In case you have missed the news, wild hogs are a problem in this country. Known by the latin name “Susscrofa”, European domesticated hogs, were initially brought over by the hundreds by the early Spanish and english explorers. The hogs were tough enough to survive months long journeys, packed into the holds of Galleons, Carracks and Caravels, all ships tough enough to make the crossing but lacking in any sanitary facilities for the crew, never mind the livestock.
Prior to that time, hogs were unknown to the North American ecosystem. Released once ashore, the hogs have had 500 years of practice in surviving in the swamps, thickets and mountains of Georgia.
With no local predators, they have thrived. A sow can give birth upon reaching 10 months of age and she will likely have a litter of 5-9 piglets every 6-8 months.
Hogs are omnivorous and will happily devour almost everything organic in nature. Fields of soybeans, peanuts, corn and millet will have large portions of their acreage plowed up and under by packs of wild hogs.
But here’s the thing...they taste great.
For the most part, they subsist on a diet any italian or spanish pork merchant would understand - acorns, pecans, peaches, apples, persimmon, flowers and roots (and shoots) of most annuals, insects, amphibians, baby mammals, and occasional reptiles.
They are 100% organic.
And I would be lying if I said I had the same degree of sadness, remorse and regret that one experiences harvesting a deer, when one harvest a wild hog. It’s not fun mind you, it’s just not quite as heart wrenching. Harvesting a deer is very difficult. Harvesting a hog feels like a battle well won.
Hogs get big. A mature sow will run 175 lbs while a boar will run around 200lbs...that said, whenever I have hunted in Ga, there are always 2 or 3 giants known among the locals, at any given time. Adult pigs will eat 3% of their body weight every day. That’s 50lbs of something every week.
Wild hogs have an amazing sense of smell, some degree of vision (mostly movement), and a tremendous capacity to learn. Their sense of smell and their canny, wily intelligence make them formidable prey. A pissed off male boar weighing more than an NFL lineman and sporting 4 inch tusks is not what one wants to see charging through the brush at 30mph. A rifle and a side arm are always recommended when hunting hogs.
Wild hog hunting Georgia is usually done at night, although hunting on Cumberland Island is a sun up to sun down operation. While some set-ups will use bait or a timed feeder, more challenging hunting is done as walk-n-stalk or commando-style-build-a-blind-and-wait overlooking a feeding area or travel path. The wetter the weather the better, in my experience.
The best hunting I’ve done in middle Georgia is during or after a long, winter, wet spell where the rising creeks and rivers have flooded the hogs out of the swamp area, where they are most at ease and live most of the time. And during a night hunt, one better have the right gear for both the weather and the hunt. It usually results in a hunting session that is going to have some walking, some stories and maybe some meat.
You can see the author with his boar that ran around 400-450lbs. We don’t know the exact weight because the block and tackle system rigged up in the barn yard/processing area at Hog Wild in Macon, Ga. couldn’t handle the weight being asked. When time came to fully hoist it, it gave way like the winch arm on the boat in the movie “Jaws”.
I can say one other thing...picking up wild hog meat that has been processed is a joy. It’s all bundled up like a store bought selection but there are a lot of different cuts and there is a lot of poundage. One or two hogs will take up a sizable space in a chest freezer. And prepped right (brining, dry rubs or sous vide), it is some very high quality protein.
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