Mutiny On The High Seas!
Oh! and the Rai valley Pig & Deer hunt
It was 6am, I found myself soaked to the skin, laying in the surf on my back. No I hadn't joined some new cult that like swimming fully clothed in freezing gale-force southeast-lies before sunrise, no there was a Mutiny afoot, I could just make out the 4 pot licking "Dry" Mutineers looking over the side of the dingy at me.
The day before getting ready for the Rai Valley Pig hunt I had one of my many bright ideas, after recently trying to put a round through the pop gun I carry and finding it took several tries to get the gun to fire, I'd decided it was time to clean the said gun, gun cleaning is about as regular at sock ironing around my place, so after knocking out a couple of pins the gun was all over the floor and table, of-course I had a manual, Not! And then spent the next 6 hours putting the puppy back together, if the Mormons had shown up at the door around the 5 hour mark they may have left with their Bibles up their As..s.
But never mind, I went to bed mentally exhausted, but content knowing I had I nice clean gun, that if called on tomorrow I hoped would fire, because tomorrow was the start of the Rai valley Pig hunt, and me and the sisters we were entered.
Up at 5am, yoga, 'Yes yoga you hard asses', some breakfast, let the dogs Ming, Lu, Puk and Jude the pup off, it was hardly great hunting weather, cold southeast winds from the sub Antarctic with showers 35 knots of wind, I launched the dingy then nosed into the shore to pick up the four Ladies (Bitches), they jumped on-board unsettling the dingy sending me into the briny, the Mutineers then peered over the edge of the boat as I flailed around getting to my feet, standing up dripping wet along with my back pack and freshly cleaned bloody gun, I climbed into 'My' boat and we set off, me cursing and shivering, I had thoughts of going back to the house to change, but the Mutineers would have seen this as a sign of weakness, so I had to carry on, 30 long minutes later we arrived, shivering I tied.. the 3 old dogs.. to a post.. around the low water mark.., while I rung out my soaking cloths, the Mutineers watched on with the tide rising, until relieved I untied them and we set off.
With cold wet water logged boots and legs chafing from the salt water we started climbing the ridge, Lu&Jude were on the find today, they just bolted straight up the ridge climbing out, I had Ming&Puk on leads in very cold pursuit, I soon let Ming follow the others as it seemed they were onto something, looking at the tracker she soon caught up, me and Puk the holder kept climbing, then watched them stop on the tracker about 300m up, then they turned around and started heading down hill towards us, it was steep going but clear as we were on a track of sorts, and next thing a young Boar burst out of the bush, hackles raised, jumping passed us heading down hill, I let Puk go thinking she had seen the boar, but she hadn't, (that's why she's a holder I guess) then Ming, Lu and Jude motored past, they soon stopped the boar down in the creek below, he wasn't big around 100lb tho, it was a good start and something to weigh-in, I marked the spot after gutting for pick up later and we carried on.
Climbing the next ridge through the native I let Ming loose on the find, as Lu and Jude were having trouble getting on a sent, Ming climbed out and around up to the spot Lu had found the boar earlier, then she started a low deep bail, the one that says I need a hand, she was only around 400metrs away but across a shitty gully, I let the holder Puk go and she set off down into the creek, Ming kept bailing hard, but then I heard a yelp, Ming must have taken a hit, Lu&Jude were back with me struggling to get a fix on her, it looked like the pig had given Ming the slip and was heading straight for us, her sister Lu and daughter heard the pig coming and took off, soon Ming, Lu and Jude could be seen climbing out on the tracker, after the pig know-doubt, Puk turned up and we started climbing after them and climbing they were, up through the KeiKei, supple-jack and stinging nettle they were pulling away, and now over 500m away they stopped.
Bloody Goats I thought, that pig would be long gone, this place was loaded with goats, it got windier the higher we climbed and it became very steep & bluffly, classic goat country, I was already rehearsing my sermon to the Goat chewing mutineers, as me and the holder struggled up through the rocks and vines, the dogs hadn't moved on the tracker and not a bark could be heard, 60m to go now and still not a sound as we dragged ourselves up the last face, then the sound of the dogs bailing meet my ears, Puk had heard it too so leaped forward into the battle, I new once Puk arrived the pig if it was a pig would be very busy for the next ten minutes at-least, I rushed forward onto a small flat, the boar! Not a goat! Was charging around very unhappy, Puk had arrived know-doubt, the pig angry now from all this extra attention spotted me taking an instant dislike it seemed, I ducked around a tree while the dogs Thu themselves onto him, as he made for their food supply, with his back turned I jumped on him firing a shot from my freshly cleaned salt water logged gun point blank down Thu his back, them reached under for a front leg tipping him over gathering my breath, then in with the knife.
Grisly old one eared boy heading for Rai valley.
I started checking the dogs and found Ming had quiet a few rips and holes in her, the one to her abdomen the most worrying, I gutted the pig and through half a tramadol into Ming, dragging the Boar we set off for the Vets and Rai valley weigh-in,, the water taxi picked Ming up 2 hours later taking her to the vets (she's fine and will be home by the fire tomorrow).
Pork chop picked me up the next day with the Boar, we had a good afternoon and night at the Rai Valley hotel.
My Boar third from the right weighed 51kg but didn't get a place, the winner far right weighed 64kg.
