At what age is a wild boar considered an adult? Morphobiological characteristics of wild boar

The wild boar is a cloven-hoofed animal belonging to the suborder Porciniformes (family “pigs”). Other names for wild boars: “boar”, “wild pig”. It is believed that wild boars- the ancestors of modern domestic pigs. Despite such close “kinship,” boars are strikingly different from domestic pigs. Read this article and you will learn many interesting facts about these animals.

The wild boar is a relative of the domestic pig, but is very different from the usual domestic animals.

Boars have a dense and muscular build. Their limbs are longer than those of ordinary pigs. The boar's head is elongated and wedge-shaped. The ears are erect and large. Males (cleavers) have well-developed fangs above and below, which gives them a fierce and warlike appearance. The body of a wild boar is covered with thick fur, which looks like a kind of mane on its back. IN winter time The coat is dense and becomes sparser as the weather gets warmer. The color of the fur can be grayish, brown, or even black. Boars exhibit acromelanism (black coloration of the muzzle, tail and limbs). On the territory Central Asia There are animals with a lighter, reddish tint of fur.

Piglets up to six months of age are colored differently than adult boars. Their fur is an alternation of stripes of light, brown and yellow. A baby wild boar blends into the terrain and is almost invisible to predators.

Habitat

the entire territory of Europe;
Asia Minor, Middle East;
northern part of Africa;
India;
east and southeast Asia.

The wild boar lives in any terrain, with the exception of mountains and pigs.

Wild boar is not found in steppe regions and mountainous areas. The wild boar is also found in the southern part of Siberia: in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, in the south Irkutsk region. But Transbaikalia with its hills and hills is not to the taste of these animals.

Wild boars also live on the territory North America. They were brought to the United States from Europe for hunting purposes. The population of Australian wild pigs is interesting. These are feral domestic pigs that lead the same lifestyle as their wild European counterparts. Of course, this is not a separate species of wild boar.

Unfortunately, in many regions the forest boar has been exterminated completely or almost completely. In England, wild boars were exterminated in the 13th century, in Denmark – in the 19th century. In Russia, the number of wild boars declined catastrophically by the thirties of the last century. In the 50s of the twentieth century, systematic care for wild boars and restoration of the animal population began. Now you can find them even in such a densely populated area as, for example, Losiny Island near Moscow.

Types of wild boars

It is believed that the pig is the second animal domesticated by man (the first was the dog). As for the species diversity of these animals living in wildlife, then 9 of their varieties are known.

Boar . Lives in European and Asian forests. Introduced by humans to the American continent. About 25 subspecies of this animal are known.
Warthog. Warthog habitat - African savannas. It received this name due to the growths of skin on its face. The animal is quite large. Its height reaches 0.85 m, weight – up to 150 kg.
River brush-eared pig. Lives in Central Africa. This pig sports a colorful outfit. She has red fur on her back white stripe. Its diet is quite varied. Along with plant foods, cyst-eared pigs do not disdain carrion and feed on small mammals, birds, and insects.
Lesser brush-eared pig lives in Madagascar and the east of the African continent. The weight of the animal is about 70 kg.
Great forest pig lives in equatorial African forests. The weight of the animal is 200 kg or more. This species was discovered relatively recently, at the beginning of the 20th century. The diet of these pigs is exclusively vegetarian.
bearded pig lives in southeast asia, in the mangrove forests of the Indonesian islands. It differs from its well-fed “relatives” in having a more “athletic” physique. The weight of the animal does not exceed 50 kg. Like most pigs, bearded pigs are omnivores.
Babirussa also inhabits the islands of Indonesia. The height of the animal at the withers is 0.8 m, weight – 80 kg. It is characterized by low fertility (no more than 2 piglets). Refers to rare species(about 4 thousand pigs of this species survive in nature).
Javan pig.
Pygmy pig- the smallest representative of this family. Its length is no more than 0.65 m, and its height is no more than 0.30 m.

There are more than a dozen species of wild boar, all of which differ greatly in appearance.

