Idaho Boar Hunt

 Idaho European Boar Hunt

Pig Skull

Pig Tusks

My first post on my blog is going to be about a hunt I went on last spring in Southeast Idaho near Twin Falls in a town called Shoshone. The hunt was for a European Boar on a hunting ranch of 440 acres. I had gone on this hunt one time before nearly 6 years ago, but this time I was lucky to have my wife, my dad, my youngest brother, and 3 more of my relatives tag along with me and participate on the hunt.

My First Pig 6 years ago

We arrived a day before our hunt so that we could get familiar with the area and maybe size up a few pigs. We entered the gate and drove over the first little hill just in time to see our first pig of our adventure. It was a large European boar that weighed about 200 pounds and he was fighting with another big boar down by the creek bed. The two boars were grunting and squealing trying to get each other with their tusks. When they noticed us, the bigger of the two looked at us for a few moments, his mouth dripping with foamy slobber, then let out a loud snort and turned and ran away. That set the tone for the trip and we knew we were going to have a blast no matter what the outcome of our adventure. This was all foreign to us Idahoans because we do not have wild boars roaming free like they do down south, and it was even better to be chasing them with our bow. After getting familiar with the ranch we called it a night and decided to hit it early the next morning.

The next morning we hopped on the 4 wheelers and took off the creek bed where we saw the two boars fighting the night before. Sure enough the two boars were back and fighting again. The only problem we had was the 80 yards of open country surrounding the two pigs, not to mention the 20 other pigs surrounding the two big boars. We attempted a stalk but didn't even get close before the pigs spotted us and took off. We tried to spot and stalk a few pigs but failed to get a clear shot or decided to wait to find a bigger pig. My wife and I split off from the group and spotted two great big sows that were about 250-300 pounds and had a litter of piglets following them around. I was very tempted to take one of these pigs because all I saw was a freezer full of bacon, ham, and sausage walking past me. By the time I decided I wanted to shoot one of these sows, I was trailing them in the sage brush from about 50 yards away and the sage brush kept getting taller and taller until we lost sight of them and had to go find another pig.

We walked back down to the creek bed where we started and decided to take a quick break. While we were sitting there we noticed the sage brush on the top of the hill was moving and we could hear grunts coming our way. We took cover the best we could and I got an arrow on my string. A few pigs came down to the creek to get water in the middle of the day. The pigs were okay in size but not what I was really after. We were about ready to take off to another spot when a bigger pig stepped out into the clearing. These pigs don't like sitting still so I sat patiently waiting for a clear shot. When the pig I was after would present me with a shot another pig would step in front of it or behind it. When I finally got a shot, my pig was 40 yards away quartering away from me on a slow walk. I took the shot and hit it a little further back than I wanted. I didn't compensate for the pig walking away from me. Even with the shot a little far back, my pig ran about 30 yards and then lied down. Knowing from the first two pigs we saw fighting I knew I didn't want to get to close to this pig but I also knew I should get another arrow in it. We snuck up to it and finished it off with one last shot through the vitals.

Me and my pig

My little Brother with his 2 pigs

My little brother ended up taking a huge boar only a few yards away from where I took my pig. My dad who had pretty much taken to role of guide finally decided he would take the next shot he had on a pig no matter what size it was. Luckily enough we had the camera out when he took his pig so you can see his sweet shot on a moving target! Our party ended up taking 5 pigs home that day and filled our freezers full. We had a blast chasing these pigs around and will definitely be back to do it again sometime... all we have to do now is save up for it and enjoy all the great tasting pork. I would recommend this hunt to anyone who is in this area and can do it.  The video below the picture may not be the best quality, but it was with a cell phone so please excuse the quality and I hope you enjoy it.  The voice in the video is my little brother who was pretty excited on a sweet shot my dad put on this pig running full speed. It may be easier to view the video in youtube instead of on my blog.

Our Party With all of Our Pigs!