Sometimes in hunting you just get lucky and this tale is a great example of just good old fashioned luck.
Twelve months ago my son Jack lost a good boar with his dogs in the hills around Kaikoura. He was a cunning old fella that simply out ran the dogs and had obviously done so many times. We decided it was time for another go so off to the same spot we went with the dogs. I took my 7mm 08 as well in case we saw some deer. As luck would have it a couple of yearlings made the mistake of being seen and were promptly dropped for the freezer. On up the hill we went to the head of the gully the boar lived in. Jack went down the gully with the dogs while I back tracked to the yearlings to bone them out. We agreed to meet back at the vehicle later in the day.
While loading the meat into my pack Jack turned up with some very tired looking dogs and a tale of how the boar had yet again beaten him. On the drive out I shot a couple of goats to do my bit in keeping the numbers under control and to test out the 08 at 250 metres. Two shots and two kills.
A week later and I decided to go back by myself to see if the boar had visited the dead goats and if so Jack could then come back from Christchurch with the dogs soon after. I got to the face in the dark and ran the thermal over to where the dead goats were.
Unbelievable but there stood the boar feeding on a goat carcass! With daylight still fifteen minutes away all I could do was set the rifle up and wait all the while keeping an eye on the boar. Five minutes before daylight and disaster, the boar moved off into the scrub. I couldn’t believe my luck and just admired this cunning old bugger. With no more sight of him at daylight I packed the rifle away and got ready to move up the creek to look for a deer. A quick glance back at the face had me freeze as unbelievably he was back out feeding on the second goat!
A quick set up of the rifle and a well placed shot at 240 metres and he was mine. As simple as that the cunning boar had made one mistake with me in the right place at the right time.
He was an old battler, nearly bald and with ripped ears from dealing with dogs in the past. I am not a pig hunter but would guess his weight as somewhere between 150 and 200 pound. The tusks are 90mm long and sharp as hell with some very impressive grinders. I boned out the back legs and took the back steaks and the head. The head is being boiled and bleached as a reminder of a very lucky hunt and to honour the old battler.
Sometimes you just get lucky!