Dimensions and weight

They depend on the habitats of these animals. The smallest representatives of the boar tribe live in southern India and southeast Asia. A few words about how much a boar weighs. Weight Limit adult boars do not exceed 45 kg. But wild boars living in Europe are much larger and more massive. Carpathian individuals, for example, have a mass of 200 kg. The largest pigs are found in the territory Eastern Europe: from the Carpathians to the Urals. The maximum weight of a boar is about 300 kilograms. And the “record” registered weight of a boar is 320 kg. Impressive animals can be found in Italy and France ( average weight 150 and 230 kg, respectively).

The average body weight of a wild boar varies from 80 to 120 kilograms, with a body length of 900 - 2000 cm. The height at the withers is on average 550-1100 cm.

The average weight of a wild boar is about 100 kg.

Life expectancy, reproduction characteristics

IN natural conditions wild boars live on average from 10 to 12 years. The lifespan of animals in captivity increases to 20 years. The mating season for these animals is November-December. By the beginning of the rut, male boars become overgrown with fat and additional muscle mass on the sides, 20 - 30 mm thick. This “armor” protects boars from the fangs of competitors who also compete for the attention of brides.

During estrus, a female boar-pig carefully marks her own territory with the help of saliva and secretions that are secreted from the glands. The male finds the female using these marks.

During the time mating season Choppers lose fat, their bodies become covered with wounds from numerous tournaments with other males. But the reward for the winner is a “harem”, which includes from 3 to 8 females. A wild pig bears its offspring for approximately 115 days. Farrowing occurs in April. The first litter of a female usually consists of 2 to 3 piglets, but there are also “record holders” with 10-12 babies in the litter. 2-3 days before farrowing, the pig separates from the herd and prepares the place for birth. She digs a small hole in the ground, covering it with branches.

A wild pig produces offspring ranging from 3 to 8 individuals.

The average weight of newborn piglets is 0.75 – 1.0 kg. For 5-6 days they stay next to their mother in an improvised nest. Then the family reunites with the herd. The piglet follows its mother everywhere. A wild pig feeds piglets with milk for up to 3.5 months. A wild boar grows up to 5-6 years of age. Females become sexually mature at one and a half years, males much later. They start caring for ladies at the age of 5-6 years.

Lifestyle, nutrition

The wild pig is a herd animal. A group of wild boars consists of 20 - 50 individuals. They have a matriarchy: the group is led by a female. The boar stays aloof, joining the female company only at the beginning of the mating season. Animals feed in the morning and evening time. Day and night serve as a time of rest for them. Pigs are cautious and timid. Their eyesight is not the best, but their hearing and sense of smell are excellent.

The specificity of their diet is due to the fact that wild boars dig the ground with their nose.

They love to eat roots, bulbs and tubers of plants.
Wild boars feed on young shoots of bushes, eat leaves, collect fallen fruits, and do not refuse nuts.
From animal food, wild boars eat worms and frogs. This “gourmet” never misses an opportunity to feast on carrion and sometimes destroys bird nests located within his reach.
Sometimes a wild boar harms people by destroying fields and crops.

Wild boars love plant foods, but do not disdain worms and frogs.

Wild pigs are excellent swimmers and runners. Even a wide river or lake is not a serious obstacle for them. Considering its large body weight, an adult animal is quite dangerous.

Enemies

All large predators are considered enemies of wild boars. But, given the impressive size and weight of the wild boar, even tigers prefer not to get involved with adult males, not to mention wolves or bears. A large boar can defeat a bear or wild cat without much difficulty. Tusks and hooves are enough formidable weapon wild boar Therefore, young individuals usually become victims of predators.

Features of hunting

Man is one of the most dangerous enemies of the wild boar. A trophy in the form of a boar's head with tusks is the dream object of any hunter. Wild boar meat is tasty and healthy. Bristles are also used for the production of brushes, razor brushes and combs. Boar bristles are also suitable for making painting brushes.

Hunting wild boars is a very popular pastime.

They hunt forest pigs with dogs. Horseback hunting for wild boars is popular in forest-steppe regions. This occupation is quite dangerous. The animal itself is not aggressive, but if you frighten or anger it, it can easily stand up for itself. This is especially true for females with cubs.

Diseases

Here is a list of the most dangerous diseases of these animals.

