Checked out one of our favourite hunting spots last weekend, with mixed results.

This time we drove a little closer than usual on a dis-used track which put us within a couple of kilometres of the spring-jungles and avoided a long slog (..and back!) through the parched ironstone country. As we left the truck (and the rifles) to check out the last creek crossing, out waddled the biggest boar we have seen in years! He trundled off through the open grassland, showing us a clear 4 inches of thick ivory each side as he looked back at us, all we could do was watch! Damn! We know better, of course, and should never have been caught with our pants down, but one assumes the noise of the approaching vehicle, doors closing, talking etc would have sent any game packing long before we walked over.

After that, we had high hopes but the swamps, springs and waterholes we hunted were still way too wet for this time of year, and no mobs or loner boars were camped in the usual places. Also, the new direction of appraoch was not as favourable due to prevailing wind, and we may have given the quarry our scent on a couple of occasions. Unavoidable sometimes when one is walking creeklines.

Several times during the day I held the bead on big scrub bulls and every member of a mob of feral horses, but elected not to shoot. The best bull's horns were not that great, and he was a big white brahmin cross which just doesn't have the right 'look' in a trophy photo!

With sore feet and clean barrels at the end of the day, we decided to check out one last waterhole, where we found a single wallow and set of tracks. Searching the adjacent gully kicked out a nice boar, and Marty's Anchutz .270 did the damage. Small in body, but long in ivory, a fitting last-ditch salvation for the day!

We'll be giving that country a spell for a couple of months, hoping it will dry out a bit as the hot weather increases. October is hot as hell inland in the Top End, but it always provides great hunting if you can stand it!