Far North Queensland Pig Hunting

Far North Queensland is a beautiful and rugged part of the world and offers great boar hunting. Champ Magazine's David B travels inland from Townsville to experience hunting this fierce and prized game.

Like most hunters, I always want to improve my skills and broaden my horizons. Living in the ACT offers limited hunting opportunities with game like truly wild boars and wild pigs being a rare privelage. Local pigs had been interesting to hunt, however, they often resembled farm escapees and not the boars of legend listed in many photos and hunting stories.

The many tall tales about boar hunts and the magazine articles of legendary proportion sounded like mythological beasts and inspired me to travel up north to pit myself against this challenging prey.

The boar hunting adventure I took along the Far North Queensland's Burdekin River was great trip and learning experience that resulted in a journey, a chase, victory and a triumphant trophy-bearing return home.

Preparations

I made contact with a Queensland pig hunting outfit and hatched a plan to go on a 3-day pig hunt along the Burdekin River, inland from Townsville. The outfitter ended up teaching me more about hunting than I had ever imagined.

Dates were set, gear was purchased and my rifle cleaned, zeroed and packed.

Gear is always important and, in hindsight, I can share one fundamental mistake that impacted my hunting experience - never use unfamiliar factory projectiles on a hunting trip. In order to be sure about projectiles and their performance, I always test at the range before relying on them on the hunt.

I had a reliable .308 rifle I was shooting famously with prior to departure. Juggling work and family life meant that I had put off buying ammunition for the big trip until the day before my flight. With only 4 rounds of my favourite ammunition left, I knew I would have to stock up. I arrived at the firearms retailer and, with bad luck , my usual brand of ammunition was sold out. I had successfully shot with another known brand and asked for it instead - also unavailable in .308. A local competition shoot and a consignment running late had cleaned out supplies when I needed them. Never having had any issues with factory ammunition before and against my better judgement, I assumed an unfamiliar but reputable brand of projectiles would be fine. This would prove a stumbling block, but did not spoil the adventure. Lesson learned.

The rest of my gear was in good order, based on careful previous selections, field testing and planning. Researching what gear is required is always important. Check weather conditions, ask locals and understand the environment. On big trips where you are far from home and reliant on your gear for survival, you have to be familiar and sure it works. That goes for the simplest rainproof jacket, gloves, boots and food through to rifle and projectiles.

Townsville and Arrival at the Property

I met my outfitter at the Townsville Airport. He was friendly and helped me with my kit, out to a well-stocked Toyota Landcruiser four-wheel drive in the carpark. After a quick stocktake of gear and supplies, we began the journey inland from Townsville, toward Charters Towers. The drive was interesting, watching the landscape change from coastal to inland bush with red dirt, termite mounds and grazing land.

We arrived at the property, I opened the gates and shut them as instructed. The rule was the exact way you found it is how you are to leave it. I observed this carefully over the next 3 days. We drove into the vastness of the property, almost 20 minutes from the road, we arrived at the farmhouse and shearer's quarters where we would be staying.

The property manager greeted us and put us on alert that wild dogs had been in the area taking calves - any dingos we could kill would earn us a beer. While we did not see any wild dogs on this trip, I could see their handywork of littered bones, tracks and droppings nearby.

Day 1: The Incredible Jumping Boar

We were up early, 5am, at the crack of dawn. After wolfing down our breakfast, we were off. I normally like to take my time to get all my gear prepared, however, my outfitter was keen to get to the river and get onto hunting. We drove over some undulating grassy plains with termite mounds, red dirt and some very lean kangaroos to make the journey noteworthy. We arrived at a tree-line that looked peculiar, my guide telling me that the trees were a dead giveaway of a river or creek in this part of the world. Still barely awake, we got out of the 4WD and got ourselves ready.

As we walked through the tree-line, Far North Queensland turned on its charm. I stared down at the scene before me - the stunning, rugged and beautiful Burdekin River. Just when the scene could not get any better, a bird took flight with the enourmous iconic red sun in the background. I cannot be sure if the bird was a Brolga, however, it was a magical scene like out of the well-known and iconic Northern Territory Tourism campaign of the 1980s and 90s.

