Thread: bush stalking pigs

Im on a mission to get a wild pig with the rifle. I have my 45th birthday late in August and I thought it would be a good idea to throw a halfway to 90 party! I also thought id like to cook up a pig on a spit at it. Ive done a fair bit of research on you tube etc but I'm having trouble getting one in the sights. Ive shot my share of deer but a pig is proving a tad elusive. Yesterday i was in the Longwoods again, on the hunt and I came across a lot of pig sign. I found rutting so fresh it looked like the ground had just been rotary hoed. A lot of the sign was around the 200m elevation which coincidentally was where we found the deer hanging out also.
I guess my question is where do pigs bed down during the day? Are they down in the guts or up high. The amount of sign i saw would indicate multiple pigs but didn't see any thing move (except red deer).
Do i need to hike up in the dark to try catch one out in the open? I don't have access to a hunting dog yet. Our current one is 12 years old and not up to much anymore.
Any tips or suggestions much appreciated. (except just buy a pig)

they will be somewhere warm to have a snooze. they even more wind sensitive than deer eg if they smell you they will be gone.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

they will be somewhere warm to have a snooze. they even more wind sensitive than deer eg if they smell you they will be gone.

It was pretty frosty saturday morning. Do they travel far each day or do they predominantly hang out in one place?

Upper matuara holds a lot of pigs, know there are a few farmers happy to get rid of them, could always try door knocking or find the nearest doc area.

I've shot quite a few pigs, I hunt them just like deer; the only difference is that I've noticed is that they tend to move a lot more. I.e when you'll see them and you have to be quick to get a shot, whereby red deer seem to stay in a spot for a bit longer. They're bloody fun to stalk and shoot! A dog does help, but it's not essential; just try, try, try and then try some more.

Originally Posted by craigc

I've shot quite a few pigs, I hunt them just like deer; the only difference is that I've noticed is that they tend to move a lot more. I.e when you'll see them and you have to be quick to get a shot, whereby red deer seem to stay in a spot for a bit longer. They're bloody fun to stalk and shoot! A dog does help, but it's not essential; just try, try, try and then try some more.

So are they out during the day or quite nocturnal? I guess it depends on the pressure they get.

I've found they hunt best dusk and dawn. But like you alluded to, keep searching with your binoculars and you'll see them bedded up and sometimes feeding during the day.

Your looking for the wrong sign , don't worry about the rutting so much keep going until you find the rooting surprisingly this activity can be successful with only 1 pig involved ..but where there is one theres usually more not far away , but good luck finding them in the bush without a dog , best bet would be to ask a pig hunter to take you out or 2nd best bet dump 2-3+ sheep/goat carcasses in a spot you can sit back & watch once they find them they will keep going back till its gone or you put more there, I have a few fond memory's of doing just that, one time my mate & i had around 10 dead green ,bearing,stinking ewes on the back of his old trailer heading for the hills , got a few k,s down the road & a wheel fell off going round a corner half the stinkn things fell off onto the road lol ..how embarrassing
Got a few good boars over the years doing it though..with dogs .

Last two I shot in April, middle of the day out in the tussock. I had seen two large pigs in the same spot four days earlier, but was 800+ yards away with a raging river holding me back. The two I shot were tiny, no doubt the bigger ones were there somewhere.

Mate they might be small,but a beautiful feed ,nevertheless.......good stuff there!!

Originally Posted by MSL

Last two I shot in April, middle of the day out in the tussock. I had seen two large pigs in the same spot four days earlier, but was 800+ yards away with a raging river holding me back. The two I shot were tiny, no doubt the bigger ones were there somewhere.

Originally Posted by Boaraxa

Your looking for the wrong sign , don't worry about the rutting so much keep going until you find the rooting surprisingly this activity can be successful with only 1 pig involved ..but where there is one theres usually more not far away , but good luck finding them in the bush without a dog , best bet would be to ask a pig hunter to take you out or 2nd best bet dump 2-3+ sheep/goat carcasses in a spot you can sit back & watch once they find them they will keep going back till its gone or you put more there, I have a few fond memory's of doing just that, one time my mate & i had around 10 dead green ,bearing,stinking ewes on the back of his old trailer heading for the hills , got a few k,s down the road & a wheel fell off going round a corner half the stinkn things fell off onto the road lol ..how embarrassing
Got a few good boars over the years doing it though..with dogs .

The sign I saw probably was rooting. Patches of under a square metre all turned up looking for grubs. Often there were several patches of sign nearby. Thanks for all the advice guys.

Hi Alister

Go slow and quietly and be wind-wise. They're in the Longwood but truthfully I've never had one in my sights either.

Longwood has its share of spotlight-poachers, so mid week as opposed to weekends may help, and do have a torch ready if you're dusk or dawn so you can ensure poachers see you

Very hit and miss looking for pigs without a dog.

Best bet is spotlighting farm land, near the bush edges. Fingers of grass that go into the bush or gullies, that type of thing.

I have a mate who still culling, he shot 13 the other night on a beach (Maori land) using a thermal imaging scope. Goes to show how much pigs will let their guard down at night.

I hear them quite often in the forestry block i hunt, just a woof as they take off, i have seen two walking up a road towards me but as i was looking the other way and my daughter was sayin dad dad and just as i lined up they walked into the gorse unaware of us. Crap

Wouldn't eat them if baited off a dump thats a bit "ripe" but yes it works well. Pigs eyesight is pretty crap and you will often come across them at all hours. Put a game camera on a dump get the timing right and you can have quite a field day spot lighting. But a thermal would definitely be the go for control.
These 5 little guys were out happily rooting away at 3 in the afternoon. Shot 2 before they noticed, got another 2 on the run, the last one ran off dragging his back legs, sent the dog to find him which he did but wasnt worth bringing back. Good thing there were only 5 cause the mag only holds 5. Bloody gyroscopic thingy in tablet, the photos the right way up in the file