Annual Havelock Hotel Pig Hunting Comp
I really wasn't moving that well this morning feeling my 43 years, so as I was climbing the gully pushing through the bloody rangiora I started thinking maybe I should just go home, give up, call it a day, I'm to old for this Pig hunting malarky. I could just go lay on the couch and hopefully next year if there is a next year I might get a boar big enough to turn up at the Havlock Pig hunt weigh in on sunday.
Last year I only managed a 75lb boar (you can only weigh in boars at most pig hunting competitions by the way) and was too embarrassed to weigh it in.
I got to thinking about some of the books I had been reading on mountain climbing lately, did they give up when they where completely exhausted? No! they carried on when things got tough, so I hardened up and keep climbing towards the ridge, then once there started moving up it looking at the ground for pig sign. "Shit that looks like a fresh pig mark", I walked on, "it is a pig mark", Ming was soon off on the scent with her daughter Jude, I had Lu&Puk on leads with me.
The day before, friday, had seen me walking my ass off in search of Mr Boar, the girls had found a small sow around half an hour after daylight and thinking there could be a boar handy I tried to let the sow go and get the dogs away again, unfortunately Ming back tracked to the sow and it was a while till she caught up.
In the mean time Lu was away tracking what looked like judging by it's hoof prints a 100lb pig heading towards the area I had wanted to hunt today, it was around the spot I got the pig in my blog 'Playing on the juice'. Now there has been some rumors going around about a huge Pig in the area, we have all heard about this pig there's one in every bar and gully, and if I wanted to win this comp I needed this pig.
The dogs soon left me in the dust, today I was hunting with the bitches Ming&Lu, sisters, Puk the holder and Jude (Judith) a 7 month old pup (Mings daughter), well these girls basically tried to kill me, I never got more than 400 meters from them after that, the valley they took me into is like something from the lost world, virgin native with a roaring creek/river running through the middle of it so you couldn't hear a thing, this particular valley doesn't get much sun so has large patches of sepal jack, giggy gig and bush lawyer. Well up and around the valley we went, it was one of those days when if I had just sat down about two hours ago the dogs like a boomerang would have came back to me, anyway by the time I caught up with them they had given up on Mr Boar and were munching on a Mr Goat, "Bloody useless pot licking mongrels" I said, a smart pig and they are smart, will run the dogs through goats or smaller pigs to shake the dogs off there tail, only the smart pigs live on with all the hunting pressure around, so pigs through evolution are no doubt getting smarter, only the smart ones live to breed you see.
Getting back on track, after telling the dogs off for the goat incident we carried on, them looking at me thinking shit we just chased a bloody big angry boar for two hours and just because you couldn't get you sad, old, broken down ass here quick enough boss, we are now the bad guys or girls in this case.
Down the valley we went, down was great, I was a long way from the road but thought while I'm here I may as well check out a scrubby face down a we bit, feed the dog some Exceed, some pills I won from a Pig hunting mag photo comp recently, so not only am I on the juice the dogs are as well, the girls were off then bailed a medium sized sow.
Lu,Ming&Jude
It was turning into a bit of a sow day in more ways than one, moving on I could see the dogs had something else bailed Up! yes UP the bloody hill, So I dragged my sorry ass up to the expected sow, I swear these girls were now torturing me, all because of a few harsh words, they are not unlike the two legged kind in this respect.
That was it, I'd had enough, it was another sow, so much for third time lucky, we made our way down through the valley, the dogs laughing behind my back then across the creek which was up to my hips in places, I carried Jude across the creek worried she would bork and turn tail.
Then up the other side to the road where my old mate pork chop was waiting, he had been watching me on his tracker so was waiting with a warm beer (but who's complaining) good on ya mate!, was then dropped off at the saddle and walked down to my dingy, then home.
The following morning I rolled out of bed around 5am, literally rolled out, my back was killing me, after trying to stretch and get it moving I was thinking that maybe I should just go back to bed for another 10 to 4000 minutes, come on you loser harden up, things didn't get much better as I dressed and had some breakfast, but I keep thinking after I warm up maybe it will/might loosen up.
Let the dogs off then in the dingy and away we went, 30 minutes later we hit the beach Ming,Lu&Jude were off, straight up the hill, I followed in cold pursuit, then soon heard some barking, by the sound of the barking they had run into one of the many deer in this area.., shit.
I was basically crawling up the hill, thinking if I ever get these mongrel dogs back we will all go home, light the fire, then put the feet up for the rest of the day, more barking, by this stage I was halfway up the hill watching the Girls climbing out and over the ridge on the tracker, bugger this, I'm going back DOWN to the boat.
So me and Puk then motored around to were Jude was seemingly lost (something that happens to pups before they get the hang of back tracking), so I whistled her down to the beach, she jumped onboard, then on we went around the corner to see what the other deer chasing, pot licking, sow catching, mongrels were up to, Ming&Lu weren't far off the beach so we picked them up, I was thinking "just go home Rod", "give it up", "you lost", One last try I thought, then we go home.
And that's how I found myself on the ridge leading Puk&Lu thinking this is my last chance, because there's no way I was going hunting tomorrow, and if we didn't find Mr Boar soon I was going home for a good cry.
Then that deep bark from Ming, the bark I always love to hear, it says I need a hand with this one, I had let Lu off her lead moments before this to join her sister, so she soon arrived and started bailing like a machine gun as she does, yap,yap,yap,yap, Ming keep going with her deep woof, woof, woof, Jude was there as well barking away like a champion, then nothing but silence, the pig must have broke, a few seconds later a huge scrap started below me as the pig was pulled up down the hill back towards the boat, I let Puk go before she pulled my arm out of it's socket and she was straight into the fight, the scrap continued, they where heading down through the rangiora towards the boat no less, I couldn't believe my luck.
I now set off in hot pursuit full of adrenaline, my back pain forgotten, I was slipping and sliding down and around the hill the dogs singing there song, I hadn't heard a squeal so was thinking it's probably a boar, "please don't get away" I thought, down and around through the scrub I crashed then soon below me I could see the dogs holding a good sized pig, it was dragging the dogs down a slippery gut under the rangiora, Puk had a good hold as usual along with Ming&Lu, Jude was bailing flat out.
I was almost there now, yes! it was a good size boar fighting for his life, the dogs had him well held so I jumped in reached under him and grabbed an opposite front leg pulling hard while laying my weight on him, over he went, unfortunately the dogs had hold of it's head and were dragging it down the gully with me riding on top of the still live boar, I just wanted this boy dead and got the knife out but was having trouble sticking it in the melee, down we slid, I finally had some blood flowing then stood up checking it wasn't mine, so did the pig, but I new he hadn't long to live as blood was flowing from his throat, the dogs were still harassing him, then down he went drawing his last breaths, I was ecstatic, praising and patting my top pig dogs apologizing for ever calling them useless pot licking useless mongrels.
It's all you can eat at the Blue Water Lodge tonight for the dogs.
137lb Boar, the dogs appear to be poking there tongues out at me.
Great! I now have a decent Boar to weigh in on sunday. Yahoo!
