Stalking on foot

[User00053]

It is still out there, in Spain now, apparently owned by a group set up to preserve the history of pig sticking. I met someone a few years ago who had seen it.

Bet they have some interesting gatherings, thanks again for info

 

[User00053]

Perfect for wayward greenies.

Am sure theme could be developed further with no shortage of unwilling participants in various institutions around the world but doubt a country could be found to hold the “games”. very happy to act as consultant in these matters with strong Roman flavours

 

[John Gryphon]

Am sure theme could be developed further with no shortage of unwilling participants in various institutions around the world but doubt a country could be found to hold the “games”. very happy to act as consultant in these matters with strong Roman flavours

When it comes to a decision I see you as a 'thumbs down' bloke.

 

[Foxyboy43]

I suppose if you are going to do it best to go for the big boy - but I suggest you don’t watch this beforehand.
Utterly terrifying!

 

[Heym SR20]

As an aside, are the kevlar trousers some guys wear for boar the same thing as kevlar chainsaw trousers?

Apologies if it's a daft question as I know chanisaw kevlar is wool like - designed to 'choke the spoke' on a saw vs i.e. kevlar body armour

In Germany kevlar trousers have evolved from the leather trousers used in former years. They are not as thick as chainsaw trousers, and more designed to stop penetrating type injuries, especially around the groin where the femoral arteries are.

Pretty much all beaters and trackers will wear them. Dogs will also have similar protection. Boar are amazingly strong and their teeth and tusks are very sharp. And even more so once adrenaline is high.

Dogs are highly trained, so to are the beaters - all of which helps keeping things safe. I haven’t seen a boar fight, but have listened to one just out of sight. This happens when a boar is corned and brought to bay. Often too many dogs around to risk using a gun so a dagger used instead.

 

[Heym SR20]

I suppose if you are going to do it best to go for the big boy - but I suggest you don’t watch this beforehand.
Utterly terrifying!

Thanks for posting. That bull was dead on the first and / or second shot. Bullet through the heart. He probably didn’t go more than 50 yards from start to finish. But if you want to drop an animal on the spot you need to take out CNS. No different on Roe deer or a Buffalo.

 

[Olaf]

Wild Boar are not the same beast as the feral hogs you see in U-tube clips from America or Australia. Stalking them on foot in their native territory would be a very big challenge indeed. Looking at the photo's in the post from Foxyboy43 my preference would be high seat every time.

Absolutely spot on. Eurasian wild boar are not the same as the feral pigs you see people in Aus and USA ‘hunting’ .

Kindest regards, Olaf

 

[Olaf]

We do stalking for boar in complete darkness all the time. Not easy but a good sport. Wind factor is decisive. Takes two i.e. one spotter and one rifle man. Thermal devices naturally.
What can be a bit scary is when moving up towards a beast shot at. We usually wait for 15 minutes.
When shooting in near complete darkness one needs to know the lands i.e. borders, villages etc. Also, one needs to know how to tell sex of animals. Profiles of head tells it all. Our boars are not feral but stone age types.

Yes, yours are stone aged types; they are Eurasian wild boar , not wild feral pigs. A feral pig is a completely different beast from what I’ve experienced.
About 30 years ago I worked for a summer at a university research farm as a boar handler ( as in boar handler, meaning I was responsible for the male breading stock of some farm reared pigs)
They could be pretty dangerous if you were not on your guard, just like any farm animals can be, but they were no wild boar . those striped spotted fat things you see people killing in the USA on YouTube are not remotely comparable to a Eurasian wild boar. It’s a different animal.
I’ve seen a couple of feral pigs shot on boar drives in Germany. Laid out alongside the wild boar at the end of the hunt, everyone had a good laugh and then dried their eyes and enjoyed some soup.
Kindest regards, Olaf

 

[John Gryphon]

Absolutely spot on. Eurasian wild boar are not the same as the feral pigs you see people in Aus and USA ‘hunting’ .

Kindest regards, Olaf

Correct, however the originals liberated or escaped were Euro boar that have striped young. I saw a nest of striped piglets circa 1975 in cubungi in NSW obviously they had thrown back. One thing to remember is that the boar in Australia will kill your dogs just the same.

 

[Olaf]

Correct, however the originals liberated or escaped were Euro boar that have striped young. I saw a nest of striped piglets circa 1975 in cubungi in NSW obviously they had thrown back. One thing to remember is that the boar in Australia will kill your dogs just the same.

