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I hope this gives everyone a brief mental break from the chaos currently going on around us and you have an enjoyable read! Please feel free to share any experiences you may have had!
This is a hunt that actually started almost one year ago. Mike and I were reviewing pictures from a trail camera placed at our old faithful bushpig bait site when we discovered a massive warthog boar dominating the bushpig, forcing them away from the bait site with him feeding well into darkness. As we had clients coming in for their bushpig hunts that year, this was needless to say, not acceptable. We needed to make a plan to get this pest away from our baiting site.
Word of this menace was spread and one of our local friends quickly obliged to come in and give the hunt an attempt with his bow. On the day, we checked the right time according to our trail camera pictures and we settled into the blind. Everything went like clockwork and the pig came in perfectly on time. He walked in with all the confidence of an undisturbed warthog that had been feeding for weeks. However, at the very last second he must have scented something and turned his body to just marginally quartering on. That meant no shot with a bow. A few seconds later he snorted and trotted off and that was the end of pictures of him on our trail camera, except for a few rare sightings. Unfortunately, it seemed that his inconsistent presence in the area was not to the bushpigs liking and we struggled with the bait site for the rest of the year. We had gone from having guaranteed and consistent bushpigs there every season to having erratic behavior from them at the very best. Luckily we had other baiting sites and many lovely bushpig boars were hunted with our clients.
The season ended and the new year came around. Secretly, we were hoping that the resident leopard had caught our maize thief. We looked at the trail camera in anticipation of seeing monster bushpig feeding at the exact same time every evening. Instead we found photos of that very same warthog! The problem was he had doubled in size and his tusks had grown into a formidable set of ivory. What seemed odd on the cameras was that whenever David (the resident farm worker) went to feed at the bait site, this monster of a pig would stroll in a few minutes after David had walked away. Consulting with David, we realised that this warthog had become so bold in his addiction to the maize we fed, that on many occasions, he would stand at the edge of the brush bordering David's house and wait for him to go and feed! Once David would go to feed, he would see the warthog waiting patiently about 20 yards away, just waiting for the moment when David was finished. Immediately thereafter, he would then casually stroll in. The nerve of this pig! We had a few pictures of bushpig very interested in the bait site, however by the time this warthog was done he wouldn't leave a single maize kernel lying astray! Armed with this new knowledge, but also knowing we had not brought any night hunting equipment, we laid the best plan we could.
As warthogs are not normally nocturnal animals, we had taken the preventative measure of feeding at 18:15, when it was virtually dark already. That small measure was not enough to stop this greedy warthog, and he had very quickly adapted to feeding in the dark. This time, I would walk in with David at 17:30 let him feed and leave, and wait for the warthog to appear.
We were hoping that the pig would smell the feed and come in earlier so we would have enough shooting light. Walking in with David I could feel a strong breeze in my face - a perfect wind for the short wait and also vital knowing how sensitive a warthog’s nose is. Upon David putting the feed out, I was reminded of why our bushpig baits receive so much attention. Our special cocktail of ingredients made a smell irresistible to the pigs, but not so much for the person sitting in the hide with the feed container!
Standing quietly, making sure to limit movement across the shooting ports, I waited with bated breath for the smallest sign of his approach. I knew given the close quarters shooting, it would be important to get the safety off well before he arrived on the scene. As the minutes ticked by, the sun's warm glow faded deeper and deeper into the horizon. I was constantly glancing through my scope to make sure I could still see the crosshairs and focus them on random points. I was quickly reaching the turning point of being able to shoot or not. I had a gut feeling that the pig was going to come in, but with not enough shooting light I was already planning my sneaky departure so I could try the next day.
Suddenly, in the distance, I heard something. It started as just a twig snapping and it slowly evolved into a tumbling of leaves and a rustling of bushes. I flicked safety off and held my breath. Was this him? Then all of a sudden, like a ghost in the darkness, two white tusks appeared in the bush right in front of me. Realising that light was essentially gone and that within the next minute or two I may not be able to see anything at all, I readied myself for any shot opportunity given to me. He came in confidently walking head on. Roughly 5 yards away from the bait he paused and glanced off to his right, exposing his shoulder to me. The shot went off immediately and instinctively with the .375 H&H round punching through his shoulder, through the heart and exiting in front of the opposite side hip. He dropped immediately and disappeared in a cloud of dust created by his frenetic last kicks.
