Jackal and Wart-hog hunting

[300H&H]

although my first prize when hunting will always be a big kudu bull, i truly enjoy hunting jackal and wart-hog. i recently bought a fox pro caller and added the African calls. i am yet to experience success with it but i believe it is only a matter of time. i dont think there is enough emphases in s-Africa on jackal hunting as as a form of commercial hunting. i have seen this topic is rather dead here in the forums so this thread is my attempt to spice up this topic.

i hunt jackal and wart-hog about twice a week. i go out at say 14:30(as soon as my office gets too hot) and hunt for hogs and as soon as it gets dark we switch on the spotlight and look for jackal. i act as some sort of pest control for the local farmers with the exception that i dont ask money to shoot jackal. it is just my way of saying thanks to the farmers for allowing me on their land and plus i am not professional/good enough to ask money.

now according to all literature on the subject the wart-hog does not wonder outside at night, now i have shot about 30% of all my hogs at night.

now a couple of questions:
-are there more of you hunters out there that also like hunting pigs and jackal instead of a normal springbok/blesbok hunt?

-has anyone else shot a wart-hog at night?

- any tips on using the fox pro?

some jackal and wart-hog photo's http://s775.photobucket.com/albums/y...and%20jackals/

[blade user]

wow! you`ve got some real nice looking warthogs there!

i can`t offer you any advice on hunting them or jackals...but i do wish you good luck with it.

[THOMAST]

Go to the Jaracal website, you will find a lot of info about night shooting & jackal & caracal

[marshy]

300H&H, what rifle do you use on the warties and the jackal?

[Bundu Ric]

We see many warthogs in the middle of the night and early hours of the morning on the game cameras drinking, foraging etc.

[hagar]

I have called both jackal and warthog with a hand call on trips back to SA, killed about 6 or 7 jackal, let the warthogs go (reluctantly!). I hunted coyotes in Arizona for 12 years, and became quite good at it, winning my hunting club's caller of the year award in 1992. I wrote an article about calling coyotes that was published in the November 1992 issue of SA Magnum.

Jackal are easy to call if you know what you are doing. I find them less wary than coyotes, because coyotes are educated by a lot of good callers hunting the area. Lots of people call jackal, but most have no idea what they are doing, and do not educate the jackal as much. I called 2 that I called in and shot within 45 seconds start to finish! Called another one so quick that my nephew missed at close range with a shotgun, he did not expect action to be so fast and furious.

Forget about the night calling with spotlights, early mornings are best, but I have called them all times of day, mid day and at dusk. The one place where I had a hard time, was the Eastern Cape. We hunted jackal hard on sheep farms where supposedly they had a lot of jackal, and I only saw one that did not present a shot.

There are a few secrets about being a successful caller, #1 being make absolutely no noise getting out of your vehicle and approaching the stand. Do not slam doors, or even have the radio playing in the vehicle. If you have to load guns, do it here, but do it quietly. Communicate with your partner via hand signals or at the most a very soft whisper. I move at least 300 yards from my vehicle, and I try and hide the vehicle so it cannot be seen, or reflect a lot of sunlight. Once you sit down in front of a suitable bush/tree, sit for a minute or two to let things calm down.

Tip #2, camoflage every part of your body, your arms, hands, face, wear a face mask and gloves. Scan slowly from side to side, do not make any sudden movements.

Tip #3, do not call too loud, either with a hand call or electronic call. If you can hear it more than 100 yards away, all the jackal will be running the other way. I prefer a hand call, because you can start with a low moaning and gradually increase the pitch and noise level over a period of 10-15 minutes.

Tip #4, pick a good stand where you can see things coming, have a buddy watch your back, but do not take more than 3 people on a stand. If they think it's funny and cannot sit stil, get another partner. Sit in front of a bush, not behind it. If you shoot a shotgun, you can sit inside it, but watch for snakes!

Tip #5 - smells. Do not eat your peanut butter sandwich on the stand, or pee against the bush before you start. I don't think you have to cover yourself with lion urine to fool the jackal, but pay attention to the wind, and try and call into the wind. Sometimes it is not possible, and if you find a good stand with the wind blowing at your back, pay attention to animals coming in from the side.

Tip #6, your shooting equipment. I finally settled on a 26 inch 223 Remington VS and a 25-C Harris swivel bipod, and sitting on a low beach or stadium chair. The sitting bipod is invaluable for shooting at a distance, and I made many kills I never could have made offhand or with a hasty sling. The swivel feature is nice because you can stand the bipod up on one leg and follow a running jackal. The long barrel of the 223 also did not make a lot of noise, if I killed a coyote I would call at least another 5-10 minutes and I got a lot more doubles than with the noisy 22-250. My record was 12 coyotes called in one stand! We did not kill them all, but we got a few.

Tip #7 - when you see the predator. Do not move, shout, fall off your chair or make any sudden movements, or whisper loudly to your partner "ek sien die foggen jakkals". The jackal will be looking straight at you, and will be spooked by any sudden movements. If you see it running in, wait till it goes behind a bush and slowly raise your rifle. If you have a partner, you can distract it with a lip squeek while your partner takes aim. If you are alone, you can try and slowly raise your rifle, and I mean reallll slowwww. I started hunting with an electronic call when hunting alone for 2 reasons, it took the predators attention away from you, and I had too many narrow encounters where I literally had to shoot coyotes coming from behind or the side off my lap.

Tip #8 - handcalls. If you sound like a duck, you are doing it wrong. You want to try and make small whimpering or shrieking noises, and you have to block the call with the palm of your hand to accomplish that. It is not a vulvasella that you blow...

I will try and find some of my jackal pics and post them here. I also called a kudu cow, a secretary bird, a big eagle, meercats and cows. If you get real good at it, you will be surprised how many you can call, and how close you can call them. Do not hunt alone where lions and leopards roam!

[hagar]

Another tip I want to add, do your homework before you start calling. Look for sign in the road, footprints, scat, etc. Drive the roads at night and listen for jackal howling, talk to the landowners. Know what you possibly can encounter in your calling area, and every time you sit down and start a stand, expect to call something. It will keep you sharp. It is quite unnerving to fall asleep to your partners 'waaaa-waaa-waaa' and wake up and stare a curious coyote, fox, deer, bear or cow in the face. Never happened to me, but I had a partner that would sleep and got run over by a coyote or fox more than once.

We called many mountain lions, we just seldom saw them. Sometimes they would scream at you, or the birds would start going nuts, and you would find the tracks afterwards. That is also a good tip, walk a big circle about 70 yards from where you made the stand, and look for fresh tracks. At least 1/2 of the animals you call, you never see.

[BigT]

Um does Jackal taste good?

[FrankH]

Um does Jackal taste good?

My corporals during my "instructors phase" seemed to think so. Cant remember why we had to bring back biltong , but my best friend shoot one before a long weekend specifically for them

He insured enough seasoning and spice. The two corporals couldn't believe the amount given to them and certainly enjoyed it

[Bundu Ric]

although my first prize when hunting will always be a big kudu bull,

Just for your taste butts....A 56 1/2 inch bull i took with the bow.