Ohio hunter's weight-loss plan pays off with hefty wild boar

The Lancaster Eagle-Gazette has published an interesting article about an Ohio man's weight-loss plan that paid off with a recent successful hunt for wild boar in Hocking County.

From the story:

Goodfellow walked the hills of Zaleski State Forest looking for an opportunity to harvest the wild pigs - which have been called and are the same as feral swine, European wild boar, Russian wild boar and razorbacks - for two months.

All the walking and tracking paid off on Feb. 7 when Goodfellow and his hunting partner, Jim Clayson, spotted a group of boar - called a sounder - from 150 yards out.

Goodfellow, 49, lowered the scope attached to .243-caliber rifle and fired at the largest one. He tracked the boar for another 150 yards before he stumbled across his trophy. The boar, black with 4-inch tusks, measured roughly 5 feet long and weighed between 350 to 425 pounds, by Goodfellow's estimate.

It was the largest boar Goodfellow, normally a deer hunter, ever had harvested.

Goodfellow began hunting wild boar when his doctor told him he needed to lose 50 pounds.

"My mind said 'God put wild pigs in Ohio?' I couldn't believe it," he is quoted as saying. "I just didn't think there were wild boar in Ohio."

There are no bag limits on wild boar, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resource's Division of Wildlife's Web site. The ODNR encourages the hunting of wild boar because of the destruction they wreak on agricultural crops and wildlife habitat.

Brad Hubbard, a ranger at Lake Hope, which adjoins Zaleski State Forest, said he first was introduced to wild boar as a local game protector in the 1980s.

"It was the opening day of deer-gun season, and we left a check station in McArthur and we got called back," Hubbard said. "A guy had six pigs in his truck. He said they had charged him, and he shot them.

"There was nothing in the game laws that addressed that."

Hubbard, who is in his 25th year as a ranger, works with hunters like Goodfellow to guide them toward areas with boar activity.

"We do try to direct people to them when we've heard about sightings," he said. "It's not a huge problem. It's just another dimension to hunting. (The Department of Wildlife) wants them hunted. It's very obvious when they go through the woods in a group. They root around. They're pretty destructive, more so than a wild turkey or another animal."

Goodfellow, who plans to display his trophy's skull in a spotlighted case inside his Lancaster home, continues to hunt almost weekly. He's lost nearly 40 pounds in the past two and a half months canvassing area woods.

"It has made me feel good," he told the newspaper. "It felt great that I got something big, plus I'm helping Zaleski Forest out and the Lake Hope area."