Wild boar of the year or adult, which is better. Wild boar (field signs and description). Economic importance of wild boars

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 catching 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 this is November), broods with striped underyearlings are found.

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, the 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 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 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 to the hock 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 (boiled) lower canines is 116 mm, Brandt's 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.

The most convenient and easily accessible (can be used directly in the field) diagnostic signs for determining the age of a wild boar are the development of milk boars and their replacement with permanent (definitive), the formation of posterior (molars) teeth and the degree of their wear. This methodological approach has withstood a long test on numerous types of domestic animals and has long been the simplest and generally correct criterion for determining age. It turned out to be quite acceptable also for determining the age of wild ungulates.

To establish a scale of age-related changes in the boar's dental system in order to use it in practice, we collected and studied over 650 skulls belonging to individuals of different sex and age. Among the collected material there were 25 reference skulls of a known age.

When processing the material, all boar skulls were divided into sex and age groups. Age was determined by the state of the age characteristics of the skull and teeth, taking into account the date of shooting of a particular individual and the average date of the mass birth of piglets. Although the farrowing of pigs is quite extended, still too early and too late litters, as a rule, die. Therefore, we can assume that any wild boar population consists of well-separated age groups, the interval between which is equal to one year. Knowing the time of mass birth of piglets and the date of shooting of individual individuals, on a sufficiently large material obtained at different times of the year, it is possible to determine the sequence of development of milk teeth and their replacement by definitive ones, the formation of molars and the degree of their wear. This allows us to establish a fairly accurate scale of age-related changes in the boar's dental system, which is used later to determine the age of individual individuals.

In addition to changes in the dental system, the general features of the development of the skull, the degree of ossification of some bones, the presence of sutures or boundaries between them, etc., were also taken into account.

Objective diagnostic signs, expressed in the regular development of individual elements of the dental system, were taken as the basis for the age index of a wild boar up to three years old, and for animals from four years old and older, the age criterion was the indicators obtained by eye measurement of the degree of wear of the crowns of predominantly posterior teeth and by the pattern of dentin exposure .

It should be emphasized that it is not difficult to divide animals into age groups ranging from 1 year to 6 years with an interval of 1 year with sufficient skill. In older groups (over 6 years), age determination with an interval of 1 year is complicated, and therefore we took wider intervals for groups: 6-7, 8-9, 10-12 years, etc.

Based on the order of appearance, change and degree of wear of the teeth, as well as some age characteristics in the structure of the skull, the entire period of postnatal ontogenesis of the wild boar was divided by us into the following ten age groups: I - newborns (1-3 days), II - broods (from 20 days up to 3-4 months), III - yearlings (9-12 months), IV - two-year-olds (19-22 months), V - three-year-olds (32-36 months), VI - four-year-olds (about 4 years), VII - adults (about 5 years old), VIII - 6-7 years old, IX - 8-9 years old, X - 10-12 years old and older.

Dimensions and weight of the boar.

At present, in the delta Volga, according to a. a. Lavrovsky (1952), adult males sometimes weigh 250-270 kg. It is characteristic that at the end of the last century, when the wild boar was intensively hunted in the Volga delta, the largest males weighed only 12 pounds (192 kg, -L.S.), while most of the animals weighed 3-7 pounds (48-112 kg). ) (I. Yavlensky, 1875). It should be noted that even in the 18th and 19th centuries, wild boars of larger sizes lived there. For example, P.S. Pallas (1786), speaking of West Kazakhstan animals, notes that they were “extremely large” and weighed up to “15 pounds” ( 240 kg). According to G. S. Karelin (1875), in the 40-50s of the 19th century, two wild boars were caught on the northern coast of the Caspian Sea, which supposedly weighed one 19, and the second - 20 pounds (304 and 320 kg, - A. S. .). The existence of very large wild boars in past centuries is also evidenced by archaeological finds. For example, judging by the materials from the Neolithic Mariupol burial ground (in the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov), wild boars that lived in the valley of the river. Mius, reached enormous sizes (the width of the lower fangs up to 3 cm). According to Beauplan, wild boars of "monstrous growth" were found in the Dnieper valley in the 17th century. Large boar sizes in the past, they are also confirmed by the finds of their remains in the peat bogs of the Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions (IG Pidoplichko, 1951) - It is obvious that under the direct and indirect influence of anthropogenic factors, the wild boar has been crushed in recent centuries. It is interesting to note that during the same period there was a grinding of bison, red deer, European roe deer and other animals. The grinding of wild boars continues at the present time, since in any area of ​​\u200b\u200btheir habitat one can hear from many hunters stories that they used to get larger animals than they do now.

