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Wild hog ID - telling male from female? #8139691 01/22/21 11:33 PM
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Steve from GA Offline OP
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Surprisingly, I have found very little information on this question. Can you guys give some dependable pointers on how to quickly tell a sow from a boar? I’m new to the game, and aside from the t*ts and the n*ts (which aren’t always visible), they all look a very similar sort of ugly to me.

Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8139701 01/22/21 11:42 PM
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Shoot first. Ask questions later.


...and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen. 1:28
Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8139703 01/22/21 11:44 PM
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Watch the German hunting videos. On a number of the driven hunts, there's a penalty for shooting sows, so they make a greater effort to identify boars.


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Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8139808 01/23/21 01:13 AM
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nuts

Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8139825 01/23/21 01:29 AM
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They are all the same in the Eyes of the bullet. Shoot all and throw the smelly ones away.



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Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8139837 01/23/21 01:43 AM
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You obviously didn't have drivers ed and sex ed in the same car in high school!!

Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8139872 01/23/21 02:13 AM
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Well, generally, at least around my place, the big boars are usually alone, whereas the sows, kids, and such are in groups. And when I find them in groups, I just shoot a middle sized one for food. The gender doesn’t matter too much.

I’ve told this before, but a while back when the starving college kid grandson came to hunt, I put him where I knew pigs would show up. He said he wanted a medium sized sow. He came back from the blind with a smile and said he got a fat female. I congratulated him and we took the Kubota to collect the pig. When we got there I took a look and congratulated him on killing a female pig with some monstrous testicles. It tasted fine though. Hard to tell the sex at 135 yards in dim light.

Mother Nature keeps the male/female ratio as 105 males born for each 100 females. So, shoot into the sounder and if you kill one there’s about a 50/50 chance it’ll be a male.

Last edited by 603Country; 01/23/21 02:26 AM.

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Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Creekrunner] #8139920 01/23/21 02:59 AM
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Originally Posted by Creekrunner
Shoot first. Ask questions later.

Good advice

Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8140001 01/23/21 03:48 AM
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[Linked Image]

Sometimes you just can’t tell. You just can’t.

Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8140071 01/23/21 05:47 AM
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I try to shoot the medium size ones. used to shoot the biggest, but it was usually a boar.

Last time I hunted I killed 6 sows and 2 boars.

Heading out next week and hoping to kill a few - I do like this retirement gig!!

JR

Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8141534 01/24/21 05:56 PM
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IF mature and alone....chances are it's a Boar.

With respect to identifying by physical features....this can be tricky depending upon distance, lighting and angle of the animal observed.

But generally speaking, look first for the presence of testicles (large even on juveniles) and along the belly line for a 'penile sheath'.

If neither of these areas are visible you can sometimes make out the 'lip curl' (upper) on boars which if mature....will have more distinct Cutters and Whetters.

On hogs not yet mature some (or none) of the above might prove any help. And even on mature animals....physical size and shape isn't always a good indicator.

I have killed Sows approaching 300 lbs in weight (weighed on a scale) that had a build not much different than boars.

IF time and circumstance permit....use a good set of binoculars to get a good look at the animal if the sex of it is important to you. Personally, I kill them all....as many as possible, as often as possible. They are a scourge.

Sow lacking male 'parts':
[Linked Image]

Look for lip curl:
[Linked Image]

Sometimes cutters and whetters of boar are obvious:
[Linked Image]

Don't let body size or shape fool you, this is a big sow:
[Linked Image]


Spartans ask not...how many, but where!
Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8141610 01/24/21 07:10 PM
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Sometimes on the boars there is a hump of hair on top of the hindquarters.

Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8141624 01/24/21 07:23 PM
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Steve from GA didn't say what he was hunting hogs with in terms of optics. The traits discussed so far are spot on, but certainly not readily apparent all the time on thermal, depending on image resolution and distance to the target. At 75-200 yards, things like whetters and cutters may not be visible on thermal.

I like to look for teats vs. penis (lump) under the hog. I like to look for a large, rounded belly that would indicate a pregnant sow. Only occasionally do I notice testicles. All of these are not always readily apparent on thermal at distance.

Teats tend to show up best when on a well nursed sow (versus a virgin female where they are not distended). Infected teats are often quite large and can show up well. Penises may or may not show up depending on the weather or with younger males. Of course, high grass will hide everything on the bottom side of the hog.

As for pregnancy and the large, rounded belly, that works a lot of the time, but I have confused a couple of beer bellied boars for sows.

I have tried to look for musculature on big boars and that shows up well enough. The problem comes in when you get boars that don't have the massive shoulders and some of those can still be well over 200 lbs and not be hugely distinct in thermal profile from a sow.

Somebody once told me that the angles and shape of the rump can be used to distinguish boars from sows. It may work sometimes, but I tend to not get that right about half the time (which leads me to think it isn't a diagnostic trait, or I just don't understand).


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Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8141641 01/24/21 07:40 PM
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Steve from GA, I'm curious to know why you are asking. Creekrunner has the best solution. Trust me, you're not gonna run out of pigs.

Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8142881 01/25/21 05:29 PM
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Mature boars tend to be solitary in the hill country where I hunt, but you WILL see them come into a feeder that has a sounder feeding, and if there are sows in heat in a sounder all bets are off and mature boars may be with them. If you have time to observe them you'll see boars be dominant and aggressive towards everything else (including ungulates that may be at the same feeders or in the same vicinity).

To be honest, if you're thinking of taking a quick look and making a decision before you shoot, unless the sow has visible teats hanging down or a swarm of shoats around her, sometimes it's hard to tell. In that case, just shoot the big one! Feral hogs in TX vary significantly from region to region, in some areas you can see the strong genetic influence from Euroasian boar strains and in others, they look almost like domestic hogs. Sometimes boars are super evident (tall sloping foreheads, visible cutters, crests of stiff hairs running down the back a.k.a. "razorbacks"), other times it's tough to tell the difference.

I just pick the big fat ones and "choot'em"! smile


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Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8142983 01/25/21 06:37 PM
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Quote
...or a swarm of shoats around her, sometimes it's hard to tell.


I shot a 'sow' leading 8 piglets around. The 'sow' turned out to be an immature boar. I don't know why the piglets were following it around an not the actual mother (who must have been one of the other hogs in the group), but I did the quick assessment (piglets = Sow) and shot it and did not get the sow I wanted, LOL. Most of the time the trait works fine, but this one time, they fooled me with it.


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Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8143110 01/25/21 08:50 PM
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I've seen mature, large sows meandering in a pasture alone. I've seen (small) groups of younger boars hanging around together.
The guidelines mentioned in the above posts are merely guidelines, which will sometimes fail.
Still, if the goal is to shoot more sows (and I think that's a worthy goal) then "You pays your money and you takes your chances". Most of the time you'll be right.

Keep After 'Em!


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Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Exiled] #8143272 01/25/21 10:57 PM
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Originally Posted by Exiled
Mature boars tend to be solitary in the hill country where I hunt, but you WILL see them come into a feeder that has a sounder feeding, and if there are sows in heat in a sounder all bets are off and mature boars may be with them. If you have time to observe them you'll see boars be dominant and aggressive towards everything else (including ungulates that may be at the same feeders or in the same vicinity).

To be honest, if you're thinking of taking a quick look and making a decision before you shoot, unless the sow has visible teats hanging down or a swarm of shoats around her, sometimes it's hard to tell. In that case, just shoot the big one! Feral hogs in TX vary significantly from region to region, in some areas you can see the strong genetic influence from Euroasian boar strains and in others, they look almost like domestic hogs. Sometimes boars are super evident (tall sloping foreheads, visible cutters, crests of stiff hairs running down the back a.k.a. "razorbacks"), other times it's tough to tell the difference.

I just pick the big fat ones and "choot'em"! smile

the first paragraph is spot on, a boar in the sounder will be noticeable, don't mean to hy jack your thread


hold on Newt, we got a runaway
Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: der Teufel] #8143500 01/26/21 01:08 AM
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Originally Posted by der Teufel
I've seen mature, large sows meandering in a pasture alone


Ostensibly, these are pregnant sows that will separate from the sounder just prior to farrowing, build a nest, farrow, and a few days later, rejoin the sounder.

Originally Posted by der Teufel
I've seen (small) groups of younger boars hanging around together.


Bachelor sounder, likely siblings recently booted from their mother's sounder because they got to be too large.


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Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Double Naught Spy] #8143744 01/26/21 05:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Double Naught Spy
Originally Posted by der Teufel
I've seen mature, large sows meandering in a pasture alone


Ostensibly, these are pregnant sows that will separate from the sounder just prior to farrowing, build a nest, farrow, and a few days later, rejoin the sounder.

Originally Posted by der Teufel
I've seen (small) groups of younger boars hanging around together.


Bachelor sounder, likely siblings recently booted from their mother's sounder because they got to be too large.




Exactly right on both accounts.


Spartans ask not...how many, but where!
Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8143761 01/26/21 06:05 AM
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My daughter's first hog was a lone sow, which statistically would be very unlikely to happen, LOL. The sow had shown up the previous night on game camera, alone. At the time of her death, she was with milk. Because we did not recover her until the next day, we did not necropsy her, but either she was pregnant (she looked pregnant) or had recently farrowed.

Daughter's video...

https://youtu.be/bmO-lGNYhn8

Last edited by Double Naught Spy; 01/26/21 06:07 AM.

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Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8143783 01/26/21 11:21 AM
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I try to shoot the biggest sow. That way the coyotes have a better shot at the small ones. I don't eat them.


Without a sense of urgency, nothing ever happens.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley, Rancher Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Steve from GA] #8143867 01/26/21 01:27 PM
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Well lets see now...........
[Linked Image]

Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: Old Stony] #8144645 01/27/21 12:04 AM
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Originally Posted by Old Stony
Well lets see now...........
[Linked Image]



Sow with Hemorrhoids?


Spartans ask not...how many, but where!
Re: Wild hog ID - telling male from female? [Re: flintknapper] #8144694 01/27/21 12:32 AM
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roflmao

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