trailer whacked me right across the forehead and I had red paint chips all in my hair. I started blubbering for my daddy and had tears streaming down my face; needless to say, I was no longer feeling invincible.
If you weren't hunting hogs, what would you want to do?
I’m a bit of a closet nerd and my education is very important to me. I’ve started working on my Master’s in counseling psychology, but I am also studying the material for the law school entrance exam. I have a bit of a creative side that I get from my mom so I design and make sparkly, girly accessories that I’d like to sell one day. I guess that makes me a lot like that feisty lil horse of many colors that loaded up in the trailer with me.
Is it difficult spending so much time working with your family? How do you all get along?
HA! Let me just tell you! We are family and we love each other very much, but there are so many dynamics that come into play within our household that tension is inevitable. Robert is the most serious, I am playful until enough is enough and then I’m known to get sassy, dad is an ornery old fart who is NEVER serious, and mom is the peacemaker. When mom isn’t around, it’s total chaos because dad will push my buttons until I can't take it anymore and get an attitude and then Robert gets annoyed with all the bickering. Then there’s always the whole father/son ego competition going on, but at the end of the day all is forgiven. No family is perfect but I think the fact we share a common ground in our love for the outdoors is what will always bind us together.
The series airs Wednesdays at 10/9 central on A&E. Watch here!
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