In the river valley Syr Darya, according to N. A. Severtsov (1874), males aged 5-8 years weighed 8-10 pounds (128-160 kg) and very rarely up to 12 pounds (192 kg). According to many of the hunters I interviewed, in the 30s of the current century on the Syr Darya, the maximum weight of wild boars they caught reached 240 kg. It is possible that the wild boars used to be larger here too. For example, Skorobogatov (1924), describing the hunting of wild boar in the south of modern Kazakhstan in the last century, wrote that “in the reeds there are wild boars, up to 20 pounds (320 kg). I myself once had to kill a lone man weighing 17 pounds (272 kg).” It is difficult to say how reliable this information is.

On the weight and body size of wild boars that currently live in the lower reaches of the river. Or, you can judge by the data given in the table.

In this area, 11 studied males aged at least 5-6 years weighed (without stomach, intestines and blood) from 80 to 183 kg, and on average - 106.4 kg. If we assume that the full stomach and intestines, as well as blood, all together weigh about 15-20 kg, the live weight of wild boars will vary from 95-100 to 200 kg and average 120-125 kg. In addition, I also examined several dozen billhooks, the live weight of which was approximately 80-150 kg. According to many interviewed hunters, in the lower reaches of the river. Or the maximum weight of gutted males very rarely reaches 205-220 kg; thus, their live weight was 220-240 kg. The weight of eight eviscerated females varied from 49 to 80 kg, with an average of 68.7 kg. Consequently, their live weight ranged from 65-70 to 95-100 kg, on average, a female wild boar weighs about 83 kg. For example, two queens we got in December had a live weight of one - 75, the second - 85 kg. Alive weight of adult Ili boars kept in the Alma-Ata Zoo, was in the male!

Table 1

Data on the size and weight of an adult wild boar in the lower reaches of the river. Or

142 n in the female - 118 kg. Based on the above data, it can be concluded that at present, in the entire desert part of the wild boar range in Kazakhstan, the maximum weight of males reaches 220-240 "g, females - 100-120 kg. Therefore, the boars living in this large area are more or less the same weight.

In the semi-desert zone on the lake. The male Kurgaldzhin boar, taken in November, weighed (gutted) 144 kg (live weight about 160 kg), and the second animal, taken in March (very thin), weighed 100 kg (live weight about 115). Cleaver, obtained from Biysk, weighed about 150 kg.

Similar weights to those given above for Kazakhstan are boars living in Western Europe and in the European part of the Soviet Union. For example, in Germany, the maximum weight of this beast reaches 150-200 kg (W. Gaacke, 1901).

In the Latvian SSR, the largest animals also weigh up to 200 kg, and once an old billhook was caught there, weighing 236 kg (A.I. Kalninsh, 1950). In "Belarus, in the Khoiniki region, an old male weighing 256 kg was killed in 1951 (I.N. Serzhanin, 1955). Two females from Belovezhskaya Pushcha aged 4-5 years weighed 84 and 96.4 kg (S.A. Severtsov and T. B. Sablina, 1953. In the Caucasus Reserve, the weight of male wild boars now ranges from 64 to 178 kg, and on average is 166 kg (12 specimens each), females from 48 to 108, on average 68 kg ( S. S. Donaurov and V. P. Teplov, 1938), while at the time of N. Ya.

Siberia in the last century the most big boars weighed up to 240 kg and, as an exception, there were animals weighing 272 kg (A. Cherkasov, 1884). Very large wild boars live in the Soviet Far East. The maximum weight of males there allegedly reaches 300-320 kg (Yu. A. Liverovsky and Yu. A. Kolesnikov, 1949), and according to the latest data of V. P. Sysoev (1952) - only 200 kg.

The size of various parts of the body of an adult Kazakh wild boar and the features of its physique can be judged from the data given in tables 1 and 2.

Body indexes of the Kazakh wild boar from the lower reaches of the river. Or

Judging by the weight and size of adult boars, these animals have quite pronounced sexual dimorphism. Males are larger than females.

Due to the fact that wild boars grow relatively slowly, they also have pronounced age dimorphism. Young animals under the age of 12 months are called piglets (among the Kazakhs - “ggurai>). The size and weight of piglets in winter at the age of 8-11 months can be judged from the data given in Table 3. Considering that the piglet has a full stomach and intestines, as well as blood, they weigh an average of 4 kg together, its live weight at the age of 8- 11: months varies in males from 21 to 30 and in females - from 20 to

Data on the size and weight of gilts and piglets in the lower reaches of the river. Or

1 Weight without stomach, intestinal tract and blood.

29 kg. Thus, by the age of one year, piglets reach only about 7" of the weight of an adult animal. Their body sizes increase much faster (see table 3).

