Forest of Dean Boar

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they are not under control and never will be with the way they are controlled now, you cannot control numbers by taking one a night under the lamp or nv, management needs to be done with everyone singing from the same page, look abroad to the amount being shot they cant make a dent in the population, scotlands the same before long numbers will be too great especially when not shooting the correct animals, atb wayne
 
I'll be glad to know I'm doing my bit to help then when I'm up with you in January! :)

I do know that even out in places like Somerset they have had an increase in RTA's as a result of boar numbers.

Really they need seasons like deer and a proper management approach.
 
you can't on manage boar like deer there not same but we will never be able to have safe drives in this country due to anti and right to Rome dog walkers also the lack of dog to push boar due to the law there number are going to rocket and there's nothing we can do
 
you can't on manage boar like deer there not same but we will never be able to have safe drives in this country due to anti and right to Rome dog walkers also the lack of dog to push boar due to the law there number are going to rocket and there's nothing we can do

You don't need drives to manage boar but you do need a management plan over a large area. I think thats not going to happen in the UK.
The goverment in Sweden is looking to ban feeding of boar to slow the growth in boar numbers and i think hunters have been a big part in the spread of boar with the gross over feeding that has gone on.
 
I did a talk this year at a stalkers evening where the head ranger from the Forrest of Dean was also giving a talk on the wild boar population and how they are managing them, the majority of land owners surrounding the Forrest would like more shot as they are becoming a real problem with damage to crops, the way I interpreted what the head ranger said was they have to keep all parties happy, farmers,land owners and cousils wonting more control and the fluffy bunnie brigade saying leave them alone.

As a tracking organisation(UKDTR) we have had more calls over the last 12 months,
All of these calls come from outside the Fc land,
so I guess the numbers will keep rising!
 
What's the spread of them. Is it mainly round FOD and a few areas of the south n Scotland.

No they are far more widespread. Ask the Deer Initiative if they will share their distribution map with you and you will be quite surprised at the results (even after allowing for some exaggeration).
 
What I want to know is,when are they going to make it to Cornwall???

I had a VERY close encounter with a feral wild boar down near Truro. 3 big hairy black boar rooting up the farm. I wanted to see if they had eartags and couldn't see their ears as they were head down in the grass. Stupidly I shouted 'hey piggy' and rather than look up inquisitively the nearest one came straight for me at full tilt! I belted up a stack of wrapped bales and had a good (rather relieved) laugh at myself. The farmer had never seen any before, but later heard that a neighbour had lost 3, they apparently came back a couple of days later for food and were penned in again. Suffice to say we should have a wild sounder or two fairly soon at this rate! This was about 6 years ago now, I'd only just started air rifle shooting a few rabbits and would like to think I'm a bit more sensible these days!
 
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I have recently spent a bit of time in Germany with a group of local hunters including one who is a volunteer forester - which in germany includes managing the wildlife- he also lectures and trains new hunters to achieve their Jagdshein - their hunting permit, which from what I can see has elements of both DSC1 and DSC2 but covers all wildlife including the huntable species, as well as a lot of ecology on how you should manage the species populations, and also a lot on the hunting traditions and customs.

The land we were hunting on was very much like Southern England with blocks of woodland and farmland - more arable farmland than Gloucestishire and Forest of Dean - possibly more akin to Thetford or Hampshire / Sussex. A bit more woodland than the UK - 30 to 40% of the area is wooded, but still large arable fields of mixed wheat, maize, oilseed rape etc.

The only real difference is that every wood / corner of wood, field etc has high seats. We were shooting on one 250 hectare revere - a hunting permission which is leased on a 9 year basis. 30 plus high seats - most of which you can quite happily sleep in - not a ladder but a tree house.

And off that 250 hectares they are taking at least 60 pigs a year. That is their cull target and every other neighbouring area has a similar cull target density. This is not a cull level to dramatically reduce numbers, its just trying to keep population at a stable level.

From what I can gather, Wild Boar are extremely wary, highly intelligent and travel vast distances - they are reckoned to cover at least 30km a night in their foraging. To achieve their cull the hunters spend a lot of time in the highseats. Typically requiring at least five nights for every time they see boar and can pull the trigger. The only way they can get close to cull numbers is to organise drives. They get as many hunters to man the high seats and then send the dogs into the woods - the dogs are highly trained and have to pass several exams before they are licensed to hunt. On one or two drives a year they can get 60% of their cull target, but its the only way they can realistically get any where close to the sorts of numbers they need to achieve. Over the course on one week I only saw one partially grown female (dame) with two half grown piglets (fleishlings) . My host shot the two piglets, whilst I shot the dame. Although she was only 50kg carcass weight - i thought she was huge, until shown pictures of large males taken from the same area - some as large as 250 kg carcass weight and the size of a steer.

And there is added incentive for the hunters to manage the boar properly - if the boar cause damage to crops they are sent a bill by the farmer and this can run into € thousands. Its a well established system with the local Forstmeister arbitrating.

