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What is the difference between wild boar and domestic pigs. Boar. age determination At what age is a boar considered an adult

Nice trophy with those fangs.

The wild boar often causes painful disagreements between employees of hunting farms and farmers, because. in some cases, it causes significant damage to agricultural crops, and the only way to combat it in the summer is considered to be shooting on "grass". However, this measure should become a thing of the past, and today we have no right to carry out uncontrolled shooting “without rules”, during which leading females, middle-aged bulls, are sometimes destroyed.

Shooting must be targeted and directed, both to use and to maintain the optimal abundance of the species. In addition, we are talking about conducting selective shooting among wild boars (as well as among other species). This shooting should be considered as an important measure for the formation of highly productive populations, the preservation of their genetic and physiological fund. Unfortunately, even in those cases when selection work is carried out, it suffers from one-sidedness, because it is most often carried out only among males. Females, young, semi-adult and elderly individuals, which make up the majority of the population, are outside the selection, i.e. are not industrialized in the required percentage. A certain ratio of all sex and age groups must be maintained in the population. Without observing this principle, it is impossible to get either good trophies or high numbers. In accordance with the principles of such shooting, on the one hand, damage to agricultural crops is prevented, and on the other hand, there is the possibility of directed (targeted) shooting of animals culled during the planned shooting. It is very important to maintain the number of wild boars at a level corresponding to the productivity of the land and the preservation of the most mature and powerful animals. In other words, it is necessary to correctly assess the condition of all age groups of the herd and destroy the least promising ones.

Often, during shootings, animals are shot that could be excellent producers for several years.


The family is not without freaks.

Insofar as the fundamental principle is to maintain the optimal state of the population, it must be taken into account that only a powerful, physically strong, healthy underyearling will grow into a strong gilt, which will eventually develop into a powerful trophy billhook. First of all, those individuals from all age classes that have pronounced physical disabilities are subject to shooting. I would like to note that in slightly disturbed biocenoses, natural selection guarantees selection, but in hunting farms, where a person takes on the role of a regulator of numbers (and especially density), things take a slightly different turn. A person strives to have a high number of game animals, exterminates predators, carries out abundant feeding, carries out veterinary measures that reduce the likelihood of epizootics, etc. As a result of all these measures, weakened individuals survive, they are unstable, behavioral stereotypes change. Decrease in the action of natural selection factors leads to the grinding of animals. But valuable qualities of the population can be preserved by systematic selection by shooting. To do this, it is necessary to know some features of the morphology and biology of the wild boar: to be able to distinguish underyearlings from two-year-olds in a natural setting by characteristic external features, and in adults to determine sex; know the average accepted level of development (weight, body size, typical coloration for a given population and molting terms; terms of mass farrowing; be able to distinguish a healthy boar from a sick or wounded boar by behavior). For example, physically defective females that give birth to defective offspring, which later becomes the cause of population degradation. If such a case occurs, you need to shoot the female, and then her entire brood. Powerful females leading broods (hereinafter referred to as leading ones) are the basis for maintaining the qualitative state of the population. It should be noted that if in the first year of life there are no necessary conditions for the full development of underyearlings, then it will be possible to catch up later. impossible. The shooting of females must be done under absolute control. By the way, it was noted that it is the orphaned young of the year that cause the greatest harm to agricultural crops. Such animals usually concentrate on the territory that they managed to recognize while their mother was alive.

Due to their inexperience, underyearlings look for the most readily available food. Underyearlings, whose mother died as a result of improper shooting, are deprived of mother's milk, as a result of which they will never be able to develop into physically strong, healthy animals. In practice, it turns out that by shooting a female who has piglets, we weaken the population. When shooting, the following principles must be observed:


Big family. Leading females with offspring.
  • 90% of the planned shooting should be fingerlings and gilts (65-75% fingerlings and 15-25% gilts)
  • The remaining 10% are females and bulls who have stepped over the age of maturity (over 8 years old), barren females that have not had broods for 2 years in a row, walking alone.
  • Gilts weighing less than 40 kg.
  • Underyearlings weighing less than 20 kg.
  • Gilts and underyearlings of spotted, light or black color.
  • Throughout the year, prohibit the shooting of healthy leading females.
  • In addition, you need to make sure that this is a female, and not a low-quality billhook.
  • It must be remembered that all age groups should be harvested, but in different percentages.

The rule that the weakest individual in the herd is to be destroyed, when shooting females in general, should be elevated to the rank of a higher law. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the late dates of estrus, i.e. shoot late-born children first.

Determining the age of the boar.

When timely shooting of individuals in the age group of piglets in the winter months, special care must be taken not to mistakenly shoot the leading individual in the herd. It goes without saying that only a few females can and should safely survive the age of gilts, since the increase in the number of females in older age categories will adversely affect the sex ratio of individuals within the population as a whole. Therefore, in order to maintain an optimal sex ratio, it is recommended, ceteris paribus, to shoot the female, and not the billhook. As for billhooks, in the total number of individuals shot, their percentage should be low. To a certain extent, control over the course of shooting in general (and bulls in particular) should be carried out on a specific territory of the economy under the strict control of the hunting user. The billhook to be shot should give the impression of a powerful, mature individual. Before shooting, it is necessary to be completely convinced on the basis of clear external signs that the billhook is really to be shot. If there is no complete certainty, culling cannot be carried out, since there is a danger of erroneous shooting of young, not quite mature bulls. A billhook that has passed the age of a gilt and entered an older age category (over 3 years old) is not subject to shooting. In no case should such wild boars be culled, even if, according to formal age signs, they are included in the group of those who are shot. Killing young boars that are not yet of age to be shot is often justified in the interest of protecting nature and preventing harm to agriculture (which could be achieved by other means). However, in reality, such an illiterate shooting causes much more significant harm to nature. It is known that young growth mainly stays in forests where there is a good forage base, and practically does not leave them, encroaching on agricultural land extremely rarely and only for a short time. The argument that young animals should be shot is based on low skill, lack of hunting culture and deep ignorance of the actual state of affairs. In practice, in the absence of preventive measures, herds of gilts and pigs with litters of year-old piglets can harm agriculture. Among them are the following groups:


While the young are feeding on milk.
  • Herds consisting of one female with piglets of the year. Outwardly, such herds are easily distinguishable from other groups.
  • Herds consisting of several females with piglets of the year. In such groups, one female is usually subject to shooting.
  • Herds consisting of gilts and their older siblings or individuals from other broods.
  • Mixed herds in which it is possible to distinguish a four-year-old billhook (especially during the rutting season or in the presence of good food) and a female with yearlings.
  • All other, solitary individuals can be: bulls, barren females (relatively rare), sick individuals, or experienced females that have isolated themselves to live on their own.

Powerful bulls during the rut almost never join the herds. They can only accidentally meet a herd on their way, and if there are females in heat in it, the billhooks stay for the night, and in the morning they leave the herd again. In conclusion, it should be added that in the population as a whole, individuals of light or yellowish shades are considered undesirable and should not be preserved. They need to be shot at the age of piglets of the year or gilts. The presence of such individuals in older age classes indicates that the shooting was not carried out quite correctly, and these individuals need to be eliminated. The exception here is the leading alpha females during the forbidden time for hunting. Regarding the appearance of light-colored or spotted individuals in the herds of wild boars, I would like to clarify the following. According to the works of Tsarev S.A. such individuals arise as a result of mating of young females - underyearlings with young males, because. they instinctively avoid large billhooks. As a result of mating of individuals that have not reached full physical development and often closely related mating (inbreeding), a brood with an atypical color appears. As a rule, such animals should be shot. If a late-giving female appears in the herd, the entire brood is shot, including her. But if you meet a spotted or light-colored female of a fairly mature age and well-formed, do not rush to shoot her, because her offspring may already be of a completely normal color, moreover, she will not inherit those undesirable traits that she got. Heredity, as you know, has variability, and natural selection consolidates only those traits that best suit environmental conditions.

The main directions of management.


Frightened gilts quickly scatter.

As with other types of game animals, the management of game management with wild pigs requires a union of science and practice. As prerequisites, the following should be taken into account: an inventory of hunting grounds in order to determine the key habitats of the wild boar, ensuring its year-round existence in terms of food, protection and farrowing places, the presence of predators and wild dogs, the anthropogenic factor, the possibility of creating fodder fields and distracting feeding. Next, we will talk about the composition of the population by sex and age, which gives the highest productivity, both in terms of quantity and quality of animals. The sex ratio has a great influence on the amount of growth. It depends on the circumstance, how many females are involved in reproduction, what is their fecundity, and it largely depends on age. The task of the economy is to achieve a sex ratio of 1:1. But, in view of the fact that hunters tend to get the largest animals, and these are, as a rule, males, the sex ratio shifts in favor of females. Sometimes, when wild boars cause great damage to agriculture, a ratio of 2: 1 in favor of males is also acceptable. This ratio gives a great opportunity to grow trophy animals.

Age classes.

Unlike other species of ungulates, whose age is relatively easy to determine by eye according to the features of the body and trophies, the age of wild pigs is rather difficult to determine and requires some experience and observation in their determination. Age is most accurately determined at the childhood stage of development. Both sexes are characterized as a brood (wild boars up to a year old) or, as is customary with us, “yearlings”. According to the German classification, this age is considered from March to May of the next year and is called "pigs". At this age, males and females are indistinguishable from each other, but are easily distinguished at a distance from older animals. At one time, Brandt (Brandt 1961) developed an approximate scheme for determining the age of harvested animals depending on the development of the lower canines, and Przibilsky (Przibilski, 2001) on the wear of the upper ones. Here is the diagram:

An attempt was made to roughly determine the scoring on a hunted wild boar, whose fangs have not yet been removed. Its essence is as follows: we measure the lower fangs at the base of the section. By the wear of the upper and lower fangs, we determine the approximate age. Based on the Brandt formula, we find the width at the base of the canine. Since it appears from the work of some experts that the lower canines protrude one third from the jaw, we can find the total length of the lower canine by adding two thirds. The girth of the upper canines is easy to measure, because. their most powerful part is usually measurable. As a result, we get all the measurement parameters, but we cannot judge discounts and surcharges. However, this data is sufficient to determine which award the trophy is worth. But this is only the author's assumption, perhaps hunters will try to check it. It was stated for one purpose: hunters should know the dignity and value of the trophy. On living animals, some differences from each other are noticed, but we repeat that they require very great attention when identifying them, more precisely, these differences are better and more accurately determined by huntsmen and hunters, who, by the nature of their activities, have the opportunity to constantly observe wild boars in natural conditions and under different lighting conditions. Below is a description of wild boars of different ages and illustrations for descriptions that could help hunting specialists in their work, and hunters would serve as a small guide when hunting wild boars.

Underyearlings.


Such a boar and water is not a barrier.

They have a child-shaped head, a short snout, small ears, covered with short bristles. Light spots are clearly visible on the head. The color of the body is striped, yellowish-brown, which lasts up to 5-6 months, completely disappears in August. The tail is short and thin, reaching to the middle of the thigh. In winter attire, the body seems to be more powerful due to the overgrown underfur. The legs are relatively short and covered with dark hair. In good light and at a short distance, the brush on the tail is already noticeable at this time. In the illustration on the right, the letter A denotes a 4-month-old underyearling, and the letter B denotes an 8-month-old.

Piglet.

