Ned Makim
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Everything posted by Ned Makim
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And here's Hannah on the job again. Paul was speaking to one of our cockies (landholders) who said he'd seen a bit of wallowing on one of the pig productive dams on the place. Paul lives and works on a property and this pig chasing spot is about 10 minutes down the road but only ever good at certain times of the year. Normally the pigs appear there later than this in the year following a permanent creek down out of the rough country looking for prickly pear (a type of introduced cactus) when it's in fruit. We've had an unusual season this year and the pear seems to be ripening earlier... Anywa
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For all the carp lovers... This is at Lake Cargellico in Australia when the lake dried up during the recent (and regular) drought. Carp (European Carp or euros here) are a bloody curse in Oz. The fish in the first pix on the thread is in Oz as well. It's another introduction but at least it's good eating. We call them redfin and I have seen them to 6lb. By law, you have to kill every euro or redfin you hook. None can be returned to the water. Cheers.
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Ok, we are on the same page ... Any pig that surpasses 400 lbs. , by and large, has been fed and penned at some point . But I would not consider a pig that has been trapped and relocated a domestic pig. No worries Aaron, My use of the word domestic is probably wrong. I am trying to indicate the difference between what I consider genuinely wild and those that have had human involvement (based on the definition of the word feral...) I appreciate what you are saying. I do think a relocated boar is different to a pig that knows it's territory from birth but that would change depending
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I'm sure there are lots of big wild ones. I said the ones in the dramatic big pig stories like the one mentioned. Are you saying they are wild and not the result of releases or cultured 'game ranch' boars? If they are bred for release for hunters they are domestics. Cheers.
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No special rewards. They do get as much food as they want to eat and the ripped up dog (after treatment) gets to lie around anywhere they want while they start to mend but other than that, the reward is the pig and the pat on the head and a few 'good dogs' at the time. Cheers.
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how much would it cost to buy your dog???
Ned Makim replied to charliehunter100's topic in General Talk
I've been offered $2000 Aus cash several times for working dogs of mine. There are two things...one is that if the dog is worth that money as a worker why would I get rid of it and the second is that a working pig dog is like a brother to me. I can't put a price on one of my workers. They are not for sale at any price. Not everyone has a price. Cheers. -
Sometimes if a young dog is a bit windy of a lead (or any training or management technique) you can get them moving forward by lying on the ground on your back. It's a sign of playful submission to a dog. As suggested have the lead loose on the pup but within your grip. Don't get into a fight with the pup but if it plays up, pulling or thrashing it's head around, just stand still and look away. Directly staring at the pup or getting upset just aggravates the pup more. Just ignore everything the pup does until it tires itself out. The mopment it relaxes just lie down on your back and relax. The
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And yes, the blackberries are wicked for trapping dogs in front of a boar. Really tests a dog's ticker because they always get marked up in that situation. Cheers.
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I honestly don't know how old he was. Young boar certainly but I don't know how to tell on wild ones. I look at the grinders. If they are thick and curled I know he's an older boar but if they are thin and straighter, he's young... He was big because of the crop he'd been on. Good tucker (food) also makes then more fiery. Cheers.
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Thanks Mike, How long the dogs get off just depends on the damage. Barney will be out for a couple of weeks. Can be months in some cases... And as for backing the dogs up...you really don't have a choice in this game. They can get killed if you don't. Cheers.
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Had another look in the sorghum after work today on the property and finally cracked a big fella. Only got the one but he was a beauty. All three young dogs had a hand in it with Roger doing the big work after Gina found the boar. And Barney wore a few rips in the battle. I was walking through the crop late in the afternoon when I saw a big young boar sneaking off about 600 metres away across a blackberry choked creek. Took me a while to get to where he went through the fence but when we hit the hole Gina, who was the only dog loose, dived through on the scent and took off up the hil
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In the vid the crackling sound is rain on the sorghum and if you look carefully down towards the abandoned house in the paddock you'll see a couple of flashes of white...that's Barney working further out... Cheers.
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And re the crocs. No we are too far south for that drama. When we go up north for our annual hunt in the Gulf of Carpentaria crocs are a serious issue for dogs and men. Deadly serious. Around here we have eastern brown snakes, king browns and tiger snakes. All of which can roll a dog in minutes. Men too. You don't strike a lot but if you run into them it's a pivotal moment in the day, and maybe your life. Not joking. Cheers.
