Throughout my nearly 30 years of hunting and guiding, one animal that has mysteriously frustrated me the most is the wild pig. Some hunters refer to them as wild boars, feral pigs, razorbacks, or wild hogs, but the name I call them when trying to stalk them cannot be written on a family-friendly website.
If you have hunted wild pigs, then you know about their uncanny ability to detect danger without hearing, seeing or smelling it. I will never know how they detect an approaching predator, but I suspect they just have some sort of sixth sense that helps them feel the change of energy in the air when a person enters close enough. Whatever it is, I quickly learned the best tactic for trying to kill these animals is to either get between them and water, or stalk them during their late morning nap time.
When a sleeping wild pig senses danger, their instinct is jump up and run. They don’t stand up and stretch or take a minute to look around, they literally jump up and start running full speed. It is a masterful way to escape danger, but it is very frustrating as a hunter. Once they start running, you can mostly forget trying to follow them and wait until they stop. They don’t seem to ever stop.
You would think that sneaking up on a sleeping animal that is snoring would be easy, but you would be wrong. I figured that after stalking around 20 sleeping pigs that were alone, I was only successful getting a shot about two or three times. That is a low percentage rate that creates a certain level of respect for these animals, even in frustrating failure.
My very first hunt for wild pigs occurred in Arkansas. I carried a bow and I thought it would be a short, easy hunt, but I was mistaken. After abandoning early morning attempts to sneak up on unsuspecting pigs due to me getting busted what seemed like a million times, I found out where their water source was located and set up an ambush. This was a winning tactic, but it came about by endless frustration.
While other big game animals may be harder to locate and more desirable, a hunter could obtain a lifetime’s worth of hunting education by pursuing wild pigs.
