Have any of you been charged by an angry boar in the course of your hunting? Have a good story to share with us? It hasn't happened to me -- yet. Guess I've been lucky with my shot placement. Just curious to see how frequently it happens.

Whitworth

In my experience, it doesn't. Not unless you make it happen.

I've had heaps of pig charge at me. Just about every one of them was in a very sorry state and seemed to know he was about to die. Consequently they aren't capable of much being all shot up already.(not slightly wounded)

One method that I enjoy a lot for getting pigs is to walk around in the middle of the day where there are small, isolated pathes of lignum. Any pigs inside will rocket out and if they happen to come out on your side, you get a clear shot, normally no further than 5 or 10m away. If they happen to bolt out the other side, you run after em.
It's hot and there's no where for them run go and hide in NW NSW, so after a few hundred meters they'll stop and you get a shot.

Most of the time a pig that's buggered and bailed up, even in flat open country at that stage will have a go at you, but you can see he'd rather get away than stay and fight.
Likewise I've had a lot of pigs that were shot at very close range (.3o/.30) through the chest, mortally use their last bit of life to have a go at you, but it's really a pityful attempt.

The "true Russian"(Russian don't mean shit) boar that are here in Europe I have noticed to be even more timid and never had one actually show desire to want to hurt me. Sometimes they'll runs straight at or past you cos that's where they're going, bt no more.

I'm sure we'll get a whole lot of stories about killer terrifying boars, razorbacks, hogs, P.I.G. HAWG but I assure anyone that their reputation is more than mostly undeserved.

People like and want to believe they are dangerous game. They have all the potential to be dangerous game.
But very rarely could you honestly consider them to be dangerous.

The Boar under my name charged a mate of mine Gary. He fended it off with the barrel of his rifle after putting a 45-70 slug in it and I shot it from the side of the creek.

We had a good laugh after.

I wasn't implying that they are dangerous game, but I've heard from others that they will charge if they've exhausted all other options. I've personally never seen it happen, but I've seen what they can do to a dog. I'm just curious as to how often such behavior occurs. They are fairly tough buggers judging by the amount of lead they can sometimes absorb.

Whitworth

The best charge story I have occured last year on Niihau Island in Hawaii. It was a population control hunt and as such we shot anything that moved. Three of us took 150 animals in 3 days. The island is about 65 square miles in size and totally undeveloped. Anyway, Matt Norman took the far end as blocker while Mark and I headed towards a water hole. We jumped a large group of pigs and the lead started flying, pigs running everywhere. We could hear Matt shooting at the other end as well. We were doing a fair amount of damage to the local pork population. Mark had just whacked a big sow when this piglet betweeen 5 and 10 pounds lets out this squeal drops its head and charges him. I watched as Mark tried to backstep until he could shoot. I was laughing so hard tears were flowing down my cheeks and I had completely forgot about shooting by this time.

Damn that's funny, Mike! I think I probably would have pissed myself!

Only reason I raised this issue is that I've heard so many horror stories from hunting buddies of mine. I'm well aware of the fact that hunting stories tend to take on a life of their own and with time become more fantastic -- and more fantasy. But, there's got to be a shred of truth behind some of it.

Whitworth

It certainly happens, but not as common, I suppose, as some are led to think. Some say 1 in 20 or 30 might charge. I've only been boar hunting twice, so the odds haven't caught up to me.

I do recall that on my first hunt I shot one of a group of three boars. As the boar went down the other two turned to face me at 15 yds. and were popping their tusks, as if deciding what to do with me. After a stand-off of a long half-minute they took off. That was close enough.

I don't want to contradict you Bob, but I would not agree with those figures. More like one in 100.
I have probably shot 2 or 3 hundred pigs and seen maybe a dozen charges, counting the "induced" or proviced one.

Once I went as far as snealing up on a sleeping sow with suckers, catching one of the piglets.

They all made off and I hung onto the piglet, giving it a squeeze every now and then to get the sow exited.
I was standing on limb of a fallen tree well up off the ground, out of here reach but she wouldn't come closer than 5 meters or so.

I have however hade a sow with piglets that I snuck up on face up to me for a good while before she decided to move on.
It was touch n go for a bit, bit she never made a move that made me decide to shoot her.

They can and will charge at times but that is the exception rather than the rule. Usually if that happens it is because the hunter has stuffed things up and wounded one. It is that or the animal feels trapped and has no other choice. I think a lot of "charges" are simply the boar running at the hunter while trying to get away. I have seen a few big tuskers with a bad dispostion but again they are the exception. That dosnt mean they cant be dangerous, particularly if one takes them lightly. They deserve a degree of respect just like anything else.

Mike, I believe you were witness to a huntmate of ours being "charged" last year by a pig. Why don't you share the story!



Never mind, you already did!



Additional Info: The midget porker was not wounded. Per the guy he "charged", (and witnessed by Mike Smith), it was a full-blown, anger charge. As much as a seven pound pig could muster anyway.

Yep, Im still laughing over that one. Wish I would have had the video camera. It would have been priceless. I think the way Mark put it was a quote from the pig..."You killed my mom!!!"

My hunting buddy and I have been hunting hogs together about 8 years, and the only "charge" goes as follows: We had trapped some baby piglets, about 6 or 7 pounds. We penned them and went to feeding them out. At around 25 pounds or so we decided we needed to ring their noses to keep them from digging out. We got a couple done and the largest and meanest one jumped the fence and escaped. After several laps around an acre fence we cornered the brute and he turned, stared at me with those little piggy eyes, lowered his head and charged. I was armed with a shovel and stood my ground, him grunting and snorting about 25 yards to my location. Just when I thought we were gonna have roast pig for supper he turned and ran past me.

