Jack Russell
AH member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2016
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 34
- Location
- Tauranga, New Zealand
- Member of
- NZ Bowhunter Society
So, as I am just in the process of packing gear, sharpening broadheads and generally getting ready to head back to SA, I started casting my mind back to last year's hunt and thought I may recount a few interesting happenings. The full story of this hunt appeared in the last issue of Arrowhead Magazine, so this is in no way supposed to be an in-depth trip report, but rather just sharing some of the experiences we had chasing one of Africa's ghosts........
Friend and PH Pieter van Aardt operates his business Pitlhwa Safaris in the North West, just out of Swartruggens in South Africa. The countryside is, as the name suggests, both mountainous and rocky - not generally considered ideal bushpig habitat. The property itself has a large government concession on one border with the usual herds of goats and other leopard fodder and this allows the pigs a little respite from continual predation.
As I was only flying over in July, Pieter had plenty of time to get things sorted and the pigs accustomed to his daily baiting regime. Initially starting off with a giraffe carcass in late May, he swapped over to a combination of fermented maize and molasses soon after. Infrequent visits to the bait slowly became more regular and the timing of visits too, improved. In fact by early July he had the pigs showing up in daylight!
By now the whole setup was ready, log placed behind main bait zone to ensure broadside feeding, blind erected and things were looking good.
My visit coincided with the dark moon phase as we planned which would allow us better opportunities at some of the other species we were targeting and should've also made the pigs feel somewhat more settled when coming in to feed. Out of curiosity and as a trial, Pieter and I decided that he should sit in the blind with another friend Morné, during the full moon before I got there. This way he could test out his lighting, confirm animal numbers as per what was showing up on trail cams and and also the pig's wariness with human presence. So, on a night with perfect wind and moon, the two of them entered the blind late afternoon and prepared themselves for the simulated hunt... Pretty much on cue, the pigs turned up just after dark and settled down to their daily dose of takeout. Initially the guys were very careful with lighting and were only making subtle changes. Apparently the pigs paid them zero attention and were more interested in who could eat what the fastest. By the end of it, Pieter had done away his infra-red and rheostat setup satisfied that it was performing and was by now shining good 'ol Led Lenser torchlight on them to try induce a reaction! Despite all the movement and changes in their environment, the pigs were completely settled and only moved off once the feed was finished. The general consensus was that with the amount of natural light around, the critters weren't concerned and if anything were more comfortable than in otherwise complete darkness. This was confirmed a few weeks later when Pieter and I finally had the opportunity to climb into the blind.....
Settling in just after 4pm it was great to finally be in the setup. Sitting back I noticed that the floor had been re-swept and the chairs had been swapped out for brand new ones so as to avoid any potential for squeaks and the like. "Really fortunate to have a mate who looks after every detail, no matter how small" I thought. A day or two before I had sat in the same spot and practised drawing the bow and had made sure there wasn't going to be any issues by way of clearance or shooting lanes. The log just behind the bait was 24 yards and another 10 - 15 yards further clearance behind that in parts should I need it.
Daylight slowly got swallowed by night as shadows lengthened and dusk came and went. The birds, monkeys and bugs all made their eventual departure leaving us with nothing more than darkness, cold fingers and hope. A further half hour later and suddenly a grunt out in the gloom. Staring out into the sea of black you could very faintly make out a white dorsal stripe or two wafting between the trees, moving from bait to bait. It didn't take long before three bodies were right in front of the log before us cashing in on the welfare. Ever so slowly the Mathews was raised, levelled and drawn and Pieter had the faintest glow of red above the trees slowly bringing it down to illuminate the area below. Amazingly as soon as the ambience changed and before I could even decipher who was where, the hogs bolted. This was a vastly different situation from the experiment just a handful of days before. Wind was good, feed was good, we were quiet.... The only difference was how they responded to lighting change at different points of the moon phase. Bugger! Having hunted these fellas before, Pieter wasn't positive they would return tonight if even at all. They are by nature very skittish, very elusive and very unaccommodating of hunter error. Still, we gave it half an hour and just sat mulling our thoughts over in silence.
Amazingly exactly 30 minutes later we heard movement and a tentative boar reappeared at our log. We hadn't really discussed any change in tactics as we hadn't expected further action. Pieter ever so slowly whispered to get ready and signal when I wanted him to provide some light. This I did and a very nervous pig suddenly had a red glow on its flanks. His reaction was fast but the FMJ was already on its way and within seconds we went from utter pandemonium to complete still. Listening for any clues as to what was happening and trying to put aside those nagging thoughts of doubt, we finally heard some ragged breathing, a cough, a soft gurgle or two and then silence once more.
After the customary 20 minutes of nerves and shaking, we left the blind and slowly made our way over to the bait. Blood covered the log and it wasn't long before we found several pieces of arrow, a sure indication of a heavy hit and proof that the boar had crashed into nearby rocks and trees in his haste to depart. A further 30m on we found our guy and what a beauty he was. All the effort, practice and planning were well rewarded with a perfect heart shot and a great old tusky bushpig.
