For over a decade now, my brother-in-law in France, the one who is a baker, so I'll call him my Brother-In-Law the Baker, or BILB for short, or indeed BILBO for ease of pronunciation, has been promising to organise a wild boar hunt for me when I next visit his beautiful converted farm in Mayenne. The problem was that we always visit in the summer, or Easter, or indeed Christmas when he's working hard in the bakery, leaving no time for boar hunting or indeed organising anything but bread and buches de Noel. However, this year they sold the bakery, moved permanently to the new house, invited us the week before Christmas, and so this fabled hunt was on. I duly did all my paperwork for a temporary French hunting licence, arranged to take a rifle on the ferry and settled down to some serious daydreaming and indeed normal dreaming for the many months running up to this long-awaited adventure.
We arrived before dawn on the Saturday, and this is the view that greeted us from his house, an ideal spotting platform I think you'll agree.
IMAG1565 by pinemarten, on Flickr
I don't know if there were boar there, but somewhere in those mists was Britanny, and from the look of it, there could very well be Korrigans in there. So better be extra careful and pack a rabbit's foot. Of course, I didn't have one to hand, but it was probably a relatively easily obtained talisman from the local druid. Given the fog, hunting was postponed until the next day.
The following afternoon, we met up with Bilbo's father and brother, both volunteer gamekeepers and indeed firemen. Bilbo's brother is the dog man, and for the day he selected the aptly-named teckel Farine ("Flour") and a pair of beagles whose names I forget. Let's call them Peregrin and Meriadoc for simplicity. The form was a series of mini-drives, four guns placed strategically and Bilbo's brother conducting the dog work, which is actually what my in-laws are most interested in. I'd done this once before, so always wary of no angering the Korrigans, I made sure I listened for the dogs and identified safe angles to shoot. In the course of the afternoon, they raised several roe does which was marked by sharp, insistant baying and howling, but roe were off limits, the cull for this year having been completed.
IMAG1571 by pinemarten, on Flickr
As the sun started to set, I was stood at the edge of the wood that you see above. The dogs approached, charged into the brambles, Bilbo's brother shouted out "A toi Laurent!", and out to my right, in front, came one of the local long-eared boars running at full tilt. I raised my gun, swung, fired, fired again, but both times one of those confounded Korrigans lept up and diverted the shot! Still, best not to antagonise the Little People. Bilbo's brother, Peregrin and Meriadoc weren't best pleased though. Meanwhile, on the other side of the wood, Bilbo's father did the same.
That mini-drive having been completed, we moved on to a few fields and hedges around some derelict farm buildings. I was placed at the bottom of a slope with an old barn to my right, and the slope covered in brambles in front. I could hear the dogs coming closer, then howls. Bilbo's brother shouted "Renard!" a couple of times, but I could see nothing. Then suddenly, a flash of red ran along the path at the top of the slope towards the barn on the right. At the exact same moment, a boar came out of the brambles twenty metres in front of me, ran towards me and when it saw me, turned left back towards the cover. BANG! Korrigan interception again! BANG the fox on the crest of the hill jumped, hit in the rear right leg by Bilbo's father out of sight, but carried on. BANG! A puff of hair fifteen metres in front of me caught the ground-hugging orange rays of the setting winter sun. BANG! The fox disappeared around the for corner of the old barn.
As the cloud of hair in front of me dissipated, the world around me exploded with shouting, barking, running dogs and in-laws. "Le renard! Il est parti par la!", and I was left alone to walk up to my first Mayenne long-eared boar. What a moment to treasure, especially as I had yet to have the delicious pleasure of surprising them all with my unexpected success when they came back from following up the fox. It was an old male, remarkably heavy, which in the plate would turn out to be pretty tough, but with the incomparable flavour of triumph.
IMAG1572 by pinemarten, on Flickr
As I walked up top the crest of the slope, dragging my prize, I saw the other three in the sunset walking back. We were losing the light and they had decided to call off the chase unfortunately. But what a sight greeted their downcast eyes, to immediately lift their spirits! For their, silhouetted by the setting sun was I, with the gift that the Korrigans had given me!
