What Do People And Boar Have In Common?

A new way to get rich quick.

Hunting people eat pigs. Wild pigs and boar dig up and eat people's crops – hunting human or not. People and wild pigs aggravate each other. But that is not what I am talking about here.

A while ago we considered the claim of some Malaysian farmers that human hair deters wild pigs from digging up their crops (http://wildboarhunting.blogspot.com/search?q=human+hair). Entrepreneurial Americans recently claimed that human hair is a superior absorbent in booms used to contain and soak up oil spills, specifically the major spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Not so, says the Coast Guard passing on over 100,000 pounds of human hair clippings. Now lots of human hair snippets are waiting for a beneficial use rather than rot in some landfill.

And this is where getting rich quick comes in: Offer to dispose of the hair clippings for free, bag the material in retail and wholesale quantities and sell them to landowners and farmers who complain about all the damage wild pigs are wreaking on their landscaping and crops.

Hair problem solved. Kitty replenished. Prosperity restored.

Now send me a small contribution, please, or let me hunt the nuisance boar that does not know about human hair as a wild pig deterrent.

PJJ

To Shoot Or Not To Shoot

That is a question many of us had to answer in the blink of an eye. Take too long to decide and you risk that the wild pig you have finally sighted disappears right in front of your eyes. Shoot first and think later could just as easily results in a miss which you could have avoided had you waited more patiently.

Last weekend a hunting friend went on an unguided hunt at the Bryson Resort. He hit mixed weather conditions, mist in the morning and sunshine in the afternoon. Sloshing around in the early morning mist he spotted a solitary boar at the edge of a barley field. The animal was feeding. It kept appearing and slowly disappearing for about 15 minutes presenting at times a full broadside for a shot at an estimated distance of about 100 yards.

Despite his claim to shoot 4 inch groups at 200 yards every time, our intrepid hunter decided to get a little closer for an even better shot, especially since his scope lens started to fog up as if on cue.

You guessed it: The wild pig did not wait around. He simply faded away into the barley. No shot, no ham on the table.

To shoot or not to shoot, that is the question posed by this scenario.

I would have shot.

Would you?

PJJ

On Hunting Wild Pigs: Did You know . . .

that wild pigs will travel several miles away from a location if there is a major disturbance. Therefore, think twice before you take a potshot at a rabbit or a squirrel while pig hunting. Do you really want to send Miss Piggy packing?

On the other hand, deer do not go very far when something disturbing happens.

Hunter Liggett Closures May Through June 2010

Thinking of hunting wild pigs at Fort Hunter Liggett? Think again.

According to the latest closure report, the Fort is closed for hunting on May 8^th and May 9^th, 2010.

And there is as always the possibility that some of the training areas and reservoirs may be closed at other times for security reasons during military training.

You can expect very limited hunting opportunities throughout June 2010.

PJJ

Much Ado About Wild Pigs – Few Practical Solutions

Seems to me that recently wild pig and wild boar bashing has become almost a hunter pastime nationwide. At least that is the impression one gains when reading the latest wild pig news for May 2010.

Boar hunting blogs and other publications are also chiming in. Almost all of them exhort the evils wild pigs wreak on the environment and the health of humans and wildlife alike. Just have a look at the most recent boar hunting blogs. First, it looks to me that many of them suddenly have made wild pig news part of their staple – following my example. Then you will find nice reports about the damage done by wild pigs worldwide from Asia over Europe to the Untied States. Here is a sampling of most articles:

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2010/jan/01/wild-hogs-go-hog-wild/

http://www.justnews.com/furryfriends/22752351/detail.html

Here is an identical article under a more sensational headline:

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2010/jan/25/aided-hunters-destructive-wild-pigs-spreading/

And here is the most recent article on wild pigs in San Diego County:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/29/hogs-wild-feral-pigs-zieralski/

This article reports much more specifically about wild pigs in a limited geographical area. It avoids repeating much of the truisms and platitudes about the dangers associated with wild pigs. Maybe the writer is not fishing for an invitation to a wild pig hunt on a private ranch?

Which, I venture the guess, can not necessarily be said about some of the blog writers who have joined the criers in the wilderness against nuisance wild pigs. Few blogs, if any, mention in their musings the main reason why wild pig populations are expanding and hard to control: The inability of hunters to pursue the boar on private land, in State Parks and other protected areas.

Isn't it kind of difficult to be invited to a free wild pig hunt, or at a much reduced price or to some special hunt conducted by a government agency when you criticize existing practices?

Think about it when a blog waxes poetically about the damage wild pigs do to the environment and then exhorts the virtues of hunting a specific ranch.

Fact is and remains: Hunting, intensive and relentless hunting, of wild pigs reduces wild pig populations considerably. It also can keep them under control. Yet, it does so only when the quarry can be pursued and hunted on private and otherwise protected land.

To state so is not very popular with many powerful industry interests. And there are many.

PJJ

On Hunting Wild Pigs: Did You know . . .

That barley is a great wild pig attractant? Next to acorns and other mast in fall, barley lures wild pigs any time of the year from near and far.

So, next time you go looking for boar, look for barley fields as well.