Hunting Tips, Questions, Stories & Discussion
Focusing on managing Texas wildlife habitat and natural resources for native and exotic wild game species, for this and future generation of hunters and outdoor enthusiasts.Thursday, January 22, 2009
Is it possible tell how old the hog you shoot is when Texas trophy boar hunting?
Looking at the Russian boar or feral hogs jaw can help you come very close to deciding how old the hog or boar is. You can also tell if the hog has any European boar heritage by examining the area of the jaw between the tusk and the regular molar teeth. If there is a small isolated tooth in the middle, there is some European breed in the background of the hog. This is not at all uncommon in Texas where Russian boars and even domestic European swine breeds have bred with the wild hog populations.
A feral hog that is under 2 years of age will have three adjacent teeth at the back of the lower jaw. There will be two smaller teeth in front and a molar looking tooth at the back. After two years of age there will be an additional molar that pops up at the back of the lower jaw, giving a total of four teeth. Despite common theories that you can use tusks to age a Texas trophy boar that is not a accurate means to age an animal.
At the fifth year the final tooth will be fully showing and the teeth will start to show wear and grinding down. After the fifth year is possible to tell the approximate age based on the amount of wear of all the teeth, but this is really just an educated estimate.
A feral hog that is under 2 years of age will have three adjacent teeth at the back of the lower jaw. There will be two smaller teeth in front and a molar looking tooth at the back. After two years of age there will be an additional molar that pops up at the back of the lower jaw, giving a total of four teeth. Despite common theories that you can use tusks to age a Texas trophy boar that is not a accurate means to age an animal.
Until the age of three the two smaller teeth in this group of four will gradually be replaced by thicker, heavier, molar like teeth, very different than the previous teeth that looked a bit like canine teeth. At years three and four additional molars appear, so at the end of the wild hog's fourth year he will have six teeth at the back of the jaw.
At the fifth year the final tooth will be fully showing and the teeth will start to show wear and grinding down. After the fifth year is possible to tell the approximate age based on the amount of wear of all the teeth, but this is really just an educated estimate.
Labels: feral hog hunting, guided hunts, russian boar hunt, wild boar hunts
posted by escondido ranch # 2:15 PM 
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