How to fight off a wild boar

[supergrouper]

I saw this interesting headline and thought I’d better check it out. Among the interesting information offered was the useful tip that wild boar have very sensitive snouts. One recommended ploy was to hit the pig on the nose with a stone! Well I’ll have to admit that had never occurred to me. What tosh. Who writes this stuff.
I’m sure we have all come across videos of boar attacking hunters. The attacks are fast and vicious but not generally prolonged. The boar will generally make good his escape having made his point. Fatalities are rare but the statistics remain. Boar can kill people. There is an old adage that the most dangerous position to find yourself in is between a sow and her piglets. This has not been my experience. On two occasions in the South of France I have witnessed beaters dogs that have located a sow with her litter, ( winter litters sometimes occur in the milder climate of the south) the dogs bay and the sow makes as much fuss as she can. There is no physical contact. The sow contains her little family and does not press home any attacks. There is a far higher chance in France of being killed by a fellow chaseur than boar though the French are making good progress in that department. Last year there were only 6 hunting related fatalities.

 

[jthyttin]

Wild boar use their snout to dig frozen ground. I don't know who came up with the idea that the snout is sensitive??

 

[gds]

Not much you can do unarmed. Be fit.

 

[finnbear270]

Not much you can do unarmed. Be fit.

Make sure you are in front of the next guy.

 

[Polar Lynx]

First. Boar are not carnivores i.e. don't go for other living animals or people. But, as with all wild animals, they go to lenghs to stay alive. A wounded boar may go go attack as may sow with young piglets.
I prefer shotgun and pitchfork (spear) when looking for wounded boar. If they attack it will be very quick and low (groin). There are special 'boar trusers' available on the market but best solution all over is to give wounded boar ample of time to become dizzy and stiff.
No lose dogs here in boar forests after 1 feb.

 

[finnbear270]

Boar are not carnivores?, Tell that to Bricktop.

 

[supergrouper]

Oar are omnivorous. They will certainly kill and eat meat, young roe deer fawns for instance, though they are primarily vegetarian.

 

[Oldstalker]

Make the first round count!
I have, many times, seen French hunters jumping either up, or out of the way of, charging boar. Frequently this was because they dared not shoot due to the proximity, to the boar, of dogs.
Boar are omnivores; they eat significant amounts of vegetables and roots, maize and grains, fruits and fungi. They will also eat eggs and the ground nesters themselves if found, shrews, voles, mice etc and carrion. I believe it is called a "Catholic" taste.

 

[Mountain Bug]

Pigs do have very sensitive noses and a rap to the fleshy bits will cause most domestic ones to lose their attitude. God help you if you think that would transfer to an adrenaline fueled wild pig, but in the event of that I find myself in that situation I will try it and let you know.


Scott

 

[Tazz]

Not much you can do unarmed. Be fit.

And a good tree climber

 

[Tazz]

I saw this interesting headline and thought I’d better check it out. Among the interesting information offered was the useful tip that wild boar have very sensitive snouts. One recommended ploy was to hit the pig on the nose with a stone! Well I’ll have to admit that had never occurred to me. What tosh. Who writes this stuff.
I’m sure we have all come across videos of boar attacking hunters. The attacks are fast and vicious but not generally prolonged. The boar will generally make good his escape having made his point. Fatalities are rare but the statistics remain. Boar can kill people. There is an old adage that the most dangerous position to find yourself in is between a sow and her piglets. This has not been my experience. On two occasions in the South of France I have witnessed beaters dogs that have located a sow with her litter, ( winter litters sometimes occur in the milder climate of the south) the dogs bay and the sow makes as much fuss as she can. There is no physical contact. The sow contains her little family and does not press home any attacks. There is a far higher chance in France of being killed by a fellow chaseur than boar though the French are making good progress in that department. Last year there were only 6 hunting related fatalities.

I note with all these “ Gems of advice” on how to counter dangerous animal attacks they never/rarely feature a survivor saved by the method

 

[jthyttin]

Maybe we should just man up... there's always talk about "confidence level" in statistics, here's another kind of confidence level meter from few years ago... (skip the first half)

Rumble in the jungle: what animals would win in a fight? | YouGov

And what wild beasts do Americans think they themselves can take on?

today.yougov.com

And the British version

Which animals could Britons beat in a fight? | YouGov

Things don’t look good for anyone confronted by anything scarier than a medium-sized dog

yougov.co.uk

Should tell something about the intelligence level of either those who answered or those who asked...

 

[Foxyboy43]

First. Boar are not carnivores i.e. don't go for other living animals or people. But, as with all wild animals, they go to lenghs to stay alive. A wounded boar may go go attack as may sow with young piglets.
I prefer shotgun and pitchfork (spear) when looking for wounded boar. If they attack it will be very quick and low (groin). There are special 'boar trusers' available on the market but best solution all over is to give wounded boar ample of time to become dizzy and stiff.
No lose dogs here in boar forests after 1 feb.

Err…. these trousers you mention, are they washable? Like really, really washable…..

