Wild hogs are quickly becoming the second most popular game animal to pursue.  With no closed season and no bag limit in most states, it is no surprise.  You can hunt wild hogs all year long and they provide some exciting action and can make for some nice trophies.

Hogs are not a native animal to North America.  Hogs were first brought to the United States in 1539 by Hernando de Soto when he landed on the Atlantic Coast of Florida.  The first pure Russian boars were imported by Austin Corbin in Sullivan County, New Hampshire in 1890.  These boars were placed in a 20,000 acre enclosure. Now Feral Hogs, Russian wild boars and their crosses can be found in 19 out of the 50 states of the United States of America.  The only states where free ranging pure Russian wild boars may still exist are Texas and New Hampshire.   Texas has the largest Feral Hog population which is at 1 to 2 million followed by Florida with 500,000 and California with 100,000 to 200,000.  Southeastern Tennessee and Southwestern North Carolina are right behind Florida and California with their hog populations.

If you think hunting a hog is easy, well you need to think again!  A hogs sense of smell is up there with the Whitetail, if not better. A hunter needs to make sure and take all of the scent elimination precautions he or she would as if they were on a deer hunt.  If a mature hog gets wind of your scent, they make a snorting sound similar to a Whitetail deer.  Once they blow they are out of there and so are the rest of the hogs.

One day in the near future there may be a huntable  population of wild hogs in 49 of the 50 states in the United States.  Hogs reproduce at a very quick rate.  One sow can have as many as 7 to 12 piglets at one time and they can have two litters a year.  Once a hog gets to a respectable size, there is not too many predators that can take a hog down.  This may be one of the reasons for the wild hog population to be growing so quickly.

Hogs are destructive creatures.  They root up ranchers fields and destroy crops and grazing land.  Hogs are almost impossible to get rid of once they move into a location.  Local ranchers are normally happy to let hunters harvest a few hogs from their ranches.

Ranchers are quickly starting to see hogs that were once a nuisance as a source of profitable income.  Some ranchers are able to make more money from hunting hogs than they were able to make from running cattle.

There are several places to hunt for wild hogs in North America. Some of the best locations to hunt for trophy hogs are Texas, Florida, and California.    For information on hunting these tenacious animals contact each state's Parks and Wildlife department.

           Texas Parks and Wildlife

4200 Smith School Road
Austin, TX 78744
(512) 389-4800

Get Your Copy Now!

Get your DVD copy of Bowhunting North America's The Obsession today!

BHNA Sponsors

BHNA Sponsor Ranches

Product Spotlight