Thanks, fellows.

Without bait, there is no way I would've got this fellow. There is so much water around.

In the better pig country (floodplains, big swamp systems closer to the coast), there is no need to bait, and one can still have good success (although baits are stumbled upon in the course of these hunts, often).

Later in the year, when the water dries-up, the nature of the land in this area is such that it will still be hard to find the few ghost pigs there are, so bait will continue to be important here. For a fellow fitting-in hunts around work, it can be hard to time it just right, and often I'm either too early or too late. There is no mathematical formula for when a bait might be hit. This one took over three days (I got him on the sixth). One bait took two weeks! Others have taken just two days.

As for penetration, well, there was no exit. The boar was slightly quartering on, and laying down asleep. The bullet hit at the base of the neck. I've had pass-throughs on the last few side-on donkeys I've killed, but sometimes I find that the humble pig can soak-up what is (from previous experience) quite a buffalo killer. I didn't do an autopsy, but I imagine some fair-sized bone was encountered. I'll go back and get the teeth later.

Yeah, Neale, I think a .505 Gibbs is required.

Cheers,

Ben