Yes, I’m sure they are more than capable of killing dogs and people. It’s just very obvious to me from all I’ve seen that they are not the same thing as what a European wild boar hunter talks about. Im no expert on livestock breeding, but I can well imagine that if the domestic pigs that were originally brought from Europe , that escaped or were let loose, have lived and bread in the wild for long enough, they will breed back towards a more natural wild boar. Maybe in a few more hundred years they will be Black wild with Fire in their eyes and necks bigger than their hindquarters.
Ps, it’s cool picture you posted earlier, is that you and your dog ? Did you eat the pig or was it a stinker?
Kindest regards, Olaf

 

[John Gryphon]

Yes, I’m sure they are more than capable of killing dogs and people. It’s just very obvious to me from all I’ve seen that they are not the same thing as what a European wild boar hunter talks about. Im no expert on livestock breeding, but I can well imagine that if the domestic pigs that were originally brought from Europe , that escaped or were let loose, have lived and bread in the wild for long enough, they will breed back towards a more natural wild boar. Maybe in a few more hundred years they will be Black wild with Fire in their eyes and necks bigger than their hindquarters.
Ps, it’s cool picture you posted earlier, is that you and your dog ? Did you eat the pig or was it a stinker?
Kindest regards, Olaf

Me with one of my dogs that held while I delivered some steel into its heart. Left it there and gave tusks to a young fella. Wouldn't have eaten it for anything. An old pig like that would have worms galore. And tasted rank. Early 70's

 

[Bavarianbrit]

We had in our annual village the mayoral meeting last night in the pub. I asked one of the other 3 hunters here how were things as I had been in the UK for a few weeks, well, he had shot a 45kg boar which dropped on the spot as usual then he trotted up rifle slung and took out his phone for the usual pic, bugger me he was only 3m away when it jumped up rather irritated, he springs back a few m then gave it another bullet and down it went, then up it jumps again, now this boar is really ****ed, the third bullet finished it off all were 7x64s.

 

[Polar Lynx]

Re. Stalking Boar at Foot.
Boar are heavy animals and leave marks all over. Therefore it pays off to do a lot of stalking/scouting daytime i.e. to find out where they are night a given time period.
Boar are not loyal to a certain field or spot as deer tend to be.
Boar 'attack' one spot one or two nights and then move somewhere else.

So, before going out looking for boar in the dark it is recommended to scout well in daytime and maybe make up a simple map with ok shooting directions and fair distances marked.

It must be remembered that stalking in the dark by chance is a semi horror experience i.e. one tend to end up in thorns or deep water. We never have expensive thermal scopes on rifles until it is time for aiming at a choosen animal. Scopes are carried in soft bags and with QRW. 'Hunting' is done with hand held spotters, shooting with thermal scopes.
Most often flash lights can't be used as boar react on everything moving and also react when other animals (deer, foxes etc) run away from a field or whatever.
Anyway, night stalking is one of the ultimate sports and when sucess is achived then it is remembered for a long time ...

 

[Olaf]

Me with one of my dogs that held while I delivered some steel into its heart. Left it there and gave tusks to a young fella. Wouldn't have eaten it for anything. An old pig like that would have worms galore. And tasted rank. Early 70's

Yes, I was interested to hear if you actually ate it. I bet it was a hard hunt; it’s a big lump that.
Kindest regards, Olaf

 

[John Gryphon]

Yes, I was interested to hear if you actually ate it.

I remember on one occasion five piglets perhaps 40-50 pounders came out from under African Box Thorn (another import) clumps and ran across a small clearing at flat out speed. I had an auto shotty in those days ,bam bam bam, rolled three before the others got into the next lot of cover. Only took the three shots and then on opening them or at least two of them (iirc) the paunches were full of the ABT berries and they are very distinctive with the orange colour. They were fat little piggies too and if we were to eat any of those feral scavenger bastards it would only be with the above types.
If we took live ones home and fed them up with grain etc and wormed them they were very good although prone to get very very fat at the expense of muscle meat.
You only have to see what a wild pig will eat to put you off wild pork...green cows that have been dead on the ground for 10 days etc...phew! And that shows up as taint in the meat....I actually made a face unconsciously then as I thought of some I have seen or shot.
Some old pics for you Olaf. It really is a shame that we had primitive film cameras in the day and the recording of our early days was marginal. I have plenty of pics taken with a schitty little Kodak cam that i cant scan.

Pups on a boar thats sitting down so as to protect his corleone's. Flooded river county NSW.



FNQ boar. He was a HW too. Old girl (L) in following pic stopped him solo.



Old girl Bitty with a different boar. FNQ

Pigs draining prior to loading for home for dog tucker. Western Plains NSW.

 

[Olaf]

Fantastic pictures , thanks for posting them .
Pigs eat stuff that most folks wouldn’t believe, there is a reason why they are regarded as being inedible to many cultures around the world.
But, not all animals are the same , as you well know. They are what they eat.
I love the picture of your dogs , what were they made from ? they look like a right pair of bright sparks , nice looking dogs.
Kindest regards Olaf

 

[John Gryphon]

Fantastic pictures , thanks for posting them .
Pigs eat stuff that most folks wouldn’t believe, there is a reason why they are regarded as being inedible to many cultures around the world.
But, not all animals are the same , as you well know. They are what they eat.
I love the picture of your dogs , what were they made from ? they look like a right pair of bright sparks , nice looking dogs.
Kindest regards Olaf

Most of my own breed were a mix of English bull terrier /greyhound/staghound (lurcher)