Australian Feral Pig Behaviour
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Understanding Australian Feral Pig Behavior is key to a successful hunt. Hunting itself can control the 20% of feral pig population but not generally an effective way in reducing their numbers. Feral pigs are smart and can quickly adapt to hunters’ aggressive actions and move to other locations thus making them difficult to find, plus the highly populated areas are often inaccessible. In order to successfully hunt these animals and be able to control their population, knowing their weaknesses and behaviours is an opportunity to take advantage during your hunting trip.
What makes them difficult to hunt? Feral pigs are smarter than dogs and dolphins. They can even outsmart hunters because every hunter that failed to kill a pig taught the animal how to survive more. They are big but size depends on their genetics--mostly they are around 200-300lb range. Yet feral pigs have the ability to run at the speed of 50km. When frightened they’ll scatter immediately in different directions then will be less likely to be in the same area again. These aggressive creatures also have strong sense of smell and can detect odours kilometres away or deep underground. This helps them to easily dig for food and even stay out of danger.
However if you want to take down a feral pig - hunter’s main goal - these smart animals still show four weaknesses that you can leverage to ensure a successful pig hunt. Read on to find out what they are and how you can use them to take home pig meats for the meal time.
Pigs Habit Patterns
Pigs are repetitive creatures and usually have a regular routine. Often they are using the same trails over and over when rooting for food or wallows. The presence of a feral pig can be determined by wallows and rooting tracks on the ground. Apply the hunter’s observational tactics to see if the tracks are recently made and if the trail is worn out. If so, then it's a good sign that your target is just near the area.
Pigs have Noisy Behaviour
Feral pigs are not a quiet animal. They make aggressive grunts and screams while eating and mating, making their hideout noticeable to hunters. You can use this advantage to locate them, use pig calls to lure them in an open area and get ready to hit the target. The pig’s noisy behaviour is a weapon against them and gives great chances of a successful hunt.
Pigs Love to Eat
The biggest weakness of the pig is known to everyone - food. Feral pigs are always hungry so they keep on rooting the ground for source of food and are endlessly up for feeding. That being said, a feral pig’s appetite can be used against it. Pigs come to lure and they are most of the time fed for few hours this is why luring is an effective way to pull them into the open area.
Pigs’ repetitive nature is also observed here and when they begin to establish a connection to the feeder with consistent food feeding, they’re likely to come again and again. Fill your feeder with fruits, vegetables, nuts and homemade feed to keep them coming to you.
Pigs have Bad Eyesight
Pigs have a strong sense of smell that can detect odours kilometres away and a sharp sense of hearing. They use these keen senses to steer away from potential danger and in order to survive. However, feral pigs eyesight is not well developed, giving the hunters one great advantage over them especially during night time hunting.
Have you tried hunting feral pigs in Australia but aren’t able to take a single one down? Well, this is your chance to make another try, using your new knowledge of their weaknesses and behaviours against them. This article can give you good ideas on how to deal with the feral pigs and possibly help you create a nice hunting experience. Best of luck to you!