Nervous about the shot in the low light, I cycled a fresh round in and sprinted up to the pig, having to look away from him for a brief few seconds to exit the hide. All the while, I was desperately hoping he had not disappeared from sight by the time I got there. Thankfully when i got to him 15 seconds later, he had already completely expired and he was laying still in the settling dust cloud. The moment started to sink in. With Mike and myself being privileged enough to hunt in some of the finest big pig areas in Southern Africa with our clients, we were no strangers to big warthogs. We guided countless giant boars each year.
However, looking down at this pig, this was different. I remember thinking this was the first time I ever wanted to weigh a warthog. His body was absolutely gigantic. It was so big, in fact, that his exceptional tusks were seemingly dwarfed by his body! He looked like a domestic farm pig in a warthog costume! I rushed off with my flashlight in hand to get David and show him the beast that lay before us. We brought the vehicle in, but it took three of us to shimmy the pig onto the back.
Back at camp, we had a quick photo shoot and got a brand new scale out. We indeed gave the poor scale a proper stretch for its first test run. This monster weighed in at an astonishing 104 kilograms! This was definitely a first for me and something not to be forgotten soon. As is often the case with once in a lifetime animals, the photos did not do any justice. I believe that had we sent him off for a full mount and if we had sent in his belly girth measurements, the taxidermist would have laughed at us!
Needless to say, our bushpig baiting site is once again open for business and the bushpig’s have once again returned to enjoy our delicious maize mixture! Hopefully, the next story will soon be written about chasing a new boar there!
What a bruiser!
Check that tummy!
That's some nice looking ivory!
The vast majority of pictures were taken in the dark of night. Some nights he was feeding within 2 minutes of David being there
One of his more rare daytime appearances
A fantastic set of tusks for anyone!
Always using their noses!
Poor bushpig not catching a break!
David Feeding, pic 1
6 minutes later he appears, pic 1
David feeding, pic 2
3 minutes later he appears, pic 2
Here he is!!! I think our tracking dog was just as pleased as I was!
Great cutters!
That's about 230lbs
Those bottom cutters are just unreal! He was a symmetrical 10 1/2 inches out of the gum, putting his total length at an estimated 12 1/2 inches.
As much as we all wish we were in fighting shape i'm not a small guy!
This is a hunt that actually started almost one year ago. Mike and I were reviewing pictures from a trail camera placed at our old faithful bushpig bait site when we discovered a massive warthog boar dominating the bushpig, forcing them away from the bait site with him feeding well into darkness. As we had clients coming in for their bushpig hunts that year, this was needless to say, not acceptable. We needed to make a plan to get this pest away from our baiting site.
Word of this menace was spread and one of our local friends quickly obliged to come in and give the hunt an attempt with his bow. On the day, we checked the right time according to our trail camera pictures and we settled into the blind. Everything went like clockwork and the pig came in perfectly on time. He walked in with all the confidence of an undisturbed warthog that had been feeding for weeks. However, at the very last second he must have scented something and turned his body to just marginally quartering on. That meant no shot with a bow. A few seconds later he snorted and trotted off and that was the end of pictures of him on our trail camera, except for a few rare sightings. Unfortunately, it seemed that his inconsistent presence in the area was not to the bushpigs liking and we struggled with the bait site for the rest of the year. We had gone from having guaranteed and consistent bushpigs there every season to having erratic behavior from them at the very best. Luckily we had other baiting sites and many lovely bushpig boars were hunted with our clients.
The season ended and the new year came around. Secretly, we were hoping that the resident leopard had caught our maize thief. We looked at the trail camera in anticipation of seeing monster bushpig feeding at the exact same time every evening. Instead we found photos of that very same warthog! The problem was he had doubled in size and his tusks had grown into a formidable set of ivory. What seemed odd on the cameras was that whenever David (the resident farm worker) went to feed at the bait site, this monster of a pig would stroll in a few minutes after David had walked away. Consulting with David, we realised that this warthog had become so bold in his addiction to the maize we fed, that on many occasions, he would stand at the edge of the brush bordering David's house and wait for him to go and feed! Once David would go to feed, he would see the warthog waiting patiently about 20 yards away, just waiting for the moment when David was finished. Immediately thereafter, he would then casually stroll in. The nerve of this pig! We had a few pictures of bushpig very interested in the bait site, however by the time this warthog was done he wouldn't leave a single maize kernel lying astray! Armed with this new knowledge, but also knowing we had not brought any night hunting equipment, we laid the best plan we could.
As warthogs are not normally nocturnal animals, we had taken the preventative measure of feeding at 18:15, when it was virtually dark already. That small measure was not enough to stop this greedy warthog, and he had very quickly adapted to feeding in the dark. This time, I would walk in with David at 17:30 let him feed and leave, and wait for the warthog to appear.
We were hoping that the pig would smell the feed and come in earlier so we would have enough shooting light. Walking in with David I could feel a strong breeze in my face - a perfect wind for the short wait and also vital knowing how sensitive a warthog’s nose is. Upon David putting the feed out, I was reminded of why our bushpig baits receive so much attention. Our special cocktail of ingredients made a smell irresistible to the pigs, but not so much for the person sitting in the hide with the feed container!
Standing quietly, making sure to limit movement across the shooting ports, I waited with bated breath for the smallest sign of his approach. I knew given the close quarters shooting, it would be important to get the safety off well before he arrived on the scene. As the minutes ticked by, the sun's warm glow faded deeper and deeper into the horizon. I was constantly glancing through my scope to make sure I could still see the crosshairs and focus them on random points. I was quickly reaching the turning point of being able to shoot or not. I had a gut feeling that the pig was going to come in, but with not enough shooting light I was already planning my sneaky departure so I could try the next day.
Suddenly, in the distance, I heard something. It started as just a twig snapping and it slowly evolved into a tumbling of leaves and a rustling of bushes. I flicked safety off and held my breath. Was this him? Then all of a sudden, like a ghost in the darkness, two white tusks appeared in the bush right in front of me. Realising that light was essentially gone and that within the next minute or two I may not be able to see anything at all, I readied myself for any shot opportunity given to me. He came in confidently walking head on. Roughly 5 yards away from the bait he paused and glanced off to his right, exposing his shoulder to me. The shot went off immediately and instinctively with the .375 H&H round punching through his shoulder, through the heart and exiting in front of the opposite side hip. He dropped immediately and disappeared in a cloud of dust created by his frenetic last kicks.
Nervous about the shot in the low light, I cycled a fresh round in and sprinted up to the pig, having to look away from him for a brief few seconds to exit the hide. All the while, I was desperately hoping he had not disappeared from sight by the time I got there. Thankfully when i got to him 15 seconds later, he had already completely expired and he was laying still in the settling dust cloud. The moment started to sink in. With Mike and myself being privileged enough to hunt in some of the finest big pig areas in Southern Africa with our clients, we were no strangers to big warthogs. We guided countless giant boars each year.
However, looking down at this pig, this was different. I remember thinking this was the first time I ever wanted to weigh a warthog. His body was absolutely gigantic. It was so big, in fact, that his exceptional tusks were seemingly dwarfed by his body! He looked like a domestic farm pig in a warthog costume! I rushed off with my flashlight in hand to get David and show him the beast that lay before us. We brought the vehicle in, but it took three of us to shimmy the pig onto the back.
Back at camp, we had a quick photo shoot and got a brand new scale out. We indeed gave the poor scale a proper stretch for its first test run. This monster weighed in at an astonishing 104 kilograms! This was definitely a first for me and something not to be forgotten soon. As is often the case with once in a lifetime animals, the photos did not do any justice. I believe that had we sent him off for a full mount and if we had sent in his belly girth measurements, the taxidermist would have laughed at us!
Needless to say, our bushpig baiting site is once again open for business and the bushpig’s have once again returned to enjoy our delicious maize mixture! Hopefully, the next story will soon be written about chasing a new boar there!
What a bruiser!
Check that tummy!
That's some nice looking ivory!
The vast majority of pictures were taken in the dark of night. Some nights he was feeding within 2 minutes of David being there
One of his more rare daytime appearances
A fantastic set of tusks for anyone!
Always using their noses!
Poor bushpig not catching a break!
David Feeding, pic 1
6 minutes later he appears, pic 1
David feeding, pic 2
3 minutes later he appears, pic 2
Here he is!!! I think our tracking dog was just as pleased as I was!
Great cutters!
That's about 230lbs
Those bottom cutters are just unreal! He was a symmetrical 10 1/2 inches out of the gum, putting his total length at an estimated 12 1/2 inches.
As much as we all wish we were in fighting shape i'm not a small guy!
