Some older friends who like to hike walk in an an area where firearms are not permitted, and are worried about feral hogs. Knowing that I was an outdoor type, they asked me if bear spray would be a good defense. I told them that I did not know. Has anyone had experience with pepper spray and hogs?

Bear Spray would work on hogs as much as other mammals. They have very sensitive noses and do have eyes that will/can be irritated by the spray. No reason to believe it would not work. I do not believe anybody has done any sort of study with this.

With that said, your friends likely don't have many other options. On the good side, chances are that they will carry whatever defense they want and do so for years and never ever use it on an angry hog.

Every hog I've encountered in the wild ran from me. Back in my younger days, I was riding a bicycle and popped over a little hill doing about 20mph. I came face-to-face with a boar that had tusks a half-foot long. I scared that hog so bad he crashed through as barbed-wire fence that was strung tighter than grandad's fiddle. What impressed me the most was how fast those dudes can run when they want to.

I've had them come within 30ft and just stand there when I was in the pen filling feeders. Not a good feeling when the gun is in the truck.

I hope you carry on your person regularly, now.

I have no doubt that in some situations it could be effective. But I'd be more inclined to just carry a good walking stick.

Yes, hogs have a very sensitive olfactory system (as do bear) and eyes forward facing enough to be involved in a good and accurate spraying.

But there is no guarantee that a dedicated charge/attack (as unlikely as it would be) would be thwarted.

I think that carrying Bear Spray would make them all FEEL safer....but that is about all. The likelihood of needing to employ it would be astronomically small.

Bear Spray canisters are large and unwieldy. So who wants to carry one. And how many people will carry one? Everyone? Will anyone be experienced in the actual use of bear spray or willing to practice?

Does anyone in the group have respiratory issues that could present a medical emergency IF/When they self contaminate? All it takes is the wind blowing the wrong direction.

As concerns hogs....they are incredibly quick animals. Literally able to go from zero to top speed in about 4-5 jumps. Any hog in close proximity to you that wants to get to you....WILL make it there. I am OC certified and have been 'sprayed'. You can 'fight through it' for a little bit. Plenty long enough to do damage. So can a hog if it is dedicated.

Carry an Air Horn and walking sticks. They will be fine. I'd be more worried about encountering loose running....aggressive dogs.

Why would anyone need hog protection? I’ve never seen a viscous one and I’ve been around them quite a lot. I have one bunch that have come pretty close to me while I was working, feeding fish or just riding a 4 wheeler.

Mostly due to fear of the unknown and that most people don't understand hogs, hog behavior, or wildlife in general. However, they read the article about the woman down near Houston who was killed or they know somebody that raised hogs and could tell them how viscous they were and so since Texas has feral hogs, they want to protection against them. Maybe they watched American Hoggers and saw where the old man recounted the story about a buddy of his that was killed and totally eaten by feral hogs (a story apparently only known to him, LOL).

In reality, people probably should be carrying some form of protection against more likely threats that would also crossover and be useful for protection against hogs. Based on the number of reported incidents, people are more likely to be attacked and injured by white-tailed deer than they are to attacked by hogs. By "attacked," I mean truly attacked by the animal and not one of the incidents where people are trying to pet, pick up, harass, or otherwise harm or kill the animals in dangerous manners. Unprovoked hog feral attacks on people are exceptionally uncommon but have occurred. The vast majority of the time when you read about such "attacks," they are actually where the hogs are defending themselves from people who are going hands-on with them such as trappers, hog doggers, knife hunters, etc. and once in a while by pistol and rifle hunters who get to close and injure the hog with poor shooting and the hog fights back. Some of these hunters are accompanied by dogs who have already harassed the hog quite a bit.

Aside from being more likely to be attacked by a deer than a hog, rabid coyote attacks would be more common as would alligator "attacks." In reality, getting robbed, raped, or murdered by a human while out hiking would be a much greater threat than getting attacked by a hog.

With that said, any wild animal has the potential to be dangerous if you end up in the wrong situation with it. Hogs can definitely hurt people, but then again, so can spiders and chipmunks.

I DO hate a spider! Not ashamed to admit it.

