Well that was a learning experience. I spent Wednesday and yesterday evenings down in Gloucestershire on the edge of the Forest of Dean as a newbie client of Warren Broad (WarrenJB). I was introduced to him by word of mouth. He wasn't available on Wednesday (product testing some fancy new semi-custom rifles for Savage) so one of his neighbouring keepers and stalkers took me out. We went through all the ground rules and discussed heavily pregnant sows or sows with squeakers in tow. Pete put me up in a high seat overlooking 2 rides and a feed spot where they had seen boar regularly the previous few days. His advice was to give them a minute to settle when they came out to make sure they were good animals to cull. It was a rather cold night with snow on the ground and falling but, thankfully, little wind.
I'd been in the seat about an hour and a half watching lots of fallow and roe when what turned out to be three yearlings trotted out into the ride 60m away. They milled around for a minute or so never standing still and departed when they realised there was no feed left. Had I been an experienced boar shot I could comfortably have taken one but I spent all the time assessing them to make sure they were good to take. I'll know what I'm looking at next time. Pete picked me up around 9 and we went mobile. We saw lots of deer and rabbits but no more boar.
Yesterday was never a certainty as I was watching the weather all day to make sure I could get home safely and without getting caught in the snow. I held out and met Warren just before 6, by which time it was chucking it down. He has fancy cellular trail cams (spypoint I think) so we sat in his truck for a while witing for a notification. we had a drive around and glassed some fields but only picked up deer. Eventually at about 8pm he got a ping and an image of a boar where I'd been the night before so we drove to about 500m from the spot and stalked in. We got in position about 70 or so metres from the boar and I deployed my Primos sticks, only to discover that one leg was in a deep rut so I had to shoot from one leg. Warren had agreed for me to take a heart/lung shot, I think reluctantly, as it was to be my first ever boar and I wanted to have the skull. Normally he insists on headshots and for good reason. I took the shot with adrenaline coursing through me and Warren congratulated me on a good shot. As the boar had bolted into the young conifer plantation, he went back to fetch his truck and dog. This is where the fun began.
We went down to where the boar had been and found good lung blood and some tiny bone fragments but could only find one more blood spot so we ventured into the plantation in the direction Warren thought the boar had gone. We lost the dog for a while and after about 15 minutes worked our way back to the ride. At this point it looked like Warren was going to have to go back today and I was concerned that my eagerness to have a memento had resulted in a poor shot. I cast around further in other directions with my headtorch and luckily found a tiny drop of blood so off we went. Within a couple of yards the trail improved and we were able to find my boar about 30m from where he was shot. Success!
All told I had a great experience and learned lots from Warren and Pete. Next time I'll be happy to take the headshot...unless it's a big tusker perhaps. I'd thoroughly recommend Warren to book with and will be returning next season.
Schultz and Larsen Classic in 7x57 Mauser with Factory Norma Oryx 156gr. ATN X-sight 4k pro
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I'd been in the seat about an hour and a half watching lots of fallow and roe when what turned out to be three yearlings trotted out into the ride 60m away. They milled around for a minute or so never standing still and departed when they realised there was no feed left. Had I been an experienced boar shot I could comfortably have taken one but I spent all the time assessing them to make sure they were good to take. I'll know what I'm looking at next time. Pete picked me up around 9 and we went mobile. We saw lots of deer and rabbits but no more boar.
Yesterday was never a certainty as I was watching the weather all day to make sure I could get home safely and without getting caught in the snow. I held out and met Warren just before 6, by which time it was chucking it down. He has fancy cellular trail cams (spypoint I think) so we sat in his truck for a while witing for a notification. we had a drive around and glassed some fields but only picked up deer. Eventually at about 8pm he got a ping and an image of a boar where I'd been the night before so we drove to about 500m from the spot and stalked in. We got in position about 70 or so metres from the boar and I deployed my Primos sticks, only to discover that one leg was in a deep rut so I had to shoot from one leg. Warren had agreed for me to take a heart/lung shot, I think reluctantly, as it was to be my first ever boar and I wanted to have the skull. Normally he insists on headshots and for good reason. I took the shot with adrenaline coursing through me and Warren congratulated me on a good shot. As the boar had bolted into the young conifer plantation, he went back to fetch his truck and dog. This is where the fun began.
We went down to where the boar had been and found good lung blood and some tiny bone fragments but could only find one more blood spot so we ventured into the plantation in the direction Warren thought the boar had gone. We lost the dog for a while and after about 15 minutes worked our way back to the ride. At this point it looked like Warren was going to have to go back today and I was concerned that my eagerness to have a memento had resulted in a poor shot. I cast around further in other directions with my headtorch and luckily found a tiny drop of blood so off we went. Within a couple of yards the trail improved and we were able to find my boar about 30m from where he was shot. Success!
All told I had a great experience and learned lots from Warren and Pete. Next time I'll be happy to take the headshot...unless it's a big tusker perhaps. I'd thoroughly recommend Warren to book with and will be returning next season.
Schultz and Larsen Classic in 7x57 Mauser with Factory Norma Oryx 156gr. ATN X-sight 4k pro
.
I’ve only ever shot one boar, and I remember every moment of it. It’s definitely something I want to do again.
Do you have details for Warren Broad? A freind and I would like to get after some boar in FOD in Jan.
