It was 33 degrees Celsius when we arrived at the property just out of Bourke. Too bloody hot for midday in early September! We had come for a muster.
After unpacking our gear and a couple of cold drinks over lunch, we headed off in the Polaris. We had to check around 30km of fencing prior to the muster in the morning.
I threw in my Tikka T3 CTR in .260 Remington, just in case. Although the country was looking spectacular by this time, the recent drought had taken its toll on the pig population.
Stopping frequently to fix small holes in the boundary fence, I noticed some large pig tracks at one of the spots where animals were climbing under the fence.
We repaired all of the holes we could find and it was now late in the afternoon and it hadn’t cooled down.
I suggested we detour via a few of the dams on the way back to the homestead. We drove up to the first dam with the wind in our faces.
We stopped just short of the dam and nothing presented. We were just about to turn around when a big boar stood up not 10 metres in front of us.
He took off to our right and just as I fired he swerved to the left. A clean miss. D’ohh!
He was now going hell for leather, but presented a side-on shot at around 90 metres. I led him nicely and fired.
The little .260 Rem knocked him off his feet – but he jumped straight back up and ran another 30 metres before tipping over again.
He was a good, solid boar of around 85kg and in prime condition. We went back to the dam and found his wallow on the edge of the water.
The unlucky boar had been having a siesta that turned into a nightmare!
By Michael Cleary
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