# This is kinda wild!! Tuskers in ND?



## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Boar killed in northwestern North Dakota

The Associated Press - Thursday, January 05, 2006
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ROSS, N.D.

Officials are trying to determine how a boar found its way to northwestern North Dakota, where it was shot and killed by a railroad worker.

The feral hog was killed northwest of Stanley on Dec. 22 by a member of a crew that was working on the railroad track in the area and had encountered the animal earlier in the day. During that incident, fellow crew members chased the tusked animal away when it ran toward Darren Johnson, of Minot, who was facing the other way.

"I don't know what he'd have done if he got to me," Johnson said. "It was beastly looking and pretty athletic. It ran like a deer and jumped a three-strand barbed-wire fence like it wasn't there. The guys finished their shift and went to town to get a rifle."

Tim DeFoe, of Watford City, a member of the crew, said his first shot did little to the animal that weighed about 300 pounds.

"It didn't even flinch," he said. "The second shot hit him in the flank and turned him at about 10 yards."

Two more shots put the hog down for good, DeFoe said. He took it to Stanley.

"People couldn't believe it," he said. "Everybody and their dog was there."

Randy Kreil, wildlife division chief for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, said that although feral hogs - wild swine from domestic ancestry - are not usually found in North Dakota, "I don't think this is a hoax at all."

"It's not considered wildlife, that's for sure," he said. "One would assume it escaped from some facility."

Deputy State Veterinarian Beth Carlson said there are no licensed feral hog owners in the state. However, "We do occasionally have people that are unaware what animals require licensing," she said.

Some officials speculate the boar came from Canada. There was a feral hog problem in the Pembina Gorge in northeastern North Dakota about six years ago, after several of the long-tusked animals escaped from a pen in Manitoba and wandered across the border.

DeFoe said he is having his hog processed at a butcher shop in Watford City. He plans to mount the tusked head.

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Information from: Minot Daily News, http://www.ndweb.com


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## muskat (Mar 5, 2002)

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## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

I'm thinkin' that we need to establish a huntable populations of Russian hogs. Burl


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

I was nervous enough when i jumped a moose while bow hunting......I don't think I want atusker after me with only a bow in hand....


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## DeltaBoy (Mar 4, 2004)

That's one tough looking animal!


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## Madison (Mar 1, 2002)

I would hunt them for sure!!

Bacon mmmmmm Goood....... :lol:

I know some guys in TX who hunt them all year round and say its a blast..


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

That pig would still be ugly at closing time!!!! 

There is some interesting thoughts that come to mind when you think about hunting something that is hunting you!! Like I wish I would have brought along a canon instead of this 22!! 

Bob


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## eaglehead6 (Nov 6, 2005)

That is quite a pig, when i lived in Saskatchewan i actually owned several of these wild hogs. They are very popular in Sask. and Manitoba. There is an open season in Man. now on these pigs because so many have escaped from farms and such all you have to do is report to the conservation officers where and how many you killed so they have a good idea how many pigs are killed and how many are still running around out there. They are becoming quite a problem but it gives people a chance to hunt during the off season. :lol: :sniper: . I have never actually hunted for them in Manitoba but some day i think i will give it a go. It is quite possible that this hog crossed the border into ND.


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## Sasha and Abby (May 11, 2004)

We have them down here by the thousands. PLEASE do not get them established. They are VERY hard to eradicate - yall would not have the problem getting to them that we do because of your topography. They will eat every turkey/duck/goosesharptail egg they can find.

They are NOT aggressive unless cornered or have little ones near. They are fun to hunt and great on the table.


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## Madison (Mar 1, 2002)

Sasha and Abby said:


> They are fun to hunt and great on the table.


Your making my mouth sweat!! Pork chops, Bacon and Bacon :lol:


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

Bacon wrapped in Bacon.........I would love to see one if I was already in my tree stand!!! 8)


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## BigDaddy (Mar 4, 2002)

I want to see DeltaBoy hunt one of those pigs Rambo-style using nothing but a sharp stick. Chris could even sell tickets. It'd be good entertainment since American Gladiators is no longer on the air.


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## NDTracer (Dec 15, 2005)

I was able to hunt one them last March/April down in Texas. It was alot of fun. I ended up getting 3 in one night. The first two were piglets and then momma came grunting to see what the little ones were up to.

I got these with my bow from a ground blind too. It was a blast and I don't know what was more fun these pigs or the turkey I got that night.

Mine didn't have as big of tusks as this one though. I hope to be able to stick one again in the future. So I would definately hunt them if they were up here. However as mentioned once they become established they cause alot of problems with rutting and I am sure with bird eggs too.


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## DJRooster (Nov 4, 2002)

Kind of neat but introduce another foreign species into North Dakota?


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

I've bowhunted these critters a couple times in Texas and killed a couple. Their only weakness is their eyes, all other senses are as good or better than a deer, and they are much, much smarter.

