What Do We Know About Hunting Swords?

[Sean Kotch]

Because telling a non-hog hunter you caught a shoat, sow, or barr just leads to confusion...

[Keith P. Myers]

Mr Myers,

If you are ever in the Houston area consider yourself invited on a boar hunt.

Thanks!

[Darijan R.]

They did have swords specifically designed for boar hunting that had a locking cross bar about eight inches from the tip of the blade ,they are very similar in apperance to longswords in dimensions but with much more robust cross section of the blade .

Boarsword (Sauschwert):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... nt1582.jpg

Boarspear (Saufeder)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/d ... aujagd.png

http://www.hermann-historica.de/auktion ... at54_a.txt

http://swordmaster.org/uploads/2011/eur ... chwert.jpg

[Mike Ruhala]

Not entirely on topic- but I can't really comprehend how people call every wild pig a "wild boar". A boar is a male hog that has not been castrated... no more, no less. So the quote from the article is really blowing my mind, especially "wild sow boar". A sow is a female pig that has had babies. So... they killed a female pig who has babies and is also a male with testicles!

That one looks like what I'd call a guinea hog, they're really common down here. They're still a powerful animal but they don't get all that big and they're nothing like the boars of legend. The most dangerous thing about'em is all the property damage they cause and the brucellosis they're prone to carry.

[Sean Karp]

And now I want to hunt boar in maille and spear.

Boar Bacon: It's whats for dinner!

[keith cotter-reilly]

"Wild boar hunters Phil Barranco and his 10 year-old son Josh bagged a wild sow boar during an afternoon of wild boar hunting with Ron's Guide Service on February 27, 2008. Phil's son used a knife to bag his very first wild boar with. They hunted private land in Glades county. This young boy used a little knife to bag a good size wild sow boar."

Not entirely on topic- but I can't really comprehend how people call every wild pig a "wild boar". A boar is a male hog that has not been castrated... no more, no less. So the quote from the article is really blowing my mind, especially "wild sow boar". A sow is a female pig that has had babies. So... they killed a female pig who has babies and is also a male with testicles!

When referring to the actual species called Wild Boar, which is different from a wild pig, then boar is applied acros the board. So it is correct to say Wild Boar Sow. Although weird sounding.

That didn't look like a Wild Boar though. There are populations of them in the SE USA due to people introducing them, but there are probably just as many wild pigs out there too.

[Sean Kotch]

They are all the same species. From hawaii to the Southern US the Forest of Dean to the Russian steps, they are sus scrofa.

[keith cotter-reilly]

They are all the same species. From hawaii to the Southern US the Forest of Dean to the Russian steps, they are sus scrofa.

Domestic pig, and feral pig, is sus scrofa domestica. They are considered descendents of sus scrofa. Similar to the relationship of wolves and dogs. Wild Boar is a correct term for the animal it is used for. That it is over used and incorrectly used in the US is also true though.

[Sean Kotch]

Wild swine have been in the continental US since the 16th century. They have been in Texas since the 1680s. European settlers brought free range swine with them as they spread through out the region. There were European swine already breeding wild in Texas when the first Euro-Americans moved into the area, likely descendants of the swine de Soto left behind. There's a great account swine and dog hunting in the American South in the book, The Big Thicket Legacy. Its not HEMA but pretty cool. Linnaeus and domesticus have all been introduced in the AMericas at various points.. The subspecies interbreed freely and, after a few generations breeding ferally, domesticus reverts back to its wild forms. Attempting to classify US strains as a particular subspecies is impossible. As impossible as attempting to classsify strains in Australia, South Africa, and even Central Europe. Don't get too bent over people calling them boar. We generally undertsand what somebody calls a cotton swab a Q-tip, canines dogs instead of dogs or bitches, and bovines cows instead of cows and bulls. Don't even bring up dogs and wolves. That isn't fully accepted either.

[Sean Kotch]

And now I want to hunt boar in maille and spear.

Boar Bacon: It's whats for dinner!

Try it, it's the most fun I've had since Baghdad 2004! Leave the maille at home it isn't needed. And consider a knife over a spear. Its safer for you and the dogs. Also a psear is a big pain in the rear to lug around. You will invariably be crawling through thickets and swampy kung fu jungle type terrain unless youre hunting in the plains or high desert somewhere.