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Back from the afternoon hunt. Very wet and very muddy. Scored five for the afternoon in the sorghum. All of them small (maybe up to 30 kgs dressed and no pix because I had the three trainee dogs and I was on my own. You can't hang around taking the pix with young dogs because you want them to learn to get off the pig and go again to find another one. Of course, the exception is if you get a monster and then you find a way. Young dogs can learn bad habits very quickly...not letting go, claiming the pig (starting a fight) and other irritations. However, I did shoot a little video to show the
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Paul just rang in. He got three between midnight and 1.30am (it's now 9.11am Saturday). Two went about 30kgs dressed and one bigger sow was between 50 and 60kgs. She put on a big fight as well he said. Young dogs Del and Suzie grabbed her. Very wet and very boggy though. Not sure if I'll get up there or not this afternoon. We'll see what the day holds... Cheers.
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Just on wild pig capacity to travel...the ones in Oz can travel 15kms each way to a crop to raid at night. And that is not unusual. Five kms is a standard jog especially to and from a crop. There was also one boar, caught, tagged and recaught the next morning west of us here and he was 96 kms from where he was caught by dogs. They can definitely travel... Cheers.
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It's about 8.20pm Friday here now and raining. Paul and his mate Dave are heading back up into the hills at midnight for another walk in the crop and I'm going back up there tomorrow at about 3pm because I think I've worked out where one lot of pigs are coming from. I hope to hit them at home, and maybe strike a decent boar in the scrub. I'll keep you all posted. Paul said he'd ring in tonight if they hit anything decent. Cheers.
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Could be a bone type blockage or just really dry crap. If she's been on meat but not much water and/or exercise they can keep drawing moisture out of the crap until it sets like cement. If you can't get to a vets straight away you can (get ready for this...) glove up and use a finger to work little bits of crap out of her arse. Gross job but the dog's life is at stake. There is a trigger than makes the dog 'pulse' to expell the crap. You can trigger that as you get bits of crap out of her. Like I said gross job but can get it all moving if you can't get to the vet's quickly. Be very careful be
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The sorghum: Each block is only about 300 acres on this property and there are six. They are split into thre groups of two. About 600 acres of crop in each parcel doesn't sound like much but there are a lot of places to hide in it for a pig. Sometimes they dogs just find them. Sometimes the pigs run and sometimes they squat and you almost stumble over them... The whole place adds up to 14,000acres in the hills so the pigs can be anywhere... The GPS trackers: Using a GPS is fine in Oz. It's the GPS trackers that are not authorised. That is because the radio frequency and power used to t
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Cheers Rio, Not really great white hunter stuff but still better than sitting in front of the telly...
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G'day again, Had a gardening day on the property with the sorghum crop so went for a look after work. I picked up three with the young dogs, all small pigs and not usually what I'm looking for. But the crop patrols are all about pest control to the landholder. Afternoons don't often produce the big boars in our country but the little pigs are all good training. One was caught in the crop and two more outside on the way in. The pigs outside were caught among sheep so it was a good test for psyched up young dogs... No dramas so the afternoon was a success IMO. Two of the pigs on the rack.
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When all the posts are together it can look like we get top boars every time we go out but there can be a lot of time and dirt mixed with our boars. (A lot of dirt means lots of country to cover...) Often it can take months to 'pattern' a particular boar ie work out just what time he is using a pad (path) or returning to an area. The pigs around here are hard pressed and learn to change their habits. Getting good pigs is a lot about having the enthusiasm to keep walking about night after night getting nothing... Cheers.
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You know you have a decent boar when there's no squealing. On the vid listen to how the boar just grunts as he tries to work the dogs into a position to hurt them...The boars will squeal a bit (sometimes) when you get them on their side and it's all over but some never make a sound. Very focussed animal. You can hear Brett said 'you could see them pick up then...' That means the intensity of the dogs increases on the boar as it tries to muscle them around. On this boar Bucks was 12 months old. Pepper the smaller of the two is about six and knows the ropes. Re wolfhound in our dogs, cou
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Here's another vid... The dogs are Bucks and Pepper. Bucks is a bullarab owned by Brett and Pepper is one of ours. Bucks barks on the ear while he's lugged up. That can help you find them in the dark quicker than the tracking gear. Brett calls Jess a pup in for a look but she's off camera. Paul rolls the boar and sticks it. All can get a bit wild in the dark but this boar is well under control. Cheers.
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Went for another look in the sorghum on Saturday night but did no good until after we camped and had another go just before dawn. Sprung a few little ones trotting in and grabbed two. They were lucky to be about 15kgs dressed so we didn't bother with the pix, thinking we might do better. Glad to get something but still can't find the pigs attached to some big tracks we've found. Highlight for me was Roger finding one of them on his own and grabbing it. Obviously nothing in stopping the pig but very pleased it occurred to him to get out and get his own. Small steps on the path to working...
