How You Hunt Makes A Difference - Not All Hunting Methods Are Created Equal

Have you ever asked yourself what happened to all the deer after opening day? While they used to stand around calmly in plain sight right before the start of the hunting season, now they all seem to have disappeared from the fields. Many reappear in and around the front yards of suburbia. Ranches that are known for their population of wild pigs suddenly become almost devoid of boar when hunting clubs open 'boar season'. Why? What causes this phenomenon? How does hunting affect the movements and daily habits of game?

Researchers in Germany, Italy and the United States asked themselves these questions as well. They studied controlled boar populations as they were exposed to hunting and trapping pressures. The results do not come as a surprise to 'real' hunters, that is to hunters who take to the fields on their own. It eludes those whose hunting experience consists exclusively of guided hunts with an experienced local hunter who locates and frames the game for them to make for an easy shot.

The German scientists started from the vague, common perception that boar in undisturbed habitat are mostly diurnal and cause only little problems. Wild boar are also assumed to become more nocturnal and more wide-ranging when exposed to hunting pressure. In scientific language:

The activity rhythm is:

(Oliver Keuling: How does hunting influence activity and spatial usage in wild boar Sus scrofa L.? , European Journal of Wildlife Research)

Back to plain English: The research project studied the use of range and the activity patterns of radio-collard boar under changing hunting pressure and environmental conditions..

The results revealed the average diurnal activities of the animals to be around 12 percent with monthly fluctuations. Diurnal activities increased in undisturbed feeding areas, particularly in early summer.

The two most common hunting methods in Germany are the still hunt (stalking, from stand) and the battue (drive). Still hunting (or trapping) increased flight distances immediately and considerably without exceeding the home range of the group. Battues, on the other hand, did not significantly alter the use of range and the habits of animals subjected to it.

That surprises me. Anyone who ever participated in or observed a battue at length knows what noisy and chaotic events drives are. They can be unnerving even to human participants. Apparently boar handle a battue better. The matrilenal boar groups showed escape movements on a small scale in only 14 percent of the observed cases.

An Italian study on boar in the central region of Italy produced similar results. The study also appeared in the European Journal of Wildlife Research. The lead-author was Laura Scillitani.

The researchers used 20 tagged boar from 10 family groups to track and document the effect of drives (with dogs) on the spatial movements of the boar and on their general behavior (location of resting sites, etc). Observations were made and recorded in three distinct groups: Pre-hunting, hunting and post-hunting.

During the hunting season movements of the boar within their range increased, resting ranges widened and the space between resting sites increased. This pattern was more pronounced during hunting days. Family groups that were scattered during the hunts reassembled shortly thereafter. During the drives boar showed a surprising tolerance of hunting related disturbances. Only groups that were repeatedly hunted within a short period of time altered their behavior significantly or abandoned their range altogether.

These studies and some related research in other countries allows the conclusion that boar populations can not be effectively controlled by occasional intense 'eradication' hunts'. Such hunts will only drive them off your property and onto your neighbor's. The boar will be back in due time. When it comes to the control of boar populations, frequent drives spaced close together disrupt boar behavior patterns and home ranges to a much greater extent. They need to be coordinated with neighboring ranches to avoid relocation of escaped boar on the nearest property.

And what does this mean to an average hunter on public land? Let's see. A very high percentage of all wild pigs taken on public land in California come from Fort Hunter Liggett or Camp Roberts. There are numerous wild pigs on both properties. So, why do I know so many avid hunters who traipse to FHL with almost religious regularity – only to return empty handed. Time after time. Is it inexperience or incompetence?

These boar populations are subjected during the week to military exercises. They evade the activities and return to their regular home resting places and food sources at the end of the day when most human activities cease. No harm done. The boar thrive. On weekends certain areas are opened to the public for hunting. Now we have hunter after hunter, vehicle after noisy vehicle intrude upon food and resting places in seemingly never ending, tightly spaced waves of disturbance. This time the boar escape to the nearest closed area. They rest and feed there till the weekend warriors are gone and the real ones reappear.

PJJ