Mountain Hunt

Queens birthday weekend and an rdo on the Tuesday means a four day weekend to get away. Having such a vast array of hobbies and living in a country that provides so much meant a difficult decision decided what to do. After narrowing it down to Tuna fishing, deer hunting, or a pig hunt. After much consideration we decided on a trip up the mountains to get our 6 month old pups onto a few pigs.
After organizing our arrival with the property owner we loaded the Ranger and starting our 11 hour journey to our destination. We drove through the night to arrive there around 9am and be greeted with the very welcoming land owners. After a good yarn we unpacked, collared the dogs and made our way in as far as the 4x4 could go, which meant walking from here on in.
The dogs we had on this trip was my main bitch of 6-7 years Xena my dog Brutis and two 6 month old bull arab pups.

We stopped on a ridge with a gully on either side, We originally decided to hunt the east side but had a gut feeling just to look down the west gully. And as soon as i popped my head over i seen a good little boar trotting up towards us. I waited for him to get a bit closer Which i yelled out to let the dogs out of the cage and my main Bitch Xena was straight off and the chase began.
Within 30m Xena and my other dog Brutis had the fiery little bugger pulled up. This was the first time my mates Shaun and George had ever seen a pig so it was a massive adrenaline rush for them having it all happen in front of them. The pups were a little slower to arrive but when they did after a little confusion to what was going on followed the main dogs and jumped straight into it, which we were please with being there first ever pig they have ever seen.

After dispatching the pig we were off to a dam in the forest that usually holds a big or 3, getting closer the dogs got real keen on a scent and were gone for about 5 minutes only to return with nothing. reaching the dam we could see it was getting used as all the banks were heavily wallowed and allot of prints in the mud. We hunted that area for a couple hours but didn't get anything else.
After going back to camp and having a good feed we were all exhausted and decided on an afternoon siesta before going on a hunt before dark.

Waking up we plated the dogs and were off on another hike up the mountain to try and locate these pigs. But again returned empty handed with not much fresh sign in that area we decided against hunting that same area again for this trip.
Our next hunt was on first light the following morning and decided to hunt the same gully we got the previous pig. A spot i have never hunting before so it was all foreign to me. After a good 2klm walk up and down mountains and only coming across a healthy mob of goats we came to a nice area that provided a nice big open gully with thick cover all around. After glassing it for 20 minutes or so with the binos Shaun spotted a good sized sow with 4-5 suckers feeding on the treeline.

We got within 200m before stopping to have another look through the binoculars. As we were looking at them and deciding the best way to get to them we hear the ever welcoming noise of a pig squealing. The dogs pulled a nice little find a further 150m the other way which was a healthy sow of around the 40kg mark, and again the young pups were having a good little chew. After humanly expiring that pig we went searching for the original pigs we had seen but couldn't do so successfully.

We returned to camp once again, gave the dogs a feed and a drink and let them rest. Seeing the dogs were a bit tired not being used to hunting mountains i decided to retire them for the day and keep them fresh for a big hunt the next morning.
The boys were pretty keen to hunt still so they grabbed the guns and went looking for a goat to shoot to put in the camp oven. I being a bit older thought this was a good opportunity to sneak a couple hours of shut eye in and rest for the mornings hunt aswell.
When the boys returned they said they had spotted a good mob of pigs in the same area we had just seen them on the previous little hunt. Being confident we had finally found where they had been holding we opted against a hunt that night to try and keep them there for a hunt with the dogs the following morning.

Up before the sun we loaded our dogs packed enough food and water for the day each and start making our way toward where we had been seeing them. On our way there the dogs were working hard and i knew resting them most the day yesterday was a smart decision. Moving only 100m from the ute i noticed Xena zig zaggin with her nose to the ground up toward a treeline. I new we could very well be on a pig very soon.
Not being disappointing the dogs hit up on another little boar. And the pups were off running toward the noise with excitement. We noticed a couple pigs running from the area and instructed Shaun to stay where he was as he had his .308. George and myself ran to aid the dogs. And my plan worked out perfectly as Shaun let a shot off on another fat little pig Running through the long grass toward him, a quick front flip from a perfectly placed shot and the pig had drawn his breath.

Two pigs within 150m from the ute wasn't a bad start at all. After a few happy snaps and giving the dogs some water on a nearby dam we were off to try and get another one.
The dogs kept working multiple scent trails and us seeing a allot of fresh sign we were confident on getting another one. That surprisingly didn't eventuate but we kept trooping on and reached the spot we had been seeing the pigs previously.
On this occasion we didn't see anything so decided to just walk in there anyway. Only 50m on and we noticed Xena missing, checking the tracker i see she was 175m away and moving away from us, 225m still going. she gets to 350m and i tell the boys we better start moving toward her. We move another 100m or so and the tracker is showing her at 300m still as she was still walking further, So we keep moving on a little quicker. We get to 130m before we we hear a good hit up with some big grunts. The other 3 dogs rush over to offer some assistance as we do aswell.

We reach the dogs and see its a good pig up on a little ledge. George grabs the back legs and puts his knife through its heart for a quick death. A further look and appeared the pig had been bedded down before Xena had it by the ear.
We walked another few kilometers with not allot of action, Mainly due the the dogs being a bit tired from trekking up and down these rocky mountains. We made our way back only to check the GPS to show we had walked 12klm for the morning.

Getting back to the ute we were all pretty happy with our trip and decided against any further hunts and to pack our things and make our journey back home, After thanking the property owners and showing our appreciation toward them for letting us on once again we were off chipping into the 11 hour journey back home.