Free New Hampshire Blog

The UL has a pretty good article about wild pigs in New Hampshire. This is related to the Corbin Park Hunting Preserve I covered in another blog entry a while back.

New Hampshire has a documented wild boar population in the southwestern part of the state and wildlife biologists are becoming increasingly concerned.

Brought to America by Spanish settlers in the 1500s as a meat source and imported again in the 1800s to be hunted in gated, private parks, some have escaped over the years and are eating everything in sight, including threatened and endangered species, biologists say.

Nationally there are more than 20 million wild pigs. In the Granite State, feral and free-ranging swine number in the hundreds, but they have adapted well and reproduce quickly, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game Wildlife biologist Mark Ellingwood. 

Many people are unaware of how amazingly destructive wild boars can be to native species and the land itself. They can do enormous amounts of damage and breed like flies. New Hampshire’s seem to be mostly in the southwestern part of the state…so far. But that may change as they breed and more and more of them are born.

Wild Boars in New Hampshire

Helenette Silver’s “A History of New Hampshire Game and Furbearers,” published by Fish and Game in 1957, and considered by many to be the authoritative source on animals in New Hampshire during the past century, states that perhaps 25 to 30 animals escaped from the park soon after Corbin imported the two types of boars. She wrote they established a range in the towns of Croydon, Plainfield, Grantham and Cornish.

“A few have been spotted as far as Alexandria in Grafton County,” she wrote. A large fire on Blue Mountain in the 1950s was also believed to have led to the escape of some animals.

Ellingwood said there have also been sightings along the Connecticut River Valley as far away as Littleton and Lancaster, but most of the nuisance and reported damage is centered near Grantham and Cornish. Bryant agrees.

“They (Blue Mountain) won’t claim ownership for obvious reasons, but it’s pretty coincidental that they populate that area,” he said.

Still, Ellingwood said he can understand the park’s contention that they should not be singled out as the sole source of the problem. 

New Hampshire Fish and Game has not set up a hunting season for these critters due to the fear of encouraging people to introduce more of them to increase hunting potential. I don’t blame Fish and Game, the last thing they want to do is to have more of these things running around the state. If you want to hunt them you will have to ask for permission to do so.

Wild Boar Tracks in New Hampshire

In 1949, the legislature passed the boar damage law, requiring “persons responsible for their introduction with their ownership” to be responsible for all damage of escaped boars. Since then, the state considers New Hampshire boars as the property of the park. The park itself does not claim ownership. But because of the law related to ownership, there can be no regulated hunt, Bryant said.

The animals are considered escaped property of Blue Mountain Forest Association, also known as Corbin Park. Gerald Merrill, manager of the park, did not return calls for comment.

Bryant said hunters must ask for permission to shoot a boar. While park officials do not claim animals outside the fence are theirs, they readily give permission to those who want to shoot the animals. “You still have to call them for permission,” he said.

He added that boars can be taken by hunters with a valid hunting license; the hours for hunting during daylight hours also apply.

Here’s what the NH Fish and Game FAQ page has to say about hunting them in New Hampshire:

Can I hunt feral wild boar in New Hampshire?
In New Hampshire, feral wild boar are considered private property. In southwest New Hampshire, where the vast majority of our feral boar exist, they are considered property of Blue Mountain Forest Association, a privately owned preserve located in Croydon, N.H. Permission is required to hunt free-ranging wild boar that escape from their property. If granted permission (which typically is granted), you need to have a current regular N.H. hunting license, and you must hunt within legal hunting hours. Note that feral wild boar are limited in number and are difficult to locate without local knowledge.

Let’s hope that the problem does not become significantly worse over time. If you want to contact Corbin Park for permission to hunt wild boar in New Hampshire, here’s the contact information:

Blue Mountain Forest Association
PO Box 487, 
Newport, NH 03773
(603) 526-4379

I suspect that we are going to see the number of wild pigs grow in New Hampshire over time. Texas and other states have had a horrendously difficult time controlling their population. They are not easy to hunt and they are quite formidable if you are on the ground with them. They are not to be taken lightly.

There’s also a feral swine page on Fish and Game’s site for additional information:

Since their introduction to North America, wild pigs have become one of the more serious wildlife problems in the United States. A confirmed feral swine population in New Hampshire, primarily in Grafton, Sullivan and Cheshire Counties, presents a unique management challenge.

Natural range expansion and illegal introductions, coupled with the extreme adaptability of feral swine, fuel the continued spread of this destructive animal.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture/APHIS-Wildlife Services (WS) is a good resource for landowners who may be experiencing property and or agricultural  damage.  WS provides partnership-based Federal leadership to help resolve wildlife conflicts through an integrated wildlife damage management (IWDM) approach. The WS New Hampshire Program also participates in the WS National Wildlife Disease Program’s feral swine disease surveillance and monitoring efforts. 

Feral swine have no legal game status in New Hampshire, but are considered escaped private property and may only be hunted with permission of the property owner.

Feral Swine in New Hampshire

What’s your take on wild boar in New Hampshire? Should there be a hunting season? Would you hunt them? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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2. Wild Turkeys Invade the Suburbs
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4. Bring the Family to Discover WILD New Hampshire Day, April 21
5. How To Protect Yourself from Dangerous, Wild Turkeys