26 KG of Wild Pork to the Freezer

[PhilH 189]

I wasn't quite sure where to put this story. If I have it wrong, please point out where it should go.

Tuesday night last, after traipsing nearly 10 km over hills where we have usually had great success in finding wild pig we came up empty handed. Those are the breaks. In the past we have seen mobs of 14 pigs up there, but not tonight. Nothing for it but to trek 3 km down the hill to the Suzuki Escudo. We were following a 4 wheel drive dirt track down and around the side of the hill, rifle unloaded and over my shoulder, still using red-beam headlamps, but not maintaining the usual silent stealth mode we use when expecting to see animals. Sharon has her head down watching the ruts in the road and is in full conversation about this and that, I have my head up looking ahead in the dim light when suddenly to my right 30 metres away I see a set of eyes, red in the reflection of the beam, looking straight at me. Two seconds later, another set of eyes starts looking at me from just a few feet behind the first. Before I could even start to get Sharon’s attention, they were gone. From the height that they were at and the movement it was two deer. With our headlamps on low power the beam wasn’t bright enough to pick up their bodies but had sufficient light to reflect off their eyes. We rounded the corner and took out our thermal monocular and got sight of them, now over a paddock length away down the valley and not stopping. Lesson number one: out in the field be prepared for game to appear at any place at anytime.

Just before we got back to the Escudo I suggested we go an extra couple of km and sit at our hide looking down the valley on the other side of the hill. Sharon passed, wanting to go and do her final security round for the night - the whole reason why we live on this 750 acres of land; Sharon is in charge of after hours security. So we parted ways and I headed off to the hide. 

Once at the hide, I set up, made myself comfortable and started scanning the valley below me with the thermal monocular. First couple of sweeps nothing but hares and possums. Not interested. Deer or pigs only tonight thank you. Third sweep and there at 670 metres is something big and deep red. I stop and look at it for a bit but can’t see any movement or make out any real shape. I think about it for a bit. It looks like a log but it is showing a lot more of a heat signature than I would expect a log to be exhibiting at this time of night, plus, it wasn’t there on the first two sweeps…..I’m sure of it. Up with the monocular again. Is it my imagination or is there the slightest movement at one end. Is it an animal lying down in the scrub? Only one way to find out I think, and I am doing nothing else at this time, so let's go down and have a look. Quick check that I have everything on me for taking an animal in the dark; headlamp, knife, extra ammo, torch for searching, extra batteries. That’s it all. Pick up the shooting tripod in one hand and rifle with thermal scope in the other. Thermal monocular on my chest in a harness and 2-way radio slung around my neck. I’m off. The wind is in my favour, straight in my face and a steady breeze so no need to worry about noise for the first 400 metres or so. Just to be sure, I took a circular route around a small hillock out of sight and hearing or whatever my quarry was. Finally, standing behind a flax and bush windbreak I stand gingerly and start scanning the target area with the thermal. Can’t see anything. I’m not surprised as it is swampy scrubland with huge clumps of six foot tall bush. I move slowly along the windbreak scanning through any gap that I pass. Then I start getting glimpses of heat signature through the broken scrub. It’s low, deep red signature and moving slightly back and forth. A large pig rooting in the soft soils is my bet. Another twenty odd metres and I have a reasonable, but broken picture of it. It is a reasonably large pig, a boar at best guess, and it is chest deep in dry swampy soil rooting for large native worms. It is 210 metres away and I am only getting broken views of it through scrub. I’m not willing to take a shot, 1/. Because I am still not confident that the quick release mounts for the scope return to a true zero each time it is remounted, and 2/. Big boars are renown to run when shot, regardless of how badly they are injured. The only real guarantee to drop a pig in its tracks is a head or neck shot. If this pig ran there is a chance that I may never find him. And then finally, to take a shot from where I stood I would be shooting over one fence and through another. There is no guarantee that I wouldn't hit a wire on the way through. There is no other option, I have to get closer.

After a few seconds strategizing the plan is to move to the end of the wind break, some 40 metres through swamp, over an electric fence and then there should be only about 180 metres of scrubby swamp between me and the pig. Game on. 

