Who cares about the new guy???

[Midlife Newb]

Uhhh...
I guess that's me...
Sorta. It could be said that I do have hunting experience. However I've never hunted animals. It was usually "bad guys". Or more to the point. People hunting me but I digress. Lately I've become obsessed with the notion of hunting the elusive and cunning and equally problematic wild boar of Central Alberta. Ignorantly and perhaps foolishly I've committed to taking part in this activity with the use of recently purchased 415 fps crossbow. I've also acquired a suitable amount of kit in preparation. Friends of mine also offered information and locations about where to pursue these formidable creatures but the information they provided didn't pan out. No matter. Still very much committed and very determined. I realize now, after extensive research conducted primarily online and phone interviews. This may be a potentially difficult and challenging pursuit. Only compounded by attempting to learn, track, and hunt alone. I also realize and understand that there are multiple opinions about hunting boar. The government says "kill em all". The experts say "hunting is not the solution" but can't determine what actually is the solution. And of course the hunters are saying that "this is all nonsense" and that they are quite capable of finding boar to hunt.
All I know is that I very much want to be a part of it and I want to do it with my crossbow. I have the determination, discipline, patience, skill set and equipment to see this through. I also have the latitude but what I could really use is a little guidance. Some minor indication of where to look. Or who's door to knock on. Or maybe just some good, old fashioned, no b.s. straight up advice. I appreciate straight forward comments. It's the language only a former soldier seems to understand. So. If anyone out there is able assist in any way. I will happily pay this favor back. Or forward! I'm sure I'm not the only retired soldier/mid-lifer with a crossbow and a hate on for hogs out there.

[Hooter]

For some reason everyone that knows the location of wild boars are tight-lipped. There have been a few posts on this is the past that may help you. Try using the Search function on this forum to get your started, although there may be very little information to go on. Good luck!

And welcome to the forum!

[bobwayzie]

Welcome

I've never understood why people would be tight lipped about wild boar locations. They're an invasive species that ruin habitat for other game species and ruin farms. It's really a disservice to not get the word out.

[Stinky Coyote]

man would i love to go get one or two of these things also, winter please, this would be an ideal one for my youngest who doesn't turn 12 until after hunting season and has got to watch his older bro get first deer last year and will get second deer this year, will take him for spring bear but i'd rather take him for a hog for the freezer, if you're down for some teamwork after hunting season count me in

if i had to guess, people would try to protect a free bacon resource as their own great area to hunt so maybe that's part of it, we do love bacon, hard to blame them

[Smoky buck]

Not that I really know anything about wild pigs since I have only seen them once. But the fact that they escaped from wild boar farms or high fence hunting farms it would probably be an idea to look near these kind of operations as a starting point

[huntinstuff]

First off, welcome to a great hunting site. AO is excellent.

Yup everyone is tight lipped. And I do understand why

Its a unique hunting opportunity. I get asked all the time but there is no benefit to telling anyone or taking someone along on a hunt. Its a recipe for disappointment

Like anything else, say something and next thing its a gong show. Soon, no pigs left or scarce.

Yeah, I busted my arse to find, earn the respect of the landowners and keep my mouth shut. It took years.

Im betting a sheep hunter would give GPS coordinates before an Alberta hog hunter would

I know your desire. I had that too. My work panned out. Yours will too, just not today

Drive, stop, introduce. It works. My boys proved it. Southern Alberta. They knew no one.

Drive, stop, introduce. Now they have permission on 87 quarters and they are back out tomorrow to ask again

I wish you the best.

[huntinstuff]

Originally Posted by bobwayzie

Welcome

I've never understood why people would be tight lipped about wild boar locations. They're an invasive species that ruin habitat for other game species and ruin farms. It's really a disservice to not get the word out.

If the huge damage was a problem on private land, landowners would be asking guys and gals to shoot them

If the hogs are wrecking crown land, find them.and hunt them all year long

Its simple.

TJ wrote an article on this very subject recently. I read it.

Oh, I see you are banned. Guess I typed for nothing

[Sooner]

Sangudo to Rochfort Bridge and go North. Start asking farmers.

I was on a hunt for pigs years ago and my friend got his 2 on his grandparents farm(how we knew they showed up), that was N of Sangudo and the Barrhead highway. They sold their land long ago and I heard the Hutterites own the land now.


My work has taken me to farmers near Rochfort Bridge. North of highway 43. They have seen the wild boars, they tell me they were a problem, now thinned out but still pockets out there. Lots of locals chase them.


A couple pigs showed up once on cams east of Elk Island, looked for sign of them all winter. Nada. Nothing this summer or fall. Must have been on a walk about.


Make the rounds in known areas and ask some farmers. Good luck, they sure taste good.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by bobwayzie

Welcome

I've never understood why people would be tight lipped about wild boar locations. They're an invasive species that ruin habitat for other game species and ruin farms. It's really a disservice to not get the word out.

Not so much that hunters are tight lipped, but the occurrences are comparatively rare and land owners legitimately worry about being overrun with Cityods, that's what happened around here.

