Available: Open season(s) for wild boar?

Krabryn

Well-Known Member
Is there a commonly agreed open season for hunting wild boar in continental European countries as my Spanish taxi driver thought circa Oct to Feb/Mar or are they considered such an endemic pest that no legal restrictions or sow & litter considerations apply? Cheers, K
 
You can certainly hunt boar all year round in Portugal, with only the restriction being that night shooting is limited to 8 nights before, 1 night during and 1 night after each full moon. However, in practice, hunting is mostly restricted to late summer through to January, when the weather is cooler and dry, stopping in the wetter and then the hotter months.
 
Is there a commonly agreed open season for hunting wild boar in continental European countries as my Spanish taxi driver thought circa Oct to Feb/Mar or are they considered such an endemic pest that no legal restrictions or sow & litter considerations apply? Cheers, K

K,

You are roughly right for driven boar as you need the vegetation to have died back. Moonlight shooting from fixed seats is also a common year round activity.

What occurs in Europe is local tradition rather than fixed seasons.

​Stan
 
The driven 'Season' is normally between October an January but due to censuses, normally carried out in March, can start mid October and end mid January.
The reason those months are chosen is because the sows won't be too far forward (pregnant) and the years litter should be forward enough to survive on their own.
As a result of that all Boar being driven can be shot, although it is an unwritten rule that even tho 'fair game' if a large sow with smaller pigs are following it, then it is good practice not to shoot her.
It also helps as has been said, the green is off the cover so making it easier to see them.
Wild boar can be shot from High seats all year round and usually are to maintain crop damage to manageable levels, but is usually very selective so as not to damage the hierarchy among them.
 
In Poland driven hunt season usually starts in October, but majority of the hunting clubs wait with the first hunt till 3rd November which is St Hubert's day. You can shoot wild boar all year round but sows are protected 15/01-15/08, but shooting a sow is not usually welcomed even when they are in season.
 
We can shoot yearling boar all year. sows with dependant young cannot be shot any time of year. A closed season for adult boar 15/2-15/4
 
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