Given that Boar are now again part of the UK Flora and Fauna we do need to rethink how we manage them. From what I have read and heard it seems that the UK populations are pretty static in that they remain where they are, but if there is hunting pressure it wont take them long to work that's it better to pack their bags.

They seem to be a very sociable animal living in sounders run by an old old matriarch, who is the main breeding female producing ten plus piglets a year. This is one animal is not shot - the focus is on younger animals, piglets and the male boar. Shooting the old matriarch causes huge problems - the youngsters then have no guidance and cause massive damage to crops woodland etc - described as delinquents.

Rather than being seen as a problem, I think we just need to take a different view and learn from those who have boar as an everyday part of the countryside. Just from the economic side on state land the carcasses are sold at €4 to 5 a kg - thats carcass weight - ie guts and heart and lungs removed by head and trotters and skin still on. And the Germans seem to as a population embrace this and its seen as an everyday product in the shops and on restaurant menus. 10% of the population hunt.

The hunters work with the farmers and have regular meetings with the local community. When was the last time we saw a shoot sitting down with a parish council?? Much of the German countryside is state owned to which everybody has access - the fact that they have big hairy beasties in the woods doesn't seem to cause a problem. Most seem people seem to understand to just leave them in peace. The hunters accept that people are about all the time and thats why just about all shooting is from a highseat. If we put up highseats such as theirs, they would soon be vandalised.


I also visited a small Frankonia store - much bigger than any shooting emporium I have been to in the UK. They have 23 stores across Germany and there other chains as well as a large number of independents. Go into Decathlon - they have hunting sections.
 
I have recently spent a bit of time in Germany with a group of local hunters including one who is a volunteer forester - which in germany includes managing the wildlife- he also lectures and trains new hunters to achieve their Jagdshein - their hunting permit, which from what I can see has elements of both DSC1 and DSC2 but covers all wildlife including the huntable species, as well as a lot of ecology on how you should manage the species populations, and also a lot on the hunting traditions and customs.

The land we were hunting on was very much like Southern England with blocks of woodland and farmland - more arable farmland than Gloucestishire and Forest of Dean - possibly more akin to Thetford or Hampshire / Sussex. A bit more woodland than the UK - 30 to 40% of the area is wooded, but still large arable fields of mixed wheat, maize, oilseed rape etc.

The only real difference is that every wood / corner of wood, field etc has high seats. We were shooting on one 250 hectare revere - a hunting permission which is leased on a 9 year basis. 30 plus high seats - most of which you can quite happily sleep in - not a ladder but a tree house.

And off that 250 hectares they are taking at least 60 pigs a year. That is their cull target and every other neighbouring area has a similar cull target density. This is not a cull level to dramatically reduce numbers, its just trying to keep population at a stable level.

From what I can gather, Wild Boar are extremely wary, highly intelligent and travel vast distances - they are reckoned to cover at least 30km a night in their foraging. To achieve their cull the hunters spend a lot of time in the highseats. Typically requiring at least five nights for every time they see boar and can pull the trigger. The only way they can get close to cull numbers is to organise drives. They get as many hunters to man the high seats and then send the dogs into the woods - the dogs are highly trained and have to pass several exams before they are licensed to hunt. On one or two drives a year they can get 60% of their cull target, but its the only way they can realistically get any where close to the sorts of numbers they need to achieve. Over the course on one week I only saw one partially grown female (dame) with two half grown piglets (fleishlings) . My host shot the two piglets, whilst I shot the dame. Although she was only 50kg carcass weight - i thought she was huge, until shown pictures of large males taken from the same area - some as large as 250 kg carcass weight and the size of a steer.

And there is added incentive for the hunters to manage the boar properly - if the boar cause damage to crops they are sent a bill by the farmer and this can run into € thousands. Its a well established system with the local Forstmeister arbitrating.

Given that Boar are now again part of the UK Flora and Fauna we do need to rethink how we manage them. From what I have read and heard it seems that the UK populations are pretty static in that they remain where they are, but if there is hunting pressure it wont take them long to work that's it better to pack their bags.

They seem to be a very sociable animal living in sounders run by an old old matriarch, who is the main breeding female producing ten plus piglets a year. This is one animal is not shot - the focus is on younger animals, piglets and the male boar. Shooting the old matriarch causes huge problems - the youngsters then have no guidance and cause massive damage to crops woodland etc - described as delinquents.

Rather than being seen as a problem, I think we just need to take a different view and learn from those who have boar as an everyday part of the countryside. Just from the economic side on state land the carcasses are sold at €4 to 5 a kg - thats carcass weight - ie guts and heart and lungs removed by head and trotters and skin still on. And the Germans seem to as a population embrace this and its seen as an everyday product in the shops and on restaurant menus. 10% of the population hunt.

The hunters work with the farmers and have regular meetings with the local community. When was the last time we saw a shoot sitting down with a parish council?? Much of the German countryside is state owned to which everybody has access - the fact that they have big hairy beasties in the woods doesn't seem to cause a problem. Most seem people seem to understand to just leave them in peace. The hunters accept that people are about all the time and thats why just about all shooting is from a highseat. If we put up highseats such as theirs, they would soon be vandalised.


