Aiming to join the boargeoisie?

 

Aiming to join the boargeoisie?

    This may sound a bit of a dampener, but people do get killed boar-shooting. Despite that, it’s becoming increasingly popular with British shooters. Primary destinations include Poland, France, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Spain and Germany but there are many other options. These include Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Romania, Macedonia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, Turkey, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Feral pig (and hybrids) may be hunted in New Zealand, Australia and the USA. Texas has the relatively small, but potentially aggressive, javelina. In Africa, great sport is available with warthog and, for a real challenge, there may be the heart-pumping possibility of nocturnal bush pig. Those of an adventurous disposition might consider Iran for some of the biggest boar of all. And we even have a few of our own boar now.

    Boar-shooting of any sort offers an attainable adventure. It is usually less expensive and demands less time than game in Africa. One can go on the cheap but it would usually be sensible to budget on £3,000 to £4,500 excluding travel costs for European destinations and plan for two or three days’ shooting, which will give you good chance of success.

    Domaine de Souvilly in northern France, as offered by Rigby Safaris, allows the stylish, and not overly expensive, option of nipping across the Channel to a first-class estate on a Friday and being back after a day’s sport and much good food and wine by late Sunday afternoon. Rigby Safaris also makes available a pre-shoot practice day at Bisley on the running boar and deer ranges – an extremely good idea whatever your level of experience. Another possibility is one of Bogdan Srejic’s Lasarotta hunting trips to Croatia or Serbia. Bogdan has put much time and effort into developing his operation. He has grown in expertise and is an honourable businessman – something that cannot be said for all those selling this sort of sporting opportunity abroad. Bob Kwisiuk of Poland Hunting also offers straight dealing and value with packages beginning at less than £2,000 with no trophy fees to pay (often a source of argument). Bob is a game farmer based in the UK.

    Boar are hunted by a variety of methods. The best known is the driven battue where one stands in a line (which may be split) and shoots beasts driven forward by a team of beaters and dogs. This may take place in open areas or on fenced estates (less appealing to purists). Usually there is at least a dozen other guns; 14 to 16 is typical but there may be as many as 20. In most places one stands on the ground with a neighbour about 100yd away. Bags vary enormously. I would say anything above 25 is a good day.

    In France, miradors are popular. Literally translated as watchtowers, these are raised shooting platforms, about 5ft or 6ft above the ground, and they enhance safety in three ways: visibility is better; the angle of the shot is directed downwards; and one is less likely to have a close encounter with the quarry

    Conventional high seats are often used in Eastern Europe, and shots may be taken quite late (so you want to knock the beast over and not go looking for a blood trail at night). Boar may also be hunted by walking and stalking, as with deer, although final encounters tend to be closer. (I shot my last walked-up boar in a Serbian wood at 15yd.) Spain has the spectacle of the monteria. This might involve 40 or more guns and a huge team of beaters and dogs; the numbers can run into hundreds. They walk in, describing a large circle, and drive boar and red stag (and occasionally fallow) into a central shooting area which has designated shooting positions from which one must not stray. The neighbouring gun may not be visible – nevertheless, on one monteria a bullet went whizzing over my head. Slightly unnerving; I missed my only chance of the day. The charm of a good monteria is that it’s a major social event for an entire district. One’s chances are not as great as in a normal battue – there’s about a 50:50 probability of striking lucky. But monterias are good value (all you need is a Spanish friend to book you on to one).

    Hunting pigs by driving and other means is, of course, ancient. Pig-sticking with lances was once a popular colonial sport. Boar are still pursued on foot with dogs. They are brought to bay and the coup de grâce is administered with a knife or boar spear. The hunting halls of some German castles have displays which include boar spears. They are usually quite short – 4ft or 5ft – and broad of shaft, but relatively light. The modern version tends to use a hollow alloy pole into which a knife or dagger is screwed. French beaters often adapt military bayonets for use as the point of their boar spears. Short hunting swords are still available in France.