Plague

The most dangerous disease of wild boars, which does not spare animals of all ages. The causative agent of this disease is a filterable virus. The disease is highly contagious. In a frozen boar corpse, the virus persists for up to six months, in a decomposing body - for several months. Since pigs live in herds, infection of one animal can lead to widespread disease and mortality. The virus also affects domestic pigs. The meat of a sick animal is edible after boiling for 1 - 1.5 hours. Deliver shot carcasses to the territory settlements it is forbidden. Disinfection of meat is carried out in specialized enterprises.

Disposal of the corpses of dead animals is carried out by covering them with lime, followed by burying them to a depth of two meters. Prevention of mass infection of wild pigs is the shooting of sick individuals, as well as vaccination of animals.

Wild boars often suffer from plague, which greatly reduces their numbers.

Scabies

Affects animals during times of famine. By eating the corpses of animals affected by scabies, the boar itself becomes ill. By multiplying in the skin, the scabies mite causes hair loss and severe skin itching. Animals that stray from the herd are shot. The skin of the killed animal is disposed of. The meat is considered conditionally edible.

Trichinosis

When eating the carcasses of animals affected by trichinosis, the wild boar becomes infected with this disease. At the same time he suffers muscle tissue. A disease such as helminthiasis also affects wild boars.

To restore the population of wild pigs after the mass mortality caused by wild boar diseases, it is advisable to ban hunting of these animals for 2-3 years. The disturbance factor of animals must be minimized to avoid their mass migration.

To the question: Who went wild boar? What do you need to have in your arsenal and what does wild boar taste like? 🙂 given by the author Ђroll Ivanovich the best answer is at least a double-barreled shotgun with bullets or with an insert under 7.62, several people in license plates, a couple of dogs.
It’s better to beat a female; the male’s meat smells like a boar. Roast on coals in the forest - you'll swallow your fingers.

Reply from IVAN KLEVAKIN[guru]
Look, everything is here. .
Boar hunting
Wild boar (wild pig, boar) is a non-ruminant animal. The boar's body length reaches 2 m. Height at withers – 1m. An adult boar weighs about 300 kg. When hunting wild boar, you must remember that this is a serious and dangerous beast. A wounded and persecuted animal is especially dangerous.
Hunting for wild boar from ambush.
This method is used by hunters wherever wild boars can be found. They are most often guarded in feeding areas, sometimes on the paths leading to them, as well as near puddles or standing reservoirs where wild boars take mud baths.
Feeding sites are found in advance. After this, it is necessary to find places where the animals go out to feed. Then the most convenient place to sit is determined.
You need to occupy the hunting site an hour to an hour and a half before sunset. After that, all you have to do is wait and listen to the sounds coming from you.
The fact that wild boars are approaching can be judged by the cracking of branches and the noise they create when moving. Before entering the field, the animals calm down and listen and sniff for a long time, loudly sucking in the air. The hunter must be careful at this time. Suspecting nothing, the wild boars enter the field. The hunter can only choose a target and hit it accurately.
Hunting from the approach.
During feeding, wild boars are not so vigilant and make a lot of noise. Focusing on the sounds of noise, crunching, slurping, the hunter approaches the fattening herd. You only need to approach against the wind. Hunter's clothes and shoes should be comfortable, light and soft, making minimal noise when moving. You can go hunting at dusk.
Roundup hunt, or drive.
The most accessible hunt for hunters in our country, and therefore the most popular hunt. Its essence is that a chain of beaters must drive the animals to the waiting shooters.
If the shooting numbers are located in strong places with poor visibility, the hunt director warns the beaters to make less noise. Then the wild boars will move slower, and the shooters will have a better opportunity to make an accurate shot.
Before the hunt, all participants must be instructed. Strict adherence to rules, instructions and safety measures is mandatory for everyone.
Hunting for wild boar from under dogs from the approach.
This is perhaps one of the most interesting and exciting ways.
Several hunters (2-4 people) go out with dogs to the places where wild boars are supposed to roost. Having reached the place, they release the dogs, and they themselves slowly move through the land and wait for the dogs to raise the animal. When the animal is found and raised by the dogs, the hunters act based on the circumstances. The hunter's task is to get as close to the animal as possible and fire a shot.
And now the cleaver is defeated. Now you can light a fire, boil tea, have a snack and rest before the difficult but pleasant work of cutting up the carcass and pulling the prey out of the thicket to the road, which may not be so close.

