Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Europe Wild boar/pigs European advice?

You folks have been dealing with these animals a lot longer than us. What would be some sound advice in dealing with them? They are here and there is no getting rid of them so what is the best way to keep a handle on them without making it look like a barbaric slaughter house and offending non hunters?

One big problem we have here in the US is that in many places the swine are nearly nocturnal and we have laws against hunting at night.

not sure if you are referring to CA alone other other state as I certainly do not know all of the state laws but I know that TX law allow for any method of killing day or night including IR scopes, etc. And even in MO where they really are not a problem (yet??) you can hunt them at night with a spot light... heck the MO code practically reads that if you see one and you don't shoot it, you might be breaking the rules...

Hi Brinky,

Would like to give you the right recipe but i don't have one.

The problem with wild boars and even more with feral pigs is their high rate of breeding, their fantastic adaptability to all conditions, their toughness and intelligence.

In most countries (Europe) hunters and farmers choices mostly, are responsible of their over population.

The more efficient way to reduce real wild boar populations in France, Germany, Spain, Portugal are well organised driven hunt combined with high stand shooting in the evening and morning early hours.
In some parts of my country it was really effective but in Moselle, close to German border the authorities were obliged to give right for night lamp hunting. Normally it's forbidden.

In Portugal they also shoot them by night. But, if you leave the population explode it will be a very costly operation to thin them.
I think in Texas they use chopper and "pig sniper", even with that they have real difficulties to manage them.

Feral pigs are greater problem than real wild boars because they breed anarchically, all year long, used to know men and don't fear them.

The big surface of corn and ma�s you have in your country, the great pastures (for mices, worms)are like a mart for them! The more the food the more the breeding.

If you want to thin them you must, depends of your laws, first try to fix them on known places, then hunt them in driven hunt with dogs by day, stalking and high seat hunting early in the morning or late in evening like we do...
There will be harder to exterminate than the american bison.
We find a good way to attract them: corn with "Pastis" spread on. Pastis is a south of France alcohol with strong anis smelling. They like it. Fish attract them to really well too.

If your in a region rich in oak accorn they will go first to them but like you and me they like some changes you can try baiting them with corn, ma�s, fish. Don't use meat they like it too but make them really agressive...

Good luck, good shooting.

Dom.

Brinky,

three rules for hog management.

1) Focus on the females.

Over here we know that 1 year old and 2 year old sows together bring up to 50 % of the crop. So, any female piglet and young sow taken is a win.

2) Stay on top of the yield -

focus on the young ones. 1 year old and 2 year old together (leaning heavyly on the one year olds) on both sexes need to make up 80 + % of the yearling harvest.

3)Achieving this is a group effort of all hunters in their range.
Work toward that.

Achieving this via hunting is very difficult. Trapping, if done right, can greatly aid in keeping above %.

Right with CMG: try to avoid the leading saw or the bigger female who lead the group.
This will prevent the group to explode and breed anormally (wild boars)and the piglets and young to wander every where making even more damages. Shoot the more small and young females you can.

Managing wild boars is a commum work and need that all hunters/farmers of the area collaborate. You're no really used to such way of doing, i think, in the States, your hunting being mostly individualistic. With boars it doen't work. It's why driven hunt and dr�ck jagd are becoming more and more popular in Germany now.

Dom

You may increase your abilities by pressing your government agencies with volume and repetition of notable protest to get your hunting abilities up to snuff.

YOu can press for things like the ability to hunt at night and hunting with dogs.

Not much better for nocking down a pig population in an area than a good driven hunt with dogs and beaters.

Better not protest to much as hunter: we already have farmers and insurance companies that want to eradicate the pig population, but it will not be done by hunters but during special driven hunts made by game wardens, police or gendarmerie teams and well known hunting "people", politicians, vip and so on.
So we changed the way we hunt, kill more and more females and youngs we can, trying to save leading sauen...and we begin in some area to hunt wild boars during the buck roe deer season from first of june to second sunday of september, general season opening day.

I still love watching that young man on U-Tube who you or someone said was a prince or royalty of some kind. He's shooting a long stocked Sauer 202 and man, is he good. In one run, he had three down while the first one was still twitching. He has to be one of the finest marksmen on running game I've ever seen.

DF

edit for spelling

Fortunately in Michigan we don't have a problem yet.....yet. Like stated we have a good amount of oak, beech and farmers that grow corn, potatoes and other things pigs would gladly eat up. However they have been listed as a shoot on sight animal in last year or two so getting them while the getting is good is of high priority.

You guys need to declare war on those sorry things or you'll end up like Texas. And Louisiana is getting there.

DF

Funny thing is any citizen with a small game license can shoot them on sight. However as a State Trooper our department doesn't allow us to shoot them when we see them because they don't want the general public thinking that we are out screwing off or hunting on duty. Go figure.

The brass probably has you guys figured out. You all would get to having so much fun popping pigs, you'd forget all about your real job...

DF

Not so much protest, but be proactive.

Jagd, all it will take is some money to protest. As we all know here and abroad, money speaks volumes.

Maybe we could make it a training day?!

to Brinnky
The most radical and fast (and not most human) way to take down wild boar population is hunt down herd's leading sow's before calving period or at the beginning of that period (i.e mean winter - early spring). You will "hit two targets with one shot" - first "take out" new progeny and secondly let the under year piglet's without "mother care" to die. If you combine it with driven hunt you will clean your territory with 2-3 year...as the herds without leading sow's is easy catsh, but as I told it's not most human way to act...
the way what Written frog suggest is how to control population...my way is how to erase population.

I don't believe the full "leading sow" theory.

I believe there is some dispatching of the so-called leading tasks among the sows of a company, and that when you kill a leading sow, another adult sow from the company takes the lead soon.

Only when you have nothing but its piglets and very young boars with an adult sow, you may expect to obtain a company without a leader if you kill the sow, at least if no other big company comes into the area and incoporates the piglets and young boars.

Hippie Steve is gone but Apple is still running fast

But you're right, if you want to eradicate feral hogs, kill ervey hog you can starting with the biggers as often as you can cross their ways, and use electrical fences to forbid the access to food.

If you want to eradicate wild boars, don't do it, they are wild animals and are part of the environment.

Yeah, that may fly.

BTW, I need some of that type training, too...

Always enjoy popping pigs. Can't get too much practice.

DF

Ask this guy for his assistance...
http://www.natuxo.com/videos-chasse/sauer-202-84169.html