IMAG1576 by pinemarten, on Flickr
To say there was great rejoicing is an understatement. All that collective effort, the work of Bilbo and his family, not to forget the vital work of Peregrin and Meriadoc, had been rewarded. Songs would be sung of Pine Marten and the Long-eared Boar that night!
IMAG1583 by pinemarten, on Flickr
And so, the Four Hunters set off into the setting sun, their shoulders weighed down with venison, but their souls alight with Glory.
IMAG1574 by pinemarten, on Flickr
We arrived before dawn on the Saturday, and this is the view that greeted us from his house, an ideal spotting platform I think you'll agree.
IMAG1565 by pinemarten, on FlickrI don't know if there were boar there, but somewhere in those mists was Britanny, and from the look of it, there could very well be Korrigans in there. So better be extra careful and pack a rabbit's foot. Of course, I didn't have one to hand, but it was probably a relatively easily obtained talisman from the local druid. Given the fog, hunting was postponed until the next day.
The following afternoon, we met up with Bilbo's father and brother, both volunteer gamekeepers and indeed firemen. Bilbo's brother is the dog man, and for the day he selected the aptly-named teckel Farine ("Flour") and a pair of beagles whose names I forget. Let's call them Peregrin and Meriadoc for simplicity. The form was a series of mini-drives, four guns placed strategically and Bilbo's brother conducting the dog work, which is actually what my in-laws are most interested in. I'd done this once before, so always wary of no angering the Korrigans, I made sure I listened for the dogs and identified safe angles to shoot. In the course of the afternoon, they raised several roe does which was marked by sharp, insistant baying and howling, but roe were off limits, the cull for this year having been completed.
IMAG1571 by pinemarten, on FlickrAs the sun started to set, I was stood at the edge of the wood that you see above. The dogs approached, charged into the brambles, Bilbo's brother shouted out "A toi Laurent!", and out to my right, in front, came one of the local long-eared boars running at full tilt. I raised my gun, swung, fired, fired again, but both times one of those confounded Korrigans lept up and diverted the shot! Still, best not to antagonise the Little People. Bilbo's brother, Peregrin and Meriadoc weren't best pleased though. Meanwhile, on the other side of the wood, Bilbo's father did the same.
That mini-drive having been completed, we moved on to a few fields and hedges around some derelict farm buildings. I was placed at the bottom of a slope with an old barn to my right, and the slope covered in brambles in front. I could hear the dogs coming closer, then howls. Bilbo's brother shouted "Renard!" a couple of times, but I could see nothing. Then suddenly, a flash of red ran along the path at the top of the slope towards the barn on the right. At the exact same moment, a boar came out of the brambles twenty metres in front of me, ran towards me and when it saw me, turned left back towards the cover. BANG! Korrigan interception again! BANG the fox on the crest of the hill jumped, hit in the rear right leg by Bilbo's father out of sight, but carried on. BANG! A puff of hair fifteen metres in front of me caught the ground-hugging orange rays of the setting winter sun. BANG! The fox disappeared around the for corner of the old barn.
As the cloud of hair in front of me dissipated, the world around me exploded with shouting, barking, running dogs and in-laws. "Le renard! Il est parti par la!", and I was left alone to walk up to my first Mayenne long-eared boar. What a moment to treasure, especially as I had yet to have the delicious pleasure of surprising them all with my unexpected success when they came back from following up the fox. It was an old male, remarkably heavy, which in the plate would turn out to be pretty tough, but with the incomparable flavour of triumph.
IMAG1572 by pinemarten, on FlickrAs I walked up top the crest of the slope, dragging my prize, I saw the other three in the sunset walking back. We were losing the light and they had decided to call off the chase unfortunately. But what a sight greeted their downcast eyes, to immediately lift their spirits! For their, silhouetted by the setting sun was I, with the gift that the Korrigans had given me!
IMAG1576 by pinemarten, on FlickrTo say there was great rejoicing is an understatement. All that collective effort, the work of Bilbo and his family, not to forget the vital work of Peregrin and Meriadoc, had been rewarded. Songs would be sung of Pine Marten and the Long-eared Boar that night!
IMAG1583 by pinemarten, on FlickrAnd so, the Four Hunters set off into the setting sun, their shoulders weighed down with venison, but their souls alight with Glory.
IMAG1574 by pinemarten, on Flickr
