WILD BOAR HUNTING

Pig Hunting

Wild Boar, for most people, are a pest on their land. They wreak havoc on their land, causing constant crop and landscape damage. Even with that being said, you think landowners everywhere would be begging hunters to come hunt hogs on their land. The truth is that not a lot of them do, so it’s hard to find good land to hunt on without having to pay a lot of money to get on good wild boar hunting land. That’s the first big obstacle to overcome when you want to go wild boar hunting, finding a good piece of land to hunt them on. Hogs on public land get a lot of hunting pressure, no matter where you go. Just like many other game animals, the hogs will tent do bed down during much of the day, and are awake and feeding throughout the night. If you like hunting pigs on private land from a nice, heated, comfortable sturdy hunting blind, protected from the elements perched up above an automated timed corn feeder, those opportunities are out there for a large fee. If you prefer the public land hunt where you find a good spot, learn the land, and plan your own hunt, roughing it with the rest of us, then that type of hunt is out there waiting for you as well. There are also guided hunts as well, which are a good choice to be able to learn from an expert and cut your teeth on boar hunting with a paid hunting expert to teach you the ropes.

About Wild Boar

The world has eight difference species of pig, but none of them are native to North or South America. In the United States, we have pigs that are classified as domestic, wild, or feral. Domestic pig strains were introduced to the United States in the 1500’s, and lots of pigs escaped to become feral. Today we have about nine million wild pigs spread out over 40 states, and their numbers continue to rise rather quickly.

Physical Characteristics

Feral domestic pigs look somewhat similar to the barnyard pigs we all see in movies, on farms, and even at your local fair. They vary wildly in color. The Eurasian wild pigs are quite different with their black hair, a longer snout, their tail is more straight, a raised mane of bristly hair, and their tusks are much larger and more prominent. Larger male wild pigs can weigh over 400 pounds, and the females over 300 pounds.

Diet

Pigs are highly opportunistic omnivores. They like to eat acorns, hickory nuts, tubers, roots, fruit, and even bird eggs. They will also eat worms, snakes, frogs, grasses, insects, young rabbits, tree bark, many types of rodents, carrion, manure, and newborn livestock.

Lifespan

Bears, coyotes, wolves, mountain lions, and bobcats will kill young wild pigs. The older pigs are typically safe from being eaten by large predators because they can put up a tough fight, and the predators prefer the younger easier to take down pigs. They can live to be well over 20 years. They have no risk of declining in numbers because their breeding cycle is year round, and they can have from three to twelve piglets.

Habitat

The wild boars have a widely variably habitat. They are known to range in forested mountains, coastal mountains, and coastal swamps.

Wild Boar Sign

You can easily spot where the pigs have been as you will see a lot of ground that has been torn up, and rooted up. You may see overturned cow pies, leaves that have been strewn around, torn up ground cover that show you where they have been feeding. You can also look for wallows in mud, and rubbed and muddy tree trunks with their hair stuck in the bark from the pigs scratching themselves. They are different from deer when it comes to making their trails. Deer tend to angle their trails when they walk, but pigs are narrow and usually run straight up and down hillsides.

How Does Wild Boar Taste?

The taste of boar meat is similar to domestic pork, but it is much leaner, and darker red colored meat. The younger pigs taste better than the older pigs. Older boars tend to feed on rotten carrion and can start to taste bad the older they get. So the goal here is to shoot the middle aged pigs, and not necessarily go after the older trophy boar every time so you have better tasting meat. They have a strong sweet and nutty flavor, due to its diet of wild grasses, nuts, and forage.

Hunting Opportunities

About twenty states let you hunt wild pigs. They typically require that you have a hunting license, and a wild pig tags, and in some states a pack of wild pig tags. The season for hunting wild pigs in most states are year round, and some have no bag limits.

