Well 2020, what a bloody shit start to be honest.
It was looking good in the beginning and hunting aspirations were extremely high, well mine were anyway. I was just able to get my pack all sorted and they were just starting to hunt well together. I was also able to take my young fella Frank out for a hunt and he got to watch his first bail up, admittedly they were bailing a big Sow and her wieners but it was still a very proud moment to share with Frank and I can wait until he’s able to run alongside with me in the hills chasing hogs.
It’s a week since level 4 lockdown and private land day hunts are allowed and plenty of you out there are taking advantage of that to prime the dogs for winter and to start getting meat in the freezers. It’s a tough time for a lot of people in the country with food prices being the way they are, bills keep coming in and job security being uneasy, so while you’re out on the hill waiting on the dogs to stop old Boarus, take the time to reflect and appreciate how lucky we are the have hunting not only as a resource of food for your family and friends but also to just get away from the world and breath in fresh, quiet, COVID free air.
Winter is just around the corner, it may not seem like it in some parts of the country but trust me, it’s not too far away. I went out for a level 3 hunt with my brother on a cold day off and we were able to secure a 80-90lb barren sow with 1inch thick layer of spring fat on her. The block that we hunt has only been hunted once this year and the lack of pressure has seen the pig population dominate the area enough that the young dogs can work their way into a pig and their too fat and lazy to outrun them.
We started by both making last-minute plans to take our young dogs and one older dog out early in the morning and just see what would happen. I took young Stella and old Jill and Hylton took young Gus and Storm.
All three young dogs have seen enough pigs to know sort of what to do but neither of them could track, stop and bail a pig solo. Jill is a dog a good bugger lent to me and is more than capable of doing all of the above so we figured surely if we walk long enough wed at least get a run.
The day of the hunt started at idiot o’clock and we got in the block just before the sun touched the horizon. I was feeling pumped, the temperature was 8deg and there was no moon overnight so the pigs would be out a bit longer to warm up a bit. We strapped up our gear and started heading up with gusto, the dogs left our side which is quite rare and we just watched them working the open gullies while we climbed our way up hill. 2 hours later and we had reached the top without a run so we took a moment to talk some shit and catch up (we were both sweating chicken and needed to catch a breath).
After ‘shooting the shit’ we made a plan to take the long way down through the high tussock and push through where a few handy pigs hang out. We got about 100 meters away from our seats with the dogs in close. Stella and Gus decided to start leading ahead and we didn’t really pay attention to them until Stella dove off into the pines and started peeling her way down. I said to Hylton “she’s probably chasing a bloody wallaby” and I got to that point where you hope it’s a pig but your brains telling you to call the dog back but you’re still praying that you hear a pig noise.
90 meters into the dark forest Stella starts trail barking and then she sets into a bail for 20-30 seconds…. Break. “Well that settles it, she’s going for a wallaby”. I listen as hard as I can but no wallaby thumps. Holly shit there is a very slim chance that she could be on a coon instead. Gus is a big fast hard stopping bailer and once he’s on a pig, its game over and he reels in on Stella and her “Coon/Wallaby” really fast.
WHACK! Grunt grunt, squeal. Bail. Holly shit, those little bastards did it. Hylton and I look at each other with dopy confused looks on our faces, they quickly enough turn into shit eating grins. I think disbelief took over for a bit because we didn’t go in straight away but once the other two dogs got there, it was the sweet bailing that finally sent us off the edge skidding down the face. 200m later and the dogs decided to grab the pig so it was a quick stick and good night nurse for that pig. Guts out and on Hyltons back it goes. 30 minutes later and we are at the truck.
On our way out the bro tried to shoot a wallaby for dog tucker but 50m was past his skill set with the .222 and he used 3 of my 4 bullets I had until I can restock after lockdown. That pig is now in the meet safe setting and she’ll be minced in with a ram lamb out the back for snags and patties.
Be safe out there and have fun.
Harry @ HOB