This was more like the first day of the season in that I actually had a full day to be out in the mountains. It doesn't mean we were up at the crack of dawn though, haha. We got started around 11am, and Baron was off on a boar within the first hour. We couldn't get to him fast enough, and he was back within 20 minutes. Hime was with us the entire time.
Moving a bit further into the mountains, Baron was off again, but this time he was on a hot trail, but not baying. It was right at this time that my brother realized he had dropped a piece of gear somewhere, so we had to backtrack to find it. This lead to a large 600 meter opening between us and Baron, which took a good 20 minutes to close. By the time we got close, Baron had given up the track and was coming back. We had crossed his track, but were shortcutting it to him, but when Baron crossed our scent, he followed it back toward the truck. This happens sometimes, and it always pisses me off as it wastes a lot of time and energy.
Luckily Baron realized his mistake around 200 meters back, and turned around on track. Since we were a fair distance back in the mountains now, we dropped onto a hiking trail to hunt another part of the mountains. The wind was gusting, and Baron was picking up scent here and there. At the entrance of every ridge we passed on our left side, Baron was throwing up his head and checking, moving downhill into the ridges for 20 meters or so at times to check, but nothing solid. The third time this happened, I had a hunch that the boar were laid up somewhere in the ridge, so I moved forward with Baron. Baron took the hint and moved forward. Under 100 meters in, I saw Baron's body stiffen and tail pop up as he moved carefully down the right side of the ridge. A dark shadow popped out of some underbrush, and Baron was on it immediately, catching the boar. It was all over in around 5 seconds.
My brother and I flew down there, Hime in tow, and she tried to latch onto the boar, which Baron was not happy about. My brother grabbed both back legs, and from there we had an interesting minute or two trying to tie both dogs up to trees to keep them from ruining any more meat on the boar. The boar was dispatched, a little fellow around 15kg, and we started heading back toward the car. On the way back Baron got on another boar, large this time it seemed from his trepidation and wariness. He kept coming back to make sure I was coming with the thunderstick. I got within 20 meters of the boar moving in underbrush, away from Baron, but could only hear it.
That was the end of our day, and it was not a bad one since we were out of the mountain and back home fairly quickly, the boar making its way into our freezer. Baron was in decent form, though we could have done better on the larger boars, and Hime showed she has a really strong catch instinct. Baron lets go a lot to get a better bite in, but Hime is a pretty solid lugger.
So 2013, 2 days out with the dogs = 1 boar.
Moving a bit further into the mountains, Baron was off again, but this time he was on a hot trail, but not baying. It was right at this time that my brother realized he had dropped a piece of gear somewhere, so we had to backtrack to find it. This lead to a large 600 meter opening between us and Baron, which took a good 20 minutes to close. By the time we got close, Baron had given up the track and was coming back. We had crossed his track, but were shortcutting it to him, but when Baron crossed our scent, he followed it back toward the truck. This happens sometimes, and it always pisses me off as it wastes a lot of time and energy.
Luckily Baron realized his mistake around 200 meters back, and turned around on track. Since we were a fair distance back in the mountains now, we dropped onto a hiking trail to hunt another part of the mountains. The wind was gusting, and Baron was picking up scent here and there. At the entrance of every ridge we passed on our left side, Baron was throwing up his head and checking, moving downhill into the ridges for 20 meters or so at times to check, but nothing solid. The third time this happened, I had a hunch that the boar were laid up somewhere in the ridge, so I moved forward with Baron. Baron took the hint and moved forward. Under 100 meters in, I saw Baron's body stiffen and tail pop up as he moved carefully down the right side of the ridge. A dark shadow popped out of some underbrush, and Baron was on it immediately, catching the boar. It was all over in around 5 seconds.
My brother and I flew down there, Hime in tow, and she tried to latch onto the boar, which Baron was not happy about. My brother grabbed both back legs, and from there we had an interesting minute or two trying to tie both dogs up to trees to keep them from ruining any more meat on the boar. The boar was dispatched, a little fellow around 15kg, and we started heading back toward the car. On the way back Baron got on another boar, large this time it seemed from his trepidation and wariness. He kept coming back to make sure I was coming with the thunderstick. I got within 20 meters of the boar moving in underbrush, away from Baron, but could only hear it.
That was the end of our day, and it was not a bad one since we were out of the mountain and back home fairly quickly, the boar making its way into our freezer. Baron was in decent form, though we could have done better on the larger boars, and Hime showed she has a really strong catch instinct. Baron lets go a lot to get a better bite in, but Hime is a pretty solid lugger.
So 2013, 2 days out with the dogs = 1 boar.
