Another Night - Three more Pigs

[PhilH 189]

 

Sharon and I went out again tonight after spotting a big pig on the hill. We are starting to think that this hill has cursed up. Third time that we have gone up there chasing a pig the wind has turned just as we get to the top ridge, pig gets wind of us, and its gone. Sharon had some choice words to say that I can't post here.

Ahh well, fall back to Plan B. Down the hill, skirt around the base and go to our hide looking down the valley on the other side. Same as happened the last couple of times, we just settle in and my Chief Scout - Sharon - spots three pigs in a scrubby wind break, 350 meters down the valley. Wind is now directly in our face so off we go heading straight for them. At about  eighty meters away I set up the tripod and Sharon tracking them in the Conotech monocular picks out a pig I should try for first. Issue is that they are in low scrub and we only get a view of them as they move between small clumps of bush. I am seeing 4 of them through my thermal scope now moving slowly through the scrub. As one disappears I quickly move the point of aim to the left pointing at an open space in the scrub where I believe the pig will next show. He does. Without moving the rifle he walks straight into the crosshairs. Muffled boom of the .270 and a resounding body thump and I see him go down.

Now a real comotion breaks out. It now seems that there are at least 6 pigs in there. One bolts out of the scrub and runs diagonally past us. Again, I quickly line up to the right of him and let him run into the crosshair. Muffled boom again and a body thump. He tumbles but picks himself up again and runs into a swamp. Sharon is behind me monitoring the whole event through her thermal. "He's gone down trying to get through the swamp," she says, "but he is still alive. Go and I will guide you in with the radio."

So off I go across the field and Sharon behind me directs me straight to him. Handheld radios work a treat in these situations. I find him easily enough in the light of my headlamp. He has struggled to the far side of a swampy water course and is still alive. Line him up again, boom and one to the head. I turn back now and head for the scrub asking Sharon to direct me to where I had shot the first pig. It is pitch dark and I can only see the outline of the scrub. Expertly, she directs me along the edge of the scrub when I see a set of eyes reflecting red back at me in the beam of my red headlamp. It is a pig and it is very much alive. It darts off in behind some flax bushes. I now have the rifle up looking through the thermal, headlamp off, creeping slowly to get a view of the other side of the flax. Slowly her head and front shoulder come into view. She is nervous and looks as if she is going to dart off again. Offhand shot and again I hear the body thump, but she bolts. Thwang as she goes through a 5 strand wire fence at full tilt. Sharon is on the radio again directing me to where she is going. Then Sharon reports that she is down but doing a death kick. I have a b*tch of an electric fence in front of me and I can't get over it and get my rifle over without the help of Sharon. She is now about 150 meters behind me on a rise monitoring everything in the thermal and giving directions. If the pig is down I don't need the rifle so I clamber over the fence and follow Sharon's directions while getting my knife out ready to put the pig out of its misery. I find her. She is a small sow and still has a bit of life in her though going fast. Couple of quick swipes with the knife and she is gone.

Now back to the first pig. Call up Sharon and ask to be directed back, I get back over the fence, pick up my rifle and away I go. Once back in the scrub where Sharon has directed me I find him. My shot has shattered his spine but he is very much alive trying to drag himself away on his front quarters. The sight saddens me. I quickly put a shot to his head and then I'm kneeling beside him stroking his mane and apologising. I hate seeing animals in pain and distress. I could never shoot pigs or deer if it weren't for the fact that they are pests and cause huge economic loss.

I get myself together again and go and meet Sharon. Three pigs down and three all accounted for. Quick discussion follows. Sharon sends me off to pick up the Esudo about 1 1/2 km away as I am familiar with the boggy patches and water courses around the hill in the dark, and she isn't. She will start out sorting the pigs. So off I go.

On my return Sharon has gutted the first pig for transporting.
 

That lady scares me when she is crouched before a gutted animal, knife in one hand, its testicles in the other and a half-maniacal smile on her face. I think it's a warning as to what could happen to me if I step out of line.....Gulp...

