Wild Boar

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Originally Posted by Snowwalker

No true wild boar do not get that big, but we are real talking about hybrid or feral hogs. We breed Domestic pigs to as big as they can get and those genes are passed down to the ferals. Now add in ends food sources from crops, and you will get 300 to 500lbs pigs.
Not saying they are all going to be monsters, but as we shoot the dumb ones, the smarter ones have less litter mates to compete.

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In all your travels through the U.S. , have you ever seen any 300 t0 500 pounders ?
The guys that I know that go regularly to the U.S. to hunt them have never seen them that big, my wife's nephew a taxidermist being one of them , goes with two others and they bow hunt them.
Their largest was a 250 lb. boar in seven years hunting in different states.

It is possible that they could grow that large under the right conditions, but there would be very few of them because if there were many , we would be hearing about them often, which we do not.

One was shot in Alabama that went 1050 lbs. Just saying

Adult size and weight is largely determined by environmental factors; boars living in arid areas with little productivity tend to attain smaller sizes than their counterparts inhabiting areas with abundant food and water. In most of Europe, males average 75–100 kg (165–220 lb) in weight, 75–80 cm (30–31 in) in shoulder height and 150 cm (59 in) in body length, whereas females average 60–80 kg (130–180 lb) in weight, 70 cm (28 in) in shoulder height and 140 cm (55 in) in body length. In Europe's Mediterranean regions, males may reach average weights as low as 50 kg (110 lb) and females 45 kg (99 lb), with shoulder heights of 63–65 cm (25–26 in). In the more productive areas of Eastern Europe, males average 110–130 kg (240–290 lb) in weight, 95 cm (37 in) in shoulder height and 160 cm (63 in) in body length, while females weigh 95 kg (209 lb), reach 85–90 cm (33–35 in) in shoulder height and 145 cm (57 in) in body length. In Western and Central Europe, the largest males weigh 200 kg (440 lb) and females 120 kg (260 lb). In North-Eastern Asia, large males can reach brown bear-like sizes, weighing 270 kg (600 lb) and measuring 110–118 cm (43–46 in) in shoulder height. Some adult males in Ussuriland and Manchuria have been recorded to weigh 300–350 kg (660–770 lb) and measure 125 cm (49 in) in shoulder height. Adults of this size are generally immune from wolf predation.[35] Such giants are rare in modern times, due to past overhunting preventing animals from attaining their full growth.[3]

While Wikipedia is not British Encyclopedia for scientific accuracy,here it goes.

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Originally Posted by Bo D

One was shot in Alabama that went 1050 lbs. Just saying

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Yup! heard about that , but each and every time someone tried to confirm it, came out negative.
Already buried , cut up , many other excuses, and the pictures well many said the pictures were photo shopped? makes you wounder how much truth there was in the story.

The caption with that picture:

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That’s a big hog. Rumor it was 1,100 lbs killed in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

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Originally Posted by MikePal

The caption with that picture:

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Here is one every one has heard about;

"Hogzilla is the name given to a wild hog that was shot and killed in Alapaha, Georgia, on June 17, 2004, by Chris Griffin on Ken Holyoak's farm and hunting reserve. Alleged to be 12 feet (3.6 m) long and to weigh 1,000 pounds (450 kg), scientists confirmed that Hogzilla actually weighed 800 pounds (360 kg) and was between 7.5 and 8 feet (2.25 and 2.4 m) long, diminishing the previous claim.[8]

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Originally Posted by MikePal

The caption with that picture:

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Coursey hog
On January 5, 2007, a 1,100 lb (500 kg) feral hog was shot in Fayetteville, Georgia.[9] The shooter was William "Bill" Coursey, who hung the specimen from a tree in his yard.[10] Neighbours reported that the animal had been seen in the neighborhood several times over the preceding days.[11] A spokesperson from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said that large boars and feral hogs were common in southern Georgia, but that no records are kept on them. The media latched on to the notion that this animal rivals the size of Hogzilla.[10][12]

I cannot find any where were the actual weight was confirmed.

While there is ? some evidence that they may get this big, they are few and far between.
I am quite positive that we have nothing to worry about, "an invasion of hogs of this size here."

As I have said before, I am being pragmatic, if and when they arrive here I will use that as an opportunity to hunt and put some good food on our table .

I have shot two that were escapees from somewhere , both were black , long brissely hair, long snouts with their tusks broken off/clipped and they were tasty.

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Originally Posted by jaycee

In all your travels through the U.S. , have you ever seen any 300 t0 500 pounders ?

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I have shot four in the 300 to 500 lbs range. 1 Near Hot Spring Arkansas, and three on a Produce farm south east of Tampa FL. I have "heard" of people shooting big hogs, but hunters and fishermen do have that one common problem.:ashamed:

Other places the hogs I have seen or shot were 200+.
The difference between were there was 300+ and 200+ hogs, was "Hunting Pressure". All the places had good cover and feed, with places like Florida being better then places like Arkansas.

See next post for insightful observation with numbers..:thumbup:

Ok the accepted facts are that Feral hogs live 5 to 6 years on average. A sow can have 6 to 12 piglets. The Mortality rate is about 40 %. While Domestic hogs grow to weight 250 lbs in 6 or 7 months, the growth rate of Feral hogs is likely about a quarter of that .....Say maybe 80 lbs per 6 months. So with these Numbers lets start with a near maximum 10 piglet litter size for 10 sows.

1000 piglets at birth weight
600 pigs. at 80 lbs
360 pigs. at 160 lbs
216 pigs. at 240 lbs
( Two years to match what a Domestic pig weighs in 7 months)
130 pigs. at 320 lbs
78 pigs. at 400 lbs
(Three years old)
47 pigs. at 480 lbs
28 pigs. at 560 lbs
17 pigs. at 640 lbs
10 pigs. at 720 lbs
(Five years old)
6 pigs. at 800 lbs
3 pigs. at 880 lbs
( Now beyond average life span)
2 pigs. at 960 lbs
1 pig. at 1040 lbs
( Pig is now seven years old now)

So a Hogzilla is going to have to be seven years old or older.
So if Statistics are correct only 1 out of 1000 piglets could live long enough to be a hogzilla. Or to put it another way each piglet's chances of being a hogzilla is .001%. It also has to exceed the average life span, making the odds even longer.

But if they do maintain a "MINIMUM" growth rate of 80 lbs per year, and live to be seven years old, you have Hogzilla.

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

According to my BIL,New York State has stopped the hunt,too,however they still allow them to be shot to protect people or livestock. Someone came up with the theory that hunting them just makes them breed faster leading to more hogs and more damage. We'll see.

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My understanding of the new York ban was that they didn't want hunters shooting at them to educate them. They are to be reported to the state DNR who would set up bait and shoot them at night. Hunting them disperses them and makes them wary around baits.