Table of contents for April - May - June 2018 in Bacon Busters

Gday All, Well, unfortunately I’m not posing with the best boar for the month, but I’ve been making full use of scouting about in the local highlands in search of a few more properties known for their consistent population of pigs. I get asked so often; Where do you hunt? You’d catch heaps of pigs! Just because I’m a magazine editor doesn’t make me the world’s best pighunter as some hunter’s think! I struggle just like a novice and that is due to living in an area where you have to travel distances to get a hunt in. On top of that, I work full-time with a family who has plenty of commitments. Of late, I got access to a mate’s small block and after hitting it at different times;…

“They call me Crocodile Dundee because I'm as keen and as mad as him.” I have always been into hunting ever since I can remember, but I first got into dogs when I was about twelve, after talking to one of my Dads friends who hunted with them. It was a week later and I had my first hunting dog. I'm originally from SE Qld, but have been up in Richmond, further north for the past few years living the high-life chasing cows and plenty of pigs. I run Brian Neal Bull-Arabs and an Arab cross. I hunt nearly everyday and all weekend mainly by myself. They call me Crocodile Dundee because I'm as keen and as mad as him. I hunt all kinds of terrain from thick forest country,…

I have been living in The NT for eight years now and never had much to do with pigging. Over the past six months, I’ve been out a couple of times with absolutely no luck whatsoever. My two mates Johnny, Burger and I headed out about 10pm with the three dogs all kitted up out on the Marrakai track. With tunes on and a few beers, I had all my fingers and toes crossed. Twice we had dogs float off the back of the Ute on pig scent, but missed the lucky buggers. On the third time, the dogs jumped with Sledge hitting point and only three hundred metres off the track, they had the boar. As I said before, 12.05am on my 36th birthday, I had my first boar.…

On my last hunt, I found some fresh wallows around the swamp and that always is a good sign knowing there are still pigs in the area. With the days getting hotter and the lack of rain around Townsville, the swamps would be dry and the pigs harder to find. I had checked out the swamp late in the afternoon walking around 5km with no luck. I decided to go for a thermal hunt later that night around 10.30pm. I had walked just over 1km before I found my first pig with the thermal. It was belly deep in mud and feeding in the middle of the swamp. The breeze was forever changing direction and getting within shooting range was challenging. My shot didn’t drop the pig on the spot…

A couple of my best mates and I did a midnight run and we’d been driving for a couple of hours when the main bitch let out a little whine. It wasn't too keen, but I turned around and pulled over to let two dogs off. They just had a little smell around in some long grass and it was around midnight. I went out to call them back and we saw a big black shadow just walking onto the road about 40metres up. I turned the headlights on and it was a good size boar just starting to take off up the hill. I let out the other bitch and the run was on. Half a kilometre of running up and down the small hills, I came across a…

“It didn’t take long to calm my nerves and blow him away.” I’m fifteen and currently live in Far East Victoria. The pighunting is tough in these areas, so I get away when I can to where the numbers are thick. On a recent bacon hunting and fishing trip in FNQ, which I was offered to go on with family, I jumped at the chance to go. You’d be mad not to as I missed out the year before! I knew where the pigs were as the day earlier my Uncle scouted out a semi-dry creek and some waterholes. We were fresh on the trail of hogs, but we just couldn’t get onto anything. We had an early morning fish for Barra and we were back at the boat ramp…

After the school holidays ended, I went out for an afternoon run checking a few dams. After the fourth dam, I was just about to head home and opened the last gate, when a big boar strolled out and over the main bank that we passed earlier on. The dogs soon gave chase and the pig took them into a blackberry bush. I had to crawl up in there and pull the angry boar out and stick him. What a hairy situation that was! I came back out the next morning to that same dam and across the paddock were three boars feeding. We had three dogs and let them off the chain. They ran off in all different directions, but managed to bail them up all up. I put…

Nik Kastellorizios is living in possibly the best area of Australia for pighunting. The number of big boars that inhabit the NT floodplains, swamps, forests and surrounds is endless. With this increasing population of feral pigs, the rich vegetation and ample water provides a healthy environment for them to not only to populate , but grow big. Here, Nik shows off a small collection of tonners that his team of dogs have tackled. Awesome work Nik, keep it up!…