Anyway, we drive around the field to the other two, make quick work of them between the two of us and have them all packed in the back of the Escudo ready for the drive home.

It is now coming onto mid-night, it has started raining hard, and Sharon has another security round to do yet. After some discussion, we both agree neither of us look forward to the prospect of skinning 3 pigs into the early hours of the morning in pouring rain. So a decision is made. Sharon will do her round while I take the pigs home and hang them in the tree and we will skin them in the morning.
 

So that's what we did. Rifle is cleaned, knives washed and in the draining rack, we are both having a cup of tea and off to bed shortly. Tomorrow is another day.

Cheers
Phil

[PhilH 189]

Well, after breakfast, as it was still raining, we took the three pigs over to the woolshed and started into it.
In 1 1/2 hours it went from this.......

To this.......

And this ........

Sharon had to pose with this one and hold the hock upright as I nicked the achilles ....... my bad....I put it down to lack of sleep.

Cheers
Phil

[socks 32,253]

Cracking couple of posts. Do you have a sale market for that meat or do you eat it all yourself. 

[PhilH 189]

9 hours ago, socks said:

Cracking couple of posts. Do you have a sale market for that meat or do you eat it all yourself. 

We moved to our present location just over four years ago @socks Sharon is employed as the Civilian Security Officer for a Defense depot here. As most of her work is after hours we have to live onsite which is in 750 acres of land nestled in the foothills. This, combined with two neighbouring farms, is where Sharon and I do our hunting.....actually, it isn't hunting for sport but true pest control. Pig and deer cause a huge amount of damage to native bush, forestry, fences not to mention the pastures that get plowed up by the pigs or just the quantity of pasture that both species consume. Then there is the issue of deer and pig being carriers of TB which can be passed onto cattle. That said, this is currently a TB free area, but that can always change.

I actually retired just over five months ago so I can spend more time culling these pests. The local farmers, about eleven months ago, asked me to keep a tally of what I was shooting. In that time we have taken 24 pigs and 14 deer.

Anyway, this is a very long winded and round about way to answer your question. "Do we have a sale market for the meat or do we eat it ourselves?" The first part of the answer is 'No' we don't have a sales market for it. In New Zealand it is illegal to sell or even give away hunted food to anyone other than your immediate family. I can invite you around for a meal that we have prepared of all this meat, but I can't give you any to take home....not even as pet food. It is all to do with Food Health and Safety and the safe preparation of food. Most hunters here in New Zealand think that it is all a bit over the top but can understand the tenet of the regulation. So, yes we eat it ourselves.....we have not had to buy meat the whole time we have been here. How do we get rid of the rest of the meat? We give it to people to compost into their garden....or that is the undertaking that we make them give to us at least. This sounds like the popular Tui's Brewery ads that used to run on television here a decade ago.....

What happens to the meat after it leaves our possession is out of our control. We only hope that the recipients of the meat....err, compost.... dispose of the vacuum pack plastic bags in an ecologically friendly manner, like putting it in the recycle bin. 

Incidentally, these three pigs are being picked up today by a fellow hunter from a small alpine village about 191 Km away. The area there is rich in deer and Tahr but there are no pigs as it is to cold. I know from the work that he and his wife do, the meat will be distributed throughout the community. A fitting end for it....

Cheers

Phil

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by PhilH

[saluki bouy 697]

Is there a reason you take the testicles of? Does it ruin the meat? Also do you typically not hang the meat? Across here there’s generally a go to rule for each type of game just interested to here your reason why not or situations that you would? 

[Meece 1,957]

That's a lot of dedicated hunting and work. For small reward.  Eventually you will get sick to the sight of pig and deer meat.  Still I suppose that smoked bacon sandwiches and fried bacon and eggs are quite nice.

[Born Hunter 17,763]

Great posts! I wish we had the same culture of pig hunting over here. More so with the dogs though, I'd be all over it.

TBH much of the kiwi hunting culture is massively enviable.

Edited August 11, 2022 by Born Hunter