Boar Hunting Tactics
Wild boar hunting and feral hog hunting is one of the fastest growing hunting sports in the United States. Most states consider wild boar and feral hogs unregulated quadrupeds and have no season, so it is open all year and some states allow night hunting as well. This page is intended to help you get started or give you some more ideas about hunting this nocturnal beast. Below is a group photo from our friends in Estonia sharing a successful wild boar hunt!
Hunting wild boar and feral hogs is a little different than hunting other big game. A boar has very few natural predators. They consider themselves the king of their domain and are pretty much at the top of the food chain in their natural surroundings, so they carry themselves with more dominance than a deer. Feral hogs and wild boar do not move with the grace or stealth of a deer, and do not pay attention to every sound and movement as a deer would. Don't mistake this for stupidity or clumsiness; they are very intelligent. They are about as nocturnal as a deer, but for different reasons. A boar does not have sweat glands like we do and cannot cool off easy; wallowing in cool mud, water, and traveling at night is their way of cooling themselves. Early mornings and late evenings are the best times to hunt them.
Stand/Blind Hunting
Wild boar hunting from a stand or blind is not my favorite method of hunting boar. I would rather track them down, than sit and wait for them, but at certain times of the year and under certain circumstances, this can be your best bet. Before you decide to use this method, be prepared to log some long hours. One of the best tools available on the market today is a good digital trail cam. This can be a big time saver! Check out our tips and tricks page to find out more about this! If you are going to sit in a stand, don't make the mistake of setting up in an area that you "have seen some tracks." It does not work like that! You might get lucky sometimes, but you want to be consistant. Deer hunters occasionally kill hogs while sitting in their deer stands and think that boar hunting must be easy; not true. I have hunted deer and boar for the last 30 years. There have been times when I have been hunting deer and seen hogs and vice versa. Most people consider a hog, "a bonus" when deer hunting, other people cannot stand them at all. If you have studied them like we have; you would consider them a great trophy!
Weather changes can be a good time to hunt feral hogs from a stand. Pressing cold fronts and rainy days will put them on the move. You can increase your odds by using a good boar bait or wild boar attractant and setting up in areas with recent heavy traffic. Wild boar are notorious for sticking to tight well worn trails. They will leave these trails to root and look for new food sources, but most of the time they don't stray very far from them. They like to travel in large circles capming out for a few days here and there using the same food sources time and time again. They are creatures of habit.
Stalking
Stalking has several advantages. You can cover more territory, and increase your odds if you are looking for them instead of waiting for them. You can check out several hot spots in one morning rather than sitting over one. Stalking takes practice and patience. The best advice I can offer is to stalk the main trails and hot spots. Earlier I talked about boar walking in circles, by this I mean wild boar walk main trails that can be several miles long, and minor trails that branch off of these. The main trails are like their highways and the minor trails are like driveways that lead to: food sources, bedding areas, wallows, etc. Hot spots are at the end of the driveways. Check out the scouting page to read more about this. I have taken more feral stalking than sitting in a stand, and it is my favorite way to hunt them. When you find fresh sign, follow the tracks and they should lead you to the driveway; this will lead you to the main highway. When you find it, mark it good so you can find it again. Generations of wild boar and feral hogs will travel this highway. This is where you are going to put them down consistently, bait or no bait. When you're on the main trail, chances are that it will be in heavy cover and you will probably hear them before you see them. Walk slow and stop every few feet to listen for them. Oak bottoms and creek beds are a good place to start looking for the main trails.
The best advice I can offer is to get out there and start hunting them. Once you learn a little bit about the habbits of the wild boar; the more you will understand them. Don't worry about trophies at first. Just get out there and have some fun, besides; the smaller feral make the best barbecue.