Pigs a plenty

Varminting and vertebrate pest control. Small game, hunting feral goats, foxes, dogs, cats, rabbits etc.

Pigs a plenty

Post by Ferrisweil » 18 Jan 2020, 5:05 pm

Quick trip report.

Got a call from a property owner where we regularly go saying, “you need to get out here now!”
Luckily for holidays, and I zipped out there with a couple of keen mates.
Pigs had been coming into his feed yards and were smashing his water troughs up. Checked where the pads were coming in and setup with the thermal and NV.
Ended the trip with a total of 28 porkies and one happy property owner. So many pigs. For something a bit different, it was very effective using the Adler with a torch strapped on the end, when they were streaming out of the yards.
I even managed to catch a baby one with my hands when it decided the safest spot was to sit at my feet.
Might be the last time we get those sort of numbers so quickly as both the pigs and the owner would have been rejoicing in the rain last night......
Also got some great thermal video but can’t add it here I don’t think.
I’ve decided to keep a running total this year of everything I get on any trip. So far, since New Years, I’m up to 35 pigs, 2 deer, 2 dogs and 4 greenies hahaha
Also been a few dozen hares, rabbits and foxes but I haven’t been keeping an exact running total on them.
January has been kind
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Ferrisweil
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Blr243 » 18 Jan 2020, 5:35 pm

Good to hear you had a ton of fun. I was thinking you were just about to head out for a trip or were in the guts of it. An inch or two has fallen around my joint and more on the way I think ...... so I’m dreading the phone call that says too wet for me to go out there. I reckon there will be water puddles everywhere too so if I do get out mid week it will be interesting to see if I can get good numbers at my fav hole or if I have to walk the watercourses. I think I might be in for some mud sticking to the bottom of my boots ... Whatever happens I will just have to adapt and make the most of it. Very happy for the families on the land
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Ferrisweil » 18 Jan 2020, 5:40 pm

Yeah mate. I generally find the water spreads them out a bit more. They’ve gotta eat still so feed troughs for cattle might be popular still but I’d say a few crops might start going in now as well.
Just a cycle really isn’t it...Doesn’t take much on that black soil to stop any vehicle.
You’re def right about the mud on the boots. Last night had me growing a couple of inches haha
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by JimTom » 18 Jan 2020, 6:11 pm

Nice work mate. Have done extremely well.
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Die Judicii » 18 Jan 2020, 6:19 pm

BLR Mate it hasn't stopped raining here for three days and two nights.
Now,,,,,,,, did you say you were gonna christen the shiny new hovercraft this coming trip ???

I think yer gonna need it,,,,, or stay home. :D
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I've come to realize that,,,,, the two most loving, loyal, and trustworthy females in my entire life were both canines.
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Blr243 » 18 Jan 2020, 7:25 pm

Perfect timing DJ. was just about to ask if you got rain in your paddocks and how much ? If my hunt gets cancelled I’m going to be one irritable rotten unpleasant thing that everybody should avoid .... was looking fwd to mixing it up a bit on this trip. Loaded up some ammo for my Enfield and my bushmaster. Bought a new pulsar nv scope These toys need dust and mud on them Being surrounded by 4 walls of steel is not good for them long term
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by GQshayne » 18 Jan 2020, 7:36 pm

BLACK SOIL + RAIN = STAY HOME. :thumbsdown:
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Stix » 18 Jan 2020, 7:50 pm

Hey Ferrisweil...

In that thermal image...
The pig is very hot & you have a red face...what was really going on out there... :?
.
.
.
. :lol:
.
.
.
Just kidding mate...
Im envious---ive never shot a pig...

Good stuff...!!!
:clap:

:drinks:
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Ferrisweil » 18 Jan 2020, 8:15 pm

Stix wrote:Hey Ferrisweil...

In that thermal image...
The pig is very hot & you have a red face...what was really going on out there... :?
.
.
.
. :lol:
.
.
.
Just kidding mate...
Im envious---ive never shot a pig...

Good stuff...!!!
:clap:

:drinks:


All good mate. Love a bit of banter.. Lucky I was wearing clothes. Could have been worse haha
Man I wish you could show vids on here? Have some of the coolest footage. Is there any way it can be done?

