Where and How to Hunt "
Third revised and updated edition.
April 1999
So, you have read our Wild Boar page and you are still curious:
What kind of book is this?
How will it help me improve my hunting success rate?.
Does it have a practical value for me?
Check it out: Table of Contents and excerpts from main chapters of this bible of boar hunting follow:.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD 4
INTRODUCTION 6
About Wild Boar 14
US Department of Agriculture 57
Los Padres National Forest 57
Military Reservation Fort Hunter Ligget 61
Summary 64
Tejon Ranch. 87
Processing your wild boar 101
Cooking Wild Boar112
INDEX 133
About Wild Boar
Who they are
Where they came from
The swine connection
How
they look and live
Where they live
Californians
have lived for a very long time with an exciting and dangerous big
game animal. It is very intelligent and knows the ways of humans. It
can be dangerous when wounded or cornered. And it is delicious on the
table: The wild boar.
Wild boars have made their home in
California for decades. In fact, the true wild boar, also called the
European or Russian boar, was introduced into Monterey County around
1925. Columbus introduced their domesticated ancestors to the New
World in 1493. Then they made it to the mainland under DeSoto who
brought the original 13 grunting porkers in 1539. From this small
herd eventually developed the now wild "razorback" in the
American southwest.
Domestic
swine came to California with the first settlers. Many of them
escaped from their pens and enclosures and headed for the hills where
they established wild breeding populations. Over time these feral
pigs interbred with the Russian boar and became what we now commonly
call the "Wild Boar".
This term, by the way, refers to
both male and female wild boar.
Whether pure Russian boar or a
mix between boar and feral hog, these animals are truly wild animals.
The State of California recognizes them as game animals. Many of
their physical characteristics are different from the domestic
pig.
How they look
The most common color is black or a
very dark gray. Rust colored animals are also found; so are black
animals with white streaks or a brown belly and about anything else
in between. Boar have long, bristly hair, tufts of long hair on their
shoulders and along the backbone, sometimes close to their feet and a
woolen undercoat that keeps them warm.
Their basic body
structure follows the bison principle: High shoulders, sloping rump,
long and skinny legs and small hips. The massive wedgeshaped
head with short, hairy, erect ears ends in a pointed snout. The nose
is almost round, looks and feels somewhat soft to the touch, but
certainly is one of the most efficient rooting machines ever
developed by any animal. Much to the chagrin of farmers and ranchers
boar dig up fields and meadows with great ease and even very hard
surfaces cannot withstand for long the probing of a boar's snout.
A
mature male stands up to around 30 inches tall. He is between four
and five feet long and weighs somewhere between 150 and 300 pounds.
The average is, however, closer to 200 pounds. A 300 pound boar with
long tusks is a trophy animal. Females are slightly smaller and
lighter.
The meat of a 300 pound boar can be rather tasty when cared for properly and if you are lucky enough to get one that was caught as a piglet, castrated and then set free. If you just shot yourself a real wild unadulterated boar then chances are that the meat has a peculiar pungent taste. Therefore, if you hunt for food the best meat is found on smaller animals up to, say, 150 pounds and on females.
Unlike
domestic pigs the boar, both male and female, have long tusks, upper
and lower. The lower tusks are relatively straight. They grow
slightly backwards. The upper tusks, also called whetters, curl
upward and outward. They rub against the lower tusks and thus
constantly sharpen them. The tusks of the male are usually longer
than those of the female and have a greater curl.
These
impressive tusks are what most hunters remember most about the wild
boar. The danger associated with hunting wild boar also is connected
to these razor-sharp tusks. An angry or wounded boar slashes at
hunters and dogs in an upward and sideways motion. A hunter's leg is
easily cut and dogs are frequently far more seriously hurt.
Ty
Bryson, a private guide in the Paso Robles area, relates in late
1998:
“We have been taking quite a few big boars lately. Our
biggest problem has been trying to keep our dogs healthy and hunting.
Even with the cut vests, I have still had to deal with some injuries.
My dogs seem to like to pick out the biggest, meanest boars. This is
great for the client looking for a trophy boar, but a little rough on
my dogs.”
