I really enjoy hunting wild hogs and I enjoy talking to others about it. But I run into a lot of misunderstanding about what a wild hog really is. Even guys that hunt them often times don't really know the difference between one or the other.

I'm no expert and there is a whole lot I don't know so don't be too harsh on me. But, I thought I'd throw what I know out and hopefully help inform.

There are a bunch of different breeds of hogs but ALL hogs (which does not include javalina because they are not true hogs) originated from Eurasian boars. Eurasian boars/hogs are the original 'wild hogs' and are native to the continents or Europe and Asia, which includes Russia and many other countries. Domestication and selective breeding of the Eurasian hogshas produced the many varieties and crosses we see today.

Feral hogs are the result of the domestic varieties being released or escaping the confines of domestication and reverting to their wild state. Even as far back as before I was born, which some think was about the time dirt formed, hogs did not exist on this continent. The first hogs in Americawere importedduring the 16th & 17thcenturies by foreign explorers. These were domestics. These hogs were generallyallowed to wander freely and feed themselves. When the need for meat arose, they were rounded up with the ones selected for food being slaughtered and the remainders released again. That was pretty common practice until fencing came along. Often times, these hogs were completely abandoned due to disease and hardships eliminating the human influence. Subsequently, the beginnings of feral populations in Americatook hold and flourished.

"Russian boars" is not a specificsubspecies of wild hog. It is actually a slang term which came into use by localsin the 1920's - 30's to identify hogs that were showing up inthe feralpopulations with some characteristic featuresof Eurasian boars. These 'Russians' were the result of truly wild Eurasian boars, which had been imported to North Carolina from the Ural mountains of Russiafor hunting purposes but escaped their impoundment, and crossbred to the free-roaming feral hogs already present. The term 'Russian boar' became the reference to wild hogs and is widely used today.

I hope this helps. It comes from various sources I have researched.