I also visited a small Frankonia store - much bigger than any shooting emporium I have been to in the UK. They have 23 stores across Germany and there other chains as well as a large number of independents. Go into Decathlon - they have hunting sections.
Perfect post.......and also the correct and only way to attempt to manage boar.
 
I have recently spent a bit of time in Germany with a group of local hunters including one who is a volunteer forester - which in germany includes managing the wildlife- he also lectures and trains new hunters to achieve their Jagdshein - their hunting permit, which from what I can see has elements of both DSC1 and DSC2 but covers all wildlife including the huntable species, as well as a lot of ecology on how you should manage the species populations, and also a lot on the hunting traditions and customs.

The land we were hunting on was very much like Southern England with blocks of woodland and farmland - more arable farmland than Gloucestishire and Forest of Dean - possibly more akin to Thetford or Hampshire / Sussex. A bit more woodland than the UK - 30 to 40% of the area is wooded, but still large arable fields of mixed wheat, maize, oilseed rape etc.

The only real difference is that every wood / corner of wood, field etc has high seats. We were shooting on one 250 hectare revere - a hunting permission which is leased on a 9 year basis. 30 plus high seats - most of which you can quite happily sleep in - not a ladder but a tree house.

And off that 250 hectares they are taking at least 60 pigs a year. That is their cull target and every other neighbouring area has a similar cull target density. This is not a cull level to dramatically reduce numbers, its just trying to keep population at a stable level.

From what I can gather, Wild Boar are extremely wary, highly intelligent and travel vast distances - they are reckoned to cover at least 30km a night in their foraging. To achieve their cull the hunters spend a lot of time in the highseats. Typically requiring at least five nights for every time they see boar and can pull the trigger. The only way they can get close to cull numbers is to organise drives. They get as many hunters to man the high seats and then send the dogs into the woods - the dogs are highly trained and have to pass several exams before they are licensed to hunt. On one or two drives a year they can get 60% of their cull target, but its the only way they can realistically get any where close to the sorts of numbers they need to achieve. Over the course on one week I only saw one partially grown female (dame) with two half grown piglets (fleishlings) . My host shot the two piglets, whilst I shot the dame. Although she was only 50kg carcass weight - i thought she was huge, until shown pictures of large males taken from the same area - some as large as 250 kg carcass weight and the size of a steer.

And there is added incentive for the hunters to manage the boar properly - if the boar cause damage to crops they are sent a bill by the farmer and this can run into € thousands. Its a well established system with the local Forstmeister arbitrating.

Given that Boar are now again part of the UK Flora and Fauna we do need to rethink how we manage them. From what I have read and heard it seems that the UK populations are pretty static in that they remain where they are, but if there is hunting pressure it wont take them long to work that's it better to pack their bags.

They seem to be a very sociable animal living in sounders run by an old old matriarch, who is the main breeding female producing ten plus piglets a year. This is one animal is not shot - the focus is on younger animals, piglets and the male boar. Shooting the old matriarch causes huge problems - the youngsters then have no guidance and cause massive damage to crops woodland etc - described as delinquents.

Rather than being seen as a problem, I think we just need to take a different view and learn from those who have boar as an everyday part of the countryside. Just from the economic side on state land the carcasses are sold at €4 to 5 a kg - thats carcass weight - ie guts and heart and lungs removed by head and trotters and skin still on. And the Germans seem to as a population embrace this and its seen as an everyday product in the shops and on restaurant menus. 10% of the population hunt.

The hunters work with the farmers and have regular meetings with the local community. When was the last time we saw a shoot sitting down with a parish council?? Much of the German countryside is state owned to which everybody has access - the fact that they have big hairy beasties in the woods doesn't seem to cause a problem. Most seem people seem to understand to just leave them in peace. The hunters accept that people are about all the time and thats why just about all shooting is from a highseat. If we put up highseats such as theirs, they would soon be vandalised.


I also visited a small Frankonia store - much bigger than any shooting emporium I have been to in the UK. They have 23 stores across Germany and there other chains as well as a large number of independents. Go into Decathlon - they have hunting sections.

Good post.
Its been found in Sweden that a combination of high seat over baited areas, hunting with a single dog and driven hunting and stalking was needed to keep boar under control. These hunting method done in collaboration with many land owners work the best.
It was found that after the first enthusiasm for sitting out all night hunters weren't so keen to do that. It will be interesting in the future to see how boar management works out in the UK.
 
The boar here in Sussex have been very well controlled over the last 10 years. With cheap nv and thermal quite easy to shoot them out.
 
The boar here in Sussex have been very well controlled over the last 10 years. With cheap nv and thermal quite easy to shoot them out.

You are absolutely spot on there.
which is why they haven't become a problem there,
the forrest of Dean is a different kettle of fish because it Fc and there have to keep all parties happy.
 
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