Boar Hunting in New Hampshire
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission acknowledges that free-roaming wild hogs exist in limited numbers within the state. These animals most likely escaped from the Corbin Park Hunting Preserve in Sullivan County, which boasts one of the only populations of true Russian boars in the United States. Because the boars do not seem to have established themselves in the state, there has been very little response from New Hampshire government agencies. The state has not explicitly adopted the stance of eradication like other states with emerging hog populations.
Other People Are Reading
-
Definitions
-
New Hampshire’s free-roaming boars are unique compared with other states' feral swine populations in that the state’s population may include true Russian boars, as opposed to the hybridized swine common throughout the U.S. Note, however, that boars freely mate with domestic pigs and the chances that New Hampshire’s Russian boars will mate with domestic pigs increases with their exposure to the wild.
Legality
-
Minutes from a 2008 Game Commission meeting indicate the existence of a government policy pertaining to hog hunting in New Hampshire. However, this document omits the content of the policy, and it is therefore unclear about the government position on hog hunting.
If you are planning on hunting wild boar outside of Corbin Park, the best course of action is to phone the New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission and confirm the existence of any hunting laws, regulations or government preferences. Never assume that anecdotal reports from civilians or online forums are statements from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission.
-
Government Regulation
-
There has been very little information published by the state game commission or any other government agency concerning the regulation of wild boars.
In 2004, the chief of the Wildlife Division proposed to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission that they establish a year-round season for wild boar. The results of his suggestion are unknown, though a current issue of the New Hampshire Hunting and Trapping Digest does not mention wild boar in the context of hunting. Wild boars are therefore not considered “game animals” in New Hampshire.
Precedents
-
The fact that New Hampshire does not consider wild boar game animals does not necessarily mean wild boar may not be hunted. In the state of Pennsylvania, for example, after the state designated wild boar neither game animals nor native wildlife, the state determined they could not deny hunters the right to harvest wild boars without a government-sanctioned policy. This ruling led to an open season on wild boars.
The New Hampshire State division of the USDA does not include feral hogs on its list of invasive species.
Game Preserves
-
Corbin Park Game Preserve is a famously exclusive 24,000-acre game preserve in Croyden, New Hampshire, and is most likely the source of free-roaming swine. Because boars outside the preserve are still the legal property of the preserve, you should notify Corbin Park of any kills or sightings. The preserve is liable for any damage caused by the boar, so they most likely will not have a problem with you killing their boars outside of the preserve.
Concerns
-
Though there have not been reports of extensive property damage, as has been the case in other states with invasive wild boar populations, in 2008, a motorist struck a boar trying to cross Route 2 in Lancaster, New Hampshire. Residents should also be warned that wild boars are known carriers of disease. Several of these diseases are transmittable to humans.
-
References
- Photo Credit Sanglier image by alainmantin from Fotolia.com
