Author Topic: hog/boar ?  (Read 758 times)

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Offline Mike357mag

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hog/boar ?
« on: September 03, 2004, 10:38:31 AM »
just started thinking about hunting boar, is 200 pounds average for most places, will all have tusk, does the meat taste like regular pork?  Any places near virginia other than false cape and back bay.  Hunting ranches that advertise no kill no pay are tame or fenced in, or is it that easy to hunt one.

thanks for any info Mike

Offline oso45-70

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hog/wild boar hunting
« Reply #1 on: September 03, 2004, 11:34:02 AM »
Mike,
I can't tell you much about where you might find hogs, But i can tell you that if you like pig meat you will love wild pig. Makes the best sausage in the world. They don' have nearly as much fat as a raised pig does. and
BBQ is out of sight. Makes me droooool just thinking about it. As the saying goes ( try it you will like it ) have a good one.........Joe......
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Offline Graybeard

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hog/boar ?
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2004, 03:58:18 PM »
Hi Mike. Let's break those questions down and hit them one at a time.

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just started thinking about hunting boar, is 200 pounds average for most places,


There is no average really. Some places call anything above about 150 pounds a trophy boar. I sorta think anything under 200 is an eating hog and not a trophy hog. BUT what makes a trophy is up to the individual doing the hunting. In the wild you'll find them from barely weaned to several hundred pounds in size.

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will all have tusk,


Since tusks (also called tush or tushes) are merely teeth yes all have them. Are they all the same size, no. Are they all sticking way out of the jaws, no.


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does the meat taste like regular pork?


Well yeah it sure does. After all that's what it is. Just a bit more lean with less fat than a lazy penned hog.


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Any places near virginia other than false cape and back bay.



Sorry no help from me on this one.

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Hunting ranches that advertise no kill no pay are tame or fenced in, or is it that easy to hunt one.


This really varies greatly. Some places have rather small fenced areas and large numbers of hogs in it. Those are pretty tame and no real hunt to them. Just kinda walk out and select the walking meat you want and they'll cut and wrap for you after you make it fall over. Those exist.

True free range hunting for wild hogs is not easy. Not by a long shot. Even if they are baited they aren't easy. If you walk and stalk under such conditions it can be most frustrating. Even when fresh sign is all around they can be very hard to locate.

Back about '91 I think it was I went to TN to Tellico Junction to hunt with Joe Meeks. Joe said he had 2000 acres. Dunno but it was a big place we were in. It wasn't really high fenced and I'd not even call it a hog proof fence as I saw several places it was down completely. There was a road just on the inside of that fence in some places but by no means all the way around it. They trapped hogs from the National Forest land that joined them. He told me it was about 20 miles back thru there to the nearest paved road. Dunno, I sure didn't walk it to see. They turned loose the hogs they wanted that were caught inside the fence and those they didn't want they release back on the NF side.

They only bought hogs if the customer wanted a special hunt for a really huge over 300 pound hog. I was told average size would run 160-200 pounds. BUT they didn't have a scale. While I was there four were taken by the four of us hunting. An old man who was a museum curator was hunting for a museum specimen and they imported it from outside for him. It was huge, likely over 400 pounds. A bow hunter killed one I'd guess between 250-300 and likely on the upper end of that. I killed one that I'd guess at 200-225 and one bow hunter killed one I'd doubt went over 125.

In the morning of the first day we walked and stalked and only one hog was sighted at all. They knew where one hung out under a ledge and took me there. I think I'd have gotten it as I was easing around and almost to where I would be able to see it when the guide came blundering down the hill sounding much like an elephant in a china shop and spooked it. I have to wonder if they "really" wanted that hog taken or if it was part of the show to end the morning stalk hunt.

At any rate after a long break for lunch we all went back out and turned loose the dogs which was the preferred method there at the time. In 20 minutes two of us had hogs and the third turned down several before finally settling for the smallest one taken. The old man was in a totally separate small fenced area where his hog had been released that afternoon. He was the first to score.

I've been on many hunts in many places. Some for pay, some for free. Some free range and some fenced. Inside the fence it is usually not much of a challenge. The outcome is fixed. You will kill one. Free range nothing is fixed and you'll more than likely NOT kill one.