 

[Foxyboy43]

Make the first round count!
I have, many times, seen French hunters jumping either up, or out of the way of, charging boar. Frequently this was because they dared not shoot due to the proximity, to the boar, of dogs.
Boar are omnivores; they eat significant amounts of vegetables and roots, maize and grains, fruits and fungi. They will also eat eggs and the ground nesters themselves if found, shrews, voles, mice etc and carrion. I believe it is called a "Catholic" taste.

Exactly my experience in the Languedoc where I was given pre-shoot advice roughly as follows:-
Boar are big tough animals
Boar run in straight lines
Boar are very, very fast
Do try not to get between said boar’s points of departure and intended arrival
In the event of so doing jump at least one metre - preferably to either side though research suggests that upwards is a more involuntary direction often with some assistance from said boar and finally…
Try to learn sufficient French to be able to converse with paramedics, words like tusks, artery, slashed and am I dying will usually come in useful….

All that said it was a most wonderful day out!

 

[Polar Lynx]

Yes, washable .... really

Aduro Sau Protect Profi vildsvinsbyxor för jakt och eftersök. - Hunters Of Sweden

Aduro Sau Protect Profi Vildsvinsbyxa MYCKET OMTYCK OCH MÅNGA POSITIVA OMDÖMEN AV BYXAN HITTILLS!FLERA ANSER DESSA VARA DE SMIDIGASTE RIKTIGA HELSKYDDSBYXO

www.huntersofsweden.se

 

[fixedwheel]

Err…. these trousers you mention, are they washable? Like really, really washable…..

Yes, washable .... really

I think @Foxyboy43 was hoping for a Teflon coated interior.....

 

[Klenchblaize]

Sold: Thread 'Puma boar spear, £299 - NEW inc. UK delivery'

Dec 17, 2024

Given the noises being made in the press about further restrictions for remote knife sales - potentially including digital ID requirements and video recording of purchasers, (Sky news here) and the speed it may be enacted (due to the need to be seen to be doing something), the costs to comply will likely make it unviable to continue to offer knives of any type.

As a result, we have decided to put all knives are on clearance, like this one:

Puma boar spear, forged C75, ash shaft, complete with leather sheath. £299 inc. VAT and free UK shipping - god knows how we'll wrap this thing...

• Dragonfly Ordnance
• Replies: 18
• Forum: Other Items

• 

K

 

[jthyttin]

Boar spears usually include some kind of crossguard in either the blade or the shaft.

 

[bobo]

I was attacked by a big male boar November 2022.

We had booked 5 days of driven hunts in different German state forest districts. On the 2. last day, after shooting end time it happened.

Went down from the tower and started to do gralloch on a pig I shot. Rifle was of course empty, and resting up against a tree, while working on the pig.
Suddenly the sound on galloping was heard, from the thick bushes, and a second later a big male boar came out onto the road, where I was working on the pig.

The boar came out about 15 meters in front of me and stopped a second, where it turned towards me.
The boar ran straight towards me, and I was standing with my little folding knife. Started to shout and wave my arms, but the boar continued right into me, and I was thrown a meter backwards, and landed on the back in the middle of the road.

The second I hit the road with my back I thought “Ohh S…”, but the boar continued past me after i was knocke over, and did not turn, I only hurt my back a little but took a big scare mentally.

The forest worker who put me in the tower was coming up the road to collect me after the hunt, just when it happened. He run up and helped me back on the feet and made sure I was relative unhurt. After a few seconds we both laughed, and he said it looked scary, he would have liked to get it on film.

He was quite sure the boar was wounded, but I don’t know, everything went so fast I did not notice any wounds, just a big angry boar coming towards me.



The very next day we went on a driven hunt in forst district Fulda, where I shot at a pig, who ran into thick bushes. This time, I had great respect and waited for the forest worker to come, but it turned out the pig was dead, just a few meters inside the bushes.

 

[Heym SR20]

The British, especially the English long ago forgot how to live with nature. Or rather they live in a neatly manicured version of nature. Landscaped gardens, estates, stone walls etc. Anything that interrupts this “perfection” is removed. With our colonies we exported this green and pleasant idol and farming practices. In Africa, the Americas, Australia etc got rid off the bush, got rid of all wild animals and tried to grow cattle and wheat. Then wondered why in most cases it didn’t work.

We have completely forgotten that animals can be dangerous, and have completely forgotten how to live alongside them.

So hardly surprising that for most British hunters, where the most dangerous part of a driven shoot is possibly getting scratched by an irate phaesant, or more likely to suffer a thumping hangover, there is absolutely no comprehension that something like a wild boar can be bloody dangerous and kill.

And it’s hardly surprising that most in the UK cannot get now get their heads around living and working alongside potentially dangerous wild animals that until not that long ago were part of our life. Indeed even look at all the new money buying up the countryside who cannot understand why rabbits, hares and deer all want to dine on all their “so called” rewilding efforts, even worse if they dared to step foot in a new vinyard.