I cautioned the ladies in question about how pepper spray can blow back on the person using it, especially with the wind we've been having lately. They agreed, and have now decided to order sword canes. Evidently, these are regular walking canes containing genuine swords. They're theory is the hog will back off if they stab him in the, "snoot."

Once you move to a sword, you have moved into lethal methods instead of non-lethal methods. The notion that one might casually stab a mad/charging hog in the snoot to get it to back off is probably more in the realm of fantasy than reality, sort of like people who carry a .22 lr for self defense because they are going to shoot the bad guy in the eye.

This would require a level of dexterity not unlike a Matador.

I believe they would be better served educating themselves about how little danger a Feral Hog presents to a 'group' of people.

IMO....it is an unreasonable fear. The idea (if a hog....or a group of hogs are encountered) is to appear to be a significant threat to them (preferably at a distance).

Simply making a hog aware of your presence, making loud noise will suffice 99.90% of the time.

Your friends seem to have a bent toward 'false security' more than a practical application of anything useful. I suppose from a purely mental aspect....if it gives you 'comfort' then a sword cane is better than nothing.

But the fact remains....you are much more likely to suffer a problem from a mosquito bite than being attacked (unprovoked) from a hog while out on a walk.

You have this all wrong. Hogs will track you down, attack and eat you. Its best to stay home with doors and curtains closed. To be really safe, pack up and go back to where this problem does not exist.

What DNS and Flintknapper said! To think that these folks could have the time and skill to detect a charging hog, withdraw their swords, stand their ground and then place the sword in an area on the hog that will end the threat is pure fantasy imho. If being armed with sword canes allows them to continue their walks, right on. But they won't be stopping any charging pig! Now, if they encounter a 2 legged pig that wants to do them harm, whipping out their swords might give the creep pause for thought. There are keychain alarms that can be purchased that might be a great deterrent for any animal, man or beast. The sound they give off is very loud and painful; if the whole group lights them off at one time, it could be very effective. Additionally, most of the autolock key car keys come with a built -in alarm that can be triggered by a simple tap of a button, so if they're close to their vehicles when the threat appears (a likely spot for an attempted attack by the 2 legged version of a pig) having everyone punch the panic buttons could blast a few eardrums and stop the threat. I've been hunting feral hogs for over 40 years and I can say that I have never been "charged" by a hog. I've had them run in my direction, but they have all been trying to run away from a gun blast that might have taken out a couple of their buddies. Trapped hogs will certainly try their very best to get to you, and they mean business because they're all out of escape options!
https://www.walmart.com/c/kp/self-defense-keychain-alarm

If they want non lethal hog protection, tell them to carry a 6.5 creedmoor.



I couldn't help myself.

Tell them to tie little bells or similar to their backpacks. A lot of noise is unnecessary but a little will alert the hog/s and they will almost certainly be gone before the hikers ever knew they were nearby. They should be more worried about 2 legged critters out there up to no good.

A dog would be their best bet, even A yapping ankle biter.

There's truth to this.

Heck, every time I TRY to get close to a hog, particularly in daylight, they run off like greased pinballs on fire as soon as they figure out I'm there.
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If they really have a concern then just wear some shin guards, maybe a helmet and some arm floaties for punctuation and to make you look bigger.

If they do that, recommend they carry a metal trash can lid as a shield.

Concealed carry would be a great option.

Pistol in pocket enjoy your walk.
Would anyone ever say something if you defended yourself by killing an attacking hog?

As mentioned above they take off once they see or smell you.

Any chance they can start walking in a different area and then carry a pistol?

Or is this the only place?

Several years back, I was walking back, at night, to the house after hunting. I walked into the middle of a bunch of hogs. It was on a narrow road with heavy trees/brush all around. They spooked/bolted every which way. It was pretty loud with them bumping into trees, brush, etc. They weren’t silent. But, I wasn’t touched. No problem.

The same thing happened to me and a couple of other guys walking into elk hunt in Arizona. We walked into a bedded herd of elk. It was also loud and scary but they also missed us.

Hogs don’t worry me even a little bit. I have a cell phone photo of a bunch of hogs that I eased up to on a 4 wheeler. They didnt even spook, much less attack.

I find that their threat is over rated.