Belgian Hunter
Sit-down hunt for wild boar
Saturday, August 20, 2016. An evening to remember. It all started a few days before when I received a phone call from a good hunting friend. He is the hunting right holder of a hunt in Limburg and asked me if I wanted to come and sit down on the wild boars. These caused enormous damage to agricultural crops, but also and especially to the gardens of local residents. Of course I immediately agreed and an hour was agreed when he would come and pick me up.
''The cows go to the barn''!
Saturday 5.30 pm he was there and left together to his father to pick him up as well. The meeting point was at a square on the border of the hunting field, where two other hunters were waiting for us. In total there were five of us, the chance that one of us would see five wild boars was normally present. Because the days before they had already been there every morning and evening. The necessary information was given and around 7 pm everyone was in their seats. Myself on an open ladder at the edge of the forest. To my left dense vegetation and to my right a large meadow with cows. I was told that the cows would go down to their barn around 7.30 pm and spend the night there. And indeed, this happened. Now I had to pay attention and regularly scanned the cover with the binoculars.
''The crazy hour''
Forty-five minutes later I hear the screams of a pig to my left. After waiting in full suspense for a few minutes, I still didn't see anything appear. But suddenly, 20 meters in front of me, I see something moving. I put the gun on and notice that it is a defector, and another and another and another. In front of me in the dense cover were 4 defectors of about 30 kilograms. If one came into an opening, I spoke to him. The defector fell on the shot and the rest disappeared back into the cover. After about five minutes I informed my comrade, who was sitting too far to hear the shot: "I have one. There were four of them, 20 meters ahead of me. I estimate it to be around 30 kg!" Immediately afterwards I received an answer: "really? Congratulations. Just sit there and if there are more, don't hesitate." No sooner said than done. A while went by until suddenly at 9:05 pm I heard screams in front of me in the cover. This time it came from much further. With the rifle at the ready, I kept myself ready. Suddenly, at 120 meters, a group of at least 15 defectors calmly walks across the meadow. They walked very close to each other, except for the last one. I was able to shoot this one and the group ran away. Without hesitation, I bolted and again chose a single one, this one also fell on the shot, after which I bolted again and found another single one in the crotch. So I had shot three out of the train. The group was split up, some had taken cover and six were still in front of me in the higher grass. Because of the adrenaline I had completely forgotten that my weapon was loaded with five bullets instead of four. The wild boars stood in front of me in surprise, until I suddenly realized that I had one bullet left. I chose the smallest one from the group and it was also knocked over where it stood. In disbelief, I send my comrade again: "Bullets are gone." To which he replied: "No!?"
''Is it coming to an end?''
The call was made immediately. Halfway through the conversation, another defector crossed the meadow. This time he was lucky. Fifteen minutes later, my comrade arrived at the point where he had dropped me off. The weapon was reloaded so that a catch could be fired if necessary. A good ten minutes before it was no longer allowed to shoot by law, we arrive at the ladder again. We are looking at the shot pieces when my comrade suddenly says "What is that there in the meadow" and he pointed his finger to the other side of the meadow. "I think there's a cow there," I answered him. To be sure, I leaned against the tree and looked through my rifle scope. 50 meters in front of us were again 2 defectors. "And what is it?" he asks. "Two defectors" I answer. "See..." Before he could finish his sentence, the shot was out. After waiting for a while we went to have a look. No sweat to be found, the overflows had disappeared into the very dense cover. We decided to let the pig die in the wound bed and to search for it the next morning, if necessary with the people of The Investigation Team. The other boars were all in their final resting place. When we had collected these, the other three hunters joined us. They looked at the tableau in amazement and the usual waidmannsheil was wished. After this we gutted them all together. The next morning we found the sixth defector in the cover at 20 meters from where it was when the shot fell. An event that I will remember forever. These were my first six wild boars in Limburg, what a start for me on the wild boars in Limburg ...
