You thought coyote drives and predator hunts were fun? How about hunts to counter dangerous, aggressive Canadian feral pigs supposedly invading America from the north? They’ve got a ways to go before these supposedly “highly intelligent” super-pigs make it to Illinois, but they may provide some great fun zombie-hunting them in the Northern Plains as early as this year.
From Field & Stream:
The U.S. may soon have a new wild pig problem. Until now, the invasive species has largely proliferated in warm places like the southeast, Texas, and California. But in recent years, invasive pigs have started thriving in Canada and may spread into North Dakota, Montana, Michigan, and Minnesota.
How Did Wild Pigs Invade Canada?
According to Dr. Ryan Brook, who leads the University of Saskatchewan’s Canadian Wild Pig Research Project, Canada’s wild pig problem is relatively new. “The U.S. has a 400-plus year history with invasive wild pigs, but we didn’t have any here until the early 1980s,” he says. “There was a big push to diversify agriculture with species like wild boards and ostriches. Wild boars were brought in from Europe to be raised on farms across Canada.”
Most of those pigs were kept on meat farms, but some were used on high-fence hunting preserves. Many farmers and ranchers soon crossbred the wild boars with domestic pigs. According to Brook, the hybridization resulted in bigger “super pigs” that could survive in cold climates. “For surviving in cold winters, one of the rules of ecology is: the bigger the better,” he says. “Larger body animals survive the cold better and have better reproduction in those conditions.”
In the early 2000s, the market for farmed boars dropped out in Canada. Some escaped from their enclosures and others were let free without anyone to sell them to. In less than 20 years, the wild—or feral—population exploded, in part due to the species’ extraordinarily high reproductive rate. Wild boars now roam approximately 620,000 square miles in Canada, primarily in the Prairie Provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta.
per pigs are coming south, likely heading to Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Michigan.
The problem? The super pigs are proving hard to eradicate.
Just like zombies. Only you don’t have to shoot them in the head to put them down!
Here are some videos of the fun and exciting world of hog hunting.
How do you shoot baby pigs? It’s easy. You just don’t lead ’em so far…
Oh, I think I know what I want to do this summer!
You thought coyote drives and predator hunts were fun? How about hunts to counter dangerous, aggressive Canadian feral pigs supposedly invading America from the north? They’ve got a ways to go before these supposedly “highly intelligent” super-pigs make it to Illinois, but they may provide some great fun zombie-hunting them in the Northern Plains as early as this year.
From Field & Stream:
The U.S. may soon have a new wild pig problem. Until now, the invasive species has largely proliferated in warm places like the southeast, Texas, and California. But in recent years, invasive pigs have started thriving in Canada and may spread into North Dakota, Montana, Michigan, and Minnesota.
How Did Wild Pigs Invade Canada?
According to Dr. Ryan Brook, who leads the University of Saskatchewan’s Canadian Wild Pig Research Project, Canada’s wild pig problem is relatively new. “The U.S. has a 400-plus year history with invasive wild pigs, but we didn’t have any here until the early 1980s,” he says. “There was a big push to diversify agriculture with species like wild boards and ostriches. Wild boars were brought in from Europe to be raised on farms across Canada.”
Most of those pigs were kept on meat farms, but some were used on high-fence hunting preserves. Many farmers and ranchers soon crossbred the wild boars with domestic pigs. According to Brook, the hybridization resulted in bigger “super pigs” that could survive in cold climates. “For surviving in cold winters, one of the rules of ecology is: the bigger the better,” he says. “Larger body animals survive the cold better and have better reproduction in those conditions.”
In the early 2000s, the market for farmed boars dropped out in Canada. Some escaped from their enclosures and others were let free without anyone to sell them to. In less than 20 years, the wild—or feral—population exploded, in part due to the species’ extraordinarily high reproductive rate. Wild boars now roam approximately 620,000 square miles in Canada, primarily in the Prairie Provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta.
per pigs are coming south, likely heading to Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Michigan.
The problem? The super pigs are proving hard to eradicate.
Just like zombies. Only you don’t have to shoot them in the head to put them down!
Here are some videos of the fun and exciting world of hog hunting.
How do you shoot baby pigs? It’s easy. You just don’t lead ’em so far…
Oh, I think I know what I want to do this summer!
Nice FMJ reference, John.
“If they run, they’re feral pigs. If they don’t run, they’re well-disciplined feral pigs!”
Saw my first wild boar last year. Was driving through the countryside in northern Minnesota. Spotted one in a field. Had to be at least 150lbs or more. Then driving through the south in January of this year. Saw a wild pig. Foraging right along the highway. Encountering one of these would probably make for a bad day.