i havent posted a story for a while so thaught i had better pull my finger out.
we had organised a 2 week trip out to the kimberlys to help a land owner with his pig problem, a fair bit of organising was needed but once done and the shopping done we were off.
first stop when crossing the border (nt/wa) was into the local cop shop to get the obligatory raking over the coles. all paper work was pre organised but it was still all too hard and i knew it would be the only thing that would upset the trip. sgt plodd finaly submited and we got our paper work (after 4 hrs) and we could head into the station.
first nights camp.



view in the morning.


on the drive in we were worried there would be no pigs. how could there be with a landscape like this?



had a good chat to the cocky and we set up camp, by that stage we had a quick look arround before dark and settled in for the night.
next morning we checked along the billabong near the homestead and found this fellow.
first pig of the trip.



made our way down the river and got stuck into some big mobs
including this big bugger my brother hit with the iac lever action 12g using winchester ultra high velocity sg's



from there it turns in to a blur of pink mist and piggies.
whacked this fella tring to bolt accross the creek bank.



hit this one in the back quatering shot away from 200 mtrs with the 30.30 not bad hey?



any wonder they wanted us out there, this is the front of the house yard in the homestead.



another notch for the iac



the population was very dence, the pigs are consentrated along the river and small pockets of water and consequently the boars are big and have many scars also the tucks were often broken.
the next 2 are good examples of the boars encountered





the river



looking out from the tree line




a stinkey muddy boar that laurie wouldnt touch. ahahahahahahaha



some more for your amusment.





hit this boar in a classic side on shot thru both shoulders had the bullet sitting just under the skin on the off side. love those winchester power points.







got this young boar with the 30.30 using a speer 170g flat point.




entered behind the ribs and ended up infront of the shoulder needless to say he didnt go far.
very difficult to collect speer projectiles to many pass thrus!!!



boar having a plesent dream?



last pig of the trip



well it was fun we had a good crew and ended with a tally of 566 not bad for 5 blokes with class a and b guns.
all the best
greg

Greg, did you say 566?!? Holy cow (pig?)! Wow!! All of the pictures you posted were of really big hogs. Damn, congratulations! Great photos and great hunt report! I would love to get the opportunity to hunt hogs over a two week period. That's just great.

Cheers!

Nicely done!

Man that is a TON OF PIGS!

Congrats! They were all big too!

quote:

Man that is a TON OF PIGS!

At 60 kg per pig it is over 33 metric tons. It would be 7-8 pigs a day per hunter.
I've never been to Aus and no local hunters are calling BS so I guess this must be kind of like the high volume dove we have in Argentina except with big game. I would apreciate any locals educating me on this.
Cheers.

John, I imagine that the average weight (at least judging by the pictures posted) is quite a bit higher than 60 kg!!

Congrats!! Those are great hogs!!!

Bob

thanks for the comments,
we were working on a eradication for the owner, basicly if it oinks it gets a hole in it. it is a very big property, probably bigger than some countrys in europe. as we have approx 24 million ferral pigs in north australia, it seems like a big number but overall its only a small dent in a small segment but it makes a big difference to the owner.
we hunted for 10 days 2 days drive down then 2 back made up the 14 days. we have one person in camp each day and 2 teams of 2 people so 8 hunting days each, we were up pre dawn and home on dark most nights and it was mostly stalking on foot lots of walking and hot!!(the pigs are too flighty with the sound of cars) we had some exelent stalks, the photo of the hog with the blood comming out of the forhead was asleep in the shade and i got to 3 ft from him and bang.
hope to be back there next year.
greg

If you or the land owner would set up a hunting operation for foreigners.....say, unnnnh, Americans for instance..... , the operator and land owner might make more out of his pigs than he does out of his sheep/cattle. Possibly offer a hunt(s) with the option of combining that with some kind of standard tour package of Australia and you've got a winner IMO.

Yeah, I would pay for such a hunt. Might as well make money off of the pests! Those are some great trophies!! I hunt Florida regularly and have never seen hogs that big.

Wouldn't that be something?


" Come Hunt Australia! Feral Hogs, minimum limit per day - 100, 3 day minimum, bring lots of ammo! "

Congratulations Greg,

Great hunt. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:
John, I imagine that the average weight (at least judging by the pictures posted) is quite a bit higher than 60 kg!!

