James Morris – Quick Pig Hunt
A southerly gale blew straight up from Antarctica so I spent the first day of my university break working around the house, and loading some bullets. By evening I was definitely feeling cabin feverish, so I grabbed my coat and my 30.06, jumped on the motorbike and headed up the farm.
I had a feeling I knew where I would find some piggies, there was a bit of fresh sign about and a sheltered gorsy gully I’d seen them in before. The first place I looked, I was happy to see they were in residence, but from the look of it only little pigs were about this time. Some weren’t much bigger than a fox terrier. I decided the challenge was to get in as close as possible; although they are a real pest on the farm I still have a lot of respect for the animals and enjoy the challenge of getting in amongst them.
Sneaking straight in with the southerly wind on my face the pigs were oblivious, too busy feeding amongst the gorse, rushes and blackberry. All of a sudden there was a pig I hadn’t seen before, how I’d missed it I do not know-a huge white grey boar was only about 15 yards away from me, head down nosing the soft ground around a big rusher. I froze and took in what was going around me. A sow and piglets were slightly below me, about 30 yards away, a couple of pretty tasty looking about 60lb black and white pigs were just ahead about 35 yards away, but the boar was closest and also what was going to cop it first.
I lifted my rifle and took aim at the boars shoulder, then sent the 150gr 30 calibre projectile on its short trip of a whole 15 yards before it slammed into the boars shield and knocked him off his feet. As quickly as he fell over, he was back on his feet. He wasn’t happy, and came straight for me. Before I even realised what was going on I was frantically working my bolt and looking down the side of my barrel and had fired before he halved the distance between us. Thankfully this worked to some degree, he wasn’t dead, but he changed direction from a crash course with me to running out of the scrub and into the open field. Another shot rang out from my 30.06 and he was down.
One of the black and white tasty sized pigs was still lurking about, so she copped one too-a nice bit of pork to take back to my flat at the end of the holidays.
I dragged the plump sow down the gully and out near where the boar lay before going and inspecting him. He was a good sized snorker, with some nasty looking hooks! I was glad that I didn’t get to find out what they were capable of!
I searched for where my first shot had struck him and discovered it was right where I had aimed. Square in the shoulder was a 30 calibre hole. Gutting him I discovered that at a range of about 15 yards the boar had taken the full might of my hot loads without the bullet even entering its chest cavity. I was impressed, and for the first time with my 30.06 I felt under gunned!
Alex Broad – Nik Gibson’s 7 point stag
I recently received some pics and a very brief description of Niks most recent hunt.
Nik has been a good mate for years and has recently taken up Bow Hunting while living in West Oz. What can I say, he has taken to it like a duck to water!
This is his first bow shot NZ red stag, a 7 pointer, shot at 28 yards in open country.
Well done Mate!
Keep it up and keep sending me pics.
James Pearse – 9 Point Roar Stag
I have been following the stag below for the past few months. I finally shot him from 500m.
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XTR Generation 4 features:
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Two large chest pockets big enough for binoculars or a SLR camera, removable caller lanyards in chest pockets, centre fire ammo holder in right hand chest pocket, two large integrated self-closing bellowed pockets with integrated hand warmer pockets.
We have been able to reduce a large amount of bulk from the XTR Generation 4 by using waterproof zippers. The big bulky external storm flap has been removed, we now use a smaller internal storm flap to catch any water the zipper lets through. All the zippers used on the XTR Generation 4 are genuine YKK zippers and use YKK’s CNT8 coating. We have used YKK CNT8 for every zipper (main zipper, chest pockets and under arm zippers). CNT8 is YKK’s highest quality Aquaguard zipper, what this means is coating will last longer and not delaminate like inferior zippers. The zipper slider is YKK which is very strong and indivudally tested in YKK’s factory to ensure that they are free from defects. When these zippers are new they are a little stiff however after a few uses they will slide more freely.
YKK offer three different grades of Aquaguard coil zippers, it is not possible to tell what other brands use, it is not printed on the zipper anywhere. The only way to tell is the condition after a few years. Hunters Element uses the best so you don’t need to worry about our zipper quality.
We have welded the front chest pockets to help reduce the amount of water that can enter through the stitching. The pocket and seam tape have been laser cut for optimum precision. The seam tape we use on the XTR Jacket Generation 4 is an American made seam tape, the brand name is “Bemis”. This is the same tape we use on our RIVERWORKS breathable waders. Bemis make the finest seam tapes in the world and are used by the worlds leading wader and outdoor brands. Bemis seam tapes have a much stronger connection and ultimately last longer. I will provide more information on seams and seam tapes in a later post.
Massive underarm zippers allow you to dump heat on the go. These are impressive and you will wonder why every jacket doesn’t have them!
We have reduced seams on the new XTR by 25%. The centre draw cord has been relocated to behind the lower pocket flaps to remove exposed stitching, this gives a much cleaner looking jacket and also helps minimize the chance of seam failure and bulk from the jacket.
Colours available: Frost (pictured) and Realtree APG.
Old XTR Jacket (camo) and new XTR PacStealth Generation 4 Jacket
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Rob Wilson – Pre Rut Reccy
Couple of weeks ago we went out and scoped out a spot for the the roar. Had a little mishap in the process!
Robert Wilson
Alex Broad
zanemirfin
James Morris
jamespearse
Bish
mickgibbo
Andrew Sturt
