Feral hog/Russian wild boar in 36C?

[hoghntr]

ferrel, yes. I FOUND ONE IN 1998 IN UNIT 33. FOUND IN BED MY JAVELINA CAME OUT OF WHEN SHOT. SKULL ALSO HAD BULLET HOLE IN SKULL. COYOTES OR EVEN JAVELINA MIGHT HAVE PLACED UNDER TREE. YES, JAVELINA EAT MEAT! I TOOK SKULL IMMEDIETLY TO GAME AND FISH, I THOUGHT I FOUND SOME JAVIS ON STEROIDS. MY JAVI WAS HUGE SO I FIGURED THAT WAS DAD. AND OF COURSE G AND F TOLD ME IT WAS FERREL. RANCHER IN AREA LOOSES PIGS SOMETIMES.

[Ernesto C]

hoghntr, why do you say javelina eat meat? Can you elaborate more on that?

 

Ernesto C

[StickFlicker]

I don't know how far North they might range, but South America has White Lipped Peccaries, which are a decent amount larger than the Collared Peccaries (Javelina). Just another thought.

[hoghntr]

hoghntr, why do you say javelina eat meat? Can you elaborate more on that?

 

Ernesto C

 

first time i ever witnessed was dove hunting.many years ago. i would clean all birds in field, next am nothing would be left except lots of pig tracks. all season same thing. years later i helped a friend arrow a javi behind pleasant, cleaned pig and left. i went back next day to huntmyself and found all remains gone, pig tracks stomped quite deep. no other tracks period. pigs had powdered the area... WHEN I WAS A KID, I WOULD WATCH OUR MEET PIGS LAY IN MUD WITH SNOUTS STICKING OUT LIKE A SNORKEL, WHEN CHICKENS WALKED OUT PICKING AT MUD PIGS WOULD ATTACK LIKE CROCODILE. THEY WOULD JUST LAY THERE WITH FEATHERS HANGING OUT OF MOUTH. PRETTY COOL TO WATCH.

 

TO SUM IT UP, PIGS ARE OMNIVOROUS CANNIBALS!!!!

 

[billrquimby]

"TO SUM IT UP, PIGS ARE OMNIVOROUS CANNIBALS!!!!"

 

Problem is, javelinas are not pigs, and not even closely related to domestic swine.

 

Lyle Sowls, who used to head up the UA's cooperative wildlife unit and was the recognized expert on the three living species of peccaries, wrote a major book on peccaries. A section of it looked at the diet of our javelinas and found that it was almost strictly vegetarian.

 

Bill Quimby

[Kilimanjaro]

Ive spent the better part of almost everyday for the last 6 years in 36ABC and have never seen a feral hog, nor any sign of them....

 

Wanna hog hunt?? Go to TX or OK. There's more than you'll ever be able to shoot over there!

[soazarcher]

I watched a group of javelina clean up a Coues deer gut pile this year. Even licked the rocks when they were done.

 

I used to have a group of Javelina that lived near my old house, They would eat Horse Luber Grasshoppers (mexican generals) like rainbow trout, it was HILARIOUS to watch.

 

So... I would say Omnivorous

 

 

Matt

[Schmitty]

I watched a few pigs fight over a road killed cottontail the other night. Two of them were pulling on each end with a 3rd trying to get in on the action. They did not want to get out of the road until one proved to be the victor and ran off with his spoils.

[Coues Archer]

Thats cool. Down in Douglas a few years ago my uncle had a feral pig that would visit his property every day. And some stupid wild dogs killed it but it was huge. By far the biggest pig i have ever seen.

[justbones]

I hunted 36B a lot several years back. I spent many hours working the refuge from south to north. I never saw a hog but was told they were there. I did come across a possible bedding area of hogs not Javelina. I was around the area of Round hill and Round hill tank. The bedding area was huge and I did see tracks that were bigger than Javelina. I would think with the way pigs reproduce that if there are any people would see more or see any at all. On the other hand I would also think hogs make good targets for preditors. Thats my two cents.

[billrquimby]

I hunted 36B a lot several years back. I spent many hours working the refuge from south to north. I never saw a hog but was told they were there. I did come across a possible bedding area of hogs not Javelina. I was around the area of Round hill and Round hill tank. The bedding area was huge and I did see tracks that were bigger than Javelina. I would think with the way pigs reproduce that if there are any people would see more or see any at all. On the other hand I would also think hogs make good targets for preditors. Thats my two cents.

 

Before the Buenos Aires Ranch was bought by USFWS for a refuge, a couple of Tucson lawyers operated a shooting preserve and offered pheasant and duck shooting there. It's possible they also may have had a few feral boars, too.

 

Bill Quimby

 

[Ernesto C]

Humm........ very interesting, but, does any one has any pictures or videos of javelina eating meat?

I'm not saying that you guys are lying but any real facts or proof?

 

In one occasion, one old and experienced hunter told me that he, one time, watched two javelinas fighting, one killed the other one and then ate it! Was he pulling my leg??

 

Ernesto C

[cmc]

I hunted with an old timer years ago that when he was a child use to live down in 36A. Back during the great depression it got so tuff that his family let their hogs go out into the wild and they moved back to Tucson. We were down there hunting about 10 years ago and had seen some. When we told him of that he smiled and wondered if those were some of the descendants of his daddy's pigs that they let loose so many years before.

 

All I know is the ones we'd seen were HUGE!!! Didn't know back then we could have shot them. Live and learn.

 

cmc

[presnative]

Well boys I have been told by a friend there are wild pigs down by Tucson that have been hunted by a friend of my friend. I was told he took a huge one close to 600lbs. Game and Fish may not want them around therefore not managing them. The rest of the story is that apparently some Russian bore farmer went belly-up and instead of being responsible with his pigs he released them. If my memory serves me correctly, this place where they were released was South East of Tucson. I was interested in this for a possible meat hunt in the winter when the desert is cooler however, I never followed up. The person that shared this info. with me is straight-up and I have great respect for him.

[Bill]

Last Thursday night at the Southern Arizona Wildlife Callers meeting Bonnie Swarbrick of the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge gave a presentation to the club. She left hunting regulations with a map included for the refuge. In the Seasons and Permits section of the map it talks of feral hogs, "You may hunt feral hog during big game seasons. Each hunter must possess and carry a valid hunting license and big game permit for the season in progress. There is no bag limit."

 

Bill