Cut vests as in bulletproof vests!
Contrary to
domestic porkers wild boar usually have a straight tail. Their ears
are hairy, erect and rather small as mentioned earlier. A boar
generally stands higher than his domestic cousin and is far more
agile.
I am not sure about domestic pigs but the wild hog
moves at a good clip. Twenty to twenty five miles per hour are not
unusual. They go up to 35 miles when in a hurry. They are also
constantly on the move, even when feeding. Watching a feeding herd of
boar you will notice the individual animal root a little here, then
there and then it moves on to a new spot. All the while the animal
and the entire group are generally moving in one definite direction.
This way the herd or an individual animal can cover astonishing
distances. Twenty-five miles per day are not unusual. When exposed to
hunting or other pressure they can move much greater distances.
This
ability of the wild boar to cover great distances in one day explains
why it is so difficult to find and hunt wild boar on public land. Or
as the California Department of Fish and Game likes to put it in
their brochure on wild boar on public land: “Wild boar appear to be
only transitory.”
After all, hunting pressure on wild boar and
other disturbances are greatest on public land.
Range and
habits
The feeding pattern of wild boar is greatly determined
by the availability of seasonal food and daily influences, such as
disturbances around food or water sources, cover and resting places;
more details about this in a later chapter.
By the way, wild
boar can be heard for quite a distance when feeding because they
gnash their teeth and produce a rather loud and characteristic noise.
An angry old boar will gnash his teeth and wet his tusks with saliva
thus producing a very similar noise.
The range of wild boar
depends much on the availability of food. If abundant, the animal may
live on a ten-mile territory. Under adverse conditions a range can
extend to fifty miles or more depending on how scarce food and water
really are. Within this territory the tuskers are much on the move
even during the day, especially if it is a cloudy or overcast
day.
Sows and their offspring frequently live and travel in
small groups or herds of, maybe, a dozen animals or less. Mature
boars join them during the rut which is at its height in December.
During the rest of the year boars live in their own groups or, if old
enough, even lead a solitary life.
Wild boars are rather
prolific. They can have up to two litters under good conditions and
in prime habitat. Each litter produces between three and six shoats.
The youngsters are striped; the stripes disappear after about four
months.
Boar adapt rather easily to various habitats, as long as there is a good and reliable source of water. If wild boars have an innate weakness it is their low tolerance for heat. Porkers just do not do too well in hot and dry climates.
This is the
main reason why only very few wild pigs are found south of Santa
Barbara county. Pig tags submitted to Fish & Game indicate
however that there are, indeed, a very few in San Bernardino,
Riverside and Los Angeles counties. However, I would not waste my
time hunting them. There are just not enough of them to make it worth
your time and effort.
Wild pigs can be expected to visit a
source of water first thing early in the morning or before retiring
to rest during the later morning hours. They will return to water in
the afternoon. They also love to use muddy areas where they wallow in
the mud particularly during hot weather. When fully covered with mud
they rub against tree trunks. This presumably controls fleas and
ticks of which they suffer a lot. It also gives the avid hunter a
good indication of their presence and of their respective sizes,
which you can gauge by examining the height of the rub marks on
trees.
The elusive
quarry
Because wild boar are so much on the move hunters often
find it hard to locate a herd even in excellent pig hunting areas.
Wild boar appear to follow a daily routine and to travel on
established trails to and from water and foraging areas. Their
ability to move great distances makes it difficult to predict where
they will be at any given time, unless a hunter has enough time to
study and understand their travel patterns. Once he has accomplished
that it becomes much easier to intercept them.
In an area
where wild pigs are not resident and in the absence of such knowledge
a hunter often must hope for good luck or count on his intuition to
locate the elusive quarry. This is particularly true for public land
where the boar are subjected to much greater hunting pressure and
other human interference than boar on protected private lands.
An
area with plenty of pigs today may be totally devoid of them
tomorrow; don't worry, they will be back. If you are lucky enough to
have the time to study this particular group, you will be there to
greet them..............