They also can be very aggressive. I was party to and witnessed a fight between two experienced redbones and a cornered 200 pounder sow wounded by another client. The speed and ferocity of that pig was simply incredible. The fight lasted about a minute, at which time the ranch owner got an opening to dive in and cool the pig's jets with a contact shot from a 357 magnum. In that minute, those dogs took enough damage to require two hours of post combat patching up, to include some impressive home stitching.

BTW, my biggest boar was quite a bit larger than the one pictured, and I killed it from the ground (not a gound blind) at 17 yards. I can report that at that distance, you can easily hear the tusks chomping together as they feed. Sounds like your butcher sharpening a knife. This was AFTER I witnessed the above fight. Suffice to say I placed that arrow like my life depended on it. Deer hunting has never been the same since.

I would enjoy having these things running wild to hunt up here, but I can tell you that we don't want them running wild up here. Under no circumstances do we want these things getting a foothold in ND. You have to see a place like Texas to understand this statement.

Down there, hogs are an epidemic. They are literally everywhere. a sow will drop a couple litters a year, and once they get past a certain size, they have no natural predators. They eat everything (including other animals they can nab), and root up & destroy the ground as they go. I mean, the ground looks like it has been plowed. They would consider the Spring waterfowl nesting period an eat all you can buffet, then destroy the sloughs for good measure. Doesn't take much imagination to see how all this would affect our native deer, waterfowl, and upland populations.

As an aside, they also have more parasites, both inside & outside, than you can remotely imagine. When you approach a downed hog, it looks like it's hair is moving (and it is). They literally crawl with lice, ticks, and God alone knows what else. They make the average flea ridden coyote or fox look like your pet housecat Muffy. Because of this, the standard procedure was to spray them down with about half a large can of Raid and let it work for 10 minutes before you even thought about laying hands on it...


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## cbass (Sep 9, 2003)

NoDak is turning wild and i love it. Their have been 3 supposed wolf sitings in my area during the deer season. I have seen some tracks out coyote hunting that look like they must be a coyote on steroids, but have yet to see a wolf.

The nieghbor saw what looked to be a buck during the hunting season but after further inspection it had a 2 foot bushy tail and terribly long legs. He said it came to a 4 barbed wire fence and instead of going under it jumped it, he also said that it was jet black. This guy isn't full of it either so i would have to believe him.

I love it!!!!!!!!!! :beer:


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## Bones (Jan 7, 2006)

For the past 18 mos a dairy farmer friend of mine lost 14 cattle to a wild hog. Theory was that it was suckling, but would inadvertantly rip the belly and guts would spill out. Only one looked as though it was attacked and got gored right in the neck. Several had cuts on the legs. Was shot twice on separate occassions with 22-250, only to be knocked down and ran off (carried in farm truck for varmits) finally was found "humping" a dead cow and was shot 3 times with an '06. Weighed 520# was nearly 7' from snout to tail and UGLY> made several papers around here and is still talked about.


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

Bones said:


> finally was found "humping" a dead cow .


Now that is desperate!!


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## Sasha and Abby (May 11, 2004)

NDTerminator said:


> \
> As an aside, they also have more parasites, both inside & outside, than you can remotely imagine. When you approach a downed hog, it looks like it's hair is moving (and it is). They literally crawl with lice, ticks, and God alone knows what else. They make the average flea ridden coyote or fox look like your pet housecat Muffy. Because of this, the standard procedure was to spray them down with about half a large can of Raid and let it work for 10 minutes before you even thought about laying hands on it...


That is amazing... I can not ever remember seeing ANYTHING on the ones we kill (10-15 per year for the freezer). As tough as their skin is, there is no place for a tick. The mud wallows that they roll in are what keeps all the parasites down here.


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

Tripped me out too, S&A. I've never seen any wild critter as lousy as the couple I shot. They weren't isolated incidents, as the owner showed up with his Raid when you called him to help recover and transport one after a shot. Could it be from so many in close proximity?

I tell you what, that fight was something that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Words just can't describe that minute in a 10 foot open pocket in the mesquite. A bowhunter following up alone would have had the chance of a Colonel Sanders chicken against that sow.

Afterword while patching up dogs, I opined the ranch owner was nuts to go after that thing with a 357 handgun. He just shrugged it off, saying rifles are too cumbersome in the mesquite ( no question he had a point, we were crawling on hands & knees through little hog tunnels in that stuff), and he had been thinking of getting a 44 magnum, but hadn't got around to it. He said the 357 was OK, if you got in close and put the muzzle right on them!!!!!!!!!!! All this delivered in that soft drawl that no ND tongue can imitate. Talk about a brave hombre....


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## littlegreenman87 (Jan 4, 2006)

I can't believe this, I was born in Stanley, and my Grandpa had a ranch right by ross, that is pretty amazing.... i can't believe their was a wild hog like that around.... But then again nd has got wolves and mountain lions now too....


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## yellar (Nov 26, 2004)

From Stanley, cant' believe it sure gives the town something to talk about! I heard that they raise h*ll with the deer too? dont need that happening.


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