At the age of 12 to 23 months, young boars are called gilts.

The data in Table 3 give an idea of ​​their weight and size. Considering that a full stomach, intestines and blood in a gilt weigh an average of about 10 kg, its live weight ranges from 25 to 54 in males and about 35 to 44 kg in females. . According to hunters, there are male gilts weighing up to 60 kg. Hence, gilts weigh about half as much as adult boars. Our data on the weight of wild boars at different ages are also confirmed by the materials of other authors. For example, according to W. Gaacke (1901), the weight of wild boars living in Central Europe in the first year of life is 25-40, in the second 50-70, in the third - 80-100, and in the fourth - 100-185 kg. It is believed that wild boars reach full growth at the age of 5 - 6 years. They live 20 - 30 years.

The weight of a gutted animal without stomach, intestines and blood.

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 it 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 huntsmen. “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 appearance, three age groups can be distinguished: piglets (yearlings), gilts (two-year-olds) and adults. It is especially easy to distinguish between piglets and adults, it is more difficult to distinguish gilts, since a large gilt can be confused with a pig.

Piglets are smaller, lighter in color than adults (light color lasts up to a year) and longer legs. In gilts (in the 2nd year of life), withers develop, bristles grow along the back. Adult animals are more massive than gilts, the bristles on the back grow more strongly. This difference is especially well manifested in billhooks.

In the field, it is quite possible to distinguish an adult male from a pig, and not only because the billhooks have long curving fangs (it’s just that the fangs are hard to see at a long distance at dusk), but rather by silhouette. Males are distinguished by a larger head, a massive front part of the body, they have a more developed withers and a more magnificent “mane” along the ridge of the back. They look slenderer than females, possibly due to the fact that their body is laterally flattened, while females have a barrel-shaped body.

In young individuals - piglets and gilts - sexual demorphism is poorly developed.

Piglets usually weigh 25 - 45 kg (the weight of the animal largely depends on the feeding conditions and timing of reproduction), gilts - up to 65 - 70 kg (sometimes more with good feed), adult animals: females from 120 to 180, males - from 140 up to 200 kg. The weight of the largest billhooks reaches 260 and more kg.

The most accessible definition of age is by the development of the dental system and the degree of wear. Two works are known for determining the age of the wild boar using this method: for the Western European wild boar (Kozlo, 1975) and for the Ussuri wild boar (Bromley, 1969). Below is a description of the dental system of wild boars of different age groups for the autumn-winter season, i.e., during the hunting period.

Piglets (7 - 11 months) - a total of 36 teeth. By this age, the 3rd dairy is usually cutter is replaced by a permanent one, and the 1st and 2nd incisors are noticeably erased. The change of milk fangs begins. Anterior roots are still milky, but they begin to wear out. At the 3rd anterior tooth, the chewing surface becomes cone-shaped. At the 1st large molar, by 10-11 months, the chewing tubercles are smoothed out.

Gilts (18 - 23 months) - a total of 40 teeth. By this age, the change of milk teeth to permanent ones usually ends. Second big root tooth fully developed.

Two-year-old individuals - a total of 40 - 42 teeth. The 3rd root begins to develop. tooth. The anterior molars are completely differentiated and have erased apices. The fangs of males reach a length of up to 40 mm, in females they are noticeably shorter.

Three-year-old individuals - the number of teeth is 44. The incisors are slightly worn, the wear of the anterior molars increases. The 1st and 2nd posterior teeth begin to wear out.

Four year olds. All teeth have traces of wear, and most importantly, the 3rd posterior tooth begins to smooth out, where dentin lines appear.

Five year olds. At the 1st and 2nd incisors, the upper inner sides are ground off. As a result of erasing, the incisors are shortened. The surfaces of the anterior and posterior molars wear out heavily, and in the 1st and 2nd, the tubercles and folds of enamel are erased, the dentin takes on a star-like shape, this is especially characteristic of the 3rd large molar, although it still has tubercles. In billhooks, transverse furrows are outlined on the upper fangs, which correspond to the age of the beast (this feature does not appear in all individuals).

Six- and seven-year-old individuals. The incisors are strongly sharpened and shortened. The molars are much more worn than in animals of previous ages. In the anterior molars, the dentin appears as dark stripes, in the posterior teeth, small folds begin to wear out, and individual dentin stars are interconnected by dark spots. At the 1st large molar, the crown begins to grind.

Eight-year-olds and older individuals. Teeth begin to decay and fall out. The 3rd incisors and the 1st and 2nd anterior teeth break off especially often. The fangs gradually become thinner. The crowns of all molars are worn off. In older individuals (10 years and older), the posterior teeth are worn down almost to the gums, and the enamel folds disappear.