Dimensions and weight of the boar.

Currently in the river delta. Volga, according to A. A. Lavrovsky (1952), adult males sometimes weigh 250-270 kg. It is characteristic that at the end of the last century, when wild boar was intensively hunted in the Volga delta, the largest males there weighed only 12 pounds (192 kg, - HP), while most animals weighed 3-7 pounds (48-112 kg ) (I. Yavlensky, 1875). It should be noted that back in the 18th and XIX century x larger boars lived there. For example, P. S. Pallas (1786), speaking about Western Kazakhstan animals, notes that they were “extraordinary in size” and weighed up to “15 pounds” (240 kg). According to G.S. Karelin (1875), in the 40-50s of the 19th century, two wild boars were caught on the northern coast of the Caspian Sea, which allegedly weighed one 19 and the other 20 pounds (304 and 320 kg, - A.S. .). Archaeological finds also testify to the existence of very large wild boars in past centuries. For example, judging by materials from the Neolithic Mariupol burial ground (in the Azov region), wild boars living in the valley of the river. Mius, reached enormous sizes (the width of the lower fangs is up to 3 cm). According to Boplan, in the Dnieper valley in the 17th century there were wild boars of “monstrous growth.” Large boar sizes in the past are also confirmed by the finds of their remains in the peat bogs of the Kyiv and Zhitomir regions (I. G. Pidoplichko, 1951) - It is obvious that under the direct and indirect influence of anthropic factors, the wild boar has been crushed over the past centuries. It is interesting to note that during the same period, the reduction of bison, red deer, European roe deer and other animals was observed. The grinding of wild boars continues to this day, since in any area where they live one can hear stories from many hunters that they used to hunt larger animals than now.

In the river valley Syr Darya, according to N.A. Severtsov (1874), males aged 5-8 years weighed 8-10 pounds (128-160 kg) and very rarely up to 12 pounds (192 kg). According to many hunters I interviewed, in the 30s of this century on the Syr Darya, the maximum weight of wild boars they caught reached 240 kg. It is possible that there were larger boars here before. For example, Skorobogatov (1924), describing wild boar hunting in the south of modern Kazakhstan in the last century, wrote that “in the reeds there are wild boars, up to 20 pounds (320 kg). I myself once had to kill one that weighed 17 pounds (272 kg).” It is difficult to say how reliable this information is.

About the weight and body size of wild boars currently living in the lower reaches of the river. Or, one can judge from the data given in the table.

In this area, the 11 males studied, at least 5-6 years old, weighed (without stomach, intestines and blood) from 80 to 183 kg, and on average - 106.4 kg. If we assume that the filled stomach and intestines, as well as blood, all together weigh about 15-20 kg, the live weight of wild boars will vary from 95-100 to 200 kg and average 120-125 kg. In addition, I also examined several dozen cleavers, the live weight of which was approximately 80-150 kg. According to many hunters interviewed, in the lower reaches of the river. Or the maximum weight of gutted males very rarely reaches 205-220 kg; thus, their live weight was 220-240 kg. The weight of the eight gutted females varied from 49 to 80 kg, with an average of 68.7 kg. Consequently, their live weight ranged from 65-70 to 95-100 kg, but on average a female wild boar weighs about 83 kg. For example, two queens we caught in December had a live weight of one - 75, the second - 85 kg. Alive weight of adult Ili boars, kept in the Alma-Ata Zoo, the male had!

Table 1

Data on the size and weight of an adult wild boar in the lower reaches of the river. Or

Dimensions (cm)

Body length
Oblique torso length
Height at the withers
Height at the sacrum
Height to hock

Metacarpal height
Front leg height
up to the elbow
Tail length
Ear height
Head length
Bust
Carpal circumference
Weight (in kg)

142 n for a female - 118 kg. Based on the above data, we can conclude that currently, in the entire desert part of the wild boar’s range in Kazakhstan, the maximum weight of males reaches 220-240 g, females - 100-120 kg. Consequently, the boars living in this large area have more or less the same weight.

In the semi-desert zone on the lake. The male Kurgaldzhin wild boar, killed in November, weighed (gutted) 144 kg (live weight about 160 kg), and the second animal, killed in March (very thin), weighed 100 kg (live weight about 115). The cleaver caught near Biysk weighed about 150 kg.

