hello,
i found that there are hunting rregualtion on feral pig and boar.. what the difference? they are the same species after all.. how could i tell the difference? i can't find any really tangable answers anywhere... help please
thanks!

Caligula -

Check your Private Message box at the top of the forum.

No hunting regulations here in Texas for either other than the need for a hunting license unless it is for "control" type hunting. At the same time, I don't think I've ever met a shooter or farmer/rancher in Texas that didn't have a hunting license.

Most hunters refer to "boar" as of European stock. Of course, swine hail from just about any corner of the globe. The feral hog of Texas first appeared with the Spanish explorers. The fellows herded their stock of horses, mules, cattle, goats, sheep and pigs with them as they marched across the country. These animals wandered off and started "feral" colonies of their own anywhere the Spanish explored.

The European "boars" where introduced to my part of Texas by many of the large ranches. The answer why is often speculated on but the truth of the matter is well documented in the journals of many of the large ranches. As the large ranches developed their cattle herds from feral stock many animals where destroyed at the trailhead because they where diseased. An effective tool for eliminating the stack of carcasses were wild European hogs brought to this country by the boatload. Shipwrecks along the Texas coast only helped the spread of these hogs. I recently read a journal kept by a hand on the King Ranch and he commented on turning out thousands of hogs from pens along the railroad (US 77 now parallels this railroad) as the cattle market improved with the development of the Santa Gertrudes breed of cattle.

Michael

Pigs are pigs; all the same species. Have been dometicated for thousands of years so some are more 'wild' than others.

Wander on over to www.texasboars.com for a good afternoon of reading.

Mostly the wilder they get, the blacker their coats seem to be, but that's just based on casual observation.

Anyway..... if it doesn't have a collar and answer to 'babe,' then it's most likely a wild one. Where are you hunting?

One thing that you do need to be aware of is the difference between pigs and javelina, if you are hunting in the southwest. Javelina is a native species to north/south America; only very distantly related to pigs.

Most states have 'free for all' rules on pigs, just to try to control them. Check with your local game warden to be sure.....