The APDHA (Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association) had its annual general meeting within striking range of my place at the weekend and one of my mates (Steve) from had driven 14 hours to the meeting with his daughter and her boyfriend (Cassie and Matt) to attend. They planned to head home direct from the meeting but I convinced them to head instead to my place a bit more than an hour away for a Father's Day hunt this morning.
They camped out our place last night ready for a 4am rise this morning to give us plenty of time to be on the ground ready for the earliest possible light this morning.
We did my standard track around a productive quarter of my mountain block, showing the kids their first deer (a couple of red stags) and then their third, fourth, fifth and more deer (various fallow).
Overlooking a particularly productive basin and ridgeline we saw our first pigs. Three grazed apparently unaware about 600 metres as the crow flies, giving rise to hopes that we might be able to cut them off before they made it into the blackberries.
We had the dogs individualised on the truck (ie each dog held separately on a quick release or cage or whatever) so we had the option of getting every possible pig by releasing each dog as required. And it worked like a dream.
We got above the three we'd seen and when they took off across the slope we spotted a bonus bigger boar attempting to make a sneaky escape on his own.
Steve's Tash and my Geoffrey were given that job and Steve and Cassie were dropped on the pig before Matt and I did a quick U turn to get the other dogs as close as we could to the original three. Steve's Wal was let loose after the mob and grabbed a little angry boar and we passed that catch to put Matt's Surge out after the one pig we could still see.
Now this was when Surge surprised me by chasing the smaller pig before peeling off and turning as though he was heading back to Wal's pig.
But the young bloke's dog had spotted the third of the trio spearing off down the ridge and its was another fair sort of a boar. It's a useful dog that picks bigger pigs and this dog had done it.
Matt grabbed Wal's pig and I ended up down the usual rocky slope in a blackberry with a toey boar held by surge.
In about a minute and a half we had three of four pigs sighted and all boars.
We all looked at one another as though were champions. It was quick, it was tidy and it was effective. A great little effort with each dog and handler doing what was required. Doesn't always work out like that but when it does, there is a tremendous sense of satisfaction I can tell you.
A bit further on we picked up another pig, a sow after Geoffrey jumped on a scent down an eastern slope in the sun. Tash went to and probably caught the pig but we don't know. Either way, it was caught and on the outside of the berries so that was another bonus.
Plenty of other wildlife about too, including a clutch of tiny wood ducks we spotted after the parents did the "I'm injured, chase me..." dance.
A happy hunt and a happy start to Father's Day...
Cassie and Matt with the best of the boars.
Steve and the same boar.
Matt and Steve with the boar I got in the berries with Matt's dog.
Cassie and Matt with Wal's little boar.
