Attacks or Charges By Hogs?

[Wildlife Biologist]

Have any of you been charged or attacked by a hog? The hogs where I live are feral. The are domestic breeds that have at one time escaped captivity and now they have spread to almost the entire State. They are every bit as wild as deer and readily run away. The problem arises when you come into contact with a sow nursing piglets. I have twice been charged by a sow. The first incident happened many years ago while quail hunting. My brother and I stumbled across a sow with very small piglets. The sow charged but was at a distance of about 40 yards. Naturally our guns were loaded with bird shot. My brother shot the sow and hit her in the head area and she turned away. The second incident happened just last year. It too was because of a sow with piglets. I stumbled upon the sow and piglets and she charged at close vey range. Again I was quail hunting and loaded with bird shot. I fired the first shot over her head but she kept coming. I emptied the remainder of the shots straight into the face and head. I believe she was completely blinded the first shot. The sow went down at about 5 yards from me. Thank goodness I had the plug out! I loaded up and shot a round into the brain at point blank range. By then the dogs were there. That was scary. Beware of sows with piglets.

 

[Foxyboy43]

Lucky boy! This chap not just so lucky! The youtube video of this guy makes any prospective boar-stalking outing in heavy cover something to think really, really hard about. His pal shot the boar whilst it was working this guy over i.e. on top of him!
Scares the bejasus out of me every time I watch it!
Stay safe!

 

[Wildlife Biologist]

Ouch! While I was in college there was an incident involving a pen raised whitetail deer that jumped the fence enclosure and gored a student that was trotting by. The buck was a research deer and had a huge rack.

 

[Foxyboy43]

Yep. A while back a retired farmer in NI decided to rear some red deer. Unfortunately he picked the wrong time to move the stag (rut) - it severely injured his farmhand and killed him!

 

[Wildlife Biologist]

Yep. A while back a retired farmer in NI decided to rear some red deer. Unfortunately he picked the wrong time to move the stag (rut) - it severely injured his farmhand and killed him!

The incident I spoke was during rut. Adult buck pen raised deer are DANGEROUS during rut! The deer was spotlighted and killed that night. The victim was a female college student. She survived but was gored badly.

 

[Foxyboy43]

You are way more likely to be killed by deer than by sharks, bears, and gators combined

It’s time America’s truly deadliest animal became known.

www.vox.com

 

[Wildlife Biologist]

You are way more likely to be killed by deer than by sharks, bears, and gators combined

It’s time America’s truly deadliest animal became known.

www.vox.com

Good information.

 

[Heym SR20]

Not personally, but have several German hunter friends and just all of them have stories to tell of wild boar fights, dogs being injured and in some cases hunters being injured.

If you have a large wounded or cornered animal that is very strong and equipped with sharp tusks - they call then Waffen in German, translates as weapon, injuries will happen.

Its because of the real and potential danger that dogs have to be trained to and pass a high level exam before they are allowed to hunt.

And good dogs that can hold and bay a pig does make dealing with them a lot safer.

I haven’t actually seen, but have heard a boar fight going on just out of sight. It sounds a truly violent experience.

Deer are much less likely to attack, but I did once finish off a wounded Roe Buck with a knife. It was down but still very much alive - I was amazed at how strong it was - much more so than a sheep of equivalent size - and with sharp antlers.

Nothing much wrong with shot placement- it had gone through shoulder and vitals, but hadn’t knocked out the CNS. And I had gone up to it straight after the shot.

After that experience I would either shoot again, or actually leave it a few more minutes to pass away peacefully with much less stress.

 

[Wildlife Biologist]

Not personally, but have several German hunter friends and just all of them have stories to tell of wild boar fights, dogs being injured and in some cases hunters being injured.

If you have a large wounded or cornered animal that is very strong and equipped with sharp tusks - they call then Waffen in German, translates as weapon, injuries will happen.

Its because of the real and potential danger that dogs have to be trained to and pass a high level exam before they are allowed to hunt.

And good dogs that can hold and bay a pig does make dealing with them a lot safer.

I haven’t actually seen, but have heard a boar fight going on just out of sight. It sounds a truly violent experience.

Deer are much less likely to attack, but I did once finish off a wounded Roe Buck with a knife. It was down but still very much alive - I was amazed at how strong it was - much more so than a sheep of equivalent size - and with sharp antlers.

Nothing much wrong with shot placement- it had gone through shoulder and vitals, but hadn’t knocked out the CNS. And I had gone up to it straight after the shot.

After that experience I would either shoot again, or actually leave it a few more minutes to pass away peacefully with much less stress.

We hunt feral hogs with dogs around here. I have seen close calls with dogs that have cornered hogs. Although I have yet to see a dog severely injured, it is spooky each and every time you go to the dogs. We go in with pistols drawn and buckshot ready. These hunts are not for sport. Our hunts are for feral hog removal only. Feral hogs have devastated agricultural crops throughout the region. In addition they have caused many wildlife management issues by consuming food that native species rely on and other predatory actions. Although only a small part, they certainly enter into the equation of our declining bobwhite quail population. Anyway I watch for them anytime I am in the woods. Encounters are becoming more frequent. I certainly have had the bejesus scared out of me a few times.

 

[Heym SR20]

We hunt feral hogs with dogs around here. I have seen close calls with dogs that have cornered hogs. Although I have yet to see a dog severely injured, it is spooky each and every time you go to the dogs. We go in with pistols drawn and buckshot ready. These hunts are not for sport. Our hunts are for feral hog removal only. Feral hogs have devastated agricultural crops throughout the region. In addition they have caused many wildlife management issues by consuming food that native species rely on and other predatory actions. Although only a small part, they certainly enter into the equation of our declining bobwhite quail population. Anyway I watch for them anytime I am in the woods. Encounters are becoming more frequent. I certainly have had the bejesus scared out of me a few times.

From what I can gather there is a big difference between true wild boar and feral hogs in terms of agression, strength and size. Feral hogs of course come from domesticated animals that have gone wild, whereas Wild Boar are still pretty much - although in many places domestic blood is in there as well.

But even domestic pigs can be aggressive, especially when with young.

German hunters when after pigs, especially those who beating and or following up wounded ones will be wearing kevlar lined chainsaw type pants. And the dogs all wear protection as well.

 

[Wildlife Biologist]

From what I can gather there is a big difference between true wild boar and feral hogs in terms of agression, strength and size. Feral hogs of course come from domesticated animals that have gone wild, whereas Wild Boar are still pretty much - although in many places domestic blood is in there as well.

But even domestic pigs can be aggressive, especially when with young.

German hunters when after pigs, especially those who beating and or following up wounded ones will be wearing kevlar lined chainsaw type pants. And the dogs all wear protection as well.

Very true. The exact time hogs in Alabama first began to escape and became feral will never be known. From my personal experiences I believe it to be in the early 1960's. Thus they have been feral and proliferating from that time. I agree with you that the primary concern of these feral hogs is with encounters with sows with piglets. Also hogs cornered by dogs are also very aggressive. There have been Russian wild boar hogs released for sport in certain parts of the State that have proliferated. These have cross bred with the feral hogs. Anyway I respect the business end of any hog. They are now a major management issue.