https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFMT...ature=youtu.be

A buddy called about a new place he now has access to hunt and asked for some help. He said there were a lot of hogs. He said they would run out in front of him as he and the rancher drove the property. That didn't happen when I arrived, but later that evening, they made an impressive appearance.

Man, I've seen big bunches of hogs down in south Texas before, but nothing like that in just one pasture. It will be interesting to see how often you can get in there and how many you can take before there are 3 or 4 hundred!

And here is part 2. This was a much more difficult hunt for several reasons, many of which had to do with the fact that the cattle were active, very active and that we had structures in the area. Even so, a good time!

I found it odd a mature (male) Boar mixed in with a sounder (part 1). Pure breed wild Boar you don't see that. The mature males are either following a Sow in season (sniffing Hog butt) or separated from the sounder if they do show. If they try to mix with the sounder the lead Sow will often position herself between the male Boar and the rest of the sounder. Sometimes the lead Sow gets pretty aggressive.

I'm kind of interested in the differences between true Wild Boar, the hybrids and the differences in behavior. I always wondered if it was learned behavior or genetic? It's likely genetic, I'm wondering if they are evolving? I think maybe the differences in the mating cycles between true European Boar (once a year) and the hybrids (multiple times a year), is slowly making a new sub species?

Most of their inclinations (behavior) seem constant between the North American Boar and European Boar. There seem to be some differences.

Congrats on some good shooting.

i sometimes hunt a 160 acre wheatfield in Tillman county, OK. It's not unusual to see 150 wild hogs at the same time in two or three groups.

Sometimes a mature boar or two are mixed in with the sows and pigs. Sometimes the boars graze some distance from the sounder. i've seen mature boars a little ways from the sounder observing the action and not feeding.

That is interesting. From what I have read of wild boar in the UK and Estonia, the boars will stay with the sounder throughout the breeding season before behind chased off. As we don't have a breeding season here, per se, females coming into heat at various times (depending on the individual females), the boars may be associated with sounders more often.

As for evolution. All animals are in that process, be it via phyletic gradualism or punctuated equilibria. Remember that nature does not care about titles such as species and subspecies. Those are something of artificial constructs with arbitrary definitions. There are already quite a few subspecies named, though most folks would be hard pressed to understand the differences between some of them.

I really can't remember ever seeing a mature male Boar mixed in with the sounder this time of year, I'm sure it happens occasionally. When the Boar starts driving a sow in season, they usually move away from the sounder, it can get noisy. There is a window when the male Boar is mature and transitions from sounder member to full grown male and splits from the sounder, they sometimes pair off in brother pairs when they first leave the sounder. There is also a window when the mature or the lead Sow comes in season and a mature male Boar tracks the sounder and tries to mix in. Maybe I'm splitting hairs.

You are probably right, the random times the mature sows in a hybrid sounder come into season probably trumps genetic tendencies.

Most times when a sounder shows up, the Deer take off, often screaming alarm. When the Deer spook and flee screaming I set up for Hogs. Then when you think it is a rule, you see them grazing together. I remember once watching a Doe with fawn grazing right along beside a loner Alpha Boar. Which I found to be really odd.

The old timers say the Sows run off the mature Boars to protect the piglets. They say a mature Boar will sometimes eat the piglets. We have all heard the stories about how protective a Sow can be.

I'm always looking for anomalies and studying animal behavior, I find it really interesting.

The social dynamic of a sounder can be kind of fluid, I try to spot trends and probabilities.

When I'm hunting for male Boar, late summer/autumn, I'll often let the sounder settle in to feed and watch their back trail. As often as not I'll see a Boar wander in half an hour to an hour later. If he gets too close, the lead Sow will confront him. Not a rule just a tendency.

I don't have to go far to find wild Boar, there is a sounder on county lands maybe a mile and a half from my house. I see them a few times a month.

i've often seen cattle approach hogs in wheatfields. Maybe the cows are just inquisitive, or something. The hogs usually don't mind. Several times i've joined the cows in their approach to the hogs. This tactic has worked well for me; i've always got two or three hogs this way.

We actually watched the cattle go after the hogs several times. I had not seen this before. I am used to seeing hogs mixed with cattle, the hogs being more active and the cattle being relaxed or bedded. So this was a very different experience for me.

I like hunting amongst the cattle. The cattle provide a lot of movement and noise cover and the hogs seem to feel very safe, nestled in with the cattle.

Here is this week's trip out to Palo Pinto. It was a fine night, temps in the 20s, light breeze, and some hogs that are getting a bit more cautious. The first stalk was near a cemetery where we got hogs at a cattle feeding pen. The second stalk was a very long stalk across part of two fields, ending in the long distance head shooting of two hogs after getting busted once and pushing the hogs further out. It was a really interesting night.