The first hog I shot was deep in the woods on the edge of a wheat field. After we got him gutted and was carrying him through the thickest part of the river bottom at twilight, we walked among a huge herd of hogs. They seemed to explode like a great big covey of quail, coming up from our feet. We both had our rifles slung across our backs to carry the hog out, and I felt pretty damn defenseless standing there. We actually had them brushing against us on their way out.
I respect them like any other wild animal, but dont worry about a "charge" no other then I would a deer.

Good luck and good shooting
Eterry

Actually EXPRESS, Bob's Figures and your are about the same Yours being more oftern than his in some cases. ::

A dozen in 200 is 1 in 16.

A dozen in 300 is 1 in 25.

Not to contradict either one of you, just to show you both said about the same, Just yours say it hapeens actually more frequently. Not less often.

DuB

Cupped N Fallin...
Yep, seems you and I learned arithmetic the same way

I was never charged by a health boar. Not even when I shot one out of the bunch and I stood only a few meters away.
One sow seems to make an attack as I shot one of her piglets, but then she turned back to the wood.

They only get dangerous if they are wounded and you follow them. Here in the area was one guy really serious hurted by a big boar. They followed the track of the wounded boar but due to some bad things the shit happens, that he didn't shot him before the boar reached him. They brought him with the helicopter to the emergency.

i've been stalking and closing in on brush piles.. only to have 1 to many scared pigs boil out and run for the hills.. the one time that it was one large pig, it was a great big sow, who as not pleased with my presence...

I am walking up on this fallen oak... i can see trails going into it, as it's a big tree, and i had seen several largish pigs in the area that morning.. i've got my trusty 358 mexican mauser with a weaver post scope on it, steel tube..

I've been out in the woods awhile that morning, and was getting a little tired or riding shanks' mare (that's walking).. and decide to sit down, drink some water and watch....

I see some footballs (up to50#) wandering in and out, and then they all leave...

okay, I think, i am pretty far from camp or the 4wheeler, and i am about to head back.... so I chamber a round, flick off the safety and start walking to the brushpile...

10 footballs run out, in all directions (we caught one later) and I am hoping there's something worth taking in there...

30 yards away.... footballs are gone to the winds, .. which means 76 yards in this heavy brush..

20 yard away.... the woods are silent.....

10 yards, i see something moving under the fallen tree...

okay, i'll wait.....

i hear a nice size pig get up, grunt... taking a few running steps (thumpthumpthump) while this is happening, i shoulder my rifle, both eyes open, trying to find her...

i hear runrunrun(CRASH)SQQQQQUUUUUEEEEEAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!

i am still hearing the squealing, when she staggers out of the now shaking tree, and comes "right" at me... staggering...

I took her cleanly, right down the spine from about 5-7 yards....

after looking at her, she had cut her head, running from one end of the pile to the other, and had run into the main trunk of the downed tree, whacked her noggin and staggered out...


I don't think she was charging, I think she was trying to make it to the next county... sure was exciting to see


I've been chraged by wounded animals, as I am the one that does the cleanup for our group... hands and knees, sticker trees, 45lc pistols or a sxs2 ga...

jeffe

The only sure way to keep one from charging is to take away it's credit card

Yesterday I caught a piglet from a litter and the mother limited hefself to standing watching from a good 80m away.
The sucker was squealing for all he was worth all the while.

Sorry about the statistic. Did you know that %47.6 of statistics are made up on the spot?
Cupped, most of the pigs I have personally seen charge were pretty much talked into it so I wouldn't count them officially.

Only wounded boars charge, Hunted boars just try to get away, you might feel that it is a charge but your just standing in the escape route.

Some years ago I was called to track a wounded boar a hunter had taken a shot at midnight from a blind and as we found out later shot it lower part of the jaw. I tracked it wiht dog for 6 hours until I came on to it in a area with seaweed it ran out and i missed 1 shot. The pigg pass a shot who was waiting for me to get to the next road when trackin and he takes a shot and hit the pig but in the gut so it kept running.

I let the dog loose and and after 100 meter she was barking in some thick brush about 10 by 20 meters. I advanced and when I'm 10 meters from the edge of the brush the dog comes out with the pig after her the pig stops sees me and turns to come at me I hit her thru the lower jaw and in to her chest but to low. The pig turns and show here side and I put one perfect shot in it then it walks back in to the brush. The pig now have taken 4 hits (3bad 1 good) the dog goes back in and barks again I let som time pass and make my way towards the pig when I see it I see the ass and that the chest is moving but I think it's over and that the last shot should be put in the head so I won't damage any more meet. To be able to get a clear head shot I have to come in front of the pig and when I am at 5 meters it screams and throw itself at me again I shoot from the hip hitting the pig in the middle of the chest making it slide back when taking the energy from the bullet.

It took us 7 hours to find and finish the pig that our neighbouring hunter took a shot at almost 12 hours earlyer and I'm still impressed with the way it just kept up going loosing blood from that first shot all the time a shot that should not have been taken at all in the midlle of the night. It also turnd out that the boar he told us he had wounded was a 120 kilo sow just about to have piglets.

Mikael

Whitworth, good to have you in Florida now mang! These guys need to come down to FL and hunt hogs in the swamps. I've got some stories and scars that well prove the fact that an ornery 250lb boar hog will make an unprovoked charge from a palmetto head just to piss you off. You guys that think you have hunted hogs, try live catching them, it's a whole new side of hunting. Knives are very popular here in FL as well!

Whitworth, here's that pic I was telling you about, canal and barbed wire fences aren't in it, but the guy I was telling you about is, with a 400lb hog.