Wild Boar Blog Merger

This experimental blog "Wild Boar Hunting Worldwide" merged with my new boar hunting blog

Wild Boar Hunting in California and Worldwide.

In the future, look for new and exciting posts only in the new blog.

Wild Boar Rifles with Overkill

The story of the 630+ pound boar reminded me of hunting rifles quite commonly used by European hunters: Double rifles and drillings. I have yet to see an American hunter in the West use one. Maybe they are more common on the East Coast?

A double rifle or drilling is very well suited for the 'spot and stalk' method of hunting in forested hunting areas of many European countries with a great variety of widely differing game animals and at times overlapping seasons. A hunter with a drilling is prepared for just about any quarry that happens to cross his path.

As hunters we are all familiar with double-barreled break open shotguns. They come as side by side or over and under versions. Double rifles look and function exactly the same way. They also come in side by side and over/under versions.

Drillings have two side by side barrels and a third barrel, generally with a much smaller caliber, either above the side by side barrels or under them. The third small caliber barrel is almost exclusively used to shoot predatory targets of opportunity, such as feral cats, wild cats, small foxes and so on. The rifle barrels are for big game from deer to elk and, where they still exist, bear.

All of the doubles and especially the drillings have one significant thing in common: They are sinfully expensive. Prices between $ 2,000 and $ 5,000 are common. Better specimens cost even more, especially those with handcrafted ornamentation on the stock and the receiver of the weapon.

Many of these hunting rifles use the old 9.3 mm caliber. That's a .366. This caliber was already around before smokeless powder came on the market. The smokeless rimmed cartridge was developed in the early 1900s in Germany. It was widely used for big game hunting in Africa and all over the world.

Today it comes as 9.3 x 74R with 286 grain bullet. The muzzle velocity of 2360 fps produces 3538 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy. That's enough to deal with any big and dangerous game. It is more than adequate for a very large wild European boar. For lesser boar it is overkill! Here in the US it is a good choice for bear and other large dangerous predators.

Heym, Brenneke, Beretta, Bernardelli and, I believe Ruger, rifles, among others, come in 9.3x74R versions. Hornady just announced that they will offer this caliber in 2007. Other manufacturer are Norma, RWS and A-Square.

The 9.3x74R cannot be used in repeating rifles. It is rimmed.

Repeating rifles, bolt action and other repeaters, use the shorter and more compact 9.3x62 cartridge. It has almost identical performance characteristics. The original Mauser 9.3 bolt-action rifle is making a remarkable comeback after it almost disappeared from the arsenals of hunters around WWII. Whelen also makes a rifle for this cartridge.

Repeating rifles chambered in 9.3 x 62 are good all purpose hunting rifles for the discerning hunter of very big and dangerous game.

A true wild European Boar

My oldest son took this picture after a wild boar hunt in Austria in February of 2006.

This trophy sized true wild European/Russian boar weighed in at 287 kg, that is at over 631 pounds. Note the long, coarse bristles of the winter coat, the brownish-black color, which gives it a somewhat mottled appearance. It is excellent for camouflage in the underbrush of a European forest. This is without doubt a razor back though the actual 'razor' is barely discernible. The animal has been rolled over for dressing and the bristles of the razor are therefore flattened. But you can still see a line of long guard hair standing straight up beginning behind the ears on the top of the back.
Also note the impressive 'hump' starting right after the ears and extending halfway down his back. This gives the boar the characteristic wedge-shaped appearance.

We can safely assume that this boar also has a thick 'body armor' in the chest area. A wild European boar of his size (and age) has seen his share of fights over females. His 'armor' developed in response to injuries and wounds received in these fights.

I do not yet have information about the rifle used, but it was a large game hunting rifle chambered for the trusted and proven 9.3 mm cartridge. The 9.3 comes in two sizes, the 9.3x62 and the 9.3x74. This caliber was widely used in Africa for hunting big and dangerous game. The cartridges have muzzle velocities of 2500 and 2400 fps. It was, and still is, a popular hunting rifle in Europe for hunting large game. This cartridge was originally developed for Mauser rifles but is also used in rifles from other manufacturers such as Brenneke (9.3x62).

Wild Boar – Good for environment?

Environmental Benefits of Wild Boar
in California

Let's face it: Wild pigs all over the world have a bad reputation not only for being mean but also for the considerable damage they can afflict on protected cash crops and the land in general. After all, even a small herd of wild pigs can root up entire crop fields in one night and plow grasslands and hillsides in search of roots and tubers. Small mud holes become huge pig wallows and well watered fields new mud holes.

Yet in the Californian oak lands, there is a beneficial side to all this rooting in the Oak lands that ring the Central Valley.
Careful observation of grassy areas rooted up by wild pigs shows that native perennial grasses are coming back very fast after rooting by wild boar. This very rapid regrowth of the perennials suppresses annual grasses.
The Spanish Missions in California introduced many of the annual grasses, flowers and brushes around their Missions. From there, the annuals invaded the grasslands in the Oak lands around the Central Valley suppressing native perennial species and gradually replacing them.

Rooting wild pigs dig up the annuals. Now, fast growing perennial native grasses, flowers, shrubs and brushes can reclaim their place in the grasslands and brush belts. And they do so quickly and decisively. Bunch grass comes back, native flowers, shrubs and brushes flourish and acorns grow very, very fast.

This positive effect of wild boar on the environment of Oak lands in California may not apply to all environments and to all parts of California. But where it does, it is an important and good reason to keep wild pigs.
True, the boar can devastate crop fields in one short night; true, they can cause severe damage to hillsides, trails even to the fences of farmers protecting their fields. True, they can cost farmers money for protecting their high yield cash crops.

Yet, their activities favor native plants and help restore original balances in their habitats. Countless other species of animals and plants reap the benefits of these activities.

Moreover, wild boar also bring a lot of money into the coffers of the State and the local economy of cities in the pig belt of California. Where does that money come from? From hunters like you! Let us not forget that in our conversations with opponents of hunting and foes of wild pigs.

Wild Boar Hunting - My Passion and My Responsibilities

This blog is about my experiences with wild boar, hunting wild boar, my responsibilities to and respect for the game, preservation and conservation of nature in general. I know hunting is a controversial subject that is best not mentioned during any casual conversation at a party - lest you want to be ostracized by most party goers, females in particular.
But are hunters really brutal killers who find pleasure in blowing away Miss Piggy and satisfaction in murdering Bambi in cold blood?

No, we are not. Hunters perform valuable services by assisting in maintaining proper balances between animal populations, agriculture, ranching and the needs of an ever increasing human population.

Let's discuss wild pigs, their impact on 'cultivated' lands, native plants and wildlife, the effects of boar overpopulation on farmers and ranchers and anything else related to this big game.

I will moderate this blog to prevent extremes on either side. "Shoot'em all up" and 'How dare you murder Miss Piggy' posts are subject to being culled.