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Thread: Why no Hogs in northern climates?

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by sinister View Post
    More natural (carnivorous) predators?
    That makes a lot of sense. We don't have nearly as large a bear, wolf or mountain lion population down here.

    When I was a kid, I do remember us shooting three different mountain lions in a two year span, which is very unusual. They tend to go after calves and colts whenever they get the chance, they are easier prey than deer.

  2. #12
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    I stand corrected.
    https://www.sj-r.com/x918440336/Illi...ght-feral-hogs
    Problem is the land of Stinkin is so liberal that the democrats will want to provide them with free health care, food stamps and of course transportation to the voting booths.

  3. #13
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    Seen them as far north as Kentucky and there's a lot in the mountains of North Georgia / North Carolina. They do just fine in the cold.

    Interesting thing they're doing a lot of research and basically domestic pigs revert to boar characteristics after two generations in the wild. Skull shape changes, cartilage plate thickens, etcetera.

    There is always been a question or concern that Russian boars were being transplanted from N GA / NC to middle & south GA. So they started doing DNA testing and now have found that this change occurs.

    They think the skull change is due to more rooting, and potentially diet.

    Son and DIL work for the DNR. Few years back before they were married I got a message from my wife to be patient, as my son is bringing back 3 orphaned wild pigs and wants to keep them in the garage.

    Said no to the garage, but they could get out one of the dog kennels and keep them in the barn.

    These things were fascinating. Spotted like Russian boars piglets. They had immediately transferred from their dead mother to the humans. Sit down on the ground and the piglets would hang out around you for safety. If they spooked they'd scoot back to you.

    Even very young you could tell the things were smart.

    If they stayed that size you could make a mint selling them as pets.

    My brother coined a name for them: "bacon-seeds".

    These found a home with a farmer and I'm sure are living there happily ever after! (They became Ham's and bacon)

  4. #14
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    I would rather hunt feral hogs than just about anything. They are so, so friggen smart, it's a real challenge. Sure you can machine gun them from choppers etc.....but if you want a real challenge, try to outwit a 5-6 year old boar that's survived in an area where hunting pressure is high. They are amazing animals.
    The truth can only offend those who live a lie.

  5. #15
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    We almost stumbled on on a older boar one day in GA. He looked like a hairy bolder laying there. He sat tight in his bed and didn't move until my brother tossed his hunting knife onto the boar's back at which point he tore out of there right in between my son and I. We shot him on the run, he went over 100 yards and jumped a pretty deep ditch before expiring. My son and I were only about 15 feet apart! Glad the boar was intent on escaping rather than taking one of us out!

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  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buckaroo View Post
    We almost stumbled on on a older boar one day in GA. He looked like a hairy bolder laying there. He sat tight in his bed and didn't move until my brother tossed his hunting knife onto the boar's back at which point he tore out of there right in between my son and I. We shot him on the run, he went over 100 yards and jumped a pretty deep ditch before expiring. My son and I were only about 15 feet apart! Glad the boar was intent on escaping rather than taking one of us out!

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    I've had close encounters with many of them over the years. Had a wounded boar circle on me and lay up waiting for me to pass....fortunately for me he didn't have enough left in the tank to make the run he needed to....that and the hail of lead I poured in his general direction seemed to help if doing nothing but lightening my load so I could run faster!
    The truth can only offend those who live a lie.

  7. #17
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    Wish we had enough of them to do driven hunting like they do in central and eastern Europe. That looks like a hell of a lot of fun.

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Esq. View Post
    I would rather hunt feral hogs than just about anything. They are so, so friggen smart, it's a real challenge. Sure you can machine gun them from choppers etc.....but if you want a real challenge, try to outwit a 5-6 year old boar that's survived in an area where hunting pressure is high. They are amazing animals.
    Very true. I chuckle when folks judge comment about FL and GA hog hunts being "canned" and non-sporting.

    I would bet serious money that you could drop a hunter into a 100 acre fenced compound of Pine/palmetto scrub with 10 hogs and they would not get a shot in 10 hrs of daylight. Or even 50 acres.

    Unless you have something (feeder, dogs, vehicles) to get them to move you'll never see them.

    Once they have been shot at once, they adopt. I've seen groups allow piglets to enter a clearing first while the big ones hold back out of sight. And the piglets were looking up at the stand, knew exactly what it was and that it was dangerous.

    Wild hogs in big unrestrained areas will go totally nocturnal with hunting pressure. And get into thick cover virtually impossible to move/see through, much less hunt in.

    The exception might be seeing groups of hogs in mountain woods when deer hunting move due to hunters in the woods. But even that is rare exception in N GA, and normally only in situations where you have longer shots.

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    If we had Trans-Pacific Railroad and Trans-Atlantic Railroad like AOC wants, we could transport them by rail - re-distribute them. There are people who have never tasted bar-b-que.

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by pinzgauer View Post
    Interesting thing they're doing a lot of research and basically domestic pigs revert to boar characteristics after two generations in the wild. Skull shape changes, cartilage plate thickens, etcetera.

    There is always been a question or concern that Russian boars were being transplanted from N GA / NC to middle & south GA. So they started doing DNA testing and now have found that this change occurs.

    They think the skull change is due to more rooting, and potentially diet.
    There's probably some selective pressures at work too that are shaping feral pig morphology, for example, the pigs whose snouts don't allow them to root and feed as effectively don't survive as well and have less reproductive success.

    It's interesting how quickly feral or free ranging domestic animals can revert to an ancestral "wild" phenotype when subject to selective pressures and allowed to breed naturally.

    Long-term feral or free roaming dog populations tend to revert to a fairly generalized body type (not really wolf-like, but a pariah/Spitz kind of look), and feral cat populations often eventually revert to tabby patterned coats.

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