I had been wanting to go hunting with Dad for ages. I had been before but never caught a pig so I got really excited when dad said we could go in the morning. When the morning come I jumped out of bed and got straight in to my hunting clothes then helped my brother Charlie get ready. After a quick breakfast, I helped Dad get our dogs Doug and Sky ready and in to the ute.
When we were all packed up we went to my friend Jaxon’s house. Him and his Dad came with us and we took their four-wheeler. My other friend Seth and his dad met us at the hunting spot.
All together we had four dogs. Doug, Sky, Cruise and Jet. Cruise and Jet are Seth’s dogs.
We got another four-wheeler from the farmer and started riding up the valley. When we got to the top of the valley we got off the motorbikes and started walking. It didn’t take long for the dogs to take off and we heard a few barks and then a squeal.
Dad took off to get to the pig and the rest of us walked behind. When we got to the pig Dad was holding Doug and Cruise and the young dogs Sky and Jet were bailing the pig. Dad told me to go and watch the dogs bailing the pig so I walked in for a closer look. At first I could just see Sky barking at the pig. Then I saw the pigs ear and a bit of its back. I saw the pig start to move. It ran out of the rushes and stared at me for a second. All of a sudden it ran straight toward me. I thought it was going to run straight past me but it didn’t. It ran straight in to me and knocked me over. I grabbed the pig by the face and pushed it away so it couldn’t bite me.
In a flash, Doug was there and smashed the pig. Dad had let him go to save me. Dad helped me up and I told him I was ok. He asked if I wanted to help him grab the pig and I said I did. Dad grabbed one of the pigs back legs and I grabbed the other one. It was really hard to hang on to but I didn’t let go. We flipped the pig over and I held its back legs while dad stuck it. I felt sad for the pig but also really excited about what had happened.
After we gutted the pig I told dad I wanted to try and carry it. Dad tied it into a back pack for me and put it on my back. It was really heavy! I carried it for a little bit but told dad he might have to carry it the rest of the way. I did carry it the last little bit back to the motorbike though. The pig was a sow and weighed about 60 lbs. I have caught bigger pigs with dad since but that is still my favourite.
James Laurence, Aged 6