Early Bird
Early bird gets the Boar
I'd heard one of the local hotels was holding a Pig and Deer hunting competition on the weekend and had a feeling someone would be hunting one of my favourite spots Saturday morning, big old native bush full of succulent Supple-jack, with Miro, Tawa, and Nikau berries on the ground when in season, just the kind of spot the swine like to live over winter, plus I love to hunt in the old native forest.
Never give a sucker or another Pig Hunter an even break they say! so we arrived at day break, I moored the boat, collared up the Bitches Lu, Puk, Udit and the new pup Kai. Coming into the bay all the Girls had all been up the bow with there noses in the air, Lu was giving me that look, like a look between old friends, when nothing needs to be said but you know what the other is thinking, so I suspected there were pigs about.
I got my gear on which seems to take an age these day, Garters on! Ha! more like Garters off Ah! No I ment Gaiters on! New batteries in tracking unit, check gun has bolt and mag with bullets in it!!! Boots on, check back pack has dog repair kit, chocolate, water, knife, the list goes on, finally we are away from the mother ship, into the dingy, the dogs are looking well keen, after pulling the dingy up the beach we were all set, while waking along the beach into the bush a boat full of Pig hunters and dogs came around the corner into the bay, I gave them a wave as I disappeared into the bush thinking the early bird gets the worm fellas.
I put Puk on a lead and after we crossed a creek I let Lu walk on around the track, not that she needed any encouragement, she’d probably been thinking “Boss can’t you smell that?” she was off straight up the hill with her pup Kai following, Udit was looking at me as much to say “Pigs Boss” “I want to go to” and so I said way you go Udit, she took off after Lu, if people could see and feel how much these dogs love the hunt, plus the shared adventure of it all they might just start to understand why we do this. Soon I heard Lu hit the pig, some savage barking drifting down the hill, Udit soon joining in, God knows what the pup Kai was doing. The unsuspecting pig had most likely come down late evening or during the night to sleep close to the water where it was warm, knowing this was the first place to get the sun come morning, he would have been hoping to wake up with the sun warming his skin, he would have been happy to be woken by two and a half snarling dogs. As this was going on I could hear the boat with the other hunters heading out of the bay thinking “we will just have to get up a little earlier next time”.
The Pig, after having his lay-in spoiled had quickly broken down and around above us into the creek we had just crossed, so me and Puk back tracked and headed up to where I could hear Lu and Udit viciously bailing the pig, with it letting out the occasional squeal. While stumbling and crawling through the undergrowth and supplejack vines to the bailing dogs, I’m thinking' "they must have a little one", the dogs were not far now, just over the next hump, Puk was becoming quite a hand full on the lead, wanting to join her mates and lend a hand, so I let her go, she was over the hill and gone in a few seconds, with me close behind moving faster now not having to lead a dog through the tangled mass.
I soon arrived on the scene, expecting a small pig, but was soon into the scrap with one very hyped up young boar of around 100 lbs, all the dogs were holding now with Puk knowing no other way, Udit the bailer holding as well but standing off barking occasionally, Kai the pup was even trying to get a hold, which was a great sign this being only the third pig she has seen, and her being not even four months old. No chance of a shot with the dogs so committed, so nothing for it but close quarter combat now, I moved in from behind reaching over and under for the opposite front leg of the young boar, who was fighting like a young man, could only get hold of the outside leg but because we were in such a patch of tree roots and vines the pig was suck with me now putting all my weight on him, I reached for my knife and then drove it into his heart laying on the boar as the life flowed out of him.
After 30 seconds he was gone and I quickly set about checking the dogs for damage, it was a pig about this size and attitude that killed my main Bitch Ming last winter, cutting an artery in her neck with his needle like tusks, the dogs were fine though and after soon gutting the pig, which was in very good condition judging by the fat in it’s stomach, we set off for the dingy about 100m away, the dogs wanted to go hunting again, but I kept them in, we soon had the easy boar back to the mother ship. I then spent the next couple of hours doing some reconnaissance around the area with the dogs kept close, just to see what else might be hanging around because the shortest day pig hunt is only a couple of weeks away and I will be looking for the big Boar to weigh in that weekend, it I can find one.