The next age class is "gilts". It is considered from one to 2 years. There is no more precise definition, because even boars a year older often look like classic gilts. The head, due to the overgrown winter bristles, seems short and blunt; the childish forms completely disappear. The shape of the body becomes more powerful, especially in the front. Light stripes are not visible. On the lips, swelling is clearly visible, through which the tips of the lower fangs are visible. The ears are short, covered with powerful bristles. The tail is long, almost to the hock, with a brush at the end. By December, the length of the lower fangs is on average 116 mm. The width at the base is 19.0 mm, at the beginning of the section - 12.0 mm. The Brandt number is 1.6. The girth of the upper fangs is 54 mm. Average weight 38.0 kg. On the left is a male, on the right is a female. The question of weight is quite controversial, because. it entirely depends either on the abundance of natural food, or on appropriate feeding. So, for example, in the Moscow Regional Society, underyearlings reach a weight of 41 kg due to abundant feeding, naturally, the weight of gilts is much higher. At the same time, in societies where everything is not so safe, weight indicators are much lower. This example is given to emphasize the exceptional importance of winter feeding.

Two-year-old boar.

Two-year-old boar. He has a powerful short head, childlike features completely disappear, the crease on the lips increases, the tips of the lower fangs and the rudiments of the upper ones begin to look through it, but only in summer. In winter, due to regrown wool, they are not visible. The figure is more massive than that of the gilt, especially in the front. The front legs are powerful and short. The summer coat is grey, the winter coat is dark brown to black due to the regrown long bristles. In winter attire, the ears are covered with powerful, short, dark bristles. The line of the back is arched, in the transition from the back to the neck, a deepening is noticeable, then a smooth decrease from the withers to the thigh. The tail is thicker and longer than that of a gilt with a long tassel. By January, such a wild boar should have (on average) the following indicators: The length of the lower fangs is 127.0 mm. The width at the base is 20.0 mm, the width at the beginning of the section is 14.0 mm. The Brandt number is 1.5. The girth of the upper canines is 60.0 mm.

Middle-aged boar (3-5 years).


Boar head 3-5 years old.

Boar from 3 to 5 years. The head is powerful, blunt in shape. The ears are large and covered with dark hair. The boundary between it and the body is clearly traced. Powerful snout, highly raised labial folds. In five-year-old billhooks, the lower and upper fangs are clearly distinguishable. The transition between the head and neck in summer is hardly noticeable, especially in older individuals. From the middle, the line of the back to the hips goes down, abruptly breaking off towards the back. The body is massive and short, most of it is located in the front. The front legs are short, powerful, squat than in 2 years old. The tail is powerful and long, with a large brush at the end, reaching to the heel joint. The sexual organ is clearly outlined even in winter wool. Behavior is typically solitary. Only during the rut appears in the herd of females, but plays an insignificant role, because. driven off by more powerful males. In a state of excitement, the hair on the back is strongly fluffed up, and the billhook looks even more massive. When settling, it behaves extremely carefully, keeping in dense thickets of young growths. It comes out to feeding grounds only late at night. A billhook of this age has the following average trophy rates:

  • The average length of the lower canines is 159.0 mm.
  • The width at the base is 22.0 mm.
  • The girth of the upper canines is 68.0 mm.
  • The Brandt number is 1.2.

At the age of 5 to 7 years, the growth of the skeleton ends in wild boars.

Boar 8-9 years old.

A powerful animal, the head is equal in length to a third of the body, the neck is practically not expressed, immediately passes into the back, which rises with a smooth hump to half of the body, then gradually decreases to the hips, from them it sharply drops to the tail. The ears are large, covered with black bristles, the fangs are clearly visible through the labial fold, most of the body weight is located in the front, the legs are short and powerful. At the withers there is a long dark brown bristle, the so-called "brush". The tail is long and strong, the brush at the end of the tail reaches 25 cm. The indicators of trophies are as follows:


Adult boar-Odinets.
  • The average length of the lower fangs is 22.3 cm.
  • The width at the base is 29 mm.
  • The average girth of the upper canines is 7.8 cm.
  • The Brandt number is 1.01.

By this age, the growth of the skeleton had ended, the increase in the width of the lower canines had completed, both at the base and at the beginning of the section, and the wear of the lower and upper canines had finally formed. The trophy gained the largest dimensions both in terms of the length and width of the lower canines, and in terms of the girths of the upper ones. Now the wild boar in the full sense of the word is trophy - mature. In subsequent years, the growth of canines continues extremely slowly, various kinds of deformations occur, often the width of the lower canines at the beginning of the section becomes greater than at the base.

In accordance with the age of the piglets of the current year of birth are called "year-olds", last year's - "gilts" or "lonchaks", a male 2-3 years old - "young billhook", from 3 to 5 years old "hook", 5-7 years old " mature billhook", 8 years and older - "Odinets".

Females have the following gradation: primiparous or two-year-old female, middle-aged and old female. A female with offspring is called a leading female, covered every year - by a female - leader or female - resident. On the basis of her broods, a family-group union is built. The idling female is called barren. The rate of reproduction depends on the number and age of females involved in reproduction. Peak productivity in females occurs at 5-7 years and continues until old age. Females - underyearlings participating in reproduction, do not give an actual increase in numbers, because their offspring do not survive the winter. In unfavorable years, they are completely excluded from reproduction. The main role in reproduction is played by the availability of food in the autumn-winter period.


Mature cleaver.

In addition to age gradation, there is also a gradation of trophy (productive) maturity for males.

Class 1a: The billhook, which is the purpose of management, must meet the following requirements: its age must be at least 8 years old. Cleaver should give the impression of a mature, powerful beast. Its weight in the summer period is not less than 85 kg. The ratio according to the Brandt formula is from 1.03 to 1.0. The width of the lower fangs should be at least 24 cm on average. The girth of the upper fangs should be on average 65 mm. The trophy score is at least 100 points according to the CIC system.

