Does anyone know if bear spray works against hogs?

I'm backpacking in an area with lots of hogs. I have had them walk up on my campsite before and ignore me but if one decided to become territorial I was hoping bear spray would work. I dont have a gun. I have my dog which is a pitbull going but a large hog would tear her up

Bear spray works by hopefully discharging enough of the active ingredient capsaicin into the mucous membranes of the offending critter causing it to rethink its attack. If for some reason a hog has more tolerance to pain than a Griz it may not work. On the other hand if you don't have an alternative than you don't have much to loose. Not making light of this, I would NOT want to tangle with a pig of any sort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU5cMZymSr0

Keep in mind bear spray is not 100% effective on bears either. The linked video was an eye opener for me. If this bear was truly hit by the spray it certainly didn't have the effect I would be wanting to see, and backing up slowly and sticking around is not it.

Bears and pigs have a very keen senses of smell and I would hazard a guess that the spray would have similar effects on the porkers. I saw some at a distance in the Smokies, and saw lots of their damage. Not good critters in the least. I've had enough trouble with domestic hogs to know they are nothing to mess with. Your dog's scent may be a deterrent.

I have seen that video. I think the bear wasnt close enough but who knows ( what an annoying women)

I know, our local animal control guys don't mess with bear spray, nor do I when working in my park or hiking in areas with known pig problems. Maybe time to get your CCL and start packin'?
Candidly, I've never had a problem with them, as they tend to run away, especially when dogs are around.

Apparently that bear didn't speak English. Good gosh, woman, throw something! My mom would have chased it with a broom.

Hate to say it, but that woman's whining almost warranted an attack. Says a lot when you can screech and whine like a failed wheel bearing , yet never stop filming. Some bears are use to feeding in the midst of hundreds of screaming gulls, this must have been one of them.

I would say yes. Pigs are very similar to us, in that they are omnivorous. Bears are also omnivorous.

She sure is annoying sounding. I would agree that the bear probably didnt get the full effect of that spray but its a good example of how close and how accurate you need to be. Now think about trying to spray a charging brown bear in a 30mph head wind. I had my wife practice discharging an expired can before our trip into brown bear country last summer...I was not impressed. Even with the slightest of breeze you really have to wait until the animal would be practically on top of you. I hope never to have to use it for real.

Her voice is irritating enough that it would seem the bear would leave to avoid that. It also seems that she had some type of food in the kayak. Telling the bear that it did even taste good is not to likely to deter the bear.

Surely I can't be the only one who instantly thought "Mmmm, spicy pork" when considering the mix of bear spray and wild hogs? (Obligatory "And stop calling me Shirley.")

They're in California's coast range but I've never read of them being a particular pest to hikers, maybe the mountain lions keep them shy. IIUC Texas javelinas are another story entirely.

Cheers,

I think they have round-ups and supply food pantries and shelters with the meat in Texas. I thought of Tex-Mex right off the bat, but didn't want to get any hungrier. First step in the recipe calls for lead.

In Texas you can kill them all year long

That is probably one of the silliest things I have ever viewed on youtube. Crazy bear, but her reaction is just too much

Hey Todd!

Most parks in TX don't allow for firearms as I understand it. But even if they did most are fairly crowded. Though I have a couple of large caliber handguns I'd not feel comfortable due to that as you are responsible for every projectile you send.

I have no qualms with anyone carrying a firearm IF they are much more than just familiar and safe. Most are not from what I've seen. Though my guns are Civil War era replicas that I shoot at the 15 yd range the majority of the people I see don't do nearly as well at the 7 yd range.

But being a good shot at a stationary piece of paper is nothing like the adrenaline dump of a critter meaning to chew on you. I've seen that I'm generally cool under pressure but I'm not sure how well I'd do with something running at me or someone else. That's a LOT of responsibility.

And then there is concealed carry which may be harder to employ in a hurry, especially with a pack or open carry and the way many people will behave and react.

We do have bear spray as we intended on going to Big Bend. But I do carry a Sabre pepper spray (they are rated fairly high) and a large pocket knife, and/or a large walking stick. The range of regular pepper sprays is maybe half as is the strength of it and size of the cloud so it's not as good as bear spray.

Were it allowed and the human population thinner I'd likely carry a pistol. I had a custom bullet mold maker make me a wide meplat heavy bullet for one of my pistols just for hogs as I hunt and may one day need to track one I wounded, which almost gaurantees an attack. Thankfully I've not been put in that situation.

That woman was ridiculous and obnoxious!

You can conceal carry in Texas parks now, if you have a license. Rarely a reason to, though.

Big Bend...been there something like 50ish times. My avatar is one of the sunsets. There, you will be dealing with Mexican Black bears which are small, flighty, and not threatening. You will be lucky to see one. I was checked out by one in my sleep, under my tarp....the smell woke me up. It wandered off, I never got out of my bag. They tend to hang around the park employee village dumpsters, up in Pine Canyon, and along the South Rim loop.
They have steel bear boxes in all the campsites. Use them! I've only heard about the occasional tent/pack ravaging when folks didn't use proper food storage.
They have mountain lions there as well. There has been the odd attack from sick cats, none lethal, again you'll be blessed to see one.
For a very short time, I carried a pistol when hiking in BB....it's heavy, and in reality, useless, since there is not much in that park that's going to "get you".

Can I just take a moment for an aside to say that we in North America are very fortunate not to have too many dangerous animals and generally not very aggressive ones. We live in an outdoors-persons paradise. Those of use that live here shouldn't take it for granted.