Was shocked at the animal on my list

Was very susprised that of all the animals on my list for me and my son that the hardest from what most are saying is the bush pig.Have talked with many outfitters and this seems to be the one that is the hardest.I thought maybe the nyala or kudu which I know will not be easy but most say not a problem to have atleast a chance at.This little piggy is one tough animal to hunt by what I am hearing.

After 5 safaris in five countries, I have never seen one.

Yes its a tough one, even harder with a bow. They are an honored trophy in my eyes with any weapon.

They are on my list for this July!

From inquiries I have made in the past I've been told they are shy, reclusive, and primarily nocternal animals taken largely over baits, often at night.

There's plenty of experienced and knowledgable fellas from R.S.A on this site that can confirm/deny.

A good solid bushpig boar makes for an impressive full body mount, as does, in my opinion, the Red River Hog.

The entire collection, including the Giant Forest Hog, of Central Africa, would be really neat !

Not Afracian but I was just listening to some pepople complaining in a small town in BC Canada. It seems that some pigs have escaped and gone feral. they are causing all sorts of problems and are unafraid of people!

Safari to Christina Lake anyone!!

Well this must be why I kept being sent pictures of the Bush Pigs taken with a Bow by the PH.

I had figured they were vermin and easy to take and just taken as a nuisance animal.
That raises the respect meter!!!

They are one of my favourite Game Animals, particularly when the camp cook makes Pork ribs like our last guy.



Mmmm, pork ribs...

They really are an animal of opportunity with a massive degree of luck involved. These were double tapped right on dusk by The Young Bloke (TYB) with his .243 as we were returning to camp. The Zeiss Diavari 2.5-10x42 set on 4x was worth every cent after this event. I only saw forms in the dusk but TYB saw them clearly. Lesson learnt, buy the best optics you can afford.

From talking to the guys on my last safari its mostly the fact that there so nocturnal. If you want to kill one and dont mind doing it at night and over bait its fairly easy. Otherwise its just hard to catch them out in the open during daylight.
I have seen quite a few videos of the RSA guys baying them with dogs. Looks pretty fun. Could be another option.

Have heard it called the poor mans leopard.I think the way to go will be to hunt them over bait.They look like a cool pig to me more color but still ugly.lol They are up my list alittle farther then before now.

I have had the good fortune of encountering bushpig in daylight hours three times now.

The missus was having a wee on a late afternoon stalk and nearly rolled down the hill when two big sows and a juvenile passed within 6 feet of her! We gave chase but the grass was long and every time I raised my rifle they'd drop into another hole.

Another time we were sitting at a waterhole on the Kana River, lying in ambush for a chobe bushbuck when a sounder of nine pigs came in to drink at the small shady waterhole. We watched them for about 15 minutes before they moved off; sows and young. My ram showed up a couple of hours later...

The boar in the pictures below was taken on a cattle property at Nylstroom, now known as Modimolle. It was about 10am and we were walking along the edge of a broad washaway, hoping to convince a big reedbuck ram to flush out into the open and give me the opportunity for a shot. As we passed a tree, I spotted three bushpigs that we had disturbed racing down the washaway…

As my PH set up the shooting sticks he hissed “The last one’s the biggest…shoot the last one.” The mob of pigs dropped into a gully that would funnel them up the hill into the timber or further down the washaway and out of sight. Turns out they chose the hill and I found the big pig bringing up the rear of the group, set the reticle on his fat arse and fired. As I approached the pig, I could see it was a boar. Only metres away from him, the old boar got up on his front feet and snapped his jaws at me, so I put a bullet neatly into his chest. Beautiful shining silver boar. One of my all-time favorite trophies and very close to the top of my list!!

The PH I was with had been hunting professionally for 14 years - it was the third bushpig he had collected in that entire time and the first boar - the others were sows.









The red river and giant forest hog are essential hunting for me, so that's the next big trip...

I know that they have a lot of luck with bushpig along the Matlabas River in Thabazimbi.
They regularly took them with bows and rifles either at last light over a watering troughs or over baits with a light.

Good luck with your hunt for this great trophy animal!

Kudu and nyala will be easy compared to getting a big bushpig! Some outfitters are really good at it though and have the habitat and management to offer the opportunity to a client.

Nice Hog photos schembridan !

After reading all of the above posts I understand how lucky I was getting my Bushpig.I was on my first trip to South Africa and bowhunting in the Limpopo Province.On my first morning I was in a ground blind over looking a water hole, at about 9am a Bushpig Boar came in .I fired my first arrow in Africa on my first bowhunting trip at my first African animal and killed a trophy Bushpig.How lucky was that.

I would say you were super lucky! Heck, I'd be happy with the big warthog that keeps hiding and getting away from me.

so looks like some have been lucky and not needed bait to take one of this pigs.Well I will cross my fingers and hope if not I think bait maybe the way to go.

Bill,
Keep in mind that you would need to inform your outfitter before your arrival that you are interessted in taking your Bushpig over bait. It takes up to two weeks to get the pigs to feed on the bait station. The idea is to get them into a routine, which will give you the best chance of getting one. Otherwise they only come in on certain days, but once the bait is down, they will eventually come in every night.

Best Regards
Marius Goosen

that is a good point to know.Thanks