Class 2a: billhook of all age classes, unmistakably defined, according to the size of the hull and its weight corresponding to its class, but not yet mature, not having reached the necessary conditions. The lower canines according to the Brandt formula are from 1.50 to 1.05, the width of the lower canines at the beginning of the section should correspond to the age class and differ from the width at the base from 3 to 6 mm, which in the future makes it possible to expect an even greater width in adulthood. The girth of the upper canines should correspond to the age class: In the gilt - an average of 55 to 60 mm. In young bulls (2-3 years old), on average, from 60 to 65 mm. In middle-aged billhooks (from 3 to 5 years) - an average of 65 to 75 mm.

Shooting planning.


The boar plows for feeding.

When planning the shooting, it is necessary to take into account the ratio of sex and age in the herd, as well as the purpose of the economy. Typically, under normal conditions, shooting by age class is planned as follows: 90% of the planned shooting should be for piglets and gilts (65-75% of piglets, 15-25% of gilts) and 10% of females and bulls that have reached trophy maturity. When carrying out shootings, it is necessary to adhere to the rules that were mentioned above, namely, unproductive animals should be removed first of all: In terms of farrowing, females with late (June-July) broods, including piglets, are shot. At the same time, the female is shot first, and then the piglets. Pigs whose weight in autumn is less than 40 kg, piglets with an autumn weight of less than 20-25 kg, piglets that retain traces of striping in August, especially with signs of weakness, piglets with deviations from normal coloration (white-motley and black), single females, do not producing broods for 3 years, mature bulls, which by the beginning of the rut do not gain their maximum weight. Mature old bulls who have passed the highest point of their development, females and bulls, older than 8 years. Animals that are characterized by slow movements, coughing, passivity. Distinctive features of their exterior are the sagging of the backside, hunchback, the hair on the back is fluffy. There is one misconception among rangers: they believe that the larger the old boar is, the better the producer. Generally speaking, young females, for example, (according to the observations of Tsarev SA) instinctively avoid such giants. Younger, but already mature males, such a “grandfather” drives away, but one does not have time to cover all the females. As a result, a large percentage of emasculated females appears; there is a decrease in the productivity of the herd. That's why it is more rational to withdraw such a billhook in time. The huge head of such a billhook is an excellent trophy, even if his fangs are not very large. A scarecrow from it (if there is a taxidermist on the farm) will cost a lot of money.

The material was prepared by A.I. Asinovsky,
trophy group of the CPU of the Rosokhotrybolovsoyuz Association.

Every hunter should be able to determine the type, sex and age of the animal. In a well-organized economy, a fine for taking an animal of the wrong sex, species, or age can cost the hunter significantly more than the cost of taking a legal animal.

At first glance, it may seem that it is impossible to make a mistake in the definition of the species. However, this is not the case. Not to mention absolutely anecdotal cases when livestock (cows and horses) were killed instead of elk and deer, it is not easy to distinguish between female fallow deer, spotted and European deer without much experience. And instead of a moose bull, after dropping the horns, it is easy to make a mistake and shoot at a cow. However, it is still easier with deer-like ones than with wild boars. Therefore, it seems necessary to tell hunters about the field determination of the age and sex of wild boars. This knowledge is also absolutely necessary for rangers and game managers of hunting farms for the correct implementation of plans for the operation of livestock. Signs that allow you to identify an animal can be divided into two groups. Some of them can be evaluated and comprehended before the prey of the beast. These are the size of the tracks and the appearance of the animals. Others can only be determined after extraction: the exact dimensions of individual parts, the degree of wear of the fangs, their shape and size.

In Western European countries with a high culture of hunting management, all wild boars are divided into age classes by age. This is due to the fact that wild boars 3, 4 and 5 years old are anatomically close, as well as 6, 7 and 8 year old animals.

Definition of age classes

As already mentioned, it is relatively difficult to determine the age of wild boars in the field. This requires observation and considerable experience. Usually, before the animal itself, we meet its traces. They, depending on the properties of the soil and vegetation, can be expressed with varying degrees of detail. However, they are individual for each animal.

Moreover, they also have common features that make it possible to determine the age, sex and approximate weight of the animal.

The individuality of the track increases with the age of the animal, practically reflecting its history and biographical features. Unfortunately, most hunters are not accustomed to paying attention to the individual characteristics of animal tracks, limiting themselves only to assessing age and, occasionally, gender. However, it seems obvious that the ability to see and remember the individual features of the tracks of wild boars is very useful for any hunter and, I think, absolutely necessary for a professional huntsman. You need to not just look at the traces of animals, but learn to see their elements.

Boars are artiodactyl animals, so their footprints consist of prints of two middle fingers (third and fourth), which end with sharp-nosed hooves.

On the ground, in addition to them, there are prints and convex crumbs of fingers. Their total footprint is measured when determining the length and width of the track. On the tracks of one-year-old and older animals, lateral (second and fifth) toes-to-marigolds are usually also imprinted. Fingers in animals are counted, like in humans, from the inside out, that is, from the thumb to the little finger.

In addition to width and length, each footprint has a number of other features. Adult boars always have different hoof shapes. They differ in width and angles at the tops.

As a rule, the tops of the hooves of male wild boars have a greater angle compared to females. Moreover, almost always the edges of the hooves of adult animals have defects in the form of chips and cracks. The gap between the hoof prints of the third and fourth toes may be of equal width along the entire length of the print, or (more often) widen towards the front at different angles. Usually the hooves on the middle fingers also have different lengths. The nails are also very rarely arranged symmetrically. Each footprint of an individual animal has its own distance from the axis of the track (to the direction of movement of the animal) and its own angle with respect to it. In other words, each animal places its legs wide or narrow and turns them differently in relation to the direction of movement. The heavier the boar, the wider he puts his legs on the go.

