Guide to wild boar hunt

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GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THE WILD BOAR HUNT

No other big game species is anywhere near as easy and inexpensive to go hunting for as wild boar. We offer the tips and advice you need before you start.

There are in essence three basic ways to hunt wild boar. One is to shoot them where they forage in fields or at established feeding sites. The second is to stalk them, and the third is to drive them, using drivers and dogs and take them with strategically positioned guns.

Since wild boars are highly intelligent animals, constantly adapting their behaviour to circumstances, they are nocturnal in areas of intensive hunting, which is almost everywhere they occur. So, regardless of whether you are planning to establish a feeding station as a shooting site, or want to try stalking across the fields, you must be prepared to hunt at night. This imposes certain requirements on both the hunter and his or her equipment. Driven hunts, on the other hand, take place in full daylight. Here the challenge is primarily to master the art of shooting accurately at an animal moving at high speed.

The preferred modes of hunting in particular locations vary in line with hunting traditions around the world. In most places, boar are shot mainly from static positions around feeding sites in fields at night. Drives are most common as a supplement to nighttime hunting in Europe, Africa and certain Asian countries. In a number of places, notably where feral pigs are perceived to be an invasive nuisance species, extensive hunting to control populations takes place, often from helicopter. This is common in, for example, the southern United States and Australia, where several million hogs are killed in this way each year.

Nocturnal hunting

The commonest form of nocturnal hunting for wild boars is stand hunting under moonlight, either at a purpose-built feeding site or in a field where they forage. In principle, this can take place year-round, but is most widespread in the autumn and winter. In Europe, many wild boars are shot from hunting ladders or towers at night.

This form of hunting requires a lot of patience on the part of the hunter. Typically, several hours are spent sitting still and waiting for each boar that is taken. This can be exciting, as the boar are usually cautious and hesitant in their movements and often stay close together. This makes it difficult to pick out individuals and is a test for the hunter’s nerves, when the sounder, or herd, dances merrily around the site over a long period without presenting much opportunity for a shot.

The hunter rarely gets the chance of more than one shot for each group of animals, since, once disturbed, they will bolt from the site at the speed of light. Shot placement is therefore crucial.