I was bored at the airport and ending up going down a rabbit hole of pig hunting, specifically Eurasian boar hunting in Germany and other European countries. I ended up translating and reading some interesting research and forums that I figure would make for some interesting discussion here. I no longer have the links or the boredom to translate and attach but remember the key points.

The gist of it:

It is generally recommended by game managers hoping to cull Eurasian boar herds via hunting (does not seem relevant if trapping and removing whole sounders at a time) to avoid shooting the matriarch of the sounder. This is typically the oldest and largest sow. The reason for this is because the matriarch pig typically controls the timing of breeding within a sounder and which pigs breed (typically she may be the only pig to breed). If she is removed, the sounder goes into what was essentially described as chaos with all non dominant sows coming into heat. This results in a greater amount of sows breeding and more pigs being introduced into the sounder and the property. Therefore it is recommended to shoot boars and the smaller non dominant sows and to keep the matriarch as the primary breeding sow.

If you’re like me, when a sounder comes out and a boar isn’t with them you usually pick out the biggest sow to shoot as she tends to stand out. This may incidentally be hurting your property. Not saying to do one thing or another and if interested, you could go down that same rabbit hole I did, but interesting food for thought.

Makes sense, I've heard they are really resilient animals, similar to how coyotes are. The more you cull, the more the groups reproduce. Continuity of a species under fire, sort of speak.

Interesting, would like to hear more opinions and experiences on this. I used to shoot the biggest one, but quit doing that and shooting a sow, refrained from shooting boars unless they were by themselves, figured a sow would get bred regardless

Just shoot the pig. Any pig. We don’t have to micromanage everything and a mature breeding sow is a great target.

All pigs will come into cycle when they hit a certain weight and will get bred. A dominate sow isn’t gonna keep a boar off another sow in heat. She doesn’t control when the other pigs come into cycle either.

After getting a better trapping system rigged up, it seems to be the most effective method to this point

Trapping 100% is the way to go to reduce pig numbers.

Shooting them, while fun, really does not have an effect in regards to population

Again, there was research to say the opposite of your post and it was common knowledge in the forums I was reading among German game keepers. It might be different among our feral hogs and not relevant, who knows. Being educated on a topic isn’t micromanaging

Just shoot the sow. Any sow.

They're better eating anyway (though, given the numbers, I'm not at all averse to just dragging them off in the brush, slitting them open sternum to pubis, and letting them eat their own).

I’ve shot multiple prego sows out of a sounder and I’ve trapped multiple prego sows out of a sounder. I do not believe the lead sow keeps the others from cycling and I do not believe she could keep them from being bred at all. I also believe whatever goals the Game Keepers have are probably pretty different than eradication.

Trapping and more specifically snaring have been by far our most successful. Snares are not nice and we had quite a bit of unintentional bycatch even with a govt trapper but they were still the most successful.

The European game keepers manage their pigs in order to provide traditional sporting hunts. I don't consider killing pigs here a sport. I view it as eradication and any sow is a prime target.

Exactly. We have all shot multiple pregnant sows out of a sounder.

A single dominate sow cannot keep the others from coming into heat and dang sure can’t keep a boar away from them

Managing to a number is still managing to a number whether it is 0 in the case of landowners including myself in Texas or to a specific density over there. If they have found that selectively shooting a specific hog out of the group helps them achieve that number quicker, the logic could expect to carry over.

Hunting is typically not a meaningful way to control pig numbers, especially in areas like mine where you only have time to shoot one hog out of the sounder before they are back in the brush, but if you could have a greater impact on those numbers by doing what has been found effective elsewhere why would you oppose it?

Not opposed to the logic, but as others have mentioned above, I've seen that particular logic contradicted in the field too many times to believe it applies here.

I would love to see further research done here though. Anything that can help prioritize a target list is probably a good thing. Just don't expect me to pass shooting at a pig when I see it.

The right pig?

That would be the slow one.

Other than controlling the population what is similar about technique in complete eradication and maintaining a sustainable healthy population?

Or the one in my sights when I pull the trigger.

Any pig that you shoot is the right one IMHO.

Actually, that's ALL of them.

If I have time to pick

1. The spotted one
2. Biggest boar
3. Biggest sow

I get sucked into the spotted ones like a bug to lights

I enjoy a good Oreo pig. Killed one giant one years ago and wanted to mount it, but me and another guy couldn’t get it into the back of the truck.

I say this, but actually target big, gnarly, lone boars. It's more of a sport this way and I like making them dead. Something satisfying about putting a bullet right where it belongs and these big animals just hitting the ground right there.

That's an interesting theory, but we don't see that type of breeding behavior in domestic hogs, and most of our ferals were domestic at some point in their ancestry. I'm no expert and I'm not trying to contradict what those Europeans are seeing, but they may be dealing with a different animal with different traits than we are.

Why wouldn't you want to increase your available targets?

I have enough other stuff to think about to start worrying about which pig to shoot. Whichever one gets the closest and stands still for a second gets it.

If they abolish the ATF and grenade launchers become legal then I'll have to tweak my strategy.

Pretty anecdotal, but I had a group of 7 (3 sows, 4 boars, no stud boar), the only hogs on or around my place. One morning I killed all four of the boars out of the group. 3+ years after that, they've never returned at any point. They have been spotted on the neighbors place a few times.