Wild boars living in Western Europe and the European part of the Soviet Union also have similar weights to those given above for Kazakhstan. For example, in Germany the maximum weight of this animal reaches 150-200 kg (W. Haacke, 1901).

In the Latvian SSR the most large animals they also weigh up to 200 kg, and once an old cleaver was caught there that weighed 236 kg (A.I. Kalninsh, 1950). In “Belarus, in the Khoiniki region, an old male weighing 256 kg was killed in 1951 (I.N. Serzhanin, 1955). Two females from Belovezhskaya Pushcha at the age of 4-5 years weighed 84 and 96.4 kg (S.A. Severtsov and T.B. Sablina, 1953). In the Caucasus Nature Reserve, the weight of male boars now ranges from 64 to 178 kg, with an average of 166 kg (12 specimens each), females from 48 to 108, with an average of 68 kg ( S. S. Donaurov and V. P. Teplov, 1938), while in the time of N. Ya. Dinnik (1910) old male boars there weighed 240-255 kg and females - 120-145 kg.

Siberia in the last century most large boars weighed up to 240 kg and, as an exception, animals weighing 272 kg were encountered (A. Cherkasov, 1884). Very large wild boars live in Soviet Far East. The maximum weight of males there supposedly reaches 300-320 kg (Yu. A. Liverovsky and Yu. A. Kolesnikov, 1949), and according to the latest data of V. P. Sysoev (1952) - only 200 kg.

The sizes of various parts of the body of an adult Kazakhstani wild boar and the characteristics of its physique can be judged from the data given in tables 1 and 2.

Body indices of the Kazakhstan wild boar from the lower reaches of the river. Or

Judging by the weight and size of adult wild boars, these animals have fairly well-defined sexual dimorphism. Males are larger than females.

Due to the fact that wild boars grow relatively slowly, they also have pronounced age dimorphism. Young animals under the age of 12 months are called piglets (among the Kazakhs - “ggurai>). The size and weight of piglets in winter at the age of 8-11 months can be judged from the data given in Table 3. Considering that the piglet has a full stomach and intestines, as well as blood, together weigh an average of 4 kg, its live weight at the age of 8- 11: months ranges from 21 to 30 for males and from 20 to 30 for females

Data on the size and weight of gilts and piglets in the lower reaches of the river. Or

Half a pig

Piglets

Dimensions (in cm)

Body length

Oblique torso length

Height at withers

Height at the sacrum

Height to hock joint

Front leg height to elbow

Tail length

Ear height

Carpal circumference

Weight (in kg)

1 Weight without stomach, intestinal tract and blood.

29 kg. Thus, by the age of one year, piglets reach only about 7% of the weight of an adult animal. Their body sizes increase much faster (see Table 3).

Between 12 and 23 months of age, young boars are called gilts.

The data in Table 3 give an idea of their weight and size. Considering that a full stomach, intestines and blood of a gilt weigh on average about 10 kg, its live weight ranges from 25 to 54 kg for males and 35 to 44 kg for females. . According to hunters, there are male gilts weighing up to 60 kg. Hence, gilts weigh about half as much as adult boars. Our data on the weight of wild boars at different ages are also confirmed by materials from other authors. For example, according to V. Haacke (1901), the weight of wild boars living in Central Europe in the first year of life is 25-40, in the second 50-70, in the third 80-100, and in the fourth 100-185 kg. They believe that full height wild boars reach the age of 5 - 6 years. They live 20 - 30 years.

The weight of a gutted animal without stomach, intestines and blood.

This hunt has been around for hundreds of years. And there have been conversations on this topic for just as many years. When the word “boar” is used, one imagines a large boar with huge tusks, this is exactly how it is depicted in old engravings in hunting scenes (for example, in Rubens’s painting “The Hunt for the Wild Boar”), where he is besieged by a whole pack of assorted dogs, and there are people on foot and horse hunters approach him with spears, spears, rogules, swords, and daggers.

The boar grins angrily, you can imagine how it snaps its teeth, how it lunges and with short blows of its head scatters the dogs tearing at it. The scene is filled with drama; it is clear that the boar intends to send, if not a couple of hunters, then at least several dogs, to their forefathers.

