This thread is boaring.
I'm not really a hiker, I just play one on White Blaze.
What ever happened to Minnesota Smith?
Uh - get the eggs and frying pan ready?
Do I win?..................
You'll see weather on the AT that'll make a charging hog seem tame. Lightning is deadly, I'd best stay home.
Oh, and check the toilets for black widow spiders before sitting down...............then there's those pesky rattlesnakes. Once one of them decides to defend itself it's too late to climb a tree...........
As I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn back from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11
The last boar I saw was grazing in a parking lot at Big Fat Gap in Joyce Kilmer. When I saw this post, I was hoping Tipi Walter would reply. My guess is that Tipi has seen more boar than all of us put together. Here is what he says and (as usual) he is pretty much on the mark:
I've seen hundreds of pigs over the years and got "mocked charged" once after scattering a group atop a high foggy bald---the rest ran off and the leader circled back and charged but stopped a few feet in front of me. We grunted at about the same time and he took off. Another time I scared up a group and they charged past while I stood behind a tree. As usual with the outdoors, people highlight certain risks way beyond normal and instill fear which seems to be an American pastime. It's always about rattlesnakes or bears or pigs but never about the real dangers---cold rain induced hypothermia, or falling trees/tree limbs, or falling while wearing a heavy pack, or random lightning strikes. These are the things backpackers should be concerned with. Forget the pigs. But then we wouldn't have the long threads on which handgun is the best for bear attacks or pig snarlings. You can't exactly drool over a weapon in a lightning storm and shoot out the sky, ergo the conversation soon turns to personal defense, a very boring topic.
I wish I had read Tipi Walter's post. He said the same things I did and I swear (promise to you southern folks) that I didn't copy him!
He said it better, too (except for the eggs and frying pan part).
As I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn back from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11
We scattered babies one hike. They went to both sides of the trail and squealing. We had to walk inbetween. I just knew mamma was going to charge, but I never saw the mamma.
"Fish Camp Woman.... Baby, I like the way you smell"
- Unknown Hinson
I was charged by a boar earlier this year on the Duncan ridge trail in Georgia. It may not have been a deliberate charge... we surprised each other, and he may have just started running at me by mistake. A couple of rounds from a .45 across his bow changed his direction at any rate.Az
Find the closest tree grab a limb and jump up is what i've always heard
L Dog
AT 2000 Miler
The Laughing Dog Blog
https://lighterpack.com/r/38fgjt
"The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness." - John Muir
I did see mamma on a hike up Long Hungrey Ridge in the Smokies. She was rooting up the trail as I rounded a bend. My hiking partner behind me said "there are piglets on the hill". I replied that mamma was just ahead. We stared at each other for an eternity (about ten seconds). She stopped rooting and grunted to the piglets. She held her ground until the piglets ran off, then she followed. My partner said there we two small piglets that still had there stripes. All I saw were the sows tusks.
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo