Boars in Oz

[Ned Makim 116]

The sorghum: Each block is only about 300 acres on this property and there are six. They are split into thre groups of two. About 600 acres of crop in each parcel doesn't sound like much but there are a lot of places to hide in it for a pig. Sometimes they dogs just find them. Sometimes the pigs run and sometimes they squat and you almost stumble over them...

 

The whole place adds up to 14,000acres in the hills so the pigs can be anywhere...

 

The GPS trackers: Using a GPS is fine in Oz. It's the GPS trackers that are not authorised. That is because the radio frequency and power used to transmit the information from the collar to the handheld unit is outside the accepted range. The collars are two things. One is a GPS that locates the collar and tells it where it is. The second part of the collar is a radio transmitter that sends details to the handheld unit. As I said, it's the radio transmitter that is not authorised. If that makes sense.

 

Getting permission: Yep, the gardening is great for getting to know landholders and getting access.

 

Thanks for the responses. I actually think of you blokes when I hunt and wish I had a camera that would capture pix of the birds I see. I would have seen 10,000 parrots of various sorts in the crop yesterday. There was also a wedgetail eagle (the biggest eagle in the world) on a carcase.

 

Cheers.

[waidmann 105]

thats a big field by our standards(mine anyway) bud.

looking forward to more pics of the wildlife and reports of the pig catching

 

oz has always facinated me(landscape etc) and this thread brings it a bit closer

 

atb

waidmann

[Ned Makim 116]

It's about 8.20pm Friday here now and raining. Paul and his mate Dave are heading back up into the hills at midnight for another walk in the crop and I'm going back up there tomorrow at about 3pm because I think I've worked out where one lot of pigs are coming from. I hope to hit them at home, and maybe strike a decent boar in the scrub.

I'll keep you all posted.

Paul said he'd ring in tonight if they hit anything decent.

Cheers.

[riohog 5,621]

good luck ned hope you get a big ol boar!!

[Ned Makim 116]

Paul just rang in. He got three between midnight and 1.30am (it's now 9.11am Saturday). Two went about 30kgs dressed and one bigger sow was between 50 and 60kgs. She put on a big fight as well he said. Young dogs Del and Suzie grabbed her. Very wet and very boggy though. Not sure if I'll get up there or not this afternoon. We'll see what the day holds...

Cheers.

[waidmann 105]

the very best of luck

 

when you say it was wet there, do you have any problems with the dogs and crocodiles? may be a stupid question

 

yis

waidmann

[Ned Makim 116]

Back from the afternoon hunt. Very wet and very muddy. Scored five for the afternoon in the sorghum. All of them small (maybe up to 30 kgs dressed and no pix because I had the three trainee dogs and I was on my own. You can't hang around taking the pix with young dogs because you want them to learn to get off the pig and go again to find another one. Of course, the exception is if you get a monster and then you find a way. Young dogs can learn bad habits very quickly...not letting go, claiming the pig (starting a fight) and other irritations.

 

However, I did shoot a little video to show the crop and Roger working his way back to me so you blokes would get something out of the hunt.

Happy with the day although it was hard going in the mud and rain. It's autumn here so it's not cold yet but it will get cold up on this property later in the year...

 

 

So that's 13 out of the sorghum in the past seven days between Paul and I. Biggest was between 50 and 60kgs dressed.

[Ned Makim 116]

And re the crocs. No we are too far south for that drama. When we go up north for our annual hunt in the Gulf of Carpentaria crocs are a serious issue for dogs and men. Deadly serious.

 

Around here we have eastern brown snakes, king browns and tiger snakes. All of which can roll a dog in minutes. Men too.

You don't strike a lot but if you run into them it's a pivotal moment in the day, and maybe your life. Not joking.

Cheers.

[Ned Makim 116]

In the vid the crackling sound is rain on the sorghum and if you look carefully down towards the abandoned house in the paddock you'll see a couple of flashes of white...that's Barney working further out...

