The Largest Wild Hog Ever In Virginia

Wild hogs are a growing problem in the United States. These feral animals breed quickly, cause widespread crop damage, and disperse diseases wherever their populations take root. Although Virginia does not have as high a population of these mammals as other southern states, they’re slowly becoming more and more of an issue. Learn about the largest wild hog ever in Virginia, how it measures up to the average wild hog, and more!

How Big is the Average Wild Hog?

Before we look at the biggest wild hog seen in the Old Dominion, let’s consider the average size of these animals. The wild hogs in the Americas are often hybrids. However, a good starting spot for understanding them is to consider the species Sus scrofa.

On average, these animals weigh anywhere between 75 and 250 pounds, stand from 2.1 to 4.1 feet at the shoulder, and grow from 3 to 5 feet in length. Usually, males are larger than females. Part of what makes these animals such a pest is their large size, voracious appetite, and their ability to breed quickly.

The average wild hog can produce two litters per year. Each litter contains between 4 and 12 offspring. Each of them can start breeding once they are between 6 and 8 months old. So, it’s easy to see how the population of these animals may explode in a short amount of time.

Now that we know how large these animals can get, it’s time to see the record for Virginia.

What Was the Largest Wild Hog Ever in Virginia?

The largest wild hog ever in Virginia was 545 pounds and measured almost 7 feet long. This absolutely gigantic hog was shot and killed by Jacob Breeden after it crossed his property and charged at him. Fearing for his safety and that of his family, Breeden shot the mammal.

This hog was killed in January 2017, and the story has left a few questions in its wake.

Specifically, there are two caveats to this story that we must explore. First, the hog may not have been wild. Typically, feral hogs in Virginia only weigh about 200 pounds at their largest. So, officials believe that this specimen may have been raised to be hunted due to the enormous amount of food that the animal would need to consume to reach that size.

The second issue is that it’s hard to know whether this hog was the largest ever. Someone could have hunted another hog and never had the chance to weigh it or a large hog may have just died in the wild. While the 545-pound wild hog is certainly the largest mentioned in media in recent years, other larger ones may have been found or hunted in the state.

Still, for our purposes, this monster is the largest wild hog ever in Virginia.

How Many Wild Hogs Live in the United States?

Wild hogs are a major problem within the United States. Their wanton crop destruction is tearing a swath across valuable farmlands. Also, these animals continue to rapidly breed, replenishing the numbers killed by hunters every year.

Scientists can only estimate the total number of wild hogs in the United States. As of February 2024, scientists believe that as many as 6 million wild hogs are running around the country. However, those numbers could be inaccurate.

Ongoing eradication efforts are diminishing the number of wild hogs in the nation. Yet, some government agencies want people to stop using firearms to hunt hogs. Hunting wild hogs has made the animals more suspicious of bait and harder to trap. Scientists in places like Missouri believe that trapping and eliminating the hogs is the best way to get rid of them. So, if the hogs learn to avoid bait, then the trapping won’t work so well. While a person with a firearm can kill one or two of the hogs, a large number of their fellow hogs may get away.

The largest hog ever in Virginia was an absolute monster, tipping the scales at around 545 pounds. Yet, that beast was not the largest one ever caught or killed. Georgia’s “Hogzilla” had almost 200 pounds on the hog from Virginia! As these animals continue to spread, larger specimens could appear in the country.  

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Mircea Costina/Shutterstock.com