I was just a few hours from home on this trip and it started well with a small sow only 500metres entering into the station. The next day, we started by walking a waterhole where the dogs got onto the scent of three young boars and the dogs caught one each from the mob. Later that afternoon after alot of driving, we came across a good lone boar, which the dogs pulled up in no time. After a few pictures, we noticed that there was another mob only one hundred metres away. We let the dogs go for round 2 and they caught another pair of boars. We did the hard yards and ended the trip the next morning with a good pig seven hundred metres off a dam. Winning!…

Ding…Off went a Facebook message. Ding, ding! The phones bloody ringing and the next thing the wife is singing out ‘Gecko, ya want a coffee’! Meanwhile, the daughter is wanting help with her homework that she didn’t do the night before and Gecko hasn’t even had time for a morning fart! It’s just another typical Thursday morning at Gex Bars and Rails. Taking his first sip of coffee and sounding as professional as he can on the phone, Gecks books in another quad bar to build while his client discusses real life matters such as the current rainfall that has fallen on his property up in Cape York. He instead filled him in about the amount of dust that’s blowing through the air around the Gex workshop in Townsville. The…

Send those pig hunting photos to Babes & Boars, Bacon Busters GPO Box 606, Sydney NSW 2001 or email high resolution photos and information to: editor@bacon busters.com.au…

Second Chance Boar COMPILED BY TIM LEE I’d hunted from just before sundown and about two hours into the darkness. Exploring the entire area, my dogs only had a few jumps. I wasn’t too fussed though as I had a pup in training and Mia, my 4-year-old Dane/Arab X, who was only starting to find off the Ute. As I took the last track heading out on the south-side of the property, my pup Tucker (Stag/Catahoula X) looked keen to get off, so I slowed down and in usual fashion both took off into the scrub. Watching the tracker, I kept an eye on the dogs as they went straight in about 200metres and then Mia did a sharp left turn and picked up the pace. Mia was almost back…

CANVAS CANOPIES By Clint Magro I’ve been using canvas on my canopies since my late teens. I’ve always had flat trays on my trucks as well as crates/cages to keep my dogs safe when travelling to my hunting destinations. This new one (shown in the photo) is definitely the best I’ve had and I’m very happy with it! Manufactured by experienced local company ‘Richo’s Boat Covers’, It is watertight, yet breathable for hounds when they travel in wet weather and canvas is down. I utilize the air by rolling up the sides, which gives great airflow. Whether covering just the cage or complete tray depends if the crate aligns with your rear headboard or not, however any cover will make the travel comfortable for your mates. I highly recommend canvas…

It was one late afternoon during sowing time and I was just cruising around the usual paddocks that I check for pigs with my best four-legged mate Tyson. We were coming over a little ridge in the paddock when down a few hundred metres; I saw some dust coming out of the scrub. At first, I didn't think much because there's alot of goats in the area. Not much further down, I got the smell of boar, so drove a little faster to get there and check it out. Suddenly, this monster with tusks like arrowheads came darting out into the paddock heading for the hills. When I first saw him, I couldn't believe it! I asked myself, ‘Is this someone’s pet. Surely not!’. I’m in the middle of nowhere.…

I just wanted to show some photos of the pigs my mate Sterlo, my Mrs Danielle and I caught on our way home from the Territory to Mount Morgan in Central Qld. At a few different spots along the way we caught twenty-two pigs over three days. With lots of laughs and a few tough moments, it was a damn good time. At one point, Sterlo and I had a pig each and my Mrs was filming. The pigs suddenly turned and ran towards her. Not sure who got the bigger fright that day, my Mrs or the pigs! Fortunately, they ran past her on either side and kept going. Later that day, one of my dogs Ringo ( Bull-Arab/Wolfhound) caught an 80kg boar, but unfortunately I put my finger…

Keep sending in your best pig photos for publication in the next issue. Mail them to: Pig Pix, Bacon Busters Magazine, GPO Box 606, Sydney, NSW 2001. All pics returned after use.…

Send your biggest pig pics to 'Australia’s Biggest Pigs', Bacon Busters, GPO Box 606, Sydney NSW 2001 or email hi-resolution pics to editor@baconbusters.com.au PROUDLY SPONSORED BY…