The
Wild Boar Population in California
In
the previous chapter we briefly looked at who the wild boar is, what
he eats and how he lives. Considering this knowledge let us now
examine where he lives. A good boar habitat must offer
-
a temperate climate
- a source of water
-good
cover
- fertile farm land
- fruit trees
-forested areas
-space to roam.
Wherever these
conditions are met you can reasonably expect wild boar. Oak studded
grasslands and hillsides are best. Besides ample food supplies and
good, thick cover the presence of water, whether from running
springs, creeks, watering troughs for cattle or as small ponds and
muddy lakes, is most essential. Wild hogs just cannot take summer
heat without access to water to cool off.
Few
of these requirements are met in Southern California. Consequently,
there are also very few boar here. Only about .8 percent of all wild
pigs harvested per year come out of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and
Riverside Counties combined. I believe that Santa Catalina Island and
Santa Cruz Island account for the majority of boar harvested in these
three counties.
However, Catalina and Santa Cruz Island off the
coast of Southern California are no longer available for boar
hunting.
Years ago, around 1995 or so, there were reports that
wild hogs are present in the Mojave River Wash in San Bernardino
County. And there was at least one newspaper report about nuisance
hogs close to a recreational area. No pig tags have been submitted
for wild porkers harvested in this area. Despite some signs
indicating a possible presence of wild boars I would not go out to
look for them.
Anyway, rumor has it that the nuisance pigs were
more or less eradicated by local bow hunters.
In early 1999
one of our readers, Robert.A.C., sent me an e-mail message regarding
some interesting observation related to boar in a river wash. Here it
is:
“I was scouting near Norco in the Santa Ana river area
about two weeks ago. It was very thick in there. The places I could
get to had no sign, but an interesting thing happened on my way out.
I came across two guys in full camo with bows. (They were just
entering the area in mid-afternoon). I asked what they were hunting
for; they looked at each other and said "Coyotes". I have a
feeling they were looking for pigs though. What do
think?”
Coyotes in mid-afternoon?
As you go
north more and more of the requirements for a boar habitat are met.
Population numbers increase and so does hunter success. For all
practical purposes Santa Barbara County is the southern border of
huntable boar populations, except for the islands already mentioned,
and for one lonely private ranch near Riverside.
Santa Barbara
County has a well-established wild boar population, mostly on private
land but also crossing over into public land located in the Los
Padres National Forest. As you continue north wild hog populations
increase in numbers. The area around San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara,
Paso Robles, King City has produced a good harvest year after year,
except for the years of the drought. Thanks to heavy rainfall in the
winter of '92 and '93 habitats and food sources have improved. So
have boar populations and harvest quotas for '94. The aftermath of El
Nino brought an abundance of new growth and vastly improved habitat.
As a result, wild pig populations have grown rapidly and are
expanding. Most promising is the great number of shoats. This
promises good pig hunting for several years to come.
In fact,
some areas in Northern California experienced such a rapid growth in
boar populations that special trapping permits had to be issued to
deal with the great number of 'nuisance' pigs.
Mendocino,
Monterey and Sonoma County consistently support the highest wild boar
populations. The majority of all wild pigs harvested in California
came from these counties as you can see in the following chart
published by the California Department of Fish & Game.
Information for 1997 and 1998 is not yet available.....
***
You have just read parts of two major chapters of this unique and revealing boar book. There are many more 'chapters' in the book, at least seven more major chapters and about 15 sub-chapters.
Each one of them is bulging with practical information the boar hutning gurus and insiders don't want you to know.
Why?
Because they would rather get the boar themselves and show off their trophies.
Now you can beat them at their own game, improve your success rate dramatically and save money in addition.
Why waste money on gasoline and put wear and tear on your vehicle for no good reason? Why run around all day, up and down hills, in the bushes, in the heat and never even see boar signs?
Spare yourself all of this frustration. Get your copy of Wild Boar in California - Where and How to Hunt right now.
It is easy and fast. Give us ten minutes and you can already be on your way to greater hunting success.
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Copyright 1999 United Seabears Corporation
