Driven Boar - things you do/don't find useful

[EMcC]

Krikey ! reading all this lot I'd need a bearer to carry it all for me.
Extra rounds, a seat, a small knife to cut bread or meat at lunch time, sticks, chocolate and a small flask.
Definitely no binos as the urge to keep looking around will give my position away.
Clear a space under foot of leaves etc at your stand and dress for the weather.
Oh ! nearly forgot, a rifle of suitable calibre to do the job if you get the chance.

 

[Adyb]

and whstever you do don't shoot a dog!!

 

[Sash]

My boar trip is this weekend in Bavaria, I am all set I think but wondering if there's anything I would find useful, or what I won't need from the ordinary stalking kit, for example binos.

What did you guys take that you found useful and what wasn't? Knife, binos, hunter orange hat, other tools or accessories that you would/wouldn't take again would be appreciated

Apologies for coming late to this:

- Yes to lots of blaze orange: hat, jacket/gillet, gloves if it is very cold. I hope Germans have better fire discipline than some French and Belgians that I have shot with, but you cannot be too visible to other humans, IMHO.

- No to almost anything else: boar are clearly incredibly sensitive to smell, but despite having poor(er) eyesight, they can clearly make out movement from up to (my guess) 100 metres. So any kit you take (like binos and, I am afraid, a chocolate bar) that encourages you to fiddle and move will lose you animals that you likely will never even see - they just move away.

My experience has been that staying still (and quiet, clearly) can really improve your chances of boar coming close to you before making a break. So the advice on clearing the ground under foot, and even insulating it with some cardboard, is excellent. And, over a drive that could easily be in excess of an hour, a stool makes a great deal of sense - just work out (and practice) getting up from it to shoot in a (very) smooth, quiet way. If you cannot do that on any particular drive, I would look for a tree to stand against, instead.

I have never used sticks on a driven boar shoot: all the animals have been well under 100m range, and most inside 20m. It’s a bit late now for your trip to start practicing freehand shooting, but luckily most boar are big targets! And I have never, in probably 20 years, needed a rope or knife: the beaters do all that.

But I carry a field dressing, just in case. And noise-cancelling (and hence ambient noise-enhancing) headphones are brilliant for hearing what might be creeping up on you!

Good luck

 

[finnbear270]

Take a good knife, disposable gloves & few wipes., contrary to some advice, SOMETIMES, you may be asked to open the Boar and retain blood and a small sample, so not always all done for you.
Each gathering before the drive, you will be getting instructions as to what is or isn't to be shot, along with any other info like possible sample collections.

 

[EMcC]

In all of the many driven trips since 2000 I have been on I have never been asked to use a knife on any of the animals I have shot, they have always had a dedicated person to do that.
Similarly carcass retrieval has always been done by members of the organizer, not to say they would refuse help if they were struggling.

 

[Dalua]

And noise-cancelling (and hence ambient noise-enhancing) headphones are brilliant for hearing what might be creeping up on you!

Would noise-cancelling headphones not give exactly the opposite effect - i.e. they cancel the ambient noise and allow things to creep up on you?

 

[finnbear270]

In all of the many driven trips since 2000 I have been on I have never been asked to use a knife on any of the animals I have shot, they have always had a dedicated person to do that.
Similarly carcass retrieval has always been done by members of the organizer, not to say they would refuse help if they were struggling.

Boy scout stuff, Be Prepared.

If you are not asked or tasked, go home with a clean knife and unused gloves, seeemples.

 

[Adyb]

The boar keeping the jagdterrier amused in the above picture was shot (safely) off a tripod at 180m - admitedly a pretty rare scenario though...
It might be worth asking your hosts what they advise you bring, if you are well catered for and will be shooting from a stand in a forest - then likely nothing but if you're remote/in mountains then you might need to be more self contained.
I always take a knife myself, if only to give me an option to beating an angry boar over the head with my rifle if a round jams in the chamber!

 

[finnbear270]

Have never seen a local on drives not toting a knife.

 

[EMcC]

Have never seen a local on drives not toting a knife.

Locals always carry knives, sometimes machetes, as is their custom, I always carry a knife too as I can never be sure whether the bread, sausage or even fruit needs cutting when stopped for lunch.

 

[finnbear270]

Locals always carry knives, sometimes machetes, as is their custom, I always carry a knife too as I can never be sure whether the bread, sausage or even fruit needs cutting when stopped for lunch.

So you did your boy scout thing then!

 

[finnbear270]

Most of the sausages I have been served came off the back of a truck mounted slicer straight into the soup, Or same type soup prepared on an old refurbed "Goulash cannon"

 

[Sash]

Would noise-cancelling headphones not give exactly the opposite effect - i.e. they cancel the ambient noise and allow things to creep up on you?

No: they cancel out the noise “spike” from the shot, but actually slightly amplify the other sounds up to, and after, the shot itself. Given that, by definition, you don’t know when in a drive the boar might appear, there is little point in doing anything other than wearing them for the duration.

Edit: I could better have described them as electronic ear defenders - I wanted to highlight the advantage of the technology over “dumb” ear defenders. Apologies for any confusion

 

[reiver]

Have never seen a local on drives not toting a knife.

True but they are not always there when you need them and it’s often just a pocket knife for cutting sticks and mushrooms !
I have had to use my knife a few times over the last 20 odd years . Normally because the man who shot the pig didn’t carry a knife suitable for the job in hand . Better to have a proper knife and not need than need one and not have one ? I don’t carry my knife for show . If you hunt pigs for long enough you will need a knife and know how to use it to dispatch a boar safely at some point . Ethically we should all be able to end any suffering to a pig . If not with a knife then put another bullet in it .
If you can’t do the job properly you shouldn’t be hunting Boar in my opinion
Reiver

 

[Corvid8x57]

A penknife with bottle opener always comes in handy

 

[finnbear270]

True but they are not always there when you need them and it’s often just a pocket knife for cutting sticks and mushrooms !
I have had to use my knife a few times over the last 20 odd years . Normally because the man who shot the pig didn’t carry a knife suitable for the job in hand . Better to have a proper knife and not need than need one and not have one ? I don’t carry my knife for show . If you hunt pigs for long enough you will need a knife and know how to use it to dispatch a boar safely at some point . Ethically we should all be able to end any suffering to a pig . If not with a knife then put another bullet in it .
If you can’t do the job properly you shouldn’t be hunting Boar in my opinion
Reiver

And your point is (no pun)?

 

[reiver]

And your point is (no pun)?

Always carry a knife as there might not be anyone around to do the dirty work for you .

 

[Dalua]

No: they cancel out the noise “spike” from the shot,

Yours might, but In mine the electronics simply cut the transmission if it's above a certain volume.

'Noise cancelling' is AFAIK something different.

I agree, though, that electronic ear defenders (or plugs, if you like to wear a hat) are very helpful!

 

[EMcC]

Sometimes a spoon is more deireable than a knife

 

[TonyC]

True but they are not always there when you need them and it’s often just a pocket knife for cutting sticks and mushrooms !
I have had to use my knife a few times over the last 20 odd years . Normally because the man who shot the pig didn’t carry a knife suitable for the job in hand . Better to have a proper knife and not need than need one and not have one ? I don’t carry my knife for show . If you hunt pigs for long enough you will need a knife and know how to use it to dispatch a boar safely at some point . Ethically we should all be able to end any suffering to a pig . If not with a knife then put another bullet in it .
If you can’t do the job properly you shouldn’t be hunting Boar in my opinion
Reiver

Same knife as I use for despatch