Kai

The Girls had been getting fat laying in the sun all summer, and it had been suggested by my old mate Pork Chop that yours truly had been spending too much time laying in the sun and getting fat swanning around with the two leg-gad model myself of late.

Well winter has arrived and no more distractions, its time to get in shape and chase the hogs. 

So after a couple of huge walks, which had nearly broke me, we had nothing to show for it except one smelly old billygoat that Puk and Udit got a talking to for. I was hoping this morning after some heavy rain the pigs might finally be moving about and we might finally find one. I was up around 5.30, breakfast then collared up the Bitches Lu, Puk and Udit including the new pup Kai, at three months she is probably a little young, but I thought she would be at-least able to keep up with me! Into the boat, soon arrived at todays hunting spot, then away on foot up the hill, we walked a few km’s to a likely saddle the dogs were showing a bit of interest, but Lu didn’t go far, so probably just deer I thought, I kept a close eye on Udit and Puk having Puk on a lead, these two still haven’t got out of the deer chasing habit and plenty of deer there are in this area. I just let Lu hunt out front, she appears to be over chasing deer these days, Kai is her mother, so Lu is still a bit fat after giving birth three months ago, but she has dried off and is getting in shape.

On reaching the saddle we started up the ridge, nothing much going on except a lot of deer sign, it was starting to look like another dry hunt, and so an hour later after climbing up and along a ridge we started heading down towards our starting point and the boat when we came across what looked like a pig trail that had been used recently, Lu soon disappeared, I had her about 200m away on the tracker moving around the face through some scrub and so we set off after her, then a bark, I could see her heading down and around below us on the tracker and hopped she was on a pig, so I sent Udit away and because I couldn’t be bothered leading the holder Puk I let her go as well, thinking they should pull this pig up pretty quickly, we live in hope as they say, Kai stayed with me and so we set off after the Girls.

They ran and ran, so much for the pull up pretty quickly plan, I was starting to think they were on a deer the speed they were moving but whatever they were on wasn’t behaving like one, it must have run a couple of km around the face through the Manuka, five finger and Rangiora, towards the saddle we were at earlier, soon they turned back and were heading back below where Lu had first barked, I started heading down to the boat as they were soon a couple of km in the other direction now heading around towards the head on the bay, me and Kai got in the boat and where soon tied up at a jetty, then quickly off up into the bush, the dogs looked to have stopped up the gully in the creek, well two of them anyway Lu and Udit, Puk had given up the chase, (she’s no greyhound, but a great holder) and was back where we left the boat first thing in the morning, me and Kai set off up to where the dogs looked to have stopped the pig in the creek, but as we started climbing so did they, up and around the face towards the spot Lu had first found the pig or what I hoped was a pig, we went back to the boat as it looked like they were going to go up and over the top ridge into the next bay when I noticed Put on the tracker heading up behind them, she must have heard them barking and decided to help out, her arriving put a stop to the climbing and they started coming down hill much to my relief, me and Kai tied up the boat again and made our way around to them about half way down the hill, strangely I couldn’t hear any barking until we were about 150m away and then I heard that sound you love to hear a bail up, barking ,scoffing and snarling coming from the next gully, around me and Kai flew with the sudden rush of adrenalin putting a spring in my step, arriving I could see one pissed of boar scraping with the bailing dogs, Puk the holder was spent looking on, Udit was bailing hard out, I was to stuffed to try and grab the pig as he was standing loose scoffing and snorting, so I shot him with the .357 behind the front leg, lots of pats for the dogs, I was very pleased with their staying power because they must have been on the pig for a good couple of hours, Kai took great interest in the Pig and was hanging onto its tail as I struggled to drag it out, but what could I say but, "good dog Kai".


Kai at three months showing some interest in the Boars ear 



The Pig was a young fat Boar weighting 103 lb he only had small tusks but they were razor sharp, he still managed to tag all the dogs, Lu receiving a small rip around the ribs requiring a couple of staples.

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