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Drive boar shorting France
I was lucky enough to once again be invited to take part in a driven boar shoot in France.
You really can't turn that down opportunity like this.
Having had no luck last year, we where hoping for a chance this time around.
We took the truck as the dog had to come as we where going on to Germany.
I took the shotgun as well as we had some roost shooting for pigeons on the Saturday.
We have a euro pass that lets us take your firearms across boarders and as we where taking the tunnel it's a very stress free way of traveling.
A four hour drive had us at the tunnel. Half an hour on the train and we where driving towards Chantilly. Where we would be shooting.
It's about 40km from Paris.
Here's the dog hogging the fire on first night at our guest home in Senlis. Attachment 46012Attachment 46022
Next morning saw us away at around nine after a French breakfast of croissant and pain au chocolate
Dude flushed a wood cock straight out of the truck but we had yet to load.
The shooting was rather hard as there was a fair bit of wind and you needed to shoot between the trees.
We shot until 11 then it was time for lunch.
After wards went to have a look at one of the only hunting museum in Europe.
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At around four we once again headed out to try to increase the bag.
By six we moved on to ducks but a call informed us that the season had ended the weekend before luckily we had yet to shoot anything.
Our day came to an end with a nice little bag of 21 in some rather testing conditions.
The night saw gale force winds as storm Imogen passed through.
My host did not think or chances the next day to be all that good as the wind would force the pigs to become rather restless.
The next day started with us sitting down for a big lunch with some of the guns.
We then went to give our game licences and insurance numbers to the local game warden. Next came the health and safety briefing.
This came with a rath comprehensive instruction list on horn signals? Each of us had a brass horn.
One for warning. ie doc walker rider etc. This is to warn your fellow guns not to shoot.
Three. Is for boar sighed
Four is for red hind sighted
Then there was a whole load of different calls for sow with piglets stags,shot deer,shot boar, you name it you blew for it:O_O:
The bag today was red hinds, boar 30kg and up. No sow no piglets, no red stags, spikers or yearling
fawns.
We set off to line up around the forestry block as the weather tryed to blow, rain and generally be a right pain in the ass.
The forestry blocks are big rectangular shaped with all the guns surrounding it on three sides then facing outwards.
No shots are is to be aimed inside!!! As the beaters are go to be coming from this direction.
You have to wait until the animals pass you and then try your luck as they go away.
You must also only shoot at a 30degree angle from the other guns and no more than 70 meters out. Your also stood on a small stand which gives you a little height and so the shot if a miss will go into the ground.
On the first drive I had a stand at the corner end of the block. There was a main road around 300 meters away, but with my stand and a lot of thick woods my firing zone's where more than safe. A distant long horn blast signalled the start of the drive. With the wind coming from my back I figured that this would be a good spot!
After around twenty minutes I could hear the little bells of the beaters dogs as well as a few shots and horn blasts.
You need to learn to put all of this to the back of your mind and focus on what is directly in your area. When they come they don't come slowly and you need to identify not only your target and your firing zone but also weather is a sow or boar.
Shooting the big sows is really frowned on. I'd also like an invite for the coming years.
Also it pays to not move. It's very tempting to face towards the block. But then you need to turn and shoot. Plus trying to do all of the above.
The first half of the drive ended the. The beaters then lined up and went back the other way.
Just after they had moved off I heard braking from the main road. Then the sound of and animal coming from that direction.
Soon I saw a red deer moving directly towards me. I lined up the double 8x57 at it over the iron sights and waited till it moved closer. I picked a nice safe spot in which to take the shot and wait till the animal passed through this small opening.
It paused just long enough for me to make out two bloody horns.
I gave it the fingers and blew the signal warning the other guns that there was a stag coming.
It turned and headed away from us through the trees.
Soon a long horn signalled the end of the drive.
We moved onto the next one which also drew a blank.
Frustrated the guns and beaters made a new battle plan.
We lined up for the next drive. Beating near the start my hopes for a shot where not high. So we could once more hear the dogs. Piglets suddenly made a made dash across the sand track where we where lined. Spying around the tree that I had my back to I caught sight of two 80 odd kg pigs moving fast parallel to the gun line and ahead of the dogs.
Five minutes later looking to my right done the line I watched as a train of pigs burst across the track.
Lead by a massive sow with piglets in tow boar crossed and shots where soon taken.
But no horn blast came to signal a hit.
The drive was not over but it looked as though we where to draw a blank day.
My host was not going to have that and his little dog baled a boar near some railway tracks but away from the gun line.
So he shot it with a slug from his shotgun. It weighted in later at around 50kg.
His dog soon tagged onto another boar that quarted away and he also hammered with a shot that left a rather large blood trail but not boar.