Essential Pig Hunting Kit

Boars are a tough prey that require some rugged gear that is reliable, replacable and affordable. I have found a good balance of these traits in the products made available by HuntAdventure. The HuntScope Knife, featured below, is any pig-hunter's ideal knife. It is a good size, a high-grade of stainless steel that holds its sharpness and has a durable synthetic handle that can take a beating over rocks and rugged terrain. For as little as $30 from HuntAdventure. it is as reliable as some of my Solingen knives from Germany. When your gear is less than half the price and readily replacable, the choice is easy for pig hunting.

We arrived at the bank of the river and my guide was moving in an animated way, pacing, looking, almost stalking around for signs of pig activity. I must give him his dues - his technique was quick and we were onto game straight away. My outfitter indicated some tracks of a large boar and showed me what to look for. He was ahead of us by a good half hour, we concluded and we would have to up the pace to get onto him. We made good progess through the grassess, scrub and pig trails worn through the area. After an hour of tracking, the trail led to the Burdekin - time to cross.

It was getting quite hot, high 30s and high humidity. So it was a good excuse, and certainly no inconvenience, to take the boots off and cross the river. The cool water, a drink and food break and the great scenery momentarily took us away from the hunt. We were reminded after a few minutes by a crashing sound coming from the nearby scrub. Time to get onto the game!

We got moving and were right on his tail, the muddy trail showed that he was only minutes in front of us. Jogging along the grassy terrain away from the river we came to a waist-high fence. "Damn", I thought. "We have lost him". As if reading my mind, the outfitter indicated to a strange collection of hoof-prints, deep in the dirt between some grass alongside the fence. "He's gone over." he said simply. I could not believe a pig, of all creatures, could jump such a fence. I would soon find out that he had!

Without wasting any time, we vaulted the fence and were hot on the boar's trail. The trail led us back toward the river. A wet, red-dirt pig trail weaved through the undulating grassland and scrub on the high-side of the riverbank. We followed on, quietly, I indicated to the outfitter that I was loading my rifleand he walked on my right flank, instead of alongside. It was too quiet. We both turned right toward the river to a large bush-cum-tree on the edge of the high, muddy bank. A grunt and movement. There was a dark shape; it only took a moment to register what it was. The outfitter had already knelt down with hands against his ears, smiling.

I fired a shot into the animal from an off-hand position which hit in the ribcage with a light red mist. To my suprise, the boar took the bullet and breathed hard, stationary position, somewhat stiff and unmoving and kealing over. The boar rolled down from the elevated bank, into the dry, cracked riverbed nearby.

When we got close, I realised that I had taken quite a respectable trophy boar. Victory! That was what I had come here for and anything else was just a bonus from here on. A slap on the back and a cheer from both of us made way for the work of getting that trophy shot and the trophy ivory. I was so chuffed.

We we had some food and water and a chat, stowing the jaw that sported some serious ivory and headed onwards along the river bank. The new terrain proved to have tracks everywhere, from all sorts of animals - teaming with life. There was even evidence of Chital deer, the outfitter said, pointing to a deer rubbing on a native tree. The rest of the day was uneventful, no fresh tracks to follow and we headed back across the Burdekin.

That night we ate well and watched a Clint Eastwood flick, with a bubbling cauldron boiling the meat off my trophy jaw. A day well spent.

Day 2: The Star River With a Bullet

An early start again. Breakfast was a little slower paced and we discussed options for the day. The outfitter suggested we check out the neaby Star River as he had seen some monster boars there in the past. The rain set in and we pressed on anyway, the outfitter calling me "soft" for even thinking of delaying due to rain.

It was a bleak day for both weather and hunting. The Star River was as quiet as a ghost town. There was the smell of death everywhere and no movement. It took us all morning to work it out - we found some baits that had been dropped from the air. There were numerous carcasses in the scrub. From big boars to what appeared to be wild dogs and other animals. The effect of this baiting was unbelievable. It had wiped out everything that lived there and driven anything away with the smell.