Udit on the Left, Lu middle and Puk to the right
I'd heard one of the local hotels was holding a Pig and Deer hunting competition on the weekend and had a feeling someone would be hunting one of my favourite spots Saturday morning, big old native bush full of succulent Supple-jack, with Miro, Tawa, and Nikau berries on the ground when in season, just the kind of spot the swine like to live over winter, plus I love to hunt in the old native forest.
Never give a sucker or another Pig Hunter an even break they say! so we arrived at day break, I moored the boat, collared up the Bitches Lu, Puk, Udit and the new pup Kai. Coming into the bay all the Girls had all been up the bow with there noses in the air, Lu was giving me that look, like a look between old friends, when nothing needs to be said but you know what the other is thinking, so I suspected there were pigs about.
I got my gear on which seems to take an age these day, Garters on! Ha! more like Garters off Ah! No I ment Gaiters on! New batteries in tracking unit, check gun has bolt and mag with bullets in it!!! Boots on, check back pack has dog repair kit, chocolate, water, knife, the list goes on, finally we are away from the mother ship, into the dingy, the dogs are looking well keen, after pulling the dingy up the beach we were all set, while waking along the beach into the bush a boat full of Pig hunters and dogs came around the corner into the bay, I gave them a wave as I disappeared into the bush thinking the early bird gets the worm fellas.
I put Puk on a lead and after we crossed a creek I let Lu walk on around the track, not that she needed any encouragement, she’d probably been thinking “Boss can’t you smell that?” she was off straight up the hill with her pup Kai following, Udit was looking at me as much to say “Pigs Boss” “I want to go to” and so I said way you go Udit, she took off after Lu, if people could see and feel how much these dogs love the hunt, plus the shared adventure of it all they might just start to understand why we do this. Soon I heard Lu hit the pig, some savage barking drifting down the hill, Udit soon joining in, God knows what the pup Kai was doing. The unsuspecting pig had most likely come down late evening or during the night to sleep close to the water where it was warm, knowing this was the first place to get the sun come morning, he would have been hoping to wake up with the sun warming his skin, he would have been happy to be woken by two and a half snarling dogs. As this was going on I could hear the boat with the other hunters heading out of the bay thinking “we will just have to get up a little earlier next time”.
The Pig, after having his lay-in spoiled had quickly broken down and around above us into the creek we had just crossed, so me and Puk back tracked and headed up to where I could hear Lu and Udit viciously bailing the pig, with it letting out the occasional squeal. While stumbling and crawling through the undergrowth and supplejack vines to the bailing dogs, I’m thinking' "they must have a little one", the dogs were not far now, just over the next hump, Puk was becoming quite a hand full on the lead, wanting to join her mates and lend a hand, so I let her go, she was over the hill and gone in a few seconds, with me close behind moving faster now not having to lead a dog through the tangled mass.
I soon arrived on the scene, expecting a small pig, but was soon into the scrap with one very hyped up young boar of around 100 lbs, all the dogs were holding now with Puk knowing no other way, Udit the bailer holding as well but standing off barking occasionally, Kai the pup was even trying to get a hold, which was a great sign this being only the third pig she has seen, and her being not even four months old. No chance of a shot with the dogs so committed, so nothing for it but close quarter combat now, I moved in from behind reaching over and under for the opposite front leg of the young boar, who was fighting like a young man, could only get hold of the outside leg but because we were in such a patch of tree roots and vines the pig was suck with me now putting all my weight on him, I reached for my knife and then drove it into his heart laying on the boar as the life flowed out of him.
After 30 seconds he was gone and I quickly set about checking the dogs for damage, it was a pig about this size and attitude that killed my main Bitch Ming last winter, cutting an artery in her neck with his needle like tusks, the dogs were fine though and after soon gutting the pig, which was in very good condition judging by the fat in it’s stomach, we set off for the dingy about 100m away, the dogs wanted to go hunting again, but I kept them in, we soon had the easy boar back to the mother ship. I then spent the next couple of hours doing some reconnaissance around the area with the dogs kept close, just to see what else might be hanging around because the shortest day pig hunt is only a couple of weeks away and I will be looking for the big Boar to weigh in that weekend, it I can find one.
Udit on the Left, Lu middle and Puk to the right