If we take into account that each animal has four legs, it becomes clear that there are a lot of individual signs in the traces of wild boars. In addition, depending on the length of the animal's body and the height of its legs, the length of its step changes. For the successful management of the hunting economy, it is necessary that practical workers (rangers and hunters) be able to identify their wild boars by footprints. This is a very real challenge.

The age of wild boars, like most other animals, can be determined by the degree of tooth wear. Of course, they can only be explored by obtaining or immobilizing the beast for a while. Pshibilsky gives a diagram of thin sections of the upper canines for male wild boars of different ages. As the billhook ages, its upper fangs become longer and more twisted, and the section area on them increases in proportion to age. The well-known German hunter Brandt found out the connection between the shape of the lower fangs and age. To take advantage of his recommendations, you need to boil the fangs out of the jaw. After that, it is necessary to measure the diameter of the canine at the base and at the beginning of the section. The ratio of the first to the second (this ratio is called the Brandt number) in underyearlings is about two, in the oldest bulls it is one. In other words, in the old billhook, the canine thickness is the same from the root to the section, while in the underyearlings at the top, the thickness is almost half as much. Let us describe the main age features of wild boars.

Underyearlings

These are piglets, whose age is not more than a year. At this age, males and females are indistinguishable from each other in size or color. But from animals of other ages, they differ very significantly. First of all, up to six months they are striped, and by the beginning of autumn they become gray or grayish-brown. This is due to the underfur that by this time appears on the skin. By this time, the brush at the tip of the tail becomes noticeable. It is clear that underyearlings of late broods and autumn molting finish later.

It is for this reason that by the time the hunt opens in the middle lane (usually November), there are broods with striped underyearlings.

Their head has a characteristic childish shape: a short snout, small ears covered with short bristles. There are light spots on the head. The tail of underyearlings is short and thin, barely reaching the middle of the lower leg. The body is approximately the same height at the front and back. The average weight of newborn piglets is about one kilogram. By the end of the fourth month, it reaches 25 kilograms, the fifth - 30, the sixth - 40.

Of course, these are only indicative values. If piglets suffer from helminthiasis, then by six months they can weigh less than thirty kilograms. With captive content and plentiful, regular and proper nutrition, their weight can be fifteen percent higher.

By the beginning of winter, the body length of underyearlings is 100–110 cm, height at the withers is 55–67 cm, body girth is 72–91 cm. In early spring, there are traces a little more than two centimeters in size, on which there are no prints of lateral fingers. As the piglets grow and gain mass, their hooves become noticeably larger, and the footprints become deeper. By the end of summer, footprints of underyearlings always have footprints.

However, in winter, the growth of underyearlings stops, and by spring their weight decreases. This is due to the low ambient temperature and negative energy balance.

Winter weight loss is typical for all age groups of wild boars.

gilts

This is a young animal aged from one to two years. In the spring, after a long and cold winter, their weight is in the range of 28-35 kilograms. If young animals hibernated with helminths, their weight was noticeably less - 20-23 kilograms. Their head, due to the overgrown winter coat, seems short and blunt. In summer, one-year-olds grow intensively, and by autumn their mass almost doubles. At the same time, external signs of sexual dimorphism appear.

Males begin to overtake females in height and weight. The body length of males is in the range of 122-155 cm, and of females 118-148 cm. The difference in withers height is even more noticeable. In males, it is 72-95 cm, and in females, 62-83 cm. Accordingly, the masses of males with good nutrition reach 52-82 kg, and females - 48-76 kg.

Childhood forms disappear completely.

The body becomes more powerful in the front. This is due to the development of unpaired processes of the cervical vertebrae, to which muscles are attached that work when the boar digs the ground.

By the way, in connection with digging in the front of the muzzle of a wild boar (like all other pigs) there is a special, superfluous in comparison with other animals, “proboscis” bone. The withers are especially pronounced in males.

By this time, the difference in the size of the hoof prints of the front and hind legs becomes more noticeable, which is due to the fact that the front part has become heavier. A swelling appears on the lips of males, behind which the tops of the lower fangs are visible. The ears of gilts are larger than those of the year and are covered with hard hair. The tail reaches the hock joint and has a developed brush at the end.

The prints of the front hooves of gilts in the spring have dimensions of 5.5x4.0 cm, and the rear ones are slightly smaller - 5.2x4 cm. By December, the total length of the (boiled) lower canines is 116 mm, the Brandt number is 1.6.

Two-year-old boars

These are animals that survived two winters. By the time they start hunting, they are about two and a half years old. In fact, these are adult animals that take part in reproduction. Their weight in comparison with gilts increases by 20-30 kg, depending on the feeding conditions. They have a powerful and short neck and head. The crease on the lips increases, the tops of the lower canines and the rudiments of the upper canines are visible in it. The latter are visible only in summer. In winter, they are not visible behind regrown wool.

The figure looks more massive compared to gilts, especially in the front of the body. Powerful forelegs appear short. In males, due to the regrown bristles, the withers become very pronounced. The average size of the imprint of the front hooves is 7.5x6.0 cm, the rear - 7.0x5.0 cm.

The length of the lower fangs is 127 mm. The Brandt number is 1.5.

middle aged boars

Animals 3-5 years old have a powerful, blunt head.

The ears are large, covered with dark hair. Powerful snout, highly raised labial folds, in which the lower and upper canines are clearly distinguishable. The withers of males are very pronounced. The body is massive, heavy. Visually, the legs seem shorter compared to two-year-olds. The tail is long with a large brush at the end. The sexual organ in males is clearly outlined even in winter wool.

Around this age, the formation of the skeleton is completed in wild boars. By this time, the body length of males approaches two meters, in females it is 140-180 cm.

The height at the withers in males reaches a meter, in females somewhat less. The imprint of the front hooves has dimensions of 9x7 cm, of the hind hooves - 8x6.2 cm. Cleavers of this age group have the following fangs: the average length of the lower ones is 159 mm, the Brandt number is 1.2.