Hunting Methods

The best way to hunt pigs are like most other big game, where you should spot and stalk wild hogs in the dry, somewhat open country like in California, and many areas of Texas, Hawaii, and other states. The time of day is the key to success in finding the pigs. You can spot them sometimes moving in the late morning or even mid-day, but they do the bulk of their daylight traveling during the first hour of the morning and the last hour of the evening. You can spot them out in the open, but you need to be watching for them from a good vantage point where you can overlook their prime food sources that show recent evidence of hog activity like fresh tracks and scat. I like to hunt around rolling hills of oak, alfalfa fields, pastures full of wild oats, water sources, or a long stretch of valley bottom. After you spot the pigs, you can start you hike to quietly catch up to pigs. If you can see where they are headed you could hike around and reach their destination before they do and wait for them to come to you. When they are on the move they are either looking for food, water, or bedding to seek cover for sleeping and resting. Pigs have a strong sense of smell to alert them to danger. If they smell you, your hunt is going to be over fairly quickly. If the wind is in your favor, you can stalk up pretty close to them, but take your time so as to not alert them to your presence. Try to use trees and tall vegetation to your advantage to give you cover. If you do get detected, and you spook the pigs and they scatter, don’t give up just yet. With the confusion caused within the group of pigs, some of them may not travel far and hold tight, so you may get a chance to stalk them again.

Still Hunting

Still hunting is one of the funnest ways to hunt wild boar. It’s you right up there with the pigs, where you can hear them, smell them, and when things happen they happen fast. When you are hunting in the early mornings and late evenings, you should hunt them in the areas they like to feed. Work yourself towards your spots to take a stand as you head into the wind along active pig trails that cruise through the oaks or any other areas that show recent evidence of feeding, and rooting up the ground and vegetation. Take your stand with complete silence, using the wind in your favor. When you find a good spot just take a stand, and wait for them to get within shooting range without letting them know you are even there. Keep glassing the shadowy areas around the trees and vegetation within your field of view. The Pigs will make a lot of noise, so keep your ears open and you will hear them coming with their grunts and squeals, or you might hear them rustling leaves as they root. During the middle of the day you should focus your hunt on their bedding areas. Pigs are good at using the same bedding areas over and over quite consistently, though they will have multiple preferred bedding areas and they may go weeks or months without visiting some of them. This is why it is so important to look for fresh sign. When it’s hot, you should look for thick and dark vegetatation areas near water and mud. Another good bet is the thick brush along creek bottoms, and the edges of marshes and the middles of palmetto thickets to find pigs. If you see well used trails heading into these areas, you know they will be in there. In cold weather, pigs are usually on the open hillsides where they can soak up some sunshine to get warm. Work your way heading into the wind towards their bedding areas. When it’s really thick, you might need to get down on your hands and knees so that you can see below the vegetation and low hanging branches. Keep your eyes peeled for dark shapes and shadowy shapes tucked up in the bushes or against trees, or curled up into shallow wallows. Pigs are typically grouped up in family groups called “sounders,” and they’ll bed close together, and squeel to warn the group when they smell or hear you. That much pig flesh packed up into a small area will give you an odor that you will recognize after the first time you experience it. It you start to hear or smell them, you should proceed very slowly and scrutinize every shape you see. You may get a shot at a bedded pig, but your typical shot will be of pigs starting to stand up to see what you are, or what they are sensing is nearby. It will happen quickly, you won’t have a lot of time to take aim and take your shot, but be patient and make sure you have a good shot before you shoot. All heck will break loose once you fire that gun, so be aware of your surroundings, and be ready to climbe a tree or rock to get up out of their way in case they come try to gouge you with their tusks.

Taking Down a Wild Boar

Big boars are very hard to take down. Their hide around their shoulder area if very thick, and some refer to it as their shield. A wild boar’s vital organs are lower and more forward than a deer’s. You should place your shot about a quarter of the way up from the bottom of the pig, and a few inches back from the shoulder’s rear edge so that you don’t blow out or blood shot the shoulder meat, which is some of the best meat on a pig. Shooting a pig with a bow is a bit trickier. The best shot is when you have the pig quartering away from you so that you shoot the arrow at a forward angle into the area just behind the shoulder. If you have to take a broadside shot, you should shoot as close to the rear edge of the shoulder as possible. When shooting towards quartering or broadside, you should aim low. A pig’s heart and lungs are just a few inches up from the bottom of their brisket. If you are going to hunt pigs with a dog and a knife, you should have a super sharp knife to penetrate the thick flesh and hide, and pierce the heart by stabbing into the armpit of the pig. Blade or shot placement is critical because pigs do not bleed well because of their thick hide and layers of fat. Pigs don’t leave a good blood trail typically, unless their is significant damage to the lungs or the heart.