I have seen versions of this claim from various European sources, but I have never found any scientific basis for it the "dominant sow" determining what other females breed and when. Maybe I didn't check the right sources? Anybody have any knowledge of dominant sows controlling the breeding of other sows?

Real interesting OP, wouldn't have known or assumed that, thanks for sharing.

interesting concept, not sure whether true or not for our over bearing feral population. I try to line up several in a row to remove as many as possible with one shot, they scatter quickly and might not return for a few days / weeks.

I have read the very same thing about wart hogs in Africa.

I have been thinking about this for a day now.

And I think that the problem is the European sources are looking at pure "Russian" wild boars, and what we have here are Feral Hogs, that are a mixture of some transplanted Russian Wild Boars and mostly escaped or released domestic hogs.

So the real Russian Wild Boars, it may be that the dominant female somehow controls the cycle of the other females in her sounder, similar to how a wolf pack operates where only the alpha male and female breed. And just like how feral dogs will breed all the time and don't behave like wolves, our feral hogs do to.

So I'm gonna keep shooting whatever hogs I can, and If I see the big female I'll keep shooting them first, because often the little ones will come back around.

For instance:

Yeah, but the trouble for feral or wild hogs is actually finding any sort of actual documentary sources for the claims. All the biology and hog papers I read simply say females of age are polyestrus and go into heat every 18-24 days if unbred. No mention in any of these sources about a dominant sow controlling breeding behavior in wild, feral, or domestic hogs. I am not saying it isn't possible, but the only claims I see for this come from non-scientific sources, despite the fact that hog breeding behavior has been studied extensively. Factors such as water, forage, and weather patterns are documented to have an impact on hog reproductive rates, but nothing gets mentioned about dominant sows that I have found anywhere.

The animal rights activists have been saying this about any animal they don't want you hunting. Particularly coyotes.

The whole idea has been debunked so many times by real science and biology, that these silly claims have less credibility every time they come up.

I know from experience that when most of a large sounder is killed at the same time, there are varying degrees or pregnancy and offspring in them. That's a fact. Some are about to pop with piglets, some are halfway through the gestation period, while others are early gestation.. and still others have varying piglet sizes by their side.

The cold, hard truth of the matter is that dead animals don't reproduce. Period.

We can argue the effectiveness of hunting on the overall population, and that is a valid debate. But this ploy by the anti-hunters with these narratives such as this, and the coyote one (which incidentally, is a verbatim copy) need to be denied and dispelled when we encounter them.

Recognize propaganda when you see it, folks.

We're not worried about sounders, boars or piglets. If we can get them into the traps great or if we can put a bullet in them better (more sporting for the kids). We kill one and three more show up, we're losing the battle. High fence, low fence, net fence, no fence it doesn't matter they find a way to dig under if you have the groceries for your deer..... just sayin'

We put our gunner up in the bird every other week last fall and he tallied 260 at last count (Christmas week) and we still had them on camera going into January.

Big difference in depredation extermination and managing for sport.


Europe is managing for sport. You think they do heli hunts in Europe…… no they but on cosplay outfits and do “noble” drives.

It’s physically impossible for a sow to prevent another sow from coming into heat unless the dominate sow can perform a hysterectomy.


A male can keep another male from physically breeding but that doesent mean the lesser male is not viable.

That sounds like some pseudo science there

The only pigs I don't shoot are the occasional spotted ones. I can track sounders that way. Other than that, pretty hard to shoot a "wrong" pig.

All pigs are the right one to shoot.

You ever lived in a house full of Girls? Not sure I’d argue science but they seem to all hit at once.

Regardless its irrelevant because they cycle some many times year with up to three litters, then toss in of how quickly young sows hit breeding age(as in months)

Truth.

Ask a girl that shares a house while in college with 3 others. But, we're talking about pigs here.

That’s exactly my point. They all hit at once. The most assertive and best looking one doesn’t keep the other ones from starting their cycle.

The best looking one would most likely get laid first, diminishing the chances of the others getting hit. In my scenario anyway.

Yep, the off season has begun.........

Had to do something, this place is dying.

If there is a bore they are all getting bred. That’s why I always shoot sows.

Hmmmm

One day I’m gonna get a big boar mounted w its mouth open

I think that’s a Cajun thing but I still want just one

First couple that line up

^^^This^^.

And I always start with the biggest or most paranoid sow in the group. Eliminate the older and wiser - especially if they're actively feeding at the time. The younger ones will return to the food sources quicker in the following days after being shot at vs an older wiser pig.

^^THIS^^

Yep, they may be some biological selection, but until proven to me, I will continue shooting big sows first, then the next target of opportunity.

I had a sounder start showing up a few weeks ago - no mature sows or boars, but all young...maybe half 20 - 30 pounds and the rest piglets from 10-20 pounds. I have trapped or shot 8 from the group so far. Predators may have gotten some of the smaller ones, and now seem to have put enough pressure on them that they have either moved on or simply changed their patterns.

Even though they are young, best to clear them out as much as possible before they mature and start reproducing. Just these 8, once breeder age, would make HUNDREDS of offspring in the next generation. Bottom line, there is no way to eradicate them but every one of them eliminated does make an impact...even if it is a tiny fraction of a fraction.