Department of Wild: Monster Feral Hog Up Close (Video)

For the last year TFG Editor-In-Chief Chester Moore has been on the search for monster hogs.

In this video he gets up close and personal with a feral hog on a ranch that has been domesticated but still roams free within a a hundred acre tract on the Swenson Whitetail Ranch.

“The reason that I am so fascinated with big hogs is because of personal encounters and research that began when I wrote my book ‘Hog Wild’,” Moore said.

“There are hogs out there that are mutant-like, scary big animals and we are searching them out. In fact, we recently posted a link to a story with some reader photos of some freak big pigs. We have much more to come.”

Moore said truly big, mature boars are in his opinion one of the hardest game animals to kill with standard methods.

“Sure you can chase them with dogs which is a dangerous and challenging proposition in its own right. Or you can employ thermal imaging scopes and night vision and snipe them in fields at night. Those are both super cool,” Moore said.

“However if you were limited to the methods you have for hunting whitetails these monster hogs they would be virtually impossible to kill on free range. Hunters routinely take big bucks they see on game cameras. How many can say they have been able to kill the truly big boars they see on the same camera?”

These extremely wary creatures become nocturnal at the slightest sign of hunting pressure and their propensity to travel great distances make patterning them futile in most cases.

So, what is a monster hog?

“I call anything over 300 pounds a big hog, 400 plus pounders giants and anything 500 and above monsters,” Moore said.

And they are if you think about it.

“An animal the size of a grizzly that can sport giant, razor sharp tusks that is smarter than a deer and can lash out at you sort of is a monster isn’t it?”

If you have photos you would like to submit, email them to cmoore@fishgame.com.