My son Matt and I knew it was going to be an absolute scorcher, but undeterred (or foolish) we loaded the Honda side-by-side onto the trailer and packed the dog-box full of keen, energetic pan lickers of all shapes and sizes. After making sure we had enough drinks, plenty of sun-cream, a hard-hitting short-range bang stick, a camera, some ammo and we headed off. No sooner had the Honda rolled off the trailer and the accelerator received a bit of stick. With the wind in our faces, it was 'bloody' hot; as we travelled the properties back boundary fence-line to a promising pig spot. After close to an hour, all the likely spots lacked two things... pigs and water. Later, as we travelled to an isolated waterhole recorded on Matt's…

It is possibly the most talked about topic in pighunting! DOGS! What breed, best nose, fastest, hardest, best finder; the list goes on. Well in my experience, I have used the dogs I have chosen from litters and just stuck with them over the years. I’ve never been one to buy and sell dogs as I get too attached to them from pups. I don’t particularly have a favourite breed, but a nice athletic, not overly tall hound with deep chest, muscular in stature and a nice boxy type head is my style. I like em’ fast with good stamina suited to west crop running, but tough enough to find and pull those big mountain boars up! Again, if I didn’t have the work for this style of dog; well…

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“This black and white thumper was big, solid and energetic!” What a way to end 2017 with a thumping boar that had been leaving his tracks around and generally being cunning for the last 12months. Some mornings, we’d go out and would be ten minutes behind, where he had just left the scene into some swamp country. It was these continual mornings or we’d leave home at 1am for nothing at all. We eventually ran into the adjoining property owner to get permission to go for a tour out in the area where we thought he was camped. He was happy for us to go and have a look, so off we went! While out there looking around to see if we could find him, we ran into a mob…

Well, every year, a number of brainiacs come up with some pretty flash ideas and then have those thoughts manufactured for the people. In this case, SportDOG have released their brilliance in creating a system in which your pet can be contained in a no-fence zone. Bull?*#% you say; well after Youtubing and looking at many clips of how it all works, I was pleasantly surprised. I’m sure many of you like your dogs hanging around the yard and with a little training, this assurance of your dog not leaving the unfenced yard is technology well spent. The SportDOG Contain + Train has been proven safe, comfortable and effective for dogs over the 10lb mark. I encourage if you are in the market for a system like this, SportDOG have…

John Malas has been at it again with family and mates getting amongst the pig haven of The Burdekin region. Hunting the backblocks from the steep rainforest jungles to neighbouring sugar cane and cattle country, local knowledge sees his mob catching their fair share of hogs with quad bikes and dogs. Here’s just a few pics of late and it's good to see the young ones stepping up and keeping family traditions alive!…

A few of my good mates including Jim (Medicine Man), Travis (Builder), Mathew (Butcher) and I travel from Adelaide to Darwin annually. We stock up on the essentials for the bush and then travel 3-4hrs to a mate’s station. It takes a leisurely four days to get to camp from home totaling around 7000km and we enjoy every single millimeter of it. We each tow a custom-made trailer that carry our four quads including 3x Polaris and 1x Yamaha. Our hunting equipment is basically Sako .375 in HH and Win .338 rifles. We carry all our materials and equipment in and around the trailers and in the tow-vehicles being LandCruiser 200 series and an Amarok V6 Ute with a canopy with Jim being a very capable vehicle. We camp out…

We were driving on top of the hill and Trevor, our dog bailed off into the sorghum. As we hit it, we saw two big boars, so we let Foley our other dog off the quick release and he caught the bigger one of the two that dressed out at 84kg. We then disposed of the pig and hung him up on the truck and drove to Trevor and his smaller boar. We soon sent him to hog heaven and hung him on the truck along side the bigger boar. Unfortunately, another big one got away on us. As we were driving to the other gate on the opposite side of the paddock, the dogs bailed again and then I spotted another big boar. It gave the dogs a run…

I headed out late one night to check a relatively fresh carcass up near some yards not far from the homestead. There had been a dead beast there a couple of weeks prior, but I never went to check it. I had one go down in the yards a few days ago, so dragged it to the same spot and saw that the other one had been cleaned right up. I made a plan to attack it! I parked up 20ometres off and stalked in under the cover of darkness with the thermal and .06 in hand, to find a good boar on the beast. Around 60metres to the left was a mob of around twelve just feeding on grass, obviously not allowed to feed with the boss! I scouted…