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In the wee hours of the morning of Thursday 31 May (4:30am), I departed Goulburn for a few days pig hunting with my brother David, and two mates Gunner and Ben. With impeccable timing I met my brother at Narromine airport at 8:30am. He had departed Kempsey only 90min earlier. With the Santa Fe packed we ventured off to Nyngan, collecting some supplies before heading out to the property. Ben was a few hours behind us and Gunner was attending an expo in Dubbo that day.

David was extremely keen to try out his new Winchester M70 Extreme Weather in 7mm-08 (the only one in Australia) on a pig or three. Upon arrival it was evident the property had received a decent amount of rain a few days earlier. Once at the hut, unpacking and setting up was done in record breaking time. We promptly geared up for a recon hunt. Before leaving, I left a map on the table for Ben and sent him a SMS. David & I charged our respective 7mm-08s; David was using 140gr Sierra GameKings and I was using 140gr Barnes TTSX.

The three tanks we visited didn’t show very much sign, another clear indicator of the amount of rain received. David had a crack at a nice Billy Goat, but the shot didn’t connect. The ground cover was quite significant some areas, but was generally 12-15” high. Driving back to the hut I noticed a pig flash across the track some 300m ahead. As we neared the pig’s crossing point a massive Hogzilla waddle across the track. David got out and shot him in the right shoulder which on impact erupted into a cloud of dust. Momentarily the Boar faltered, then darted into a thicket of dense scrub. For the next hour we searched unsuccessfully for him. As it turns out, he would have been the largest pig taken on the trip! Near the hut, there was a distinct shape at 130m out in the open and I said to David “hit that prick in the same spot”. Boom-flop, no problem! The pig, a sow, was considerably smaller than the Boar, and the 140gr Sierra had passed through effortlessly doing the business.

Returning to camp, we found that Ben had arrived and made himself comfortable in front of the fire. That night we spotlighted the immediate surrounds, but unfortunately the ground cover made for difficult conditions with the fox eyes seen. A few of the usual suspects were rolled for baiting stations. No pigs were seen under the light.

Early Friday morning, David was very keen to get going. I suggested he put the LED Lenser P7 light on his rifle and have a look out the front door of the hut. Within 2 minutes, thump-boom! The shot certainly connected and approximately 5 minutes after the shot David came in with a big smile, “I just shot a little pig, and he was only about 100m from the hut”. I mentioned we’ll head out to the windbreaks for a hunt and look at the pig when we get back.

Hunting two separate wind breaks yielded a sow and a dozen slips. Ben missed an opportunity at the Sow, but nailed a Slip in the scone with a 100gr Geco SP from his Steyr SSG 243. David didn’t see anything and I saw eight multi-coloured Slips run by after Ben’s shot. Returning back to the hut David showed me the spot where he took the shot. Then we walked out into the paddock when I choked upon sight of the Boar! David was even surprised with the size of the Boar saying, “it didn’t look that big in the scope!” After a photo session, I removed the bottom jaw and front half of the skull. Then I opened up the Boar looking for the projectile, he was full of worms! The tusks, grinders and Sierra mushroom cleaned up nicely and will look great mounted on a wood plaque.

Gunner arrived just after 9:30am. There was a high possibility for rain on Saturday and Sunday, so the plan was to venture out to the backblocks looking for a Billy while the tracks were dry and accessible. I swapped the Sako 85 7mm-08 for the Ruger No.1 450/400. Travelling out to the backblocks we encountered several mobs of goats. Gunner and Ben engaged four eaters, but they were rejected due to a suspicious looking cyst on the liver of one animal. With Fallow Deer on tap at home I am not a regular harvester of Goats and thus not familiar with their anatomy; it could have been the gallbladder. However at the time, none of us were going to accept any risk.

Arriving at another tank, David heard some goats down the track approximately 150m and proceeded to stalk in. Again we heard the thump-boom, David had knocked over an old Billy with a solid hit in the right shoulder on the run. The old Goat had worn down and missing teeth, grey hair about the mouth and eyes, and a broken and very worn horn. He had been around for a long time.

As the clouds became ominous, we continued back towards camp passing through where Hogzilla was shot 24hrs earlier. At over 350m I glassed a solitary pig rooting, I claimed this pig as mine and dropped a round into the breech of the Ruger No.1. Bent over utilizing the long grass for cover, I stalked to within 60m of the pig. Quietly setting up the shooting sticks, I ranged the pig at 55yds and waited for a longitudinal shot. The pig was poleaxed with a 400gr Woodleigh RNSN which picked up and threw down the animal in one almighty motion, very entertaining. The sow was in very poor condition, subsequently the 400gr RNSN passed through the entire body length; entering the rump, exiting the hip, re-entered behind ribs, and exited the neck!

As the light failed, the spotlight and mount was set up on the AWD. David also mounted his P7 light. Not ten minutes later, in light rain another Sow was dispatched with a 140gr SGK from the Winchester. Another large pig quickly disappeared into the scrub.

As the rain gradually became heavier we continued back towards camp with Gunner and Ben following closely in the Kluger. Suddenly a massive Boar was spotted just out of the scrub line at approximately 50-60m. I called Gunner on the UHF, “pig, pig, pig”. David also got out as back up. Gunner hit this massive Boar in the right shoulder with a 130gr Barnes TTSX from his Howa 308. The Boar recoiled from the hit and darted immediately into the scrub, receiving a 7mm 140gr SGK up the rump which lifted the Boar’s derriere off the ground. With the rain becoming heavier, we placed a marker on the track and drove back under greasy conditions. It poured all night and we awoke to water views.