We decided to return to the Burdekin River for the afternoon. After hurriedly eating lunch on the way, we were soon at the Burdekin. Things immediately livened up, including sunshine emerging from the clouds.

It was like a warzone! Pigs everywhere grunting, running and charging. Most of them were quite small except from one grunter who was big, black and on the move. The pig was almost out of sight as I chased after it and shot off a well-placed off-hand shot at around 100 meters. It was a perfect kill-shot, straight through the ribs, heart and lungs. That was some great shooting! We stopped, took the all-important trophy shot and had a break. I was really enjoying this trip.

The day was still young and we wanted to see what other opportunities would come our way. We trekked at a fast walking pace along the banks, through grasses and scrub. To our suprise and within an hour of the last pig being shot, we were straight on top of a group of pigs. We could not believe our luck. They were not big males but still worthy of being taken. I had left the last factory round from my favourite manufacturer, in my pocket. So I was using the first of my unfamiliar factory ammunition that I had on the ammunition sock on the butt of my rifle. I fired from a kneeling position, only 50 meters or less at the black pig I had in my crosshairs. The shot went wide and the pigs fled. I thought I must have pulled the shot. It was a sitter. "That was not llike me," I thought.

We finished up for the day and returned to a cup of tea, cleaning firearms and preparing for the next day.

Day 3: Happy Hunting Grounds

After having slept in a little, we were back to the Burdekin for more hunting excitement. the last day did prove exciting and was a nice end to a great trip.

We found ourselves stalking along the far side of the river again, not far from where I encountered "the Incredible Jumping Boar" on Day 1. A group of pigs were in the distance - spying them through binoculars revealed they were a youthful but worthwhile group. Stalking up on them was easy. We watched for a few moments and I observed some interesting pig behaviour; rough play with some clear factions or sides to the group.

A crashing noise from elsewhere, probably another pig, put the proverbial wind up them and they were off. I fired off the first shot hitting my target, with instinct I put in a second shot to be sure. Dead on, a kill-shot.

I had a photo taken with the pig I had just dropped - he was a swift devil and I was happy to have him on my list of takings. Picking up my spent brass I noticed the two different brands of bullet. That got me thinking about the bullets. My outfitter and I returned to the quarters on the property and had a beer and good chat about hunting deer and his new rifle.

My work was done. I had a trophy, I had hunted the boars of Far North Queensland and I would return home having learned much about tracking and hunting boars.

Returning Home

It was off to the airport in Townsville in the morning and sad to leave that beautiful part of the world. I bid farewell to the outfitter, who I thanked for the trip and teaching me so much about hunting.

On the plane I thought about the projectiles and planned to test accuracy with my rifle and the unfamiliar factory ammunition. I would find that this ammunition would not give me consistent groups at 100 meters at the shooting range, from a benchrest position. Shooting my tried and trusted factory ammunition, I was getting consistent groups as I was accustomed. The suspect ammunition may work fine for some rifles, however, the combination of my firearm and these projectiles had the potential to ruin the whole hunting adventure. I will always ensure i have a good combination of rifle, optics and projectile as a matter of course, before each hunting trip. A lesson learned.

Heading home after a successful hunting trip is a great feeling, especially with some nice ivory and stories to tell. I can only recommend readers head north and experience the boar hunting of legend.

David B, Editor, Champ Magazine

More Essential Pig Hunting Kit

Your pig hunting kit cannot be complete without some close quarters carving and chopping gear. When it comes to boars, this trip provided many ocassions where if I had pulled the shot, I would have been in danger. HuntAdventure stock a hatchet, gut-hook and sharpening set to complement the bowie knife, I have shown you above. The hatchet is basic and not a pretty piece but it is rugged and reliable. With it sharp and at the ready, I feel better prepared to face wild boars.

My marksmanship was dead on with this pig - 100m, off hand as it was on the move. The smile says it all.

Townsville International Airport - for a regional-cum-international airport, the facilities here were excellent. The staff were professional and knew how to manage transporting and looking after firearms for passengers. I received excellent service and can highly recommend travelling with a firearm through Townsville airport.