BEWARE THE RED MIST

    Often English shooters get in a bit of a muddle when they shoot boar for the first time. The action, when it comes, tends to be fast and furious and the shooting itself is probably unlike anything they have done before. The first piece of advice is always to consider safety. Don’t let the red mist cloud your judgment. Swinging through the line with a 12-bore is bad enough, but doing it with a rifle is an unpardonable sin and you could easily kill someone. Because rifles and running animals are involved it is a potentially dangerous business. You must remain aware that an accident could happen to you unless you are active in preventing it.

    On some shoots you will be allowed to shoot in front of the line, the usual stipulation being that you may shoot only at beasts inside 30 metres and within your legitimate arc of fire (not poaching from your neighbour). When the beaters come within 200 metres, you will usually be told to switch over and shoot behind the line only: ie the opposite side to the approaching beaters. Some shoots now fire only behind the line. Even here, there are potential pitfalls. The most obvious is that you must not take a shot too close to the neighbouring stand. The shoot captain will explain on the day, but you must use common sense and maintain a cool head.

OTHER SPECIES

    If deer are on the menu – they often are on a boar battue – you will be allowed to take them only behind the line (they are taller and would represent a threat to the beaters if you shot them in front). You must consider deer very carefully for another reason: there will probably be a great cost to shooting a trophy specimen – some red stags can be £5,000 or more on the Continent and in Eastern Europe. Don’t shoot the Emperor! Usually I avoid shooting male deer of any sort on boar shoots to avoid embarrassing mistakes – it’s hard to count points when something is running.

    Foxes are often legitimate quarry and these present no recognition issues – so fire away with due care and permission. You may find, however, that there is a list of no-shoot species on certain estates – I have been on some where both moose and wolf were prohibited, for example, the former carrying a penalty that included a €20,000 fine and a prison term. As is often the case when shooting, if in doubt, don’t.

HOW TO BAG BOAR

    We are not used to shooting running animals in Britain. Most shots in a boar battue will, however, be running and fairly close. My system is fairly simple. If the beast is at medium to close range I aim for the nose, pull the trigger and keep swinging (in my case, because I use a bolt rifle, recycling the action at the same time). If the animal is a bit farther out, I swing through like on a gamebird, see a bit of daylight and pull the trigger. Again, I keep swinging having fired the shot – the follow through is always vital. Make sure your rifle is perfectly zeroed before departing and seek out a running boar range if you can (there is one at Bisley). It was only when I took the Finnish moose hunting test – which involves shooting at a 100-metre moving target – that I began to appreciate just how much one needs to aim off when shooting real running beasts. With boar at the 30-metre maximum mentioned, I need to be about 6in to a foot in front on a fast, crossing shot, depending on speed and angle.

GUNS AND CARTRIDGES

    Most people shoot with 9.3 x 74 or 8 x 57 double, or a conventional bolt or straight-pull rifle in 7 x 64, .300 Win Mag (my choice), 30-’06 or .308. The latter two will do the job though, in my opinion, a little more power is useful. Note that .308 and .30-’06 are banned in France because they are military calibres. Double rifles – reasonably priced good ones are made by Chapuis, Merkel, Rizzini and Beretta – have the advantage of an instant second shot. I like a bolt-action, and other good rifles include the latest Tikkas, the Sako 85, the Blaser R series straight-pulls, and, for those on a budget, Remington 700s, Ruger 77s, and the CZ 550.

    Boar may also be shot with Brenneke slugs from a shotgun. Rifles are banned in some countries (including Algeria). I would advise using a rifle where possible, though, both for accuracy and extra power. Rifle ammunition should be conventional soft point; solids are prone to ricochet, as are monolithic-based bullets, which may otherwise be good killers.

    Finally, a word or two on sights. Use iron sights (perfectly adequate for driven boar) or the best telescopic sight you can afford with an illuminated aiming point and fitted to quality, quick-detachable mounts. Magnification should be low, a 1-4 or 1-6 zoom is ideal for boar. On a drive, the power should be set no greater than 2.

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