Older boars

Beasts aged six years and older, is a strong powerful animal. The length of the head with the neck is equal to about a third of the body. The ears are large, covered with long black bristles. The upper and lower fangs are clearly visible. The tail is long with a brush up to 25 cm long. At this age, sexual dimorphism is most noticeable - the difference between males and females. The males have an incomparably higher withers, which, due to the regrown bristles, seem especially high. The mass of individual hardened billhooks can approach 300 kg, and females weighing more than 150 kg are rare. In especially large males, the length of the print of the front hooves exceeds 10 cm.

In wild boars of this age group, the average length of the lower canines is 223 mm. The Brandt number is 1.01.

Underyearlings

They have a child-shaped head, a short snout, small ears, covered with short bristles. Light spots are clearly visible on the head. The color of the body is striped, yellowish-brown, which lasts up to 5-6 months, completely disappears in August. The tail is short and thin, reaching to the middle of the thigh. In winter attire, the body seems more powerful due to the regrown underfur. The legs are relatively short and covered with dark hair. In good light and at a short distance, the brush on the tail is already noticeable at this time. In the illustration on the right, the letter A denotes a fingerling at the age of 4 months, the letter B - 8 months.

gilt

next age class "gilt". It is considered from one to 2 years. There is no more precise definition, since even wild boars a year older often look like a classic gilt. The head, due to the overgrown winter bristles, seems short and blunt; the childish forms completely disappear. The shape of the hull becomes more powerful, especially in the front. Light stripes are not visible. On the lips, swelling is clearly visible, through which the tips of the lower fangs are visible. The ears are short, covered with powerful bristles. The tail is long, almost to the hock, with a brush at the end. By December, the length of the lower fangs is on average 116 mm. The width at the base is 19.0 mm., at the beginning of the section - 12.0 mm. Brandt's number - 1.6 Girth of the upper canines 54 mm. Average weight 38.0 kg. On the left is a male, on the right is a female. The question of weight is quite controversial. since it depends entirely either on the abundance of natural food, or on appropriate feeding. So, for example, in the Moscow Regional Society fingerlings reach a weight of 41 kg. due to abundant feeding, naturally the weight of gilts is much higher. At the same time, in societies where everything is not so prosperous, weight indicators are much lower. This example is given to emphasize the exceptional importance of winter feeding.

Wild boar hunting is as exciting as it is dangerous. A wounded wild boar or a frightened female with young animals are deadly. An experienced hunter explains why it is worth risking your life. Every hunt has a perfect scenario. This is when everything goes as written - and the beast runs out in the right place, and the hunter is always on the mark, and then the photo with the trophy flaunts on the wall of your apartment or country house.

Driven hunting for wild boar

For the most popular - driven - boar hunting, the ideal scenario is as follows.

In autumn, before the opening of the hunting season for ungulates, rangers go around the grounds. Inspect the places where wild boars usually keep. These are, as a rule, areas of the forest where animals feed. When traces of wild boars are found, you can arrange a corral. The hunters, or as they are called in these cases, the shooters (usually from six to twenty people), are located on one side of the forest in which the herd is found, and the beaters begin to make noise and move towards the shooters. The boars are trying to get away from danger and go to the line of shooters. Do not yawn here, because these seemingly bulky and clumsy animals actually run very fast.

In the ideal scenario, you raise your gun, shoot, and the trophy is yours. But the reality is often quite different. I will describe a few memorable cases.

  • Tea with cognac and a flock of fingerlings

My friend hunter Gennady was standing on the room and was bored. On the glade there were 15 shooters with an interval of 80-100 meters from each other. There were wild boars in the paddock, a whole herd of underyearlings along with a mother pig. It was strictly forbidden to shoot a pig, because in a year it would again bring offspring, and it would be possible to successfully hunt young animals again. Therefore, one had to be very careful and cold-blooded.

But the herd will come out only on one shooter. At best, if he runs for some time along the line of shooters, then two or three hunters will be able to shoot. In this way, driven hunting is somewhat similar to roulette - one chance in ten. On the previous hunt, Gennady took a wild boar, so the chances this time were (according to probability theory) minimal. The corral had just begun, the cries of beaters and the barking of dogs could be heard in the distance. You can have time to drink hot tea from a thermos. The gun hung nearby on a branch of sprawling spruce, in the crown of which Gennady stood.

Screams and barking were getting closer, but the dogs were clearly moving aside. “They pulled more to the left,” thought the hunter, continuing to sip the fragrant drink, where, in addition to tea and lemon, there was also a fair portion of cognac.

At this time, an incomprehensible crack was heard from the nearest undergrowth from the pen. From there, a hefty pig flew out like a bullet and quickly rushed under the very spruce where the hunter was so comfortably located. Gennady did not have time to think anything, as the pig knocked him down. After her, one after another, a dozen underyearlings ran. When the clatter and grunts of the fleeing animals ceased, Gennady slowly got up. His back was covered with cold sweat. And this did not happen out of fear that a frightened boar with her fangs and hooves could cripple, or even take her life. He was afraid of what he would say to his fellow hunters. Why didn't he shoot at the underyearlings that ran right through him? “I’ll tell the truth,” he decided, and then, three hundred meters to his left, shots rang out. “So there are two herds in the paddock,” a thought flashed through the hunter's head. This changed the situation. “Maybe they don’t understand what happened to me here. If they get wild boars, they may not realize that there were two herds. With such thoughts, the hunter picked up a thermos and a mug with the spilled remnants of the ill-fated tea from the ground.

The case is comical, but it could also be tragic. Boar hunting is quite serious and dangerous. You can't relax even for a minute.