These later pulled out at just over 5 1/2" with solid grinders to match. One very happy hog hunter!
Right time to go finish packing.... hope you enjoyed the quick read and got something out of it. With a bit of luck the mount should be finished within a few weeks so I'll be sure to post a pic the finished product when I'm back!
Friend and PH Pieter van Aardt operates his business Pitlhwa Safaris in the North West, just out of Swartruggens in South Africa. The countryside is, as the name suggests, both mountainous and rocky - not generally considered ideal bushpig habitat. The property itself has a large government concession on one border with the usual herds of goats and other leopard fodder and this allows the pigs a little respite from continual predation.
As I was only flying over in July, Pieter had plenty of time to get things sorted and the pigs accustomed to his daily baiting regime. Initially starting off with a giraffe carcass in late May, he swapped over to a combination of fermented maize and molasses soon after. Infrequent visits to the bait slowly became more regular and the timing of visits too, improved. In fact by early July he had the pigs showing up in daylight!
By now the whole setup was ready, log placed behind main bait zone to ensure broadside feeding, blind erected and things were looking good.
My visit coincided with the dark moon phase as we planned which would allow us better opportunities at some of the other species we were targeting and should've also made the pigs feel somewhat more settled when coming in to feed. Out of curiosity and as a trial, Pieter and I decided that he should sit in the blind with another friend Morné, during the full moon before I got there. This way he could test out his lighting, confirm animal numbers as per what was showing up on trail cams and and also the pig's wariness with human presence. So, on a night with perfect wind and moon, the two of them entered the blind late afternoon and prepared themselves for the simulated hunt... Pretty much on cue, the pigs turned up just after dark and settled down to their daily dose of takeout. Initially the guys were very careful with lighting and were only making subtle changes. Apparently the pigs paid them zero attention and were more interested in who could eat what the fastest. By the end of it, Pieter had done away his infra-red and rheostat setup satisfied that it was performing and was by now shining good 'ol Led Lenser torchlight on them to try induce a reaction! Despite all the movement and changes in their environment, the pigs were completely settled and only moved off once the feed was finished. The general consensus was that with the amount of natural light around, the critters weren't concerned and if anything were more comfortable than in otherwise complete darkness. This was confirmed a few weeks later when Pieter and I finally had the opportunity to climb into the blind.....
Settling in just after 4pm it was great to finally be in the setup. Sitting back I noticed that the floor had been re-swept and the chairs had been swapped out for brand new ones so as to avoid any potential for squeaks and the like. "Really fortunate to have a mate who looks after every detail, no matter how small" I thought. A day or two before I had sat in the same spot and practised drawing the bow and had made sure there wasn't going to be any issues by way of clearance or shooting lanes. The log just behind the bait was 24 yards and another 10 - 15 yards further clearance behind that in parts should I need it.
Daylight slowly got swallowed by night as shadows lengthened and dusk came and went. The birds, monkeys and bugs all made their eventual departure leaving us with nothing more than darkness, cold fingers and hope. A further half hour later and suddenly a grunt out in the gloom. Staring out into the sea of black you could very faintly make out a white dorsal stripe or two wafting between the trees, moving from bait to bait. It didn't take long before three bodies were right in front of the log before us cashing in on the welfare. Ever so slowly the Mathews was raised, levelled and drawn and Pieter had the faintest glow of red above the trees slowly bringing it down to illuminate the area below. Amazingly as soon as the ambience changed and before I could even decipher who was where, the hogs bolted. This was a vastly different situation from the experiment just a handful of days before. Wind was good, feed was good, we were quiet.... The only difference was how they responded to lighting change at different points of the moon phase. Bugger! Having hunted these fellas before, Pieter wasn't positive they would return tonight if even at all. They are by nature very skittish, very elusive and very unaccommodating of hunter error. Still, we gave it half an hour and just sat mulling our thoughts over in silence.
Amazingly exactly 30 minutes later we heard movement and a tentative boar reappeared at our log. We hadn't really discussed any change in tactics as we hadn't expected further action. Pieter ever so slowly whispered to get ready and signal when I wanted him to provide some light. This I did and a very nervous pig suddenly had a red glow on its flanks. His reaction was fast but the FMJ was already on its way and within seconds we went from utter pandemonium to complete still. Listening for any clues as to what was happening and trying to put aside those nagging thoughts of doubt, we finally heard some ragged breathing, a cough, a soft gurgle or two and then silence once more.
After the customary 20 minutes of nerves and shaking, we left the blind and slowly made our way over to the bait. Blood covered the log and it wasn't long before we found several pieces of arrow, a sure indication of a heavy hit and proof that the boar had crashed into nearby rocks and trees in his haste to depart. A further 30m on we found our guy and what a beauty he was. All the effort, practice and planning were well rewarded with a perfect heart shot and a great old tusky bushpig.
These later pulled out at just over 5 1/2" with solid grinders to match. One very happy hog hunter!
Right time to go finish packing.... hope you enjoyed the quick read and got something out of it. With a bit of luck the mount should be finished within a few weeks so I'll be sure to post a pic the finished product when I'm back!