Never shot a pig?? We need to sort that out...
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Stix » 18 Jan 2020, 8:42 pm

A bit of banter is good...trouble is i dont have much of a filter & im sure i get taken the wrong way often.. :problem:

.Yes...need to sort that out for sure...!!!...(i mean never having shot a pig...id love to get in amongst it with a lever in some close quarters hard core action :P :P :P ...ive done the close quarters thing on mobs of goats with a bolt action---& in the heat of that moment it seems the time taken between shots racking a bolt you could make another star wars movie)

My 7-08 just yelled out that it agrees with you...!!.

Not sure about the footage mate...im a dero with technology...sorry... :(

The only thing i see folks do on here is to upload it to yoo choob & post a link...

Can you do that...??

:drinks:
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by 8x57 » 18 Jan 2020, 8:53 pm

Nice work mate, what type of thermal sight are you using ?
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Ferrisweil » 18 Jan 2020, 9:09 pm

I’ve a pretty thick skin Stix. You’d have to go pretty far to get hackles up lol, but there’s a lot of snowflakes around these days. We used to have more success during the day flushing them out but since thermal came along, it’s a different ball game.

8x57, I’m using a Pulsar Helion xp28 as a spotter. Purchased it first and for years was spotting with thermal and using a barrel mounted torch to whack them. Saved the bikkies and eventually got myself a Pulsar Trail xp50 LRF.
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by marksman » 18 Jan 2020, 9:50 pm

looks like a really steady setup :thumbsup:

occasionally l use a bog pod bi-pod, yours looks heaps steadier though :drinks:

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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Ferrisweil » 18 Jan 2020, 10:30 pm

That tripod setup is a mates of mine. Think its a standard tripod but he’s got a “croc jaw” on top. I’ve just started using a Hyperpod 2. Seems really good and I like the mobility.
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by GQshayne » 19 Jan 2020, 7:26 am

Stix wrote:.Yes...need to sort that out for sure...!!!...(i mean never having shot a pig...id love to get in amongst it with a lever in some close quarters hard core action :P :P :P ...ive done the close quarters thing on mobs of goats with a bolt action---& in the heat of that moment it seems the time taken between shots racking a bolt you could make another star wars movie)

:drinks:


Yep, you got it I reckon. Stalking is a great part of hunting no doubt about it, but mostly when I have been pig hunting, it is the pig knows my whereabouts before I know his. In the thick stuff, it is hard for it to be the other way. When they are burrowed in under some lignum or similar, you can't see them from 5 metres away sometimes.

So they know you are there, and when they break cover you had better be ready. I went on my first trip when I was 12 years old. And after that I figured that I needed lots of practice!!! LOL What I realised was I had two seconds for a shot, and that was about it a lot of the time. So I started practicing with my air rifle at 30m with a old shoe polish tin. Each shot MUST be fired on a two count, no longer. Rifle at the hip, and you start your two second count from there. At first it seems almost impossible, especially for a 12 year old. But after a while there gets to be lots of holes in that tin. :thumbsup:

EDIT : I should add of course, that the tin isn't moving!!!!! :crazy: :crazy:
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by bigrich » 19 Jan 2020, 8:36 am

sounds like lots of fun ferriswell , ya doing the natural ecology of this land a favour , and engaging in man's natural desire to hunt and fish . i'd watch including "greenies" in your tally but ;) . i agree with your sentiments , but ya dunno who could be trolling this website :roll:

:drinks: :drinks: :thumbsup:
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Ferrisweil » 19 Jan 2020, 10:46 am

Cheers bigrich....Thanks and it’s great fun.

Re: greenies joke. I don’t care who I offend anymore online. If you can’t have a joke or alternatively, people can’t see that I’m clearly not being serious, then too bad... Taking the piss, being able to take a joke and having a thick skin is unfortunately on its way out in the current generation. Unless what I’m doing is unknowingly illegal by commenting about something online these days; I really don’t give a monkeys twist who I offend. Being offended doesn’t hurt you...
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Blr243 » 19 Jan 2020, 11:06 am

Regarding quick shots on rapidly parting pigs at close range I managed t o do that once on my last hunt but it was hard and there’s just so little time to do it. U really are under pressure ....20/25 years ago it was a piece of cake and I excelled at it naturally but today my reflexes are nowhere near as good I can see that regular clay target shooting would be great practice. Just because as we age we are losing it does not mean we have to let it just happen. There’s tons of things in every aspect of our lives we can do to keep ourselves as sharp as possible
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Ferrisweil » 19 Jan 2020, 11:19 am

