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12-01-2020, 00:14 #1
- Join Date
- May 2010
- Location
- Right next to the pot that needs stirring.
- Age
- 45
- Posts
- 2,157
Porcupine hunt, first for Adoonsie
Up to now I did not take my son (by now 11 years) on night time walk and stalk hunts for bushpigs. Porcupine is also found now and then on these hunts in the orchards or mealies. When things gets quick and shooting gets fast I deem it too dangerous for kids being around. Earlier this week we decided it is time for the learning curve to start on night time vermin control by walk and stalk. Walk in the dark, be quiet, listen, check the wind direction constantly, walk until you hear something, creep onto it, determine what it is by the noise they make (that comes with experience), if moonlight is sufficient identify the target and shoot by moonlight or otherwise get ready, switch on the torch and be fast and accurate.
2 Rifles is a serious no-no, so we decided that only one rifle will be taken. Should we find Porcupine, it is his shot. For Bushpig it would be mine. I am not very fond of wounded bushpig, especially with my beloved son in the vicinity. Our rifle of choice was my standard night time pig and other nasties gun which is a Marlin 1894 lever gun in .44 Magnum with self loaded Hornady XTP, 240 gr at 1600 - 1650 fps MV topped with a Burris 1-4 x 25 long eye relief scope.
Off we went. After about 30 minutes I heard the faintest noise of a porcupine giving himself away. My son heard nothing, but he did not know what to listen for. So I quietly passed him the rifle. He asked in my ear "what now?" "There is a porcupine in front of us in the watermelons son, 10-20 m away and you are to shoot it. Get ready and cock the hammer quietly."
That he did. Put the rifle to his shoulder as discussed during training. I had the torch. When the light went on, there he was. As he turned to ran he got downed with perfection. True, a .44 at that range makes a bit of a mess of a porcupine, but we are not concerned about meat damage here... For my boy it was a really pleasant experience. Happy that no wounding took place and on his first hunt out found the quarry.
A few lessons was learned and confirmed now with experience. That is good. Also that it is important to use enough gun. Yip, the .22 is able to kill porcupine, but only with excellent shot placement, and that they don't always provide. At first he asked, why not the .22? Well, now he has the reason and believes his dad.
The empty .44 case of the shot is already polished and marked with a note inside "Porcupine" and some of the pegs is getting washed now as I am typing to be bundled together as a souvenir in his room.
"Next time we get a Bushpig I shoot it Pa. You have seen now that I know how to shoot at night with the torch. Can we go tomorrow night? I am certain we will find the bushpigs then."
Oh boy, seems that a lot of sleepless nights is coming from this action. Sigh.... He is utterly hooked. Now there are two of us in one house. His poor mother...
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12-01-2020, 00:32 #2
- Join Date
- Aug 2012
- Location
- Stella
- Age
- 46
- Posts
- 10,870
Re: Porcupine hunt, first for Adoonsie
Well done!
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12-01-2020, 06:16 #3
- Join Date
- Aug 2009
- Posts
- 5,600
Re: Porcupine hunt, first for Adoonsie
Well done little Adoonsie
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12-01-2020, 06:59 #4
- Join Date
- May 2016
- Posts
- 39
Re: Porcupine hunt, first for Adoonsie
Great read, well done! It’s certainly not easy shooting at night.
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12-01-2020, 09:30 #5
- Join Date
- May 2016
- Location
- port elizabeth
- Age
- 60
- Posts
- 2,509
Re: Porcupine hunt, first for Adoonsie
Awesome.
Can you get a couple of life size Bushpig paper targets. Place them in the bush without your son knowing their position.Then do a simulated hunt at night. "stalk" up to the target,tell your son to get ready,switch on light and let him shoot. Just an idea because in a second or 2 your son has to identify target,find it in the scope [1 power and shoot with both eyes open],see position/angle of pig for shot placement and shoot. Not so easy in the dark with limited time and a bit of nerves thrown in.
I would also seriously consider letting your son carry the 44 and you carry a shotgun with a mounted light. I simply tape a torch onto my shotgun with a pressure switch on the forend for the light.
This will enable you to instantly have the pig in your light,with shotgun ready for instant use. This could very possibly save you from some nastiness as in giving you an instant back up shot to your son or,being able to shoot another pig that runs in your direction.
I have shot a pig from a group on a few occasions and have them scatter in all directions including straight at me.
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14-01-2020, 08:53 #6
- Join Date
- Apr 2010
- Location
- Bloemfontein, OFS
- Age
- 37
- Posts
- 266
Re: Porcupine hunt, first for Adoonsie
Great story. Well done young man!
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