ENJOYING THE OUTDOORS: HOG HUNTING HOBBY SPAWNS PRESERVE

He's big on pigs.

After hunting the full spectrum of native game, Jimmy Johnson was sold on wild hogs the first time he brought home the bacon from a visit to a North Carolina hunting preserve.

"It put the bug in me in a big way," said Johnson.

Johnson's fascination with the pugnacious porkers led him to obtaining and raising some Russian hogs on his Fulton County, Ky., acreage.

Some five years into the experience, he has taken his enthusiasm a step further by establishing what he believes is Kentucky's first hunting preserve offering wild hogs. His Bayou De Chien Hunting Preserve is nestled in thickety riverbottom timber along the stream of the same name in Hickman County, Ky.

To understand a sportsman's attraction to wild hogs, one must differentiate between them and those of the conventional barnyard varieties. Russian and European hogs have their roots in wild bloodlines from their namesake homes. Feral hogs have their origins in once-domestic stock, which had reverted to the wild in habitat and behavior.

America's experience with wild hogs dates back to colonial times when farmers allowed their domestic swine to roam freely. Some backtracked on the path of domestication and have roamed the backwoods ever since.

Wild hogs are considerably different in appearance than their farm cousins, especially as they mature. Leaner in build, they tend to be slimmer in the hips, though broad in the shoulders. They may be tall and crested in shoulder build, too, earning the common name "razorbacks."

Many develop a longer hair coat on the back, a mane that bristles erect when a hog gets his dander up. Colors vary, many being black or dark, rusty red. The genetic background of feral hogs brings other shading, including spots or brindled coats, into play.

The head of a wild hog typically is more elongated with a tapered snout that ends in a blunt, rooting nose. The ears, instead of slouched as in the case of barnyard hogs are erect. From the jaws grow teeth, which particularly in older boars can stretch into sharp and formidable tusks.

"A lot of people take these hogs too lightly," Johnson said. "At times, they all can be aggressive, and nothing is meaner than a feral hog.

"They aren't stupid, either," he said. "It's common belief that they don't have very good eyesight, but I believe they can see better than people give them credit for. And whatever they might lack in their eyes, they make up for it with their noses and ears.

"Out in the wild, hog hunting is about like deer hunting," Johnson said. "If they get downwind and smell you, you're probably not going to see them."

The lure of hunting hogs -- Russian, European, feral or a bloodline mixture of them -- lie in the nature of the critter, Johnson said.

"People can get excited about them because a hog is something that can bite back," he said. "I've had a couple of close calls with them."

Wild and feral swine come in an assortment of sizes.

"Go south and they get lighter," Johnson said. "An average hog in Florida is 60 to 80 pounds, and 150 is a big one there. Some of the big Russian hogs can get to 600 or so pounds, but that's an old one. Most of my hogs run 150 to 225 pounds."

The hogs, even those which have been imported and released in Johnson's hunting area, show no inclination for domestication, avoid contact with humans and, when faced with them, have a penchant for surly behavior. They are unpredictable enough that Johnson favors hunting from elevated ladder stands. He doesn't want his hunters in harm's way.

"If a hog ever got you off your feet, you'd be done," he said.

Any means of taking deer may be applied to hogs, but with larger, tenacious critters, hunters shouldn't go too light.

"To me, a handgun is the only way to hunt them because I want it to be up close and personal," Johnson said. "The .357 is the lightest handgun I allow, and the .41 and .44 magnums are better."

Johnson said rifles should be .243 caliber or larger. Archery tackle also serve on close shots with carefully placed arrows.

A productive hog hunt can yield a trophy, but there's a good deal of pork that comes attached.

"People like to hunt them, but you get a lot of meat, too," Johnson said. "They don't eat bad."

Because it is a private preserve, no license or special tag is required to hunt at the Bayou De Chien operation. Johnson, who also offers exotic sheep at the preserve, charges only for an animal taken. More information is available by phoning 502-838-6108.

~Steve Vantreese is outdoors editor of The Paducah Sun.