A PIG HUNT

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 273, 13 July 1932, Page 7

A PIG HUNT

in opotiki hills THRILLS AND SPILLS OF . THE CHASE AND THE KILL. Pig hunting xnay not sound very thrilling, but carried, out as we do it, it is not without a certain amount of excitement, as Ge'orge discovered when, after he had hastily climbed a bank for refuge from a charging boar, tbe bank gave way and — but after all, that was after we had got well into the bush. To get tb the bush we had to travel 15 miles from Opotiki into the hill country by car. Leaving the car at the side of the road, we walked about anotber four miles, up, down and around precipdtous hillsides, 'often making our way along narrow pig tracks or forcing our way through dense bush. We were armed with sheath knives and .22 rifles. These may not sound very heavy calibre for the work, but a shot in the right place will kill a pig, and if you have to get close to make sure it all adds to the fun. As a matter of'fact, y'our true pig hunter prefers to take k risk and knife his pig ratheb than shoot him. Besides, you are less likely to injure your dogs. We were acocmpanied by two dogs, one about 801b in' weight and one about 1121b. One of them had already killed 413 pigs on his own account. After moving through a bush-filled gully for some time, we were amazed on reaehing a clearing to see no less than 30 pigs of all sizes moving slawly along a hillside. We slipped the dogs, and away they tore up the hill to taekle a huge sotv. The remainder of the herd made of¥ at high speed in all directions, squealing and making a terrible row. Meantime, dogs and pdg came tumbling dowri the hillside. When they came to a stop, I seized the pig by a hind leg and tried to h'old her while George danced about in front trying to get a chance to use his knife. There is only one spot to stick a pdg, and that is under its shoulder and so into its beart. This is not so simple as it sounds, however, when you have a full-grown pig and two heavy dogs fighting and struggling over roots and stumps and into and out of gullies and hollows. You find yourself endeavouring to get under its mouth, while the pig is doing its best to bite the dogs, you, or anything else handy. Boar Intervenes. While we were still struggling, I saw, to my horror, that a big boar, evidently attracted by the noise, had returned and was charging down on us. I yelled wildly to George to "look out," saw him jump to his feet and run for the safety of a barik near at hand, and ran for a tree myself. The dogs, spoiling for a fight, turned to face the boar in preference to the sow. After swinging 'myself up, I looked back and my blood .ran cold for a moment when I saw that the bank had given way and George was racing for a tree, the boar, it's little eyes gleaming and its tusks showing through the foam at its mouth, hard on his'heels. Before I could move, George seized the limb of a tree and swung himself up, but with a loud cracks tbe branch broke and George erashed down on his back just a fraction after the boar had passed under his drawn up legs. The dogs were on to the pig as I reached the grouhd, the animal swinging round to meet them, and backing into a hallow at the same time to defend his hindquarters. Trophies of the Chase. The fun was fast and furious for the next few minutes! We dare not shoot for fear of hitting the dogs, and the boar was mafkinjg vicious lunges from side' to side with his tusks, so George grabbed him by the tail and endeavoured to steer him out of the hollow while at the first oppoftunity I stuck him with my knife. After recovering our breath and our wits, we decided to take the tusks as trophies. We found it took all odr combined strength to move the earcase. The tusks were four inches long. It may be mentioned here that both dogs and boar are always spoiling for a fight, and the dogs will rarely tackle a sow if they can go for a boar. ' " After the fight the other pigs had, of course, got well away, so having taken the tusks and snout, we made our way to another gully. HOre I was just sitting down ad-

justmg a lace, when George shouted: "The dogs are out," and o'ff we had to go after them until'we found the dogs "bailing up" a ho'ar half-way up the side of a hill. I cotomenced to make my way up the hillside, but before I reached him, the boar "brdke," and charging down the hill kiiocked fne down and ran elean over me. ' When 1 got up, I saw the two dogs on him, one holding by the ear and the other by the snout, the whole lot struggling in the water of a small creek. George put a couple of shots into the pig and al£o knifed him, h'ut even so, he still fOUght uhtil the dogs pulled his head and held ' his snout under water. The streams and waterfalls hareabouts were also very fine, The falls were numerous, and in most cases were thirty or forty feet high. The streams th'emselves, which were crystal clear and as cold as ice, had a peculiar h'abit of completely disappearing into the grouhd every now and then and leaving no further trace of their existence. After lurich, the dogs went away again, this time catching a young boar of about three months old. This fellow Was as fat as a tame pig and we decided to take hirti home to eat.