I’d say 60-70% of shots I take when targeting pigs, are at them on the move. Thermal gets you close to the mob, first shot is lined up and then it’s game on.
I enjoy the challenge to be honest. I’m nearly always at either 1.6 zoom on the thermal and 2x on my regular scope. Rarely, if ever, over 3x on any mob unless we see pigs while culling roos.
Not many pigs stand still after that first bang and can’t say I blame them lol
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Stix » 19 Jan 2020, 11:23 am

GQshayne wrote:
Yep, you got it I reckon. Stalking is a great part of hunting no doubt about it, but mostly when I have been pig hunting, it is the pig knows my whereabouts before I know his. In the thick stuff, it is hard for it to be the other way. When they are burrowed in under some lignum or similar, you can't see them from 5 metres away sometimes.

So they know you are there, and when they break cover you had better be ready. I went on my first trip when I was 12 years old. And after that I figured that I needed lots of practice!!! LOL What I realised was I had two seconds for a shot, and that was about it a lot of the time. So I started practicing with my air rifle at 30m with a old shoe polish tin. Each shot MUST be fired on a two count, no longer. Rifle at the hip, and you start your two second count from there. At first it seems almost impossible, especially for a 12 year old. But after a while there gets to be lots of holes in that tin. :thumbsup:

EDIT : I should add of course, that the tin isn't moving!!!!! :crazy: :crazy:


HEy mate...like you i started at an early age...except my ol'man had ferrets, so if i wasnt playing soccer, i was standing over a rabbit warren with a single barrel 410 in my arm... :D :D :D
Thud thud thud...deafly silence...then its on...
Some warrens were let downs, others were such an adrenaliene rush, that feeling is something ill never forget...
I was lucky as i was forced to learn how to shoot--with only a single shot available to you & a stubborn grumpy kunt that let you know you should have nailed that one, along with the inner drive to be the best you can be, inevitably forces you to learn how to shoot...and starting at such a young age really hones you in quick...!!
By the time i was big enough for the 12G semi auto, i was often shut down, handed a single barrel for the day, & told to not shoot on some warrens so my ol' mans mates could get a shot in... :lol:
Wish i could shoot like that now--although, i can usually keep with the best on the odd occasion i visit a sports clay arena...& boy can that get some ego's in aggressive protection mode.prancing around with puffy chests like threatened roosters in denial.. :lol:

Not that i at all recommend it, but an air rifle on ducking & weaving swallows feeding on insects over water is one to test the skills on...thankfully i never hit one, but used to get very close.
It would be good to be able to somehow reproduce that setting as target practice--just not with live birds...it really hones your skills.

Anyway...not that id be any good at stalking pigs in that thick brush, but it would still be good to experience it...

Ive been thinking about getting some ferrets--just thinking--the practicalities are a bit of an imposition...but it would be a bloody hoot--a grown man re-living childhood...sadly id be without a semi auto thanks to our retarded laws... :thumbsdown:

:)
:drinks:
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by duncan61 » 19 Jan 2020, 11:46 am

Have to love it when the farmer calls with a problem.I have been fortunate to have had it happen twice.Once when a property I culled on claimed the roos were hopping around the tractor and to get out there quick but the best one was the dairy farm I lived on leased land up in the hills and we kept our cows that were too young to breed up there and the adjoining property was 1500 Ha and the owner decided to bring a heap of scrubbers from up north down to fatten.The calfs at hoof soon got bigger and the Mickey bulls were getting in with our beautiful teenagers and causing havoc and my farmer asked me to deal with it..I had just done a safari to Arhnem land and used to take people to hunt like a safari twice a week.I had a flat bed trailer all set up as I did a sick cow pick up service in the area and we had a big hole on the farm to dispose of our sick cows.Ended up getting heaps of beef out of it till the owner cleared them all out.Happy days
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Stix » 19 Jan 2020, 11:47 am

Blr243 wrote:Regarding quick shots on rapidly parting pigs at close range I managed t o do that once on my last hunt but it was hard and there’s just so little time to do it. U really are under pressure ....20/25 years ago it was a piece of cake and I excelled at it naturally but today my reflexes are nowhere near as good I can see that regular clay target shooting would be great practice. Just because as we age we are losing it does not mean we have to let it just happen. There’s tons of things in every aspect of our lives we can do to keep ourselves as sharp as possible


Hey BLR...
I think as we age, gun fit becomes a priority way more than it does when we are younger...

