Wild Boar problem in G.S.N.P.

[MOWGLI]

Out on the Duncan Ridge Trail in Georgia (it's blue blazed and near the AT but it ain't no shortcut) I was actually wondering who had hauled a mechanical tiller, like a Troy-Bilt or something, to the top of some pretty remote mountains and tilled some clearings. Being the bright guy I am and all, I figured it out all by myself a day or two later.

DWM, I hope I don't boar you with this story. On the hike that Youngblood & I ran into you on Licklog Mountain, 3 days later we ran into a Sow & 3 piglets on the Benton MacKaye Trail climbing Hemp Top in the Cohuttas. Boy, was she pissed! The piglets ran off into the brush, and the Sow just snorted, grunted and growled, and then ran into the woods. With the Sow still acting all PO'd I clanged my Leki Poles together - and with that - Youngblood said "what the heck are you doing Little Bear?". The noise of the poles only seemed to make her more agitated.

Anyway, we quickly got out of there, but not until after my blood pressure was elevated a few notches. It was a pretty cool experience.

[tech30528]

What is the penalty for carrying a gun in the Smokies? I'm talking a legally registered pistol and a permit to carry concealed. It may be worth the risk. I was near Clingman's Dome a week after that six year old was killed by a bear. Did they ever find the bear? I know they hadn't found it yet when we were there. Anyway, I wonder how many people out there are carrying and you just don't know it.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

They found the bear that killed the six yo.

Many people do carry weapons illegally on the trail.

Boars are normally not aggressive toward humans. In Slickrock Wilderness in NC about 1981, I encoutered several wild boars during mating season. They were behaving aggressively and destroyed my tent. I climbed a tree to avoid them. They weren't after me - just rowdy young male boars looking for female companionship. Kind of reminded me of Trail Days .

I've seen boars several dozen times and that was the only time I ever had any trouble with them.

[Ridge]

You'll get attacked by hypothermia, lightning, Poison Ivy and bees first; Man, Dog, Elk and Snakes 2nd; Cars, Bikes, Horses, Boars, and Bears last. Guns and treble hooks not allowed in GSMNP.

[SGT Rock]

You forgot dehydration which should be right up there by hypothermia.

More people die from heart attacks on the trail than from bears and boars put together. Get an Emergency Defibrillator and have a better chance of using it.

http://www.uscav.com/Productinfo.asp...D=1&CatID=5230

[hammock engineer]

If you are really concerned with bears look into bear spray. Probibly not needed. But legal, where a gun will get you into trouble.

Do some online searches. There is compelling evidence that bear spray is a safer defense than a gun. Better odds of detering. I think if you shot a bear and do not land a lucky shot, you will just piss the bear off.

[SGT Rock]

That reminds me of a joke.

Guy walks into a gun store, asks the shop owner for the three most powerful handguns he has. So the guy lays out a .454 Casull, a Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum Revolver, and a .50 Desert Eagle.

The guy picks them up, plays with them a little. Then asks the shopkeeper which gun he thinks is most reliable. So the shop keeper tells him that the .454 and the .44 are revolvers, which are less likely to have a jam or malfunction.

So he then asks which of those two are the most powerful. The shop keeper tells him the .454 Casull is more powerful although slightly heavier.

So the guy decides on the .44 since it is a little lighter.

The shopkeeper asks him why he picked the lighter gun when he was looking at these monster handguns. So the guy tells him he is going backpacking and needs bear protection. Then he asks the shopkeeper to wrap up the .44.

The shopkeeper tells him he will wrap it up right after he files the front sight post off.

The backpacker is perplexed. He asks him why he would want to file the sight off a perfectly good weapon.

The shopkeeper responds that after you shoot the bear, it will hurt less when he shoves it up your ass before he eats you.

[Ridge]

Yea, I left out Hyperthermia, Heart Attacks(other health issues), and accidents (hiker falling and/or things falling on the hiker). Falling or "things falling" is especially a danger. The wild boars wouldn't be as bad if somebody hadn't imported(yrs ago) European Boars and tried making a hunting preserve down near Teleco with them. Of course they fled the scene, bred with local pigs and there you have it, systematic destruction of the landscape and some wildlife. GSMNP needs to have a trapping scheme set up or an organized hunt. These animals are very elusive, more so than white-tail.

