Eardley's Bushpig

Another record tumbles at Blaauwkrantz!

2011-08-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

In line with my previous remarks about the fantastic proliferation of wildlife on our 80 000 acre private property another record has been broken : a 15" warthog!

Just like all other wildlife species, warthogs have benefited tremendously from our principles of incentivised conservation in recent years.

The incentive that has allowed this proliferation is ironically the funds generated from sport hunting and trophy hunting in particular.

This 12+ year old monster warthog is proof of this: we do not allow indiscriminate shooting and killing of animals, but rather meticulously select only certain old animals to be harvested by the paying hunter.

Economic value has allowed the wildlife to sustain itself on our land and clearly thrive as we invest in neighbouring land/habitat whenever the opportunity arises by means of funds generated from the wildlife itself.If the wildlife didn't have value we would simply be forced to sustain our resident employed staff and their large burgeoning families by increasing domesticated livestock flocks, which as we all know can easily lead to desertification, environmental degradation and other habitat destruction.

Congratulations to Luke Blewett from Idaho for being the lucky hunter who was at the right place at the right time to make the perfect shot on this fantastic trophy earlier this month.

NEW BLOG ADDRESS

2011-08-29T22:53:00.000-07:00

My new blog address is www.eardleyrudman.blogspot.com

Read more about bushpigs and conservation on private land in our region in the Eastern Cape here.

Best Wishes!

Mark Biggs-Successful baitman!

2010-09-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Mark Biggs of Port Elizabeth in himself baiting and eventually shooting a bushpig in just the moonlight!

Mark has access to a friend's property,Longhill, very near to our property,Blaauwkrantz.

The property was recently bought and a lot of investment and work has been done in converting it into a private game ranch.The owner and Mark have a management idea for all the other trophy species except for the one specie that remains under the radar...yes you guessed it,the bushpig.

I mentioned to Mark that there are healthy populations of bushpigs there although they are hardly ever seen.So much so that many other landowners often doubt the presence of bushpigs on their properties.Bushpigs occur almost everywhere where there is cover and fences can't keep them in or out.

I advised Mark on how to set up a bait site and make use of an old house as a blind.

Mark did all this to the tee and also made use of a digital scouting camera to monitor their patterns.

I joined Mark on Wednesday afternoon the 15Th Sept to attempt a stakeout for these "ghosts".The moon was waxing very nicely and the forecast showed a clear night.We sat from sunset(6:30pm) till 10pm when I noticed a bushpig at the bait site.A layer of cloud had emerged and enveloped the moon.Mark struggled to see the pig at first but after a bit of frantic low level-frequency chatter Mark could make out the pig in the darkness.The shot of my 300 Win Mag topped with the Zeiss illuminated reticule scope roared and the muzzle blast temporarily blinded us.

Mark said that he missed!

I couldn't believe it since it was only a 45 yard shot.What I did see was blood running down from above Marks eye...He certainly was a member of the Half-Moon club already!

We walked over to the bait and low and behold there was a very nice boar lying stone dead.

Mark not only made it to the Half Moon Club but the Bushpig in the Moonlight Club too.

May the bushpigs on Longhill Farm also prove their value and sustain this fantastic endeavour of preserving natural habitat in order to sustainably utilise the wildlife.

Long-live the wildlife on Longhill!

David "Skip" Erickson,Montana, the newest Bushking!

2010-09-01T23:55:00.000-07:00

If luck isn't on your side then intrepidness is the name of the game and Skip showed tremendous resolve in eventually bagging a good boar after four nights and a total of twenty hours in bushpig blinds.

Skip has been hunting Africa since 1985 and has never been able to add a bushpig to his Children's Museum collection despite hunting in areas where they occur. He heard about the Bushpigs of Blaauwkrantz and set his sights on a trip here to collect a bushpig amongst other unique Eastern Cape species.Skip cleverly planned his safari to coincide with the full moon too.

No sooner had Skip arrived and we set off with his son,Rob,to a bait site where I felt we had a good chance.The Moon was one night from full so we only had three good nights to be able to see what was going on when any pigs appeared at the site.

We sat two nights at this bait site without any pigs showing up.I was confused but not surprised as bushpigs do this,just when you think you've got them they throw a curve ball!