Nowadays, rarely does anyone dare to kill such a boar with a cold weapon. Both people and dogs are sensible enough to fight like this big beast, besides it appeared firearms, which allows you to catch a large cleaver from a safe distance with much less risk. And with a knife, wild boars are still hunted now, but of much smaller sizes, mainly young of the year and gilts (from last year), although they are not large, they also belong to the species Sus scrofa, i.e. Common boar.

They extract using, in general, the same old technology hunting, as in ancient times. The dogs find wild boars, choose the one they like best, if necessary, fight him off from the herd and hold him until the hunter arrives. The hunter approaches and mortally wounds the animal with a special technique. It would seem nothing complicated, but in this exciting and gambling process there are several components, each of which is important.

These components are: dogs, a hunter with his understanding of the process and experience, a knife and, in fact, the boar itself, without which nothing can be done.

Dogs

“And I heard that you catch dogs in Kizlyar, in the fish row,” I remarked.
“This also happens,” Antip answered, grinning. “But it’s out of necessity: after all, master, a lot of dogs disappear, really... Sometimes such an animal will be attacked and spoil five or six dogs.”

N.N. Tolstoy. "Hunting in the Caucasus"

In our countries, the most common boar dogs are huskies. At the huskies good search, viscosity and anger towards the beast. Not every dog has a set of these qualities, which is why they try to assemble a pack of dogs with different talents that complement each other. All the boar breeders I know say that it is one, usually a male, and rarely two huskies that keep a boar. The others help. They can grab, they can spin around, but it is the one that chooses the victim and enters the fight. If given a choice, the dogs choose the most accessible prey - fingerlings. No fingerling, then a little larger. The main husky grabs by the lych, by the cheeks, by the ear, by the scruff of the neck, works from the side of the animal’s head, and the helping ones spin around and grab him by the gacha, by the tail, and grab him in the crotch. More often, at least two dogs are used, but one dog can hold a fingerling. It is not uncommon for large hounds to hold and even strangle younglings weighing twenty to thirty kilograms on their own. One tall male Russian pinto hound began strangling piglets at the age of one year, and continued to do so from great success all season until he was injured by a wild boar. Gonchak recovered, but stopped racing. I lost interest not only in wild boars, but also in goats, hares and foxes. He became a homebody, never set foot in the forest, and guarded the yard. It also happens the other way around: dogs get seriously injured and after that they are even more willing to work on wild boars. But overly bold dogs do not live long; sooner or later, close work on an adult boar turns into fatal wounds. Jagdterriers successfully retain young of the year. A friend of mine had three jags successfully cope with a piglet up to forty kilograms.

As soon as the first boar is caught from the dogs, it becomes important for them to keep the animal until the hunter arrives. As soon as they grabbed the piglet, as soon as the hunter got it and killed it, from that moment on such a hunt becomes the most desirable for them. Raising such a dog is not easy. Training begins from puppyhood, natural culling, regular baiting in the off-season, feeding, vaccinations, treatment for injuries - the dog becomes valuable to the hunter, not just a tool for hunting, but also, of course, a friend. Many hunters, for the safety of their dogs, for greater convenience in hunting, purchase modern systems tracking them. These are GPS transmitters on collars and the main device with a screen in the hands of the hunter. The screen shows all the dog’s movements around the area; you can determine whether it is sitting or standing, and at what speed it is moving. The hunter can easily determine by the nature of the dog’s movement what it is doing – whether it is working on the animal, chasing it, or searching for it. Using the device, you can adapt to the movement of the animal or determine with great accuracy the place where it is held, without even hearing the dogs’ voice. With a pair of huskies that have a wide search, viscosity and are equipped with a tracking system, a hunter can hunt with a small mobile team or even alone, adapting to the work of the dogs and the movement of the wild boar on the device screen.

But despite all the modern devices, the life of a wild boar dog is filled with dangers and injuries. A good hunter not only completes and carries with him a serious dog first aid kit, but also has primary surgical skills, since dogs cut by wild boars have to be sewn up regularly.

