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Wild Boar Hunting with Alpen Optics
Bo Pitman
 The ugly-looking wild boar, 30-yards away, popped his jaws loudly and dangerously. He would have been an easy shot for the hunter’s Thompson/Center .30-caliber rifle. But when the hunter looked at the hog with his Alpen binoculars, the wild boar only had short tusks and weighed about 150 to 175 pounds. Although this feral pig was a fine eating-size hog, the hunter was hunting a trophy boar, and this pig definitely wasn’t a trophy.
Wild hogs are one of the best off-season animals you can hunt, either with a gun or a bow. Many southern states, like Alabama, Florida and Texas, have no closed season and no limits on hogs, which makes them an ideal target for the bowhunter or the gun hunter, after or before deer and turkey season or in the summertime. Wild hogs are one of two types - an eating hog that generally weighs less than 150 pounds and is a sow and a trophy hog, usually a boar with a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth, weighing from 250 to 400 pounds. We’ve all heard the stories and seen the pictures of super hogs that weigh from 800- to 1,000-pounds each. These hogs may have been feral pigs at one time, but they’ve usually been held in pens and fed high-protein food to increase their weights before being released for sportsmen to take. You’ll very rarely see a wild hog that weighs more than 300 pounds. In most parts of the country, feral pigs are descendants of domestic hogs that were released by early explorers and settlers and never recaptured, domestic hogs that never were captured after the fence laws were instituted, or hogs that were captured in one place and moved to another.
 There are several reasons to use binoculars for wild-hog hunting:
* since feral pigs stay in thick cover, they’re often hard to spot at long range. A quality pair of Alpen binoculars quickly and easily solves this problem.
* although wild hogs have poor eyesight and hearing, they have noses that are keener than those of white-tailed deer. The best way to approach hogs is from downwind. First, you’ve got to spot a big boar with your binoculars and determine which way he’s traveling, or where he’s standing, so you can make an approach without spooking him.
* to judge your trophy boar properly, use your binoculars to see if he meets your definition of a trophy boar.
 If you’re hunting a wild trophy boar, seeing and judging the size of his teeth is as critical to your success as your ability to see and field score a white-tailed deer’s rack before you take the shot. If you’re hunting for a whitetail that will score 150 on the Boone & Crockett scale, and you spot a buck that only will score 130, although that 130 buck is a trophy for most hunters, you’ll often choose not to take the shot. The same is true when you’re hunting wild hogs. If you’re searching for a trophy boar to mount for a den or a trophy room, you want that feral hog to have teeth that will impress all who see him. Therefore, you have to take your time and really look closely with your binoculars to judge the boar’s teeth before you pull the trigger. Next to your rifle and shells, binoculars like Alpen’s top-quality ones are the most-important hunting aid you can have when you’re hunting feral pigs. Big hogs with big teeth don’t come easy, and you’ll see a large number of harvestable-size boars.
If turkey season hasn’t started in your state, then hunting feral hogs in many states from now until deer season begins next fall provides hunting opportunities for you during the off-season. However, I have to offer one strong warning. Yes, hogs are dangerous and can hurt you if you get in too close to them. But hog hunting can become very addictive because you can hunt them in many states year-round. Too, a 50- to a 150-pound wild pig that’s very lean and has little fat is as delicious as anything you’ll ever cook on your barbeque grill. Get ready now to go hog hunting, and don’t forget your Alpen binoculars to make your hunt more successful.
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