Book Tasting:

"Wild Boar in California -

Where and How to Hunt "

Excerpts

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

 

  ￳

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 wedge﷓shaped 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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