Cheers.

[Ned Makim 116]

Had another look in the sorghum after work today on the property and finally cracked a big fella.

 

Only got the one but he was a beauty. All three young dogs had a hand in it with Roger doing the big work after Gina found the boar. And Barney wore a few rips in the battle.

 

I was walking through the crop late in the afternoon when I saw a big young boar sneaking off about 600 metres away across a blackberry choked creek. Took me a while to get to where he went through the fence but when we hit the hole Gina, who was the only dog loose, dived through on the scent and took off up the hill. No sooner had I jumped the fence with Roger and Barney that the boar with Gina in hot pursuit came barrelling back down straight at us. He wasn't charging, just trying to get back through the hole in the fence and the safety of the berry bushes. Barney stepped up to grab him head on and got absolutely smashed as the boar ran straight over the top of him, through the fence and disappeared. He'd passed me with less than a foot to spare and it was back over the fence for me and through the fence for the dogs. Hopeless. Thick grass, cumbungi reeds and blackberries the size of a house...

Gina and Barney were tearing around trying to pick the freshest scent when Roger went on his own and pushed into one of the bushes before hitting the boar hiding close by. The boar broke from him once and then Barney was in the mix as well. Roger hit him again and Barney fought his way to the action. They had him. Gina got in as well and I heard the boar hit Barney, he was ripped but still on the boar. Then it broke again, came out of the bush and dived back in another tunnel. All three dogs were on him so I flew around the other side looking for a way in to get my hands on the pig and back up the hounds. He broke again and I could hear from the sound he was outside the bush. ANother run around and I could see his back legs in the open. I grabbed him and rolled him before getting the knife into his chest.

Atop boar and a top effort by the youngsters. Roger in particular had a great afternoon, finding the boar in the bush and controlling him. Barney was opened up along the front leg but had stuck with the boar regardless. And Gina was beside herself with excitement. She'd done her bit but the boar was down to Roger and his effort first up on his own in the bush.

 

Great afternoon. The boar would have dressed between 70 and 75 kgs but that's only the guesstimate because he was too big for me to get out on my own to weigh...

 

A quick vid of the dogs on the boar in the bush...

 

 

The boar with the bush and reeds in the background.

 

 

The country...

 

 

One of his tunnels into the prickly blackberries. A nightmare to crawl into to grab a fighting boar, especially when you are alone.

 

 

Cheers.

[mikeyboy 7]

another cracking read ned again. obviously the dogs do get ripped but how long do you tend to give them off after a good battle. nice to see how you want to back the dogs up when get into one

 

atb mike

[Ned Makim 116]

Thanks Mike,

How long the dogs get off just depends on the damage. Barney will be out for a couple of weeks. Can be months in some cases...

 

And as for backing the dogs up...you really don't have a choice in this game. They can get killed if you don't.

 

Cheers.

[waidmann 105]

a good read there again ned and some good pics too

how old do you think he was(around three-four? the rule in europe is if the tusk is visable then around that age).

there are obviously formuli to work it out on hand of the ground down surface and the diameter at the base of it but a rough idea.

 

good on the young dogs for getting stuck in(its hard for them to manoever in the thick stuff i know and they are more likely to be struck as they often can't "roll with the blow". we lost a terrier in brambles a few years ago he couldn't get out of the way and was "grabbed" by a sow,she whacked him on a tree and "ground" him against it.breaking his back).

 

a smashing thread.

atb

[Ned Makim 116]

I honestly don't know how old he was. Young boar certainly but I don't know how to tell on wild ones. I look at the grinders. If they are thick and curled I know he's an older boar but if they are thin and straighter, he's young...

He was big because of the crop he'd been on. Good tucker (food) also makes then more fiery.

Cheers.

[Ned Makim 116]

And yes, the blackberries are wicked for trapping dogs in front of a boar. Really tests a dog's ticker because they always get marked up in that situation.

Cheers.