Grizz

[Midlife Newb]

Wow. Reading those responses to my query was really awesome and I really want to thank all of you. This is honestly my very first forum. Normally I'm not a joiner and I even have the t-shirt to prove it but it's safe to say. I'M HOOKED. I'm grateful for the the door knocking advice because that was my very first instinct. As well as the invitation to partner up! Come on! Really! This incredible!
So other than your amazing input. Here's what I found today. I found it all online and think it's fairly compelling as well.
I found an article from 2019 in the Alberta Farm Express. It was an interview conducted with 2 experts about the boar problem. One of experts was a professor from the University of saskatchewan where the problem is much worse according to the prof and the other interviewee was our own "Assistant provincial pest specialists with Alberta Agricultural" Phil Abranenko. The gentleman both concede that there is very large problem with boar and they also agree that hunting boar is not the solution. It is their belief, based on an ongoing study. That if a sounder (group of boars that usually consists of a couple of sows and 2 letters of offspring 1 older 1 younger) is disrupted by the killing of a sow or 2 during the day. That group will then retreat to the low dense brush. Mate at an increased rate and ultimately become nocturnal. This was pretty much all that was said. No word about what the solution could or should be. Curious...
At this time I thought it might be a good idea to contact a fish and game warden to the government take on this thing. The officer simply paraphrased the 2 page document issued about the boar issue. "You find em. You kill em" and further concerns needed to be addressed to Alberta Agricultural. So I called them. They put me through to the man running the boar show. "The expert"
His name...
Perry ABRANENKO. I guess dad retired last year. I asked to speak to this man to hopefully get an idea of what the farmers attitude might be towards the boar. As well as attempt to determine what may be a reasonable solution to attempt to ultimately rid our province of these pigs. And to fill a few freezers along the way. 😉.
Perry politely responded by quoting the article I just read 10 minutes prior to this call. He also indicated that farmers are pretty much split down the middle about the issue. I also took the opportunity to propose a potential solution. An idea I borrowed from my time in the military. The idea was to hunt them at night. Perry responded with concerns about legalities and safety and things like that. I politely agreed. I then mentioned getting the proper authorisation from a farmer or land owner to conduct an evening hunt. Perry was convinced that no farmer that he's aware of would permit that kind of activity on their land. I also agreed but then I posed my actual intention to him and asked. "What if I and a small group of like minded hunters set up a bait stand, implanted tree stands and used crossbows? I was met with momentary silence followed by confusion and consternation...
That was the end of our conversation.
After that call I resumed my research and found a handful of hunters that took the time to respond to a document issued by Ab. Ag. stating very similar points as the aforementioned article. These hunters scoffed at the document's points and went on to say where, when and how they had each brought down wild boar. I learned of their exploits on this forum.
So essentially there seems to be 3 schools of thought.
1. Farmers know about the pigs and don't want to potentially make things worse.
2. Farmers don't believe that there's a problem because they haven't seen any pigs since they shot that big sow 4 summers ago
3. It's all crap. There are pigs out there. You just have to learn how to hunt them...

[Stinky Buffalo]

My understanding was that due to the bounty, landowners were becoming frustrated with passers-by pestering or trespassing on their land. Allegedly some domestic/pet pigs were killed by over-enthusiastic bounty hunters.

There was some grumbling that the landowners were probably just hoping to cash in on the bounty themselves.

The concern here in Alberta was that, if the pigs were to be established on our boreal region, they would be there to stay. It would be almost impossible to contain them. The damage they would create to indigenous wildlife as well as farming property would be significant (see this link for an example: https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2017/11/15/...al-trainwreck/)

At least that's how I understood it.

There was a member on here who started a registry/web site that tracked wild boar sightings in Saskatchewan, and if I recall correctly, he expanded it to Alberta as well. Here's the link: http://wildboarcanada.ca/index.php?f....TWlpQUaa.dpbs

[Grizzly Adams]

So essentially there seems to be 3 schools of thought.
1. Farmers know about the pigs and don't want to potentially make things worse.
2. Farmers don't believe that there's a problem because they haven't seen any pigs since they shot that big sow 4 summers ago
3. It's all crap. There are pigs out there. You just have to learn how to hunt them...


There's another school of thought, held by the government "experts", that recreational hunting is actually counter productive and merely disperses the herds. Their solution is baiting and mass trapping.

Grizz

[Dean2]

I have hunted wild Boar and Wild pigs in France, Germany, Poland, Hungary and a number of U.S. states. The issue in Alberta is there just aren't that many running loose to make a truly huntable population. It is actually quite a lot cheaper to go to the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Texas or even Hawaii to hunt pigs. There are also a couple of hunt farms here in Alberta for wild pig. What you pay in airfare and hunt costs will pale in comparison to what you will spend locating huntable numbers in Alberta, unless you live very close to a spot with a few animals. I don't mean this to discourage you, but you would be better off hunting bear if you are looking for meat and challenge. There are more of them and they taste better than wild pig. Hunting is fun and a guys should do as much as you can so if you decide to still go looking for wild pigs I wish you all the luck possible.

[3blade]

Find the nearest thick cover within 10 miles of any farm that raises boars. There are always escapes. Get permission. Be very sneaky, pigs will not give you a second chance.

I know of two opportunistic kills by farmers up north east of GP, 2 other nighttime sightings on roads by sangudo (everyone knows there are a few in the area, probably the hardest hunted animals in the province, completely nocturnal and mostly behind No Hunting signs), and one hunter who used to be a part of this forum that killed a bunch - that guy is a legend and has several world class big game bow kills under his belt. The advice at the top is what he told me while I was looking at the skulls - He always got them in areas that had boar farms.

Last thing we need is another invasive species causing problems. You picked one hell of a challenge for a first hunt. Stick with it. Good luck.