At the start of the year I was hopeful that the magazine was going to be back for good but after the big changes in 2020 the magazine took a very big hit. I had to learn in a very short amount of time how to adapt to the situation because there was no way I wanted to let you all down so what I was able to come up with is the website.
When I first thought about the idea of a website I wasn’t too sure it would go down well with the audience. I put myself in the punters shoes again and had to ask myself if I would read articles on a computer, well I thought I wouldn’t but then I realised that a lot of people now days are using computers and devices to get all the information they can about their passions, where I barely knew how to use a computer and my cell phone is only used for calls and an alarm so I am probably not the best person to answer that question so I thought bugger it lets hope I am wrong.
I jumped into the website idea RedBands and all hoping not to drown and low and behold, the website is really starting to take off and it’s all thanks to your support. I am able to see the numbers of what people click on and what they are interested in every day rather than every two months and with all that information I can work on bringing you the best content every week.
At HOB we have the best writers in the sport with a wealth of knowledge and experience to help you get the best out of your dogs and hunting skills and the stories that you submit are what keeps everyone wanting more… especially if they had a shit hunt that day and the only hunting action they’re going to see for the day is on HOB haha. So thanks for your support, spread the word and here is the first hunting story I ever wrote when I was learning to read and write.
At the start of 2018 the dogs and I weren’t having the best luck with pigs and the only time I could catch a pig was when a good mate Sam would take me out with his real pig dogs.
My old faithful main dog Sash had done his 15-year dash and finally left our family to chase pigs forever, so I was down to my 3-year-old bitch Sam and my 12-month-old pup Stella. Sam an Airedale lab x is a handy finder bailer with a disappointing stop who has seen more than enough pigs. Stella a foxy whippet x is just kicking off her career as a pig dog and has much to learn and prove. This has definitely had a toll on my hunting but having mates like Sam to help me out makes a huge difference with keeping the young dogs going on pigs.
Early winter had finally arrived and I was really busting to get on the hills to get some nice winter hogs into Stella, so I text my trusty farmer to see how his block had been getting on for pigs, he said that quite a few had been kicking around the bottom near the road. This really got me fizzing and I was already in my wife’s ear about all of my hunting dramas and depressing hunts I’d had in this particular block. As usual she told me that she didn’t care and to buzz off, so I was on the phone gossiping to mates and trying to see who was free to have a crack at these pigs. After a couple of phone calls, I was without a mate to hunt with so it was to be a solo mission.
I woke up well before day break as the drive to the block was an hour and a half away. I stepped outside in my jockeys and gumboots to let the dogs off for their morning pre-hunt rituals. I was running my two bitches and my brothers project bitch Sasha who had never seen a pig before. There was a harsh frost so I was running back to the house quick smart to make sure alI my manly parts were still where they should be.
A quick bowl of wheat-bix, some hot chocolate and a quick double check of the gear and we were off in the moonlight heading for another adventure. I must admit, I was feeling unhopeful of catching anything decent due to the calibre of the pack I was running, but I was still crawling with excitement to see what was kicking about.
After driving in a nice warm ute, it was time to get serious so I stopped up the road from the block to get geared up. The smell of pine and native wrapped in frosty still air was enough to wake the last of me up. I collared the dogs and boxed them back up to drive into the block without any mucking around. The sun was kissing the tops by now and there was just enough light to creep along in the truck and take in the frosty scenery.
As I was taking in the scenery and plodding along, a black shape caught my attention only 100 metres off the track at the bottom of the block. I rubbed my eyes once or twice and realised I was staring at a pig’s arse-end bobbing up and down while it was digging up a small patch of fern. With that I ripped the dogs out of the box, they were heading the wrong way but eventually their A.D.D pointed them roughly in the right direction until Sam was able to smell the pig off the air. I was lucky enough to watch her air scent her way to the pig and put up a very nice bail. Sasha and Stella shot straight in and a scrap erupted, Sam and Sasha held the pig while Stella gave it the odd lick on the bum to confuse it enough until I got to it. When I got there the pig was still in the same place where I had spotted it and I was able to get the dogs to stand off and bail so I could shoot it. Pig down and it was a nice fat 82lb boar so I was stoked with the junior team’s efforts.
It was still early so I decided to push on in the ute and head up the hill about 400 metres. As I got to where I wanted to park the truck up the dogs were starting to perk up on some fresh ground scent surrounded by freshly over turned Spaniards (geez I hate Spaniards). The dogs needed no encouragement and tracked off at warp speed, so fast that I was worried they would over shoot what was around. With Stella being so young she only went about 200 metres or so before coming back to me, I was fine with this because if it’s a decent pig I didn’t want it to knock the wind out of her sails and put her off pigs.
The valley was starting to get some good sun on it and I was listening to the birds while watching a wallaby bounce around when I heard a very faint bail in the distance. I looked at the GPS and saw that Sam and Sasha were 600 metres away, but they were also about 200 metres apart. Stella and I got back in the ute and headed in their direction until we got about 150 metres away. Sam was bailing hard on the other side of a ridge and Sasha was hauling ass towards her.
I had this plan in my head that I was going to go over that ridge in record time but as soon as I crossed the first creek, I was met by what I could only describe as ‘THE DEVILS ANUS’. I crawled and thrashed my way to the top of the beast, as I neared the top the sweet sound of 2 young dogs bailing kept the adrenaline pumping. 3 big breaths at the top and a quick safety check on the gun and I damn near flew to the bail. What a sight, Sam and Sasha bailing their hearts out and whenever the pig attempted to flee, Sam was there to remind him that he wasn’t leaving without his man purse. Stella was also doing her part by licking Mr pigs bum to confuse him. I left them to it for 5 more minutes to make sure it wasn’t a fluke before shooting the 95lb boar and letting out a few trail barks of my own.
They had done it, 2 decent boars down. I was out of there by 9am and back home to tell my wife all about my day over and over again for about a week.
Cheers Harry @ HOB