Ambush Hunting

Where it’s legal, a lot of wild boar hunters that like to use ambush strategies, and they will use bait to do so. Wild pigs are suckers for soured corn, they love it. When using any bait, it has to be placed in an area that pigs will frequent or they won’t find it. Baits can be place in covered holes, containers, or commercial feeders that prevent the pigs from getting all the bait at once so they will stay there, and even come back for more. If you’re willing to put in the hard work and do a lot of scouting for pigs, you can ambush pigs from a stand, without having to use bait. It’s important to identify features that are being actively used by pigs, like wallows, feeding areas, water sources, or travel routes leading into their bedding areas. A treestand is a great way to ambush wild boar because you see more of the surrounding country and your scent is up away from the ground so they won’t know you are there. Pigs have bad eyesight and will easily walk into range if you’re wearing camoflauge clothing and sitting against a suitable backdrop, as long as the wind doesn’t take your scent to them. For any type of hunting, especially for pigs, you have to be downwind of the approach pigs, or you will get detected and your hunt is over. It’s also important to be in your stand well before daylight so that you can catch them moving at first light. Once your morning hunt is over, you can come back in the evening to be ready for the evening movement of the pigs. In the middle of the day you can do some still hunting in other areas as long as you’re not disturbing the same group of pigs that you’re trying to ambush in the morning and the evenings. If you hunt for a few days and are not seeing any pigs from your stand you are in the wrong spot, no matter how good it looks. You will need to do some more scouting, find some fresh sign, and find where they are at. If you seen them before your hunting season, they may have moved to different feeding and bedding areas.

Bait Hunting

A common method to place bait is to take a five gallon bucket and drill dozens of holes in the sides of the bucket about a third the way from the top. Fill the bucket with soured corn and secure the lid in place with wire. Hang the bucket from a limb near a pig trail so that the bucket sits a few inches off the ground. The pigs will figure out how to nudge and tip the bucket in order to spill the corn to get to it. Slow releasing the corn will make them hang around much longer than if you just dump the corn on the ground.

Boar Hunting Is Dangerous

Wild Hog hunting is a dangerous sport, even for the most experienced hunters. You need to be very careful when tracking or hunting pigs. Pigs are agressive, and they will come at you when they are injured, or when you bust them out of their spot, so you have to be careful. It is a good idea if you are hunting with a compound bow or rifle, you should carry a 10mm or 40 caliber pistol to be able to deliver a deadly shot if they start to come after you. It could be life or death when going up against those tusks and the weight of the boar.

Calling In Wild Boars

Wild Boars are very aggressive, so using predator calls is an effective way to get them out in to the open and get within shooting range. Using the wind in your favor, and calling to the hogs using predator sounds in short bursts is a good option. Boar will typically respond quickly, removing themselves from cover so you can see them and get a good shot on them. Just remember that they will be coming at you, so keep a safe distance between you and them so you have time to react. Recorded piglets in distress is a good call to use.

Hunting Boar at Night

As hogs get more and more hunting pressure they will adapt hogs have adapted to hunter behavior by becoming nocturnal like deer. Where it’s legal, it is a good time to hunt hogs at night when they are feeding. A few states allow the hunting of hogs with and without artificial light, so you should check your regulations for your hunting area. You can light them up, and they make easy prey at night. Now get out there and bring home the bacon! Home made bacon on the pellet grill is amazing! About The Author Mike Mendenhall is the the founder of Mendenhall Outdoors. This website is an extension of the Mendenhall family’s lifestyle and passion for the great outdoors. Everything that they learn, and experience, along the way that they find may be valuable to our website visitors is on the site for you to enjoy. We highlight products and services that you might find interesting. We frequently receive free products from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. If you click a link on this page, then go on to make a purchase, we might receive a commission – at no extra cost to you, and does not impact the purchase price of any products that you may purchase. The Best Wild Boar Hunting Experience Awaits!