BUSHPIG BASICS: INTRODUCTION PART 1

The following article (the first one of four) is an introduction on how to hunt bushpig. All the tips, information and hunting methods I share in these articles are based on my experiences over the last 15 years. I do not claim to be an expert and acknowledge that my methods, although successful for me, may not necessarily work for others.

Saying that I am obsessed with bushpigs is an understatement. Fortunately I married a very accommodating wife and my mates, whose lives are equally consumed by the pursuit of this species, are as secretive as bushpig about their own hunting techniques and venues.

This pastime has led me to spend countless sleepless nights wondering whether the bush-pigs have arrived at a new bait sight; fighting the eagerness to check the trail camera photographs the next morning; huffing and puffing up a steep bramble-covered hill to get to the pack of excited hounds that have just bayed a large boar which has run for hours; or waiting patiently in pitch darkness on a promising bushpig path, listening for that sound of a broken twig as a sign of pigs moving through the bush towards the sugarcane field.

I was introduced to hunting at