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Wild Boar - One Of America's Largest Varmints |
Note that some state game departments are begging hunters to take up the hunt — for hogs. In Florida, a state with nearly as many hogs as residents, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) recently began offering five three-day hog hunts in the 5,200-acre Blackwater Wildlife Management area near Milton. To increase the chances of success, the special hunts permitted the use of hog dogs. These special hunts are the result of concern for area plants and other wildlife species. Wild boars eat anything they find, including quail nests and small deer. Some biologists believe the increase in boar populations have resulted in the decrease of quail numbers.
The tusks that wild boars are famed for are actually canine teeth.
To increase the eradication of normally nocturnal wild boars, several states offer after-dark hunting options. In Oklahoma, landowners can get special depredation permits to spotlight and shoot boars in farm fields. Another outfitter in Georgia is taking hunters on late-night excursions aided with high-tech military night vision gear. His success rates are high and his client waiting list is long. Many of the hunters want the chance — and thrill — to try out the outfitter’s night vision scopes and binoculars.
Other ranchers I know cut through the thrill of the chase and have used helicopters and poisons to rid their property of pesky boars. In Great Smoky Mountain National Park, wild boars are being baited and killed at night by sharpshooters, and trapped and transported to national forests where hunting is permitted. On a private ranch I visited in Mississippi, the game manager had trapped six hogs overnight in a baited cage. All were dispatched with a revolver at sunup as they huddled in the trap. When it comes to eradicating boars, the war has already begun.
Give Them Your Best Shot
Pound for pound, wild boars are some of the most durable beasts to roam the United States. Many hunters who have shot one have reported that the beast only flinched, and then wheeled and dashed into the brush. They believe that the shot penetrated and embedded in the legendary “chest shield.” Shooting and downing a wild boar, however, is not difficult, and that mass of cartilage that creates the famous “shield” is not bulletproof. Before you shoot, take note that a hog’s heart lies forward in the chest or behind the front legs, and low. Shoot low and forward, because a “broadside to the ribs” shot like many hunters take on deer and other species will land only in the stomach and intestines in the hog’s downscaled interior. That’s often why they wheel, run, and disappear into dense brush. Though the wound eventually might be fatal, the energetic hog can go a long distance with a mortal lung shot. Some hunters like to shoot for the head and behind the ear, but attempt this only if you have a perfect shot and a steady rest with the hog well within practiced range.
You don’t need a super big caliber like the 458 Winchester Magnum to anchor a wild boar, but you do need a proper shot. You can topple a boar with a 223 rifle and a 357 Magnum handgun, but the more popular deer cartridges like the 30-06 and 270 Winchester work well. For handguns, the 44 Magnum and newer 460 VR and 500 S&W also work well. Aim carefully. Note that edgy boars will wildly dash at the drop of a leaf, so a bullet and the subsequent bang really sends them sprinting.
Hunting wild boars with handguns is a thrill, especially if you get on the ground and go one-on-one. I was strolling along an Oklahoma hilltop one morning with a 44 Magnum S&W Model 629 in my hand as I searched for hogs. As I passed by a large clump of brush, I knelt to look in and under. I instantly spotted a hog that was about 20 feet away and sleepily looking back. My reaction was a microsecond faster than his. One shot from the S&W handgun helped him roll out the other side of the brush where he then lay lifeless. During the subsequent two days, a revolver in my hand ended six more problem pigs on that ranch.
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