Judging Warthog

What makes a good Warthog, judging Warthog?

Im not so good in judging warthogs, but have hunted some great ones...see for yourself.







The first 2 measured around 13-14 inchs .

Warthogs are basically the easiest of trophy animals to judge you will see a good one from miles.

What makes it good as well for the cheap trophy fee is that I have never had anyone turn down a good pig even if he has a bigger one they are too much fun to hunt. But basically if the tusks are sticking out 6" above the lip its good.

Just beware with old sows some of them carry good ivory as well.

Does 6" mean total tusk out of the lip, or 6" up verticly in a straight line. I notice in alot of the pics of bigger pigs the tusk point at the sky. Is this typical of a mature boar?

As Fredrik said you can see a good Warthog a mile away.. They get the blood rolling & I never tire of shooting them. It seems as though the tusks stick out 6-8" inches on a good one & the higher they point up the more they get my attention!!

Do warthogs have a shield covering there vitals like feral hogs do?

Wharthogs dont have a shield or extra thick skin over their vitals but if you would like to blunt a knife they have a very thin but leatherly skin. For their size they are robust and tough little beasts. Think of them as small compact bulldozers

And yes they can be dangerous and have been known to charge when cornered or wounded. I'm speaking of experience LOL.

I love hunting warthogs, but the two I got so far was game of oportunity.
Never the less... they get the blood rushing

The first one from 2006.


And on the wall.


The second one from 2008.

Thanks Frederik,
I should be fine with my bow set up then.

Arild,
I love the euro mount thats the way i am going to do mine if i get one.

My best warthog to date is just a tiny tad short of 18 inches (45,72 cm)..A picture of him is in my web page gallery under Big 5 Safaris with PH Hannes Swanopole.

I am quite the opposite as the above posters, I can't seem to judge a warthog because those damn white whiskers under the jaw, they look like teeth to me!

My usual response to my PHs "What do you think Ray" is "just tell me to shoot or not to shot as I don't have a clue"...Warthogs and Gemsbok are not my "thang" to judge, the rest I can almost judge at a glance .

I agree with most here, I never tire of hunting Warthogs! Other than Cape buffalo the warthog to me absolutely screams "AFRICA". The bigest one I have taken is a 13" with perfect cutters, not a chip anyplace! Man if you think you have seen animals that can run, you need to see a warthog take off like he has a rocket in his butt. Those babies can get it going, and turn on a dime, and give you 9 cents change!

They are fun to hunt. My best is bang on 14 inches.

Ray.......18 inches.........that is a beauty!!

Originally Posted by Ray Atkinson

I am quite the opposite as the above posters, I can't seem to judge a warthog because those damn white wiskers under the jaw, they look like teeth to me!

I totally agree with you Ray... Those white whiskers do look like tusks from a distance, and that is what puts me off too. I have shot some warthogs that were big bodied and had the whiskers which i thought were the tusks, and when i walked up to them i was surprised to see almost no tusks but only the white whiskers

You guys have taken some great Warthogs... very nice pictures here.

Arild, I also really like the European skull mount of your Warthog, it is not done very often, though it is a great way to show the unusual shape of the skull. I think it's great also that your taxidermist did not bleach the tusks, I really dislike it when taxidermist ruin the tusks by making them look like Hollywood movie star teeth... To leave the tusks natural is so much better.


Here is the biggest Warthog that I have taken, 14 in (36 cm). I am very fond of pig hunting anywhere in the world, always lots of action and fun. Like a few have posted here, I too will never tire of hunting pigs.

I do have a funny Warthog hunting story, it was not this Warthog but that of a friend of mine who I took hunting, we were teenagers...

He shot his Warthog at about 60 yards, it ran 15 yards and fell dead in his tracks. We took a couple of pictures, loaded him up in the back of the truck and started heading back to the lodge for lunch, we were only about 20 minutes away, we arrived and I went to open the gate of the compound, only to see the Warthog standing up in the back of the truck! My buddy was sitting in the back of the truck with his back to the Warthog and had no idea that it was standing up behind him. I yelled at him to get out of the truck, only to see the pig leaping out... When my friend figured out what was going on, he grabbed the rifle and standing in the back of the truck killed that pig again as he was running away... We still laugh to this day at this story and my friend his convinced that this Warthog was dead and came back to life. I learned a good lesson that day, never take for granted that an animal that appears to be dead is actually dead.

Now that's a great story! Where did he hit him...the first time that is...

TOM, I wish I could tell you but it was well over 20 years ago and I don't remember that detail. Maybe if I were the shooter I would remember, though I do know that he used a 300 Weatherby.

Jerome.
That skull mount is quite a talking piece around my house.
The kids in the neighborhood used to ring the doorbell asking to have a look at the pig.
I told them it was was the grandfather to Pumbaa from the movie "The Lion King"

It was shot on its way out of a waterhole we was stalking up to.
When we came around the last bushes he saw us, put in the four wheel drive and accelerated out of the mud straight away from me.
I had a little overheight and put the bullet just above the root of the tail.
It cartwheeled over and lay still at the edge of the bushes, instant death.

When we got up to him he looked like he was hit by a hand grenade and both I, my tracker and PH stood there gaping.



The bullet (270 grs A-Frame from an M70 375 H&H) had hit the spine which had sort of exploded in splinters and tore the skin to shreds.

The bullet was found under the skin in the chest after passing the spine, lungs and heart. Distance was approx 60 yards.



Not a nice sight, but a very dead warthog, and this one never came back to life again

Arild, I am sure that the children in the neighborhood have lots of stories to tell about the man on their street who shot Pumba's grand father .

I have seen this kind of damage several times on different kinds game but always when the bullet placement is in rear, I call it the "popcorn" effect. I think it happens when the bullet tunnels under the dense muscle flesh and forces it upward in an eruption... I have a difficult time explaining it though the picture shows it well.

It's great that you took that picture, we often don't think about taking pictures of these unusual kind of things that happen, but it's interesting to see and talk about.

I had the fortune to see a lot of nice warthogs in the Limpopo Province. The big ones are easy to see, you can see them at least 150 yards away with the bare eye. Why didn't I get one? By the time I got the guide on the same page as me the warthog was long gone...the big one's don't stare and let you take pictures usually. For the record, my PH did spot some too. A monster of a female on the last hour of the last day...I'll have that 12 inch monster in my dreams for awhile. We saw a beast in the brush, the day before...wish I had a shotgun and buckshot for that warthog...he was a giant!!!

A guy I hunted with took two giant warthogs, while he was brush busting for eland. I figure since he never got the eland...he earned his warthogs. He got his warthogs the normal way, they were incidental trophies, that come along when you spend your time in the bush and brush. One was similiar to the warthog on top of this blog, the other a once in a lifetime 15 incher! He also got a 60 inch kudu on the trip in 7 days of hunting. I told him he should play the lottery. Dennis, from New Mexico, you are a gentleman!

Lastly, I hope landowners preserve the warthog, and don't let Spaniards come in wipe out the warthogs. Shooting any warthog...just to shoot...is why hunters are having problems. This is a disgusting practice. PH's and landowners need to give anyone that shoots any warthog a kick in the ass out of Africa.

Since we all love the pigs here is some more pictures.

Here piggies, piggies, piggies !