Whitworth,
you very well could be right. Maybe greghud can give an estimate. I took into consideration that it was an eradication hunt and "everything that oinked got a hole in it", so I am suposing piglets got it too. I am also asuming that greghuds claim of 567 shots is good old fashioned Ausie leg pulling. Gatogordos idea also occured to me right away. The comparison to high volume dove is valid and this is way higher volume thasn any european monterias that I have heard of. Going rates for good monterias are in the thousands of Euros if I'm not mistaken. Now that I know that there were only 4 shooters per day and only 10 shooting days that makes 14 pigs a day for shooter, that alone is impresive, but to sustain that for 10 days is unheard of, at least to me.

John

It is pretty incredible, John! I'm sure Greg showed us the big ones. I'm sure they shot everything the saw so there would have to be a sows and smaller pigs, but the ones he posted are monsters that I would be very proud of shooting!!

Greg -- good show!

10 days would be great! I envy you!

Trophy fees for hogs in the States run anywhere from $250.00 to $800.00 (I'm sure there are cheaper and more expensive trophy fees, but this is just my observation). It could make for a viable business.........

Whitworth,
Try inquiring with Matt Graham of Hunt Australia. I just returned 3 weeks ago on a trophy buffalo and trophy pig hunt with Matt in the Northern Territories. I did a brief post under Australian Hunting. Matt posted some pics for me as I am a klutz at those things. On the trophy pigs, there are no fees applicable. In five days of hunting, I whacked 12 big boars and 4 sows not properly identified.
Most of the pigs were 80-90 kilos with two going well over 100 kilos. The bigger bodied porkers did not necessarily have the biggest teeth.

Geoff

Thanks Geoff!! Does Matt post on AR? What is the easiest way to get in touch with him? Do they have a web site?

Not much to say other than damn good job...Nice!

hi all,
the average weight would have been in the 40-50 kg range i guesimated the weight to be about 28 tons. didnt bother to take photos of the little ones. but we will have the figures someware.
there is alot of operations for tourists to hunt in a culling style like matt graham.
the reason the owners want us to do it is the numbers are huge approx 24 million ferral hogs in north australia. there is quarintine issues that the owner needs to comply with. also the gun laws in west oz are insanely difficult to deal with, so outfitters just go to places where it is easer. ie nt or qld
thanks guys.
greg

p.s. the ammo tin came home aLOT lighter than when we left. cost me a damb fortune may have shot a few more than 567
greg

Hey Greg,

I SEE you finally went on that trip!

Wowee...

Congrats on a great HUNT and eradication effort!

The pics and stories are incredible and thanks for sharing...FIRST CLASS!!!

I see the Power-Points and Speers performed flawlessly with all the accurate shooting you guys did...

I'm glad I caught up with your post tonight, it was great reading with great pics, Good for you my friend...Talk to you soon!

Aloha,

Roland

I'm just curious as to how much something like that would cost if it was possible for a foreigner to take part.......

Aloha Whitworth,
Yes, Matt Graham is an active member of AR. You can check out their website @ www.HuntAustralia.com.au

I was their last hunter of their season. So, it will be a good time now to make inquiries for next year. Matt is not in the field and will be able to give you more prompt responses to any inquiries. He does have an office assistant who will reply immediately on general inquiries. For specifics, communicate directly with Matt.

Geoff

Hello Geoff! Thank you for the information! Sounds like a good time!

hey roland,
couldnt have you showing me up with those pigs you have been getting.
must be starting to warm up you got a trip planned?
greg

Greg,

You guys did awesome...

What an experience of a lifetime!!!

I am truly mesmerized by the incredible opportunity that was afforded you...

You were able to hunt hogs til you didn't care if you saw another hog another day!

And you folks hunted them for quite a few days!

All I can say is GOOD FORTUNE to you mate!!!

GOOD FORTUNE to you...


My trip is scheduled for October 28-29 and I hope to share great pics and stories, only time will tell...

Aloha,

Roland

quote:

My trip is scheduled for October 28-29 and I hope to share great pics and stories, only time will tell...

looking forward to the story.
greg

And lots of photos!