Saturday was very restrictive, the place was a bog. We waited until a lull in the rain and walked the scrub paddock. My goodness we got wet and were unsuccessful locating the massive Boar hit twice from the night before. Ben nailed a couple of suckers and hit a fox with the 243. A couple of the usual suspects were cleaned up by Gunner. In the rain I mistook a decent Boar for a fallen log, not happy about that! At last light we were back at camp wringing out clothes and rifles. The day was disappointing as walking 12km in the wet yielded stuff all result. The fire kept us warm and the cabin looked like a Chinese laundry.

Although having a 100% success rate, I was feeling a little down only having one opportunity at a pig. So I decided to get back into my damp clothes, mount the P7 on the 7mm-08 and check the Trail Cam on the front tank. Halfway there I encountered over a dozen suckers scurrying across the track not 15m from me. Looking around with the P7 I noticed a few medium size pigs ahead of the suckers melting into the darkness of the scrub. Continuing onto the tank, checking the Trail Cam revealed nothing so I opted to return the point of piggy contact. I followed the edge of the wind row until I heard gleeful piggies grunting in a gilgai encompassed with vegetation. The damp conditions made for an extremely quiet approach. When I turned on the P7, little piggies scattered and it was a challenge finding something semi decent to drill. Then a medium size presented himself for an instant dispatching. Feeling a little chuffed, I marked the spot and walked out in the open and headed back to camp. There was a faint reflection of a pig’s eye at the end of the P7’s beam.

Early Sunday morning David, Gunner and I headed out in three separate directions in the fog before first light. Ben was too stiff and sore for a hunt and opted for a rest & recovery morning. David and I returned to the two wind rows, and Gunner headed off along a fence line clearing where pigs were seen the day before. Approximately 15 min after separating I heard a couple of distant shots. David called me on the UHF and I thought I heard, “there are four coming over”. I asked if he took the shots, to he replied “no”. Pausing and listening in the fog I heard the faint grunting of what I thought was a few small pigs passing through.

Not seeing anything, I continued onto the tank with the Trail Cam. Again there was nothing on the Trail Cam. I heard a couple of faint shots and called David. He had engaged a mob of suckers and nailed three. When I caught up with David, the suckers he had taken were from the same mob I bumped the previous night and only 100m from the Boar. David then asked me if I saw the large Boar that came over towards me earlier (“there are four” was actually “there’s a Boar”). Bloody ‘ell!

On the way back to camp David & I met up with Gunner. He was all smiles after dispatching a Sow and a Slip earlier with the 308.

Due to family commitments on Monday, Gunner had to head back Sunday afternoon. Ben also opted to head home to preserve himself and pack for his Sambar hunt in Victoria commencing on Tuesday. Ben had a little bit of excitement leaving the property on the greasy main track, getting pulled out of a bog. Gunner also had a little excitement sliding out and yet able to run over four little pigs with the Kluger AWD near the front gate, killing two of them.

David & I were not immune, with the Santa Fe ending up nose down, bum up in a bog some 6km from the hut. This was after we had each shot and lost a Sow in the long grass. I was a tad concerned with becoming permanently stuck as the next heavy rain event was rolling in towards us from the northwest. Fortunately there was an old timber pallet on the fence line, which was promptly dismembered and utilized for ramps. We only just got back to camp in time before the next downpour.

That night David went out in the steady rain for another look for a pig, whereas I opted to stay in camp. At times the rain was heavy, and I called David to check his progress. He had seen pigs and a couple of foxes, but was waiting out the showers. Later a number of distant shots were heard; David had connected with a mob of medium size pigs and was in pursuit of a large Boar. At 23:00 I retired and David returned 90min later rather damp but very satisfied. He had taken three pigs, but couldn’t find the Boar.

Early Monday morning David was keen to head out for one final look. It was a perfect cloud free morning. We went in the same direction as Gunner 24hrs earlier. Through the 8x30 Steiners I saw Gunner’s Sow and Slip on the fence line, then noticed a mass of black blobs moving approximately 400m in the distance behind, schweine! The wind was in our favour as we carefully stalked in intermittently using the scrub edge for cover. There was a massive Boar on the other side of the fence to the main mob which also had some large lumps of pork. I was very keen for the Boar.

The main mob then ventured out more into the open and I lost sight of the Boar as he returned to the thick scrub. Then thumb-boom, David dropped a large Boar at ~50m. “Oh excellent, let the fun begin”, I thought as I broke cover and saw over twenty pigs running everywhere in the open. With both 7mm-08 in action there were pigs dropping to the left, pigs dropping to the right. We ran our respective magazines empty and had at least six pigs down. The next 90min was spent searching for the downed animals and dragging them off the paddock. There was a pig with a half a lung blown out and another we just couldn’t locate. The large Boar was almost missed in the search! On the way back to the hut I photographed Gunner’s Sow and Slip.

Eventually we cleaned and packed up. Our enthusiasm wasn’t the same as our arrival; another day would have been nice. On our farewell the property owner informed us that 23mm of rain had fallen from Friday evening to Sunday night, which followed 15mm from a few days before our arrival.

We arrived at the Narromine airport around 16:30. Once the Cessna was packed I said Hooroo and headed off to the Narromine car wash. When I rolled into Parkes around 18:30, David was touching down in Kempsey. Finally, by 22:30 I was home and exhausted after a successful hunt.

Trail Cams

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Cheers

Drew