  • Cleaver-record holder

Another story happened in Ukraine, also with my friend - Alexander - and also on driven hunting. The first paddock was empty. In the second, Alexander became a beater. Not far from him, the local huntsman Fyodor was walking. The dogs, which also worked in the paddock and “tightly” knew their own well, this time, for some reason, ran away in a completely different direction. Even before the hunt, Fyodor said that a wild boar was wandering around here, judging by the tracks, the sizes were unprecedented, fabulous. “Exactly! The dogs got him! Guessed by bark. Let's run there soon, Sanya!

A couple of times I had to stop to catch my breath and listen more closely to the barking of dogs, the sound of which gradually approached and turned to the left. “This billhook did not go into the swamp. Walking along the edge of the forest. I know where he should go! Let's run faster!" - Fyodor shouted softly, and the hunters again ran through the autumn Ukrainian forest.

Here they saw a huge billhook, which crossed the swamp under the friendly barking of dogs. Fyodor, throwing up his gun, rushed across the boar. Alexander stopped the huntsman. “I'll take it myself,” he shouted and went towards the boar. Usually the beast, noticing the person, turns away. This one burst through the forest right at the hunter. “You won’t take such a boar and a bullet soon,” Sasha thought, and fired the first shot. Cleaver continued to walk, as if a bullet had passed by. “It’s impossible to miss from such a distance! Even with a hangover! - Sasha pulled the shutter and fired another shot. After the second, the boar settled on its hind legs, but continued to move towards the hunter on its front legs alone. The distance was rapidly shrinking. “God loves a trinity,” Sasha thought, and fired another shot, aiming for the chest. The beast staggered, fell to its knees, and with a deep sigh fell on its side. The distance between him and the hunter was no more than four meters.

The carcass was moved only by a jeep winch. Then ten of us barely dragged the animal into the back of the UAZ. The boar, after weighing, turned out to be about 400 kg, and the trophy itself, as a result of measuring fangs resembling small mammoth tusks, and registering with the International Safari Club (SCI), took first place in the world. Unfortunately, a larger specimen has now been mined.

Boar hunting from a tower

Another way to hunt wild boar is from a tower. At first glance, it is less emotional and attractive, but it also has its advantages. Firstly, you can hunt alone, without a team and without beaters. The probability of catching an animal is almost one hundred percent, since the towers are located right at the bait sites, and animals, if they are not disturbed by frequent hunts, visit such places regularly. In good farms, for example in Zavidovo, huntsmen even know the number of pigs and the time (with an accuracy of fifteen minutes!), When the animals will come to the tower. This usually happens at dusk. Of course, on the tower, which is a miniature hut with a door and a loophole, located on strong pillars high above the ground (3-4 meters), hunting is practically safe for the shooter.

Once I was lucky enough to sit with a colleague on a tower in Zavidovo, however, without weapons, only with a camera. At the time indicated by the huntsman, a small boar, a scout, ran out of the forest to the platform in front of the tower. The underyearling twirled a little around the site, eating food, grunted something, and after half a minute the rest appeared. It was difficult to count the boars. We constantly strayed, but there were at least 35-40 animals. Underyearlings, gilts, females, medium-sized males.

But this is in Zavidovo. In simpler farms, animals go to the towers in smaller numbers and alternately. Females with young, or single billhooks. Old large boars are very cautious (that's why they lived to a respectable age!) and usually come at night. It is difficult to hunt them, sometimes you have to sit in vain for more than one night. The animal can approach, and, having smelled a foreign smell, does not approach the tower. You can just “make some noise”, awkwardly turning on the tower, and creak the seat, cough, drop something. It is possible, in low light, to simply lubricate or easily injure the beast. There are night vision scopes, but their use for hunting is prohibited.


Boar hunting on oats

Such a wild boar hunt is successful in August. It also comes from a tower at the edge of a field of specially planted oats for this purpose. Towers are equipped very simply. Most often, this is a wide board, fixed in the crown of a tree at a height of 3-4 m. Sitting on a tower at the end of August, of course, is warmer than in late autumn or winter, but mosquitoes pester you, and you can’t especially move. Apply ointments, of course, should not be. By the way, at the same time, bears also come out to the oat fields and they are hunted in the same way. In the evening, and even more so at night, it is difficult to understand who came out of the forest - a wild boar or a bear. The hunter gets "the wrong animal." This is also fraught with the payment of a fine, or you need to stock up on licenses for both a wild boar and a bear.

Nikolai Kokoulin

Wild boar hunting safety rules

  • "Stand on the number" - the term refers to collective, "driven" hunts, where shooters stand motionless on the "shooting line". The point of standing on the "number" is determined by the leader of the hunt. Usually the duration of the pen does not exceed an hour.
  • It is strictly forbidden to shoot along the line of shooters, but only at an angle of at least 15 degrees.
  • Do not shoot at a poorly visible target. Otherwise, you can hit the beater or the dog.
  • You can load a weapon only while standing already on the number, and immediately unload it after the end of the corral.
  • It is strictly forbidden to leave the room until you are removed by the head of the hunt.
  • Shoot only at animals that are hunted.

Boar hunting prices

  • Licenses for the production of fingerlings, gilts and adult wild boars have different prices.
    • hunting for wild boar of the year (young piglets of this year) - from 10-15,000 rubles;
    • hunting for a hog-gilt (young boars of last year's farrowing) - from 15-20,000 rubles;
    • hunting for a wild boar (a large male with fangs) - from 25-30,000 rubles and more!
  • The most expensive are large "trophy" males - billhooks. The meat of such specimens is most often not suitable for food. Hunting is carried out solely because of the trophy qualities of the animal, in this case, fangs.
  • Add to these prices the cost of gamekeeper service, accommodation and other services. However, the farther the farm is located from the capital and the worse the infrastructure there, the lower the prices for trophies.

