Had a phone call last Sunday from Gerry (Blaser 3006), fancy an evening on the boar?
Met Gerry at his house, got sorted with one off his rifles. Tested trigger pull etc and loaded up the truck and off to his ground. Parked up and got kitted out, rifles, sticks, lamp and the all important NV.
Gerry scanned the valley, nothing showing it was about 8.15. We set off and walked the headland around the valley where it meets the wood, stopping and scanning as we went, still nothing out.
What amazed me first was the amount of damage these 'pigs' do to the ground,you don't need a plough with these guys about.
After about half an hour or so we got a 'whiff' of something 'piggy' coming from the wood. We waited and listened, then we heard a boar in the wood having a right go at something, it went up through the wood working back and forth and up over the top and it was gone. Now the blood started pumping knowing that they were here somewhere.
Another 200m and I heard movement in the wood; we both stopped at the same time, we waited, listening to the pigs going about their nightly business without a care in the world. Not having been boar shooting before, this was one hell of an experience. Your senses are in overdrive, listening, trying to see in the moonlit night and smelling the air. You can actually smell the damp earth where they have been rooting in the ground.
We waited for about thirty minutes and they split into two groups and didnt come out. We walked futher up the valley without seeing anything else. As we headed down to the floor of the valley, Gerry scanned again looking back to where we'd come from. "We have pigs!" We counted 8 out where we had heard them earlier.
The wind was not in our favour so we had to head back towards the truck and started the stalk in, slowly heading up wind, stopping, scanning with the NV. They were still out rooting about and had not sensed our presence.
We got to within 70-80m, up went the sticks, rifle in place, lamp on, safety slipped off, picked out a boar and it was in the crosshairs........
Thats when Buck Fever or should I say Boar Fever struck, I thought the boar was on a pogo stick the amount it was moving in the scope! Luckily a couple of boars in the group moved in front of the one I had the scope on, no shot available. Lamp off, we let them settle and my heart rate slowed a bit.
Lamp back on, boar back in the crosshairs and squeezed the trigger... THWACK! Good hit! 180gr .308 put it straight on the floor. A pat on the back and a handshake from Gerry - my first boar!
We waited a few minutes checked the boar, then headed back for the truck. After we had carried out the gralloch, we loaded him up and headed back to Gerry's house. (Final weight - 85lbs) By this time it was past 1 am.
I couldn't wipe the smile off my face all way home... or was it frostbite!?!?!
A big thanks to Gerry for a brilliant evening and my first boar.
A WORD OF CAUTION...
*DON'T DO THIS IF YOU HAVE A HEART CONDITION - THE ADRENALINE RUSH IS PHENOMENAL!
*YOU WILL BE HOOKED - I AM AFTER MY FIRST TRIP!
Jonathon
Met Gerry at his house, got sorted with one off his rifles. Tested trigger pull etc and loaded up the truck and off to his ground. Parked up and got kitted out, rifles, sticks, lamp and the all important NV.
Gerry scanned the valley, nothing showing it was about 8.15. We set off and walked the headland around the valley where it meets the wood, stopping and scanning as we went, still nothing out.
What amazed me first was the amount of damage these 'pigs' do to the ground,you don't need a plough with these guys about.
After about half an hour or so we got a 'whiff' of something 'piggy' coming from the wood. We waited and listened, then we heard a boar in the wood having a right go at something, it went up through the wood working back and forth and up over the top and it was gone. Now the blood started pumping knowing that they were here somewhere.
Another 200m and I heard movement in the wood; we both stopped at the same time, we waited, listening to the pigs going about their nightly business without a care in the world. Not having been boar shooting before, this was one hell of an experience. Your senses are in overdrive, listening, trying to see in the moonlit night and smelling the air. You can actually smell the damp earth where they have been rooting in the ground.
We waited for about thirty minutes and they split into two groups and didnt come out. We walked futher up the valley without seeing anything else. As we headed down to the floor of the valley, Gerry scanned again looking back to where we'd come from. "We have pigs!" We counted 8 out where we had heard them earlier.
The wind was not in our favour so we had to head back towards the truck and started the stalk in, slowly heading up wind, stopping, scanning with the NV. They were still out rooting about and had not sensed our presence.
We got to within 70-80m, up went the sticks, rifle in place, lamp on, safety slipped off, picked out a boar and it was in the crosshairs........
Thats when Buck Fever or should I say Boar Fever struck, I thought the boar was on a pogo stick the amount it was moving in the scope! Luckily a couple of boars in the group moved in front of the one I had the scope on, no shot available. Lamp off, we let them settle and my heart rate slowed a bit.
Lamp back on, boar back in the crosshairs and squeezed the trigger... THWACK! Good hit! 180gr .308 put it straight on the floor. A pat on the back and a handshake from Gerry - my first boar!
We waited a few minutes checked the boar, then headed back for the truck. After we had carried out the gralloch, we loaded him up and headed back to Gerry's house. (Final weight - 85lbs) By this time it was past 1 am.
I couldn't wipe the smile off my face all way home... or was it frostbite!?!?!
A big thanks to Gerry for a brilliant evening and my first boar.
A WORD OF CAUTION...
*DON'T DO THIS IF YOU HAVE A HEART CONDITION - THE ADRENALINE RUSH IS PHENOMENAL!
*YOU WILL BE HOOKED - I AM AFTER MY FIRST TRIP!
Jonathon