Finally got some time off from building so that was a good reason to get out for a hunt. Bryce wanted to come up for a hunt with his mate Corey on the Saturday. On the Friday night one of my neighbours turned up for a couple of beers and during the night he told me that he had some pig sign close to his hut so it was jacked up that we would head their in the morning. The boys turned up just on day break, Bryce had his young bitch Dusky and Corey had his two young dogs Fern and Miss.
We were getting up near the top of the hill when my two dogs Fog and Thunder tracked off and we lost them at eight hundred meters on the tracker. We drove to the top of the hill and stopped in to let my neighbour know that the dogs had tracked within fifty meters of his hut and were now one km away but stationary so we did not stay long. We managed to drive the ute to within two hundred meters of the dogs but we could not hear them as we opened the doors the wind was fear howling so we could not hear a thing.
Once we got around the side of the hill and started getting off the top we heard our first bark. This was when Dusky, Fern and Miss took off. As soon as the arrived there was one hell of a scrap started up as the young dogs did not show this boar the respect he deserved. It would have only taking us another thirty seconds to get to the pig but in that time he really inflicted some injuries on the young dogs. Bryce was quick to jump in and stick this boar before he could do any more damage. Corey was quick to grab his dog Fern as she had a bad rip in the front of her back leg that ripped the muscle apart. I was straight out with the stapler to close this wound up before any dirt could get in and also to stop the bleeding. Next was Miss and she had a rip on both sides around her rib area but they were not bleeding so were an easy fix. Dusky also got one in her front shoulder which took a couple of staples. My two dogs Fog and Thunder had been on this boar for fifteen minutes and did not get a scratch. Bryce was keen to have the first carry and had the pig gutted ready to get out so I went to give him a hand to get it on his back with out thinking I had my rifle on my back and as we both leaned forward and the end of my rifle hit Bryce on the bridge of the nose with a very loud crack. Bryce instantly dropped to the ground in pain as I had just about broken his nose. Lucky he has been breed tough and was back on his feet with the boar on his back as soon he could stand. Even though it was a steep climb out of the gully we had the boar back at the truck in a short time. A quick stop in to let the neighbour know what we had caught and then it was off to the vets for Corey. This boar weighed 122 pounds.
This hunt must have got me keen as I got up early the next morning and decided to go out for another hunt so that Lightning could get a run. I rode the bike for a couple of km before stopping and having a short stroll. It did not take the dogs to long to track off. Fog and Thunder were one hundred meters in front of Lightning at four hundred meters when they started tracking around the hill at a fast pace. I headed back to the bike and rode two km around the track to where the dogs were working the face of native above me.
I heard Fog give one bark and could see on the tracker that he had turned the pig and now it was heading back towards Lighting who was still one hundred meters behind the other two dogs. I new that as soon as this pig ran back into Lightning he was not going to get away and sure enough the bail went up only seventy meters above the track. This boar had picked his ground well as it was thick native that I had to crawl in on my hands and knees. I got within a couple of meters and could see Fog when the boar broke across the creek to about one hundred meters away. As I snuck in on this bail the same thing happened again with him breaking. At the third bail I got within three meters of the boar when I saw a clear shot so did not wast any time putting a bullet in behind his ear. Even though I did not have far to get this boar out it was still tough going as I could not put him on my back because the scrub was so tight so I could only drag him. None of the dogs got a mark on them so I was very proud of the effort that they had put in to track down and stop this 153 pound boar.