My wife and I went on a run in the forest about 15 minutes from our house on Sunday afternoon. At about 1:00 PM, in full sunlight and 80 degree weather, I heard some rustling in a clump of wild ginger. We stopped and out walked the largest boar I have ever seen, and I've seen 100+ of them. I'd honestly guess the weight at 350-400 pounds and it also had the largest tusks I've ever seen. It was jet black and built like a grizzly and was my wife's first pig encounter and she was impressed.
I went back to the same place for a run yesterday evening and on my way out met up with a couple of Hawaiian men with 4 dogs. The dogs were about the size of beagles and each wore a leather throat guard, which looks like a really wide, heavy collar. I told the guys about the boar and they said that was the pig they were after since it was also the largest boar they had ever seen. It had also killed and mutilated other dogs and was extremely aggressive toward humans. Each man carried an empty backpack to bring home the meat and the only weapons they carried were machetes hanging from their belts.
The idea being that the dogs find the boar and grab it by the ears or hide and the men run in, pull the dogs aside, and hack the boar with machetes. I can almost see doing that with a 150 pound sow but this thing had huge tusks and a bad reputation. How many of you reading this would be willing to hunt with these guys?
I did some volunteer work this weekend with the National Wild Turkey Federation and one of the hunters told me his dog [they were bird hunting for francolin] had pointed out a pig. Turned out to be a large boar that attacked the German Shorthair, hooking it badly on the lower belly, and then attacked the hunter. He got off one shot blowing the boar's front foot to smithereens. The boar then hobbled off into some tall grass. Later the same day another bird hunter was attacked by the wounded boar and managed to kill it at a range of about 4 or 5 feet.
I may start carrying a handgun [not a machete!!!] on my runs since I run in the wilderness and these pigs are everywhere.
That's it for now. Another pig hunt coming up this Saturday unless a predicted storm hits the Big Island which will make the 4WD roads tough to navigate.
I went back to the same place for a run yesterday evening and on my way out met up with a couple of Hawaiian men with 4 dogs. The dogs were about the size of beagles and each wore a leather throat guard, which looks like a really wide, heavy collar. I told the guys about the boar and they said that was the pig they were after since it was also the largest boar they had ever seen. It had also killed and mutilated other dogs and was extremely aggressive toward humans. Each man carried an empty backpack to bring home the meat and the only weapons they carried were machetes hanging from their belts.
The idea being that the dogs find the boar and grab it by the ears or hide and the men run in, pull the dogs aside, and hack the boar with machetes. I can almost see doing that with a 150 pound sow but this thing had huge tusks and a bad reputation. How many of you reading this would be willing to hunt with these guys?
I did some volunteer work this weekend with the National Wild Turkey Federation and one of the hunters told me his dog [they were bird hunting for francolin] had pointed out a pig. Turned out to be a large boar that attacked the German Shorthair, hooking it badly on the lower belly, and then attacked the hunter. He got off one shot blowing the boar's front foot to smithereens. The boar then hobbled off into some tall grass. Later the same day another bird hunter was attacked by the wounded boar and managed to kill it at a range of about 4 or 5 feet.
I may start carrying a handgun [not a machete!!!] on my runs since I run in the wilderness and these pigs are everywhere.
That's it for now. Another pig hunt coming up this Saturday unless a predicted storm hits the Big Island which will make the 4WD roads tough to navigate.