Bill aka the Graybeard
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I am not a lawyer and do not give legal advice.

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Offline Oldtimer

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hog/boar ?
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2004, 03:06:01 AM »
Mike,  I am not sure which direction you are looking for, but there are several  operations in western North Carolina.  I have hunted at Blue Boar Lodge and they had very nice accomodations.  They hunted in the Joyce Kilmer National Forest, which is on the other side of the ridge from Tennessee.  Occasionally, they had to go over into Tennessee to retrieve dogs.  The hogs have a lot  of Russian, and are free-ranging.  I missed one at about twenty yards, and that was because I did not lead it enough.  The meat is influenced by what the hog feeds on, and I have yet to have a bad piece of meat, even the older boars.  Most people seem to prefer hogs around 100 pounds for the best eating.  I have hunted with Joe Meeks a couple of times, and was really pleased  with both experiences.  There is supposed to be a lodge opening up in Patrick County, Virginia, but I have not seen it advertised.

Offline Bulldog

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Boar In Virginia
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2004, 07:52:30 AM »
Hello Mike,

I'm from Wise county in Southwest Virginia.  I had heard of people seeing wild boar around here, but I didn't see one until last Thursday.  I was coyote hunting on a strip mine when I spotted two hogs headed up a hill for the woods. About five minutes later I saw another in the open field and decided to try and get two hundred yards away before I attempted a shot. Well, I went to where I has last seen them, took about thirty minutes of stalking, and saw a hog through the thicket.  Waited about another thirty minutes and it was feeding my way. As it came up over the hill I saw another one behind it.  Well I eventually shot the first one which was only fifteen yards away.  After I shot I was surprised when four or five more hogs ran off in every direction.  They went into the bushes and were grunting at me.  The hog dropped where I shot it. It was about a two hundred pound female.  It was brown and had the razorback.  I don't know to much about hogs to tell what genes it had.  I went back home and got two others to help get it out to the road a half a mile away.  When we went back the hogs were still around and were grunting at us.  I eventually got it out.  So if your looking for a place for hogs in Virginia there are a few wild ones running around here. It takes a little luck to find them though.  I went back yesterday and the other hogs had moved on.

Offline howie1968

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« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2004, 08:25:23 AM »
like others have said  the  size varies  a true trophy is rarely seen in the woods  game  proof  fences  are easier   but  still can be  a  challenge  the  meat is  awesome and  most  hogs  boars  will have tusks  the older  and  bigger  they  get generally  the  bigger  tusks  althoughi have killed a  few  that  were small  that  had  some  huge tusks
Hi  enjoy  hunting  guns    teaching  my  2  daughters  about  hunting  and  boxing

Offline Uncle Ji

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Re: hog/boar ?
« Reply #6 on: September 20, 2004, 11:00:17 PM »
Quote from: Mike357mag
just started thinking about hunting boar, is 200 pounds average for most places, will all have tusk, does the meat taste like regular pork?  Any places near virginia other than false cape and back bay.  Hunting ranches that advertise no kill no pay are tame or fenced in, or is it that easy to hunt one.

thanks for any info Mike


You know the old saying "you are what you eat", this applies to pigs as well.  Here in Hawaii the flavor of meat varies according to  what the diet of the pig is in the location you are hunting.  I have great pig hunting a half hour up the road from me but these pigs feed mostly on ferns, and herbacious plants so they taste very gamey.  I prefer to drive an hour, and a half to an area where the pigs feed almost exclusively on fruits like mango, and guava.  These pigs are tasty, and even have a tasty fat layer on there belly that the mountain pigs close to home lack.   Weight averages vary according to habitat, and also genetics.  The mountain pigs close to my home are almost 100% polynesian wild boar so rarely do you see one over 200 lbs. and they have the classic hump back, black fur, and straight tail.  The young are usually striped with a chipmunk pattern.  The forest pigs I prefer to hunt are a mix of free range domestics gone wild, and true Polynesian wild boars.  These pigs can get over 500 lbs.  with average boar around 250 lbs.  They also come in a variety of colors from light gray with spots to solid red.   The young are colored like the adults.  Both types are truly wild, hornery, and a blast to hunt.