Easy Poaka
I'd been poking around looking for a easy evening Deer, when hello I stumbled on some fresh Pig Rooting, all the Dogs were at home of-course! But I thought I'd bring them back at first light and nail this Poaka (pig) and be home before breakfast, best laid plans and all that.
Up at 5 am a little yoga then some coffee and toast, let the Bitches off, then collared them up, into the dingy, then away, just managing to plane, these dogs must be getting fat, I thought, as I looked down at my stomach bulging over my belt, bloody shorts must have shrunk again as well.
We hit the beach 15min later, me keeping the dogs close, I planed to walk them into the fresh rooting, nail this Poaka and then home for bacon & eggs, well maybe yogurt and fruit looking at the gut, anyway it was in the bag.
We walked into the rooting and I foolishly let all the bailers go, will I ever learn, they off straight up the ridge, flat out, shit I thought watching the tracker 500m, 600m, without so much as stopping for a piss, I thought, bloody hell they had better stop soon, or they will be over the ridge, 700m, 800m and gone. Bugger! Here we go again, I new where they were heading, into a big native valley, with no hope of me carrying (dragging) anything out of it. Dam! So much for the easy Poaka, 30 mins later sweating like the very animal I was hunting I reached the ridge, just couldn't get my second wind today, I had lost them off the tracking unit when they over the ridge, now reaching the ridge I picked them up again 1.5 km, bugger! Away down through the big native valley and up the other side in some scrub, it appeared whatever they where on was giving them the run around not to mention me.
I had the holder Puk with me still, so down we plunged into the big trees, I love hunting in the big stuff, plus the pigs you find here are generally fat, and the smell and life in the big forest is exhilarating. We did the down hill in good time apart from getting bluffed above the river.
Soon we were only 600m from Ming, Lu & Jude, heading up into the scrubby area were the Poaka appeared to be making a stand, but where was Puk? She must have slipped off after another pig. Shit! I couldn't pick her up on the tracker, so set off after the other dogs, Puk soon turned up with a rip in her shoulder, looking at me as much to say, 'thanks for the hand Boss', up and on we went, but the dogs had started to climb out now, as the Boar and it was a Boar because I could smell him following the GPS track, the easy Poaka was making for the next ridge at around 1000m, with the dogs having little say in the matter it appeared, we tracked the dogs up, up, up, I was getting tired now and as the dogs hit the ridge around 1000m I turned back, this easy Poaka was getting beyond a bloody joke.
Soon we were only 600m from Ming, Lu & Jude, heading up into the scrubby area were the Poaka appeared to be making a stand, but where was Puk? She must have slipped off after another pig. Shit! I couldn't pick her up on the tracker, so set off after the other dogs, Puk soon turned up with a rip in her shoulder, looking at me as much to say, 'thanks for the hand Boss', up and on we went, but the dogs had started to climb out now, as the Boar and it was a Boar because I could smell him following the GPS track, the easy Poaka was making for the next ridge at around 1000m, with the dogs having little say in the matter it appeared, we tracked the dogs up, up, up, I was getting tired now and as the dogs hit the ridge around 1000m I turned back, this easy Poaka was getting beyond a bloody joke.
Jude turned up soon after, but Ming&Lu were now on the ridge moving further up and along it, Puk, Jude & me started back tracking to the river, avoiding the bluffs we started climbing back up to the ridge, about a third of the way up Puk & Jude vanished,
them Jude started bailing flat out, she is a straight bailer, sits on the nose and gives it hell, I arrive to see puk hanging on the ear of a Big Blue Boar around 140 lb, the pig was getting stuck into Puk a bit with it's tusks, Bang! The boar took off, bugger I must have missed, Puk soon pulled the boar up again down the hill and this time I made no mistake a clean shot into the heart lung area, the boar made another run but didn't get far blood now pouring from it's mouth. What to do now I thought, there was no way I was going to carry any of this boy out of here, I was shagged, I hate leaving meat on the hill but it wouldn't go to waste and I still had a long way to go, I took the jaw out and set off for the ridge.
Fourty minutes later we were back looking down into the bay were we had left the dingy earlier, I could see Ming & Lu on the tracker and was glad I hadn't carried on after them, looked like the Boar had given them the slip. We had just dropped down off the ridge into the bay where I left the dingy, when Jude put her nose in the air and soon was bailing another pig, what a day, four separate pigs now, I could tell Puk had arrived as the Poaka started to squeal as she sunk her teeth in, I arrive to see them harassing one very pissed off skinny sow, I managed to get both the dogs on a lead while struggling with the old girl, not before twisting my knee though, I let her up and she just stood there looking at me and the dogs, "go on bugger off" I said, I thought she was going to have a go at us, but she turned with a huff and trotted off, we sat for a while, me nursing my sore knee thinking I should have just killed the ungrateful sow.
We made it home an hour or so later, and looking at the tracker I could pick Ming & Lu up on the ridge still, soon they disappeared over the top, I had a quick ring around and put the word out they were on the loose. After a short boat ride the next morning, my old mate pork chop picked me up and we headed off to try and find the runaway's, an hour later after talking to the farm manager we had them on the tracker, we could hear them bailing another Poaka 600m up the hill, I tried to whistle them down but no luck, we were a bit under armed with no gun and only 1 knife between us, so we decided to drive up and around through the farm to them, by then they had given up on pig number 5, walking out to meet us, looking fatter than when I last saw them yesterday morning, maybe their shorts had shrunk as well over night.
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