In addition, in many farms, a fine is due for shooting a pig, and a billhook, with his usual caution, rarely goes out to numbers, so it turns out that our animal is a wild boar up to a year. And if we take into account the current prices for the prey of ungulates, one elk “pulls” 6-8 wild boars, therefore, after performing simple arithmetic operations, our company came to the conclusion that a dozen and a half, albeit less valuable trophies, are much more pleasant than a pair of elk, which were originally " laid down" in the "financial estimate" of our team.

The planned departure was not a weekend hunt, but five full-fledged hunting days, under certain circumstances the trip could stretch for a week, because in addition to wild boars there was a desire to drive small game - a hare and a fox. So, in addition to a bullet gun, a shotgun was also needed, and it was allowed to take only one thing - border and customs restrictions that were difficult to understand. The hunting grounds, where the "big" hunt was to take place, was already outside our new homeland, as they say now, in the near abroad. Considering our metropolitan residence, we can say in the near future, since the distance to the hunting place was not at all critical, and taking into account the hunting conditions and the prices set, an extra hundred kilometers did not play a special role.

The difficulty turned out to be something else. It was decided to go with a smoothbore weapon. For someone who did not have a rifled barrel, this decision did not matter, others who were used to using a carbine on animal hunts were a little upset. But it would seem - a trifle, no matter what gun you will be on the room, the main thing is that there is game. With a serious approach to the upcoming hunt, it turned out not quite so. Possible penalties for a miss and a wounded wound imposed on the participants of the hunt, a certain responsibility for the accuracy of the shot. But to send a bullet, correctly aiming from a smoothbore, is not yet a guarantee that it will definitely hit the target. Much depends not only on the features of the gun, but also on the ammunition used, mainly on the design of the bullet used. And besides, the wild boar underyearling is a small animal, in winter tousled bristles it seems much larger than it actually is, and a deviation of 20-30 cm - the usual spread of lead bullets, even with accurate aiming, can leave the shooter without a trophy.

Therefore, before the trip, I, as having some experience in shooting, was instructed to select the appropriate cartridges for the upcoming hunting trip. The main requirement is clear, the most accurate shot. Of course, all problems could be solved by wild buckshot, but the rules of driven hunting for ungulates require only a bullet cartridge.

Given the above, the requirement for a bullet cartridge could be formulated according to the following points:1. Accuracy; 2. Sufficient stopping power; 3. Application in semi-automatic and double-barreled shotguns. Almost immediately, with some exceptions, cartridges with domestic-made bullets were rejected, not only the lead components of the bullets, but also the plastic stabilizers and containers, if they were present, looked too artisanal, and the difference in mass, and sometimes in size, was not supposed accurate shooting and stable hits.

Glavpatron - Cartridge Manufactory LLC offered cartridges with a 12-caliber bullet "Gualandi" (Italian company "Bashieri & Pellagri") weighing 32 grams. Guaranteeing accuracy at 50 m no more than 120 mm. Perhaps the results of zeroing can be attributed to the features of my gun or the skill of the shooter, but the dispersion of bullets turned out to be somewhat large. High accuracy did not work with this bullet and using cartridges from other manufacturers. The light bullet 28.4 g proved to be somewhat more encouraging. BRENNEKE (Brenneke) of the Rottweil cartridge, but still I would like to have a slightly higher accuracy.

company Azot, did not claim to have a high accuracy of its bullets, but its Tandem and Azot bullets fit into the declared 20 cm, which indicated the honesty of the manufacturer. As a backup option, I allocated Trio cartridges, 3 lead balls (d = 11.5 mm) in a container (in 2 half-shells), covering a circle with a diameter of no more than 45 cm for 50 m.

I really liked, donated to me by the famous writer-hunter Sergei Losev, a dozen and a half cartridges, loaded with a bullet designed by S.T. Mitichkin. There was only one drawback, after test shooting, only ten rounds remained, which was clearly not enough for the upcoming hunt. It is a pity that this ammunition has not yet appeared on sale.

The well-known popular bullets "POLEVA", along with the most accurate shots, they suddenly gave out such an inaccurate hit, which could only be explained by the low production culture of these sub-caliber bullets.

Admired technical characteristics of the cartridge with a bullet "ZENIT", with a fantastic ballistic coefficient - 4.7; having a dispersion diameter at a distance of 100 m - 10 cm. Only one thing was frustrating, these cartridges were never on sale. But the very design of the arrow-shaped bullet prompted the idea to look for similar bullet cartridges.

The search was successful. Cartridges of the firm "SAUVESTRE", almost completely coincided with the declared characteristics. Having slight differences in weight and characteristics, primarily in the deformation of the body of the bullet when it hit the beast, the vertical deviation of the bullets was within 1-4 cm at a distance of up to 100 m from the aiming point, essentially a direct shot. The speed and energy of the bullet was more than enough not only for a young boar, but also for larger game. Depending on the weight and design, the speed and energy of the bullet were characterized by the manufacturer with the following parameters. See table (chuck 70 mm).

Distance speed, m/s. Energy at a distance, J.
slice 50 m 100 m slice 50 m 100 m
530-565 431-473 345-394 3062-3592 1951-2517

1250-1747

Cartridges equipped with a 76 mm sleeve, such as "magnum" and "semi-magnum" surpassed a simple cartridge in energy, depending on the firing distance from 30% to 70%.

Here is how the company describes its new arrow-shaped bullet cartridge. Bullet "BFS" ​​Sauvestre - two-piece arrow bullet with a corrugated surface. A conceptually new bullet cartridge for shotguns, already used and appreciated by many hunters, was developed by French engineer Jean-Claude Sauvestre.

The cartridge is designed for smoothbore guns, both with and without choke. Its ballistic qualities are derived from the combination of a "shooter" with a very hard center core and an original container made of two annular halves, which guarantee gas tightness and flexibility of advancement in the barrel. As soon as this part leaves the barrel, the annular halves will fall away from the bullet without disturbing its initial flight path. The BFS cartridge is safe to use and extremely comfortable to shoot.