Welcome to the Wild Boar Club!
Welcome to Wild Boar Club (aka WBC)! The WBC is a place were feral hog hunters, both new and seasoned, can drop by and share information on hunting styles, firearm affects, favorite ammo, loads, and the like. You can even send us a photo of your successful hunts and we’ll be happy to post them on the WBC wall of fame!
Remember! We’re all at the club because we enjoy the hunt and want to share some of our success and some of our failures with friends and fellow hunters, so everyone and their opinion are welcomed and respected in the WBC.
The Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig. It is native in woodlands across much of Central Europe, the Mediterranean Region (including North Africa’s Atlas Mountains) and much of Asia as far south as Indonesia, and has been widely introduced elsewhere. It is in the same Suidae biological family as the Warthog and Bushpig of Africa, the Pygmy Hog of northern India, Babirusa of Indonesia and others. It is more distantly related to the peccary or javelina found in the southwestern area of North America and throughout Central and South America.
Wild boars can reach up to 440 lb (200 kg) (with unverified reports of heavier individuals) for adult males, and can be up to 6 feet (1.8 m) long. If surprised or cornered they may become aggressive – particularly a sow with her piglets – and if attacked will defend themselves vigorously with their tusks.
The wild boar became extinct in Great Britain and Ireland by the 17th century, but wild breeding populations have recently returned in some areas, particularly the Weald, following escapes from boar farms.
Wild or Feral
The difference between the wild and domestic animals is largely a matter of perception; both are usually described as Sus scrofa, and domestic pigs quite readily become feral. The characterisation of populations as wild, feral or domestic and pig or boar is usually decided by where the animals are encountered and what is known of their history. In New Zealand for example, wild pigs are known as “Captain Cookers” from their supposed descent from liberations and gifts to Māori by explorer Captain James Cook in the 1770s.
The term boar is used to denote an adult male of certain species, including, confusingly, domestic pigs. In the case of wild pigs only, it is correct to say “female boar” or “infant wild boar”, since boar or wild boar refers to the species itself