We grow constantly, & become less pliable with that...& so having a gun that fits you is imperative for that fast kind of work...
I changed the scope heidht on my 7-08 for that reason--found i was shooting high & missing on close range running goats---yep--animals that big id miss within 30 metres in fast paced rapid action--eventually i realised i was shooting high & so raised my scope...

My ol'man is much smaller than me & his 12g is a trap stock--flat comb...it would take me a few shots to get with it, but i could still shoot with that thing up to my mid 30's...but now---forget it---for what ever reason the body just wants to do what it does, rather than adapt...so if i use it, i shoot high & left & almost always miss...

If i had a pig rifle, it would be set up to shoot like a shotty (no im not telling you guys how to shoot pigs), made to fit my body as i mount the gun, this puts you on target without having to be stressed or worried about a miss, & by virtue makes for faster & easier target aquisition & better more natural shot placement...

Just my thoughts...again im not telling you guys how to shoot pigs--just what ive learned from trying to be aware of reasons why things change as we get older...& although it would seem im just stating the bleeding obvious, ive found gun fit to be one of the biggest single contributing factors to successful shooting as we age...
I shoot with an older guy whos set-up is just so wrong for him--he misses under spotlight all the bloody time & puts it down to age, when infact ive all but proven to him through positional changes & talking through shot sequence its the ergonomics of his set-up...
But i suppose he's right, because Its his age & the stubbornness that comes with it, that ultimately & indirectly prevents him shooting well ...

Now that ive said all that, im sure id make a dik of myself & miss everything if you dropped me on a mob & said "there ya go"... :lol:

:drinks:
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Blr243 » 19 Jan 2020, 12:53 pm

Very good advice stix. Regarding firearm naturally filling the body. My conventional shaped sauer rifle with bipod fitted is far from being a natural pointer but the accuracy and trajectory allow me to shoot pigs cats and foxes from 5-200 m So i rely on the fact that it handles most situations ... the rotten field of view and “out of touch “situation that thermal scopes give certainly does not help me when the heat is on. Thisnext trip I will also be toting my much shorter barrelled 450 bushmaster so we shall see if that feels better for me in some situations ...... I’m still recovering from that but where you said you had not yet shot a pig. I guess SA does not lend itself to healthy feral pig numbers. I would post you a few pigs in the mail if it were possible and legal but for now mate u might just have to enjoy others adventures online
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by ScottyD » 19 Jan 2020, 12:57 pm

Ferrisweil geez that's a good haul, well done. Hope I get that sharp in time.

With regard to other's comments about speedy shots when things heat up and targets are cranking along at close range, would lever actions not be best for that scenario? (I'm still thinking about when I'm in the thick scrub in our hills)
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Ferrisweil » 19 Jan 2020, 1:16 pm

Hey stix, don’t stress too much lol. Every one misses. I miss shots every single trip that I spend the drive home thinking about.
I think “fit” is important but I also think more importantly is just situational practice. And I’m not even talking about practicing shots at a range etc.
I mean, that heat of the moment, “running game in front of you”, “field shooting”, “behind the gun” practice. It’s like any activity you do in life, tennis, golf, selling cars or typing; the more you do it “for real”, the better you get, so I think time in the field makes a huge difference. Even muscle memory and confidence in your gear all makes that split second difference. We could talk all day about getting old, fat and lazy hahaha, but I reckon if you put an old fart who shoots once a week at pigs alongside the annual shooter who’s young, muscly, shoots at the range at 50m dude, I know who my money would be on.
Basically we get good at things we do the most often I reckon
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Blr243 » 19 Jan 2020, 1:33 pm

Stix. My cousin took me ferreting rabbits when I was a kid somewhere in the hills around Byron bay it was great fun and the memory is vividly engrained in my brain. But I have heard that sometimes the ferret finds some kittens and eats them and then goes to sleep in the bottom of the burrow for hours and u have to dig them out Can u imagine that you are a very contented ferret after a successful hunt with a full belly and dozing peacefully and somewhere of in the distance somebody is calling out for you to come out but maybe it’s just a dream. Whatever.
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Re: Pigs a plenty

Post by Die Judicii » 19 Jan 2020, 2:40 pm

Ferrisweil wrote:Man I wish you could show vids on here? Have some of the coolest footage. Is there any way it can be done..


Just put it on U Toob Mate,,,,,,,, ask Elmer,, he does it all the time and just puts the link up on here
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I've come to realize that,,,,, the two most loving, loyal, and trustworthy females in my entire life were both canines.
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