Thread: Pig hunting without dogs in Waikato

Hi team,

Looking for some advice on pig hunting in the Waikato.

A bit about myself: I've lived in Balclutha, Tauranga and Hastings for a number of years, and have hunted (or tried to) the local Catlins, Kaimais and Kaweka/Ruahine. Had some success with goat hunting in Hawkes Bay in forestry blocks, but have never shot a deer or a pig. The only deer I came close to was one that ran in front of my car on Kashmir Road in the Ruahine.

I recently shifted from Hastings to Hamilton for a new job and really keen to get into pig hunting. Don't have dogs so will be stalking only.

Any advice on the best place to begin? Doc land? Forestry blocks? Any local pig hunting clubs? There appears to be plenty of small Doc blocks in South East Waikato and King Country on the Doc map but with no other information, would they be worth checking out?

Also without any experience shooting pigs, what caliber would be suitable power wise? Are they tougher than goats to knock down? Currently have 223, 243, 308, 7.62x39, all modern bolt actions, all suppressed. (I know, it is embarrassing to own more rifles than number of deer shot.)

Thank you very much for any advice.