In addition to huskies, hounds, terriers, as well as other breeds and all kinds of mixed breeds, in some countries of Europe and America they use dogs of fighting breeds for knife hunting for wild pigs: bull terriers, Staffordshire terriers, pit bull terriers, etc. They are distinguished by a strong, long-lasting grip, and bull terriers are truly “dead”, “crocodile-like”. With lightning speed and purpose, they grab the boar's snarl, lower jaw or cheek, tuck their legs and try to press the animal's head to the ground with their weight, thereby quite powerfully and reliably fixing it. More often, these dogs are used only for this purpose and are released on a boar that has already been found by other dogs.

Hunter with a knife

“Meanwhile, Balash calmly sat on the shore and took off his shoes, and having taken off his shoes and rolled up his trousers, he just as calmly wandered to the boar, which was still being held by the dogs, killed it and, threading a rope under its fangs, pulled it to the shore.”

Most boar keepers who keep huskies and successfully cut the beast from under them live in rural areas. This includes rangers who conduct driven hunts. They are quite pragmatic people and are not prone to excessive risks and bravado. The fingerling and gilt do not see anything complicated or contradictory in picking with a knife. The dogs are hanging on a small boar, if it is not yet tired, it will spin around, will not allow you to shoot accurately, a shot can ruin part of the meat, and most importantly, big risk hook the dogs with a charge. Therefore, the easiest way is to take a knife and cut it. How do they do this? In two steps. First you need to fix the beast, and then inflict damage incompatible with life. One of the common techniques is to lift it by one hind leg and stab it with a knife under the shoulder blade in the direction of the heart. It must be remembered that a boar's heart is located in the lower third of the sternum, in the middle, between the front legs. Or knocking a pig onto its side (it’s easy to say, knocking it to its side! - one avid boar handler advised me to do this: approach the boar only from behind, grab it firmly by the tail with your left hand, and right hand- by the left front leg and roll it to the side, holding it with your knee from the back), press it down from the back with your knee and, holding it by the ear, open the jugular vein and carotid artery, making an incision along the neck from the spine to the throat. Pressing down with a knee or even sitting astride, they hold the front leg and stab into the heart through the sternum or under the shoulder blade. Here are practically two main ways to quickly kill a wild boar - in the heart with surrounding vessels or in the neck.

There is one more trick. If the boar is large enough and nimble: by piercing the lungs through the ribs (preferably several times), you can achieve the animal’s quick death due to air entering the chest and the lungs sticking together. The boar will arrive in a few minutes.

Practical recruiting skills are developed and maintained throughout the season. During the season, each wild boar slaughters several young wild boars and pigs from the dogs. This hunt continues throughout the period of driven hunts. If at the beginning of the pens the dogs sway and are afraid to work in the corn, where most of the wild boars are kept, then by the end they catch without any problems, and some even kill the piglets on their own. Avid hunters kill more than ten wild boars from their dogs during the season. Many are so passionate about this hunt that they gladly go into the pen with their dogs without a gun, but with a knife. The majority of boar breeders surveyed indicated that they slaughter only young animals under two years of age.

Knife on a boar

A boar sword, a palm tree, a spear, a spear, a boar knife - all this can be successfully used today for hunting wild boar. And they apply it! In the Czech Republic and Germany, where hunting with bull terriers is practiced, a spear, a boar knife, and dagger-type knives are used to kill large enough boars. Two bull terriers, usually a female and a male (to exclude the possibility of an unforeseen fight between them), hold large boars weighing up to one hundred kilograms. The hunter’s task is to approach the animal from behind and, almost sitting astride it, grab the free ear with one hand, and with the other strike under the shoulder blade, aiming from above at the heart. After being stabbed with a knife, the boar shows strong activity, and at this time it is necessary to hold it by the ear and press the animal to the ground with your body. The bull terriers continue to hold his head all this time.

In America, Australia, and New Zealand, for similar hunting with dogs, they use a fairly large boar knife with a developed guard and a long, wide blade. More often, a boar that is being held by dogs is approached from behind from the side and a piercing blow is delivered under the shoulder blade, even under the armpit, aiming for the heart. And then, without removing the knife completely, they make several more short cutting strokes. If the boar is not very large, then one of the assistants lifts it by the back leg or both legs, thereby depriving it of support for throwing.