Forty metres of swamp wasn’t to bad but I went into deep with one step and now had a boot full of muddy swamp ouze. Rifle through the lower part of the fence and then a bit of gymnastics and I’m over the fence without getting a 20,000 volts bite. These fences aren’t to be taken lightly. They are made to keep cattle in and they make many a brave man quiver like jelly. 

Once over and everything gathered again, a quick scan but I can’t see the pig. Either there is bush between him and me obscuring a view of him or he has moved on. Nothing for it but to move forward. Slow and quietly, twenty steps, stop and scan. Nothing seen, repeat. After about six repetitions of this I have him in sight again. Still bits of scrub in between us but there he is, 60 metres away, completely oblivious to my presence. Still not a good view of him as he is deep in the soil and there is still scrub getting in the way. Ten slow deliberate steps, stop and scan. I pushed my luck like this right into 30 metres from him, and still he carried on rooting completely unaware. Kneel down and as quietly as I can I load a round and apply the safety. It is going to have to be a standing shot as there is long grass and low scrub between us. Quietly extend the tripod and lift it into place while still kneeling. Thermal rifle scope turned on, front cap open, slowly stand with rifle and place on tripod. Position myself, sight him up, good view of left shoulder, controlled breathing, safety off, slow squeeze, and the rifle bucks. The crack is louder than expected but that is because of surrounding brush reflecting the noise back at me. I hear a solid thump as the bullet impacts its target. The pig falls over and is still except for a slight twitching. I have cycled the bolt anyway and there is another round ready to go. Then the back leg starts going. This is quite usual for pigs but in this bush, I'm not taking chances. The rifle bucks again, the boom, and thump as another bullet takes its mark. The pig is now motionless, but I keep watching anyway, I have been fooled before.  A minute later and I am convinced Mr. Pig is dead. 

And here he is.
     

Quick call on the radio and it is obvious that Sharon is pissed off…..how dare I go and shoot a pig after she had to leave. She is on her way anyhow but will be a while as without a 4 wheel drive she is going to have to walk over about 3 km of hills in the dark. It is now 11 o’clock at night. What a woman, what a wife…..she is definitely a bloody keeper.

I have time, so I gut and remove the pigs head and then start dragging it back to a point where we can get it to a vehicle, about 190 metres away. Anyway, long story short, Sharon finds me, we get the Escudo, load the pig in and get it back home. I hang it in a tree and Sharon immediately starts skinning the pig while I go and clean my rifle and put all the gear away. By 1 a.m. the pig is hanging in the garage, skinned and cleaned out and Sharon and I are in the kitchen having a cup of tea.

Saturday and Sharon sorts the pig out.

Four hours later and there is 26 kg of boned out wild pork in the freezer.

Cheers
Phil 
 

[FOXHUNTER 5,021]

Brilliant

[PhilH 189]

And then tonight, Sharon was itching to go up the hill again. Had to laugh, it was almost a repeat of the previous Tuesday except this time we saw 3 pigs up on the hill at 950 meters away. We mapped a course and went hell for leather up the hill with the wind in our face. We got to the final ridge and suspected they would be just over the top. Into super stealth mode and just as we were about to get to the top the wind faltered and started to turn. Bugger. We kept going only to see the 3 pigs fifty meters away in full flight to the forest edge....they had got wind of us. Sharon was pissed off as she really thought we were going to have one tonight. We waited 40 minutes scanning the forest edge in the hope that they might venture out again but it didn't happen. We turned for home. 

Now remember in my previous post that as we went down the track we walked into 2 deer at 30 meters or so. Well you guessed it, one appeared  at eighty meters in front of us but was already in full trot. It was a beautiful moonlight night and we weren't even using headlamps. The deer could have seen us plain as day at 600 meters. 

Now tonight, Sharon, instead of going on her security round suggested that we go to the hide. So off we went. Even before we could sit down Sharon  had spotted a pig at 600 meters in a paddock further down the valley. We were off. Long story short, to cover 600 meters we trekked about 1200 meters so we could cut in behind the pig and approach her from down wind. At 130 meters I took a shot with the rifle on the tripod......and here she is.

She is now hanging in a tree at home, gutted and skinned. First thing in the morning she will be offered to the first taker in the local hunting forum....we just have no room in the freezer.

Cheers

Phil

Edited May 12, 2022 by PhilH