It was foggy and overcast and I had just shut the gate into boar territory. The farm owner drove along the ridge. My granddad, Tony walked through the bush and his mate walked down the bike track. The dogs started barking then it went dead silent. An 80lb boar ran out. The pig saw Tony’s mate and tried to turn around but my dog came up behind it and latched on. Graham ran to it and stuck it. One pig down.
After we’d gutted it and took it to the truck we walked around for a bit and got zilch. Tony and I jumped in the wagon and drove to the farm owner’s house. He said that there were 70 Canadian geese on the pond and he does not want them. So, out with the shotgun and Tony and I had a few shots. I shot one down, Tony finished another off for me. Only 68 to go next time!
On the way home I counted 10 pheasant’s as we drove along. It was just too tempting, so I jumped out of the wagon and I got one of them too.
We got home and had a cuppa, then set off for a place where we have caught a big bugger every time. So, we drove over and walked in the paddock because the gorse and blackberry was thick as hell. The dogs headed into the rubbish and began barking. A pig started squealing. It’s so tight in there we couldn’t see what was happening. Graham ran towards the noise and brought it down. Tony and I were walking back to the truck with the second 80lb boar when, half way up the hill, one of the dogs started barking again. We walked back down and all the dogs got onto the new boar. It started running down toward us. We just got into the bush and this huge boar came running full boar at us, stopping less than a meter from us. It sat down, trying to protect itself from the dogs trying to hang on to it’s back end. Boom!!!!! The 20 gauge finished the job. That monster was down. We took the trophy photos, talked, then carried the big fulla out. It weighed 145lb, well that’s what I reckoned. Three boars down. Time for lunch.
Loch Anderson-Smith