Hunting Season 2013: Day 19

This day was one of the worst I've experienced as a hunter. I got out at around noon with Baron, and started hunting the back end of deer mountain. He picked up scent and started tracking immediately, ranging out to 300m. He was in the back end of the gully that we walked in from, and I wanted to hunt the ridge above and to the right. I wasn't sure what he was doing back there, but as always, trust Baron!

I went after him, and at 200 meters I heard the bay. He was working hard, so I hurried to catch up, while hopefully not making too much noise. At 100 meters I could hear the boar, there was a huge herd of them all grunting their disapproval at Baron. I closed to where I could see Baron, and saw him get charged a few times by a large boar. By the time I got to the edge of some bamboo in the gully with a large mud clearing in front of me, Baron was around 20 meters ahead of me. I was loaded and ready to go as the boar charged Baron again.

As Baron cleared my firing zone, I popped off first one shot, a few moments later, my second. The boar was at around 10 meters now and still charging, I popped off the third, and visibly hit, it slowed and wheeled around broadside, stopping to stare at Baron and I. I quickly grabbed one more slug and threw it into the barrel, aimed for the vitals and popped off the shot. It hit again, but the boar just would not go down. Baron noticed it was hit, and while it was a good 70kg class boar, he charged in and grabbed an ear. I started loaded more shots, but the boar shook Baron off and ran, albeit obviously slowed. I think the first shot that hit it was in the shoulder.

The herd had flown while this was going on, and the large female went after them, Baron in tow. Along the way I saw a blood trail on my left, but lost it quickly as I was running a direct trail to Baron. I thought the boar would topple at around 100 meters, but no, it was nowhere to be found in the back end of the gully. I tracked back to the spot where I saw the blood and began a 4 hour track of the wounded animal.

Around 30 minutes after shooting the boar, I tracked it over the opposite side of the ridge and downhill. Baron was with me, and he moved ahead into thick bamboo of the serious sort. As I slid slowly downhill, I heard the commotion start in the bamboo. The herd was in there with the female, but I could hear her grunting, and she sounded hurt. Baron was probing the edges of the bamboo, but there were more than 10 boar in there and they were all moving around. I started into the bamboo, in time to see a 50kg class boar charge Baron, and careen past me. I couldn't get off a shot with all the bamboo around me, and besides, I was trying to get to the injured boar.

The tracks of the injured female led down to the stream below, but this is a long sliver of a ridge, so I figured if we took the high ground again and moved in the direction they had gone, we'd catch up to them further on. Sure enough, another 30 minutes or so later, Baron was at a high point around 30 meters in front when he stiffened, looking forward, and then glancing back at me. I loaded, and quietly moved toward him and go to the high ground in time to see the herd scattering downhill. The injured boar was moving slowly, but there were too many trees in the way for another shot. Baron cut off her retreat, but other boar from the herd charged him, and she slipped away.

Another hour later, we caught up to them again. They were on the right side of the ridge in bamboo, and again I saw the injured boar. She was in the middle of the herd, and Baron was chasing some of the smaller boar as they wheeled around. As the herd took off crashing downhill, Baron took off after the injured boar. She had 2 smaller boar in tow, but a minute later, she came back in my direction, just below the ridge. There were a lot of trees, but at a point where it opened up a bit, and again at just over 10 meters, I had a chance to line up one shot. It hit, and she kept going. I couldn't believe it.

We tracked her blood track till sunset, but couldn't get to her in time. I felt terrible. I really hate to injure game like that, and this was ridiculous. I was determined to go back the next day in the morning before work to try and find her from where I left off. Unfortunately a blizzard moved in, making heading to the mountain impossible as the roads were impassable.

I had to head into Tokyo for work, and had quite an adventure getting in and back home. I ended up stuck behind some horrible winter drivers who could not get up one hill 40km away from home. I ended up stranded there for 10 hours (overnight), barely making it home in the morning, driving through snow drifts and flash floods.


It was a surreal 2 days, full of failure and apocalyptic weather (I saw 30cm of snow fall in 2 hours), but I guess these things happen. I got home at 5:30am, walked the dogs, and slept till noon. Baron and I got geared up, and we went back into the mountain to look for the boar.

11 boar, 19 outings.

Comments

  1. ugh- what a day! That was one tough sow- You guys did your best.

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  2. The adventure specials from different travel agents. You'll have a whale of a time. But do make sure that you go in for only trusted and reputed travel agents because adventure tourism has a high risk factor, He has a good point

    ReplyDelete

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