When I began to ask our wild boar hunters about what kind of knives they use for harvesting, two elderly hunters said that they always successfully used a sharpened awl made from an iron rod with a blunt end bent into the shape of a handle. This was one of the traditional tools for slaughtering domestic pigs. The rest were thinking about a guard, a comfortable handle to make the blade larger. The sizes ranged from 12 to 17 centimeters, but all fantasies and variations ended something like this: in general, ordinary hunting knife, but any other one that you have with you will do.

If you don’t have a knife, it’s difficult to kill even a small pig. I have heard of silencing using improvised means, strangulation, neck breaking, and even an attempt to impale on a sharp branch... These horrors can be avoided by having a sharpened “regular hunting knife” with you.

Boar and its size

The larger the boar, the more dangerous it is and the fewer people want to poke a knife into it. Experienced huskies also share this point of view. Therefore, when dogs find a healthy or wounded cleaver in the forest and bark at it at a reasonable distance, few people have the idea of trying to take the animal with a knife.

One of the hunters told how he received his only injury: “Once a friend wounded a large pig, and I was without a gun, only with a knife, and in the clearing I noticed that a raspberry tree was moving. I thought it was a youngster and wanted to catch it, but there was a wounded pig there. In general, while the dogs arrived, she chewed my leg. Only after a year did my leg stop going numb. But I killed the pig – there was simply no other choice.”

And there are hunters who, for more than thirty years of such wild boar hunting, have not received a single injury, each season taking several wild boars from under their dogs. Why? Yes, because they never even thought about going after a large boar with a knife. They hunted specifically young of the year, rarely gilts, and only killed a wounded large boar by shooting.

There's another one important reason, why young of the year are preferred to large cleavers. Fingerlings are much tastier. Their meat is juicy and tender, moderately fatty, compared to the strong-smelling meat of the cleaver, which is in rutting season during driven hunts.

And yet there are those who are determined and strong people who take an adult and healthy boar from under their dogs with a knife. For this, of course, we need huskies who can stop and hold such a beast. And no less important is knowledge and experience - how to quickly kill a large beast. These are rare, enthusiastic specialists in a fairly widespread and numerous tribe of wild boar hunters.

In hunting stories there are references to the fact that a large wounded wild boar, in the absence of cartridges, was killed with a stone and blows to the head with sticks, and then cut with a knife. I would not recommend this method of collection due to its unreliability and great danger to humans.

“At the opening of driven hunting in our area, wild boars live in corn. If there is water in the corn, a persistent puddle or ditch, then they do not come out of there at all for weeks. After lunch we decide to redistribute, and most of the hunters go into the corn as beaters. The numbers are located at the end of the field. We line up in a chain after 10-12 meters and walk along the rows of corn with a voice, trying to hold the chain. It's gloomy and warm in the corn. You push the hard leaves apart with your hand, but they still touch your face, and this then makes your face itch and itch, almost like nettles. The rows, closing at the top, form shady corridors along which wild boars have trampled their paths. Dogs run next to people. They don’t want to get ahead - they feel that the wild boars have a big advantage in these corn corridors. The shooters wait for the beast to appear at the edge of the field. The beaters approach, shouting cheerfully. You can hear the rustling and moving apart of hard leaves. And so, when there are no more than a hundred meters left to the shooters and it seems that there is no one in the corn, there comes a slight lull. The beaters languidly shout to each other... Suddenly, to the heart-rending barking of dogs, in a small piece of the field there is the sound of stomping and squealing, the hooting of a pig, the herd does not come out of the corn into the forest, where the numbers are quietly standing, but turns towards the line of the beaters and, with acceleration, breaks through between the people in the opposite direction. You can’t see the pigs, but you can hear them very well; only a few for a moment see the dark sides darting through the neighboring rows. It is impossible to shoot accurately. If it weren’t for the black-faced husky dog, who had previously seemed like a lazy bumpkin, we would have been left without prey that day. Taking advantage of the turmoil, he grabbed the youngster, and the rest of the dogs, plucking up courage, fought the pig off from the herd. Hunters who arrive in time to hear the squeals and barks quickly kill the young of the year. The huntsman looks contentedly at the dog’s gangster face: “It’s not for nothing that I bought him for fifty bucks before the drive!” The next day the dogs dispersed and by lunchtime they got us two more piglets in the same way.”

Russian hunting magazine, January-February 2013

2518