Why so many?
 

Why are there so many?! 😭🤦🏾‍♂️

Semi domesticated Hogs, but much like dogs when domesticated dogs go feral, they tend to run in packs. Hogs are usually a family group pack, but they are flexible, after a few generations most of the neighboring packs are relatives. Packs or sounders are sometimes splintered by the death of the leaders and often break up into age groups. A typical sounder is around twenty members, but sometimes two or more sounders join up for a short period, the leaders are likely sisters or daughters. They tend to sort out the hierarchy by age, gender, and size, the pack leader is usually the largest and oldest, her oldest daughters my split off and start another sounder. A lot of studies have been done on their social structure. It's in their DNA and even domesticated Hogs are likely to revert back to the basics. The Sows are the pack leaders, Boars older than 18 months are usually run off and outsiders and only allowed to mix during breeding. The only check they have on too much inbreeding is solitary male Boar not running with the pack. Sows seldom tolerate full-grown Boar in the sounder for long, I'm not sure why but prevailing wisdom says the Boar have no nurturing instincts and sometimes eat the squeakers. Their behavior has genetically imprinted over thousands of years. Side note; if a Sow with a litter gets killed another Sow in the sounder will start lactating and take over motherhood, Sometimes multiple Sows lactate anyway. Their behavior can be a little flexible but even domestic Hogs seem to revert back to the standard after a few generations as ferals. The only real difference between Feral Hogs after a few generations and the real deal Wild Boar are the ferals often don't have the same breeding cycle of the real deal Wild Boar. Real Wild Boar only breed once a year in the Fall and often only the pack leader will breed, but not always. Real Wild Boar are categorized by age, first year, second year etc. Where feral domestics seem to come into season and breed more randomly. This random breeding seems to be a dominant trait, even after many generations and interbreeding with true Wild Boar.

I just don't want them during deer season lol. I went an entire month without seeing one hog at this spot. I just don't get it. I wish deer would eat something that hogs don't like. There has to be about a 5-1 hog to deer ratio on the property. I hate it.

Our philosophy when you want them to move along is to shoot a couple of one-year-olds. When the youngsters start to drop the lead Sow will usually lead the sounder out of the area. We often don't see that sounder again for weeks, sometimes months. The main reason we don't shoot the lead Sow is it makes the sounder more predictable when she is alive, we pick off the 1-2-year-olds, large enough to be worth it young enough to be better eating. And it keeps the sounder on the move and reduces crop damage in one area. I've seen a sounder of Hogs destroy many hectares of ripe wheat in a night or two, the farmers get seriously upset.
One tip, the big Boar might not show up for an hour after the sounder stops to feed. They tend to follow or trail the sounder at a distance.

One reason is this: People are feeding wild hogs.

In many states running deer feeders is legal. Thousands of tons of corn pass through deer feeders in southern Oklahoma and Texas every year. Most of that corn is eaten by wild hogs. Few years ago i began fencing my deer feeders. ":Fencing deer feeders, that won't keep hogs out. Hogs get over five foot fences and escape from traps", you say. Yep, those trapped hogs sense their lives are in danger. Wild hogs won't put the same effort into getting over a feeder fence. A 26" high fence will keep out 90 percent of hogs. A 34" pig panel fence will keep all the wild hogs out.

https://wildpigs.nri.tamu.edu/media/...g-stations.pdf

We attempt to keep the wild hog population at one property down by shooting little pigs at an unfenced feeder. i sit in a stand about 40 yards away with a pump shotgun loaded with number 3 or 4 buckshot. i've killed as many as seven pigs at one shot. Earlier this year we killed 70 pigs in five outings after we killed several sows. When the pigs quit coming i shut the feeder off.





Dead pigs don't grow up to be hogs

Because you don't invite myself and like-minded rednecks to your lease to ease the population for you! I don't want them here but sometimes I wish I lived where they were plentiful. A few of us are heading to S. Florida next month to hopefully get a few.

WVDaniel, I saw where they had been in the mountain near Whitesville, WV while bowhunting bear a few years back. The destroyed about a half acre right near where I was hunting, looked like a tiller had been in there. I hope they never take hold in those mountains

Yes, we have had a small population for many years that have seemed to remain isolated to one specific area without expanding. We do have a season on them but I've never gone that far to go after them in our state. Interesting how they prove to be quite the breeder in the south but apparently not in our mountains for some reason.

The real deal Wild Boar only breed once a year, Domesticated Hogs are selectively bred to come in season, mate, and have litters multiple times a year. Your Hogs may be closer to the wild variety?

Maybe the same thing that is going on around here, the teenagers between one and two years old do stupid stuff and are the first to die. The three-plus year olds are smart and the younger ones follow them pretty closely. I've watched the older Sows lead the sounder on a roundabout route to where they feed, avoiding high seats and shooting towers, the teenagers cut corners and break into the open more, The Hog population remains fairly static here. We aren't really interested in wiping them out, but we do try to manage them and keep the damage at tolerable levels. Besides if you don't get greedy you can keep your freezer full year after year.
Many domesticated Hogs are line breed, That is how they keep many lines nearly hairless, fast-growing, more fertile, and with a shorter snout so they can't dig as well. There are lines of Hogs that can hardly dig at all, graze and don't root.

Actually it is the weather in the area the wild hogs are that determines how many times a year they breed and have young, not whether they are truly wild or just feral. In the states the hogs in the southern part of the county can have 2 or 3 litters while the hogs in the northern part of the county will have just one.

Real Wild Boar mate in the Fall and have a litter in late winter early spring. Their gestation period is somewhere between 110 and 120 days. I have no real first-hand Observation, feral domestic Hogs are rare here but they are around. I've always assumed and read that domesticated Hogs are breed to have multiple litters a year, Which makes sense more litters more money, and a more efficient production model.
I imagine it can be weather-related, but the trigger for Wild Boar seems to be colder weather and/or shorter days.
It seems reasonable some lines of feral domestic Hog revert back to the standard over the generations. It has been hypothesized that multiple litters a year may be dominant in some lines. Most feral populations breed randomly and eventually over generations revert back to the base model or a hybrid very close to the original.

Where I hunt for hog in SC there are real wild hogs, they have multiple breedings a year. I cannot speak for Europe. All wild hogs in the southern states came initially cam from domestic animals that the explorers and settlers released.

While feral hogs can have multiple litters per year, at least here in Texas, it is generally about 3 litters every 2 years. The reason there are so many hogs isn't just because of the additional litters, but because of the high survival rate of the young, usually >70%.

maybe from the feeding

They say Corn is Hog superfood and increases their metabolism. They mature faster, breed earlier, and get generally bigger. The Wild Boar plague here can be graphed to show the rise in numbers is directly proportional to the number of acres of Corn planted for ethanol. There are some other minor factors, like a reduced number of hunters and counties closed to hunting.