The wild boar (Sus scrofa) is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig. It is native across much of Central Europe, the Mediterranean Region (including North Africa's Atlas Mountains) and much of Asia as far south as Indonesia, and has been widely introduced elsewhere.

Currently wild boars are hunted both for their meat and to mitigate any damage they may cause to crops and forests. A charging boar is considered exceptionally dangerous quarry, due to its thick hide and dense bones, making anything less than a kill shot a potentially deadly mistake. Hunters have reported being butted up into trees by boars that have already taken a glancing shot.

Pigsticking was a form of boar hunting done by individuals, or groups of spearmen on foot or on horseback using a specialized boar spear. The boar spear was sometimes fitted with a cross guard to stop the enraged animal driving its pierced body further down the shaft in order to attack its killer before dying.

In India, pigsticking was popular among the Jatts, Gujjars, Rajputs, Sikhs, Maharajas, and with British officers during Victorian and Edwardian times. According to the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, it was encouraged by military authorities as good training because "a startled or angry wild boar is ... a desperate fighter [and therefore] the pig-sticker must possess a good eye, a steady hand, a firm seat, a cool head and a courageous heart." Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting movement wrote a book on the subject In Lessons from the Varsity of Life he says that "I never took the usual leave to the hills in hot weather because I could not tear myself away from the sport." To those who condemned it, he said "Try it before you judge. See how the horse enjoys it, see how the boar himself, mad with rage, rushes wholeheartedly into the scrap, see how you, with your temper thoroughly roused, enjoy the opportunity of wreaking it to the full. Yes, hog-hunting is a brutal sport—and yet I loved it, as I loved also the fine old fellow I fought against." Michael Rosenthal quotes him as saying "Not only is pig-sticking the most exciting and enjoyable sport for both the man and horse as well, but I really believe that the boar enjoys it too."

Willie Rushton suggests that Baden-Powell's love of pig-sticking is a good reason for any self-respecting boy scout to "hand in [his] woggle and garters".

Spear hunting for razorbacks is practiced in some parts of the U.S. although it is uncommon.

In Persia aristocratic hunters used elephants to chase the boars and encircle them in marshland. The hunter would then use a bow to shoot the boars from a boat. Elephants carried the bodies to the hunting camp. The rock reliefs of these scenes have remained largely intact in Taq-e Bostan.

Hunting dogs have been used to hunt boar since ancient times. Boar hunting dogs are loosely divided into two categories, bay dogs, and catch dogs. Bay dogs harass and harry the boar, keeping it cornered in one place, while intensely vocalizing. This behaviour is known as "baying" or keeping the boar "at bay". The bay dogs vocalizing alerts the hunter(s) to the bay, and the dogs maintain a slight distance from the boar allowing the hunter(s), once caught up, to dispatch the boar with a well placed rifle shot or tie the hog up to be killed and cleaned later as the meat from a boar goes bad very quickly. Bay dogs are typically Cur dogs such as the Leopard Cur, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Blackmouth Cur, Blue Lacy, Catahoula and trailing scent hounds such as the Walker Hound, Foxhound, Plott Hound, and the Berner Niederlaufhund.

Catch dogs physically take hold of the boar, typically seizing the base of the boar's ear. Once the catch dogs have physical control of the boar, they will hold it down by the head indefinitely until the hunter arrives. The hunter then comes in from behind the boar, and dispatches the boar with a knife or spear. Catch dogs are typically "Bully" breeds such as the American Bulldog, American Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier and other molossers such as the Boxer, Dogo Argentino, Cane Corso and smaller Mastiff crosses.

Popular "hog dogs" in the U.S. include the Blackmouth Cur, Mountain Cur, Catahoula, Blue Lacy, Plott Hound, Walker Hound, Pit Bull and purpose bred crosses. Popular "pig dogs" in Australia include Staghounds, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Greyhound crosses, various Terriers, and purpose bred crosses.