[generoll]

saw one of the pigs in a cage/trap when i finished up my section hike with a jog on the BMT to Bryson City last March. He wasn't real happy to be in the cage or to see me, but they are actively trapping them. Dunno if they relocate them or take them home for dinner.

[StarLyte]

This is an interesting thread.

I'm sure most of you know the Three Forks area on the AT (north of Hawk Mtn GA). There is a cozy little pine bed area a tad bit south of the forest road that sits to the left, next to a stream. It was about midnight, FULL MOON, and I'm laying there in my tent batting an occasional mouse off of my tent. The mice stopped, and it was dead silent. It was REAL WEIRD. All of sudden I heard snort-snort-snort sniff sniff right at the entrance of my tent. I was TREMBLING. I couldn't imagine what in the name of GOD was outside of my tent. Then I heard something tearing up and hitting the ground. I yelled for my friend but she was snoring loudly so I know she didn't hear what was happening. I turned on my headlamp and unzipped my tent very slowly, and there it was.....the ugliest boar you could ever imagine. He was staring right at me and I tell you I about had a friggin heart attack. It threw it's head up and then took off.

What a night. My friend claims she couldn't sleep all night and never heard a thing and that I HAD to imagine this. That was the last time I hiked with her.

I've never seen a bear on the AT.

Marsha

[sliderule]

saw one of the pigs in a cage/trap when i finished up my section hike with a jog on the BMT to Bryson City last March. He wasn't real happy to be in the cage or to see me, but they are actively trapping them. Dunno if they relocate them or take them home for dinner.

Neither. They shoot them in the cage.

[generoll]

ok, then after they shoot them presumably they take them home for dinner.

[sliderule]

Comments concerns, experiences, opinions, etc ........

The first time I hiked the AT through the GSMNP, the area from Mollies Ridge to Spence Field was swarming with herds of boar. They pretty much ignored hikers. That was before the eradiction program was instituted. I think they are a bit more wary of humans now.

[sliderule]

ok, then after they shoot them presumably they take them home for dinner.

"They" are typically college kids working for the Student Conversation Association. You think they are going to hump a dead boar out of the backcountry?

Actually, the boar carcasses are left to be "naturally" consumed. The logic is to compensate for the loss of food sources to native animals caused by the boar.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

I believe Sliderule is correct. I stumbled across the bones from two hogs while doing some cross-country hiking in the Twentymile / Fontana area of GSMNP.

[generoll]

i don't want to start a flame war over this one, but there are a couple of thoughts that immediately come to the fore. one is the idea that in the GSMNP, one of the most heavily watched and regulated parks in the country, that students are allowed to carry firearms into the backcountry. seems contrary to what i know of the normal procedures of the park.

two is that the cage/traps that are used to trap the boars are not exactly light in weight themselves and the ones i saw were on trails that would support 4wd vehicles. in fact there is considerable evidence of vehicular traffic around the Calhoun House by Hazel Creek. not to mention the stables and hay making equipment and rolls of hay which i assume are for the horses that inhabit the stables.

granted that some of those vehicles are brought in by the LCVPs from Fontana, no one would have had to 'hump' the boar i saw had he been shot. nor would they have had to do so from any of the cages that i saw. there's a lot more activity along the shore of Lake Fontana then i had ever imagined.

[sliderule]

i don't want to start a flame war over this one, but there are a couple of thoughts that immediately come to the fore. one is the idea that in the GSMNP, one of the most heavily watched and regulated parks in the country, that students are allowed to carry firearms into the backcountry. seems contrary to what i know of the normal procedures of the park.

Generoll, one thought comes to my mind. You are speculating. I wasn't.

[Spock]

I second Jack's opinion. The guys who hunt feral hogs are doing us and the environment a big favor. The hogs aill completely alter the ecology of an area if they are left to their own devices. They are an invasive, non-native pest. Bears like them, but there aren't enough bears to take care of the problem.

You will rarely see the hogs, themselves. They are mostly nocturnal when humans are around. What will be obvious is the torn up forest floor where they have rooted. They really stir things up.

If you see small hogs (pigs), use the same caution as you would exercise upon encountering a bear cub. Sows are extremely dangerous and protective. And bear spray won't work. A sow will pound you into jelly before she pauses to notice the spray. Then she will eat the can.

[The Solemates]

Just got back from the Smokies over the weekend. I saw a bear and a boar; a great trip!

[sliderule]

Bears like them, but there aren't enough bears to take care of the problem.

There is increasing evidence that coyotes are preying on the smaller pigs.