We went to another site on the third night and sat there till 12:30 am,still nothing...!I was getting worried as the next night the moon would only rise at 8:40pm .If the pigs came in before that we would have trouble in seeing them and of course making that shot.

Skip was resolute and showed no sign of giving in and we headed off to the site that we sat on the 3rd night again.At about 8:15pm I noticed what looked like a pig scurrying around the bait site.We watched it there till the moon came out and Skip could see it clear enough in the scope.

Skip made a shot and the pig dashed off into the night.I almost felt worry but Skip said he was right on the pig.We walked the 70 yards to the bait site in anticipation and Skip found some blood and then saw the pig lying in some brush not more than 20 yards from where he had shot.

Since Skip's Bushking accolade two more bushpig hunters have arrived at Blaauwkrantz and the first missed his shot and the other ended before it started.But these stories are better left untold,although to be fair the moon was gone and bushpigging without moon would be chancing it anyway.

Bushpigs aren't for everyone but understanding that they aren't just a normal hog or feral pig goes a long way in actually successfully hunting one.

Congratulations Skip!

Rob Woodward-The new Bushking!

2010-08-21T02:16:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Rob Woodward from Kona,Hawaii for successfully hunting a bushpig on Wednesday evening the 18Th July.

Rob had spent a total 14 hours at two different baits over a period of three evenings before he made that shot at a SCI bronze medal bushpig.The moonlight certainly helped us identify the bigger pig that appeared at 8:30 pm.Our relief and joy was tangible when the boar went down.

Once again our stoic efforts in habitat conservation has been rewarded by being able to hunt our wildlife that has value.Bushpigs have value not only as a hunting trophy but financially too.

We will continue to diligently conserve our very sensitive Valley Bushveld habitat thanks to bushpigs and the other species with value that exist here.

Thank-you bushpigs.

The new Bushking Award

2010-07-31T03:46:00.000-07:00

Because targeting and actually succeeding in shooting a bushpig is not something that any Safari Outfit can even try let alone suggest, I feel that when a Blaauwkrantz Hunter attempts a bushpig he/she needs to be honoured when achieving his goal in shooting a bushpig.

As this blog of mine is mainly to describe what bushpigs are really all about, the Bushking trophy is merely the crowning glory of all this description.Reading all the past posts and many yet to come hopefully gets the message through what bushpigs are all about.

Our bushpigs live in a very sensitive habitat in the Eastern Cape namely the Valley Bushveldt Biome and because we are permitted to hunt bushpigs and enjoy the sport they provide and meat they supply(the locals are very partial to this meat) we are extremely determined in conserving their habitat.Habitat conservation is the cornerstone of all our wildlife resources and on private property the sustainable utilisation of our bush animals such as bushpig, bushbuck and kudu naturally ensure that we guard our sensitive habitat from livestock overgrazing and constructions such as powerlines and mines.

The Bushking Award is a floating trophy that is awarded to the newest, successful bushpig hunter.The "necklace" consists of bushpig tusks and porcupine quills that I put together myself. A Board of Honour is on the wall at the Buhpig Bar in the lodge to acknowledge the holders.

The picture accompanying this post is that of Rafael F.Ruiz from Spain who was the inaugural winner of the new Bushking Award.

Congratulations also to Tom Harrison and Hans Zagleur who have since won the award, they will join all the other bushpig hunters in the "Bushpig Hall of Fame" too.

Long live bushpigs.

Great bushpig hunting in the waxing moon during July at Blaauwkrantz!

2010-07-31T01:22:00.000-07:00

Rafael F. Ruiz (Spain) PH Eardley+Tom Harrison(N.Carolina) Hans Zagleur(Montana)

In the space of four nights these three lucky hunters managed to hunt these three bushpigs each at a different baitsite.What made it even more remarkable is that they were all taken in just the moonlight.

The moon was waxing beautifully from 1st quarter on the 18Th July when Rafael arrived and headed straight to the bushpig blind not far from the lodge with myself.At 19h10 he made the moonlight shot to take a boar,congratulations Rafael!

On Monday afternoon the 19Th PH Eric and Hans headed to another bait site and settled into the blind just before dark.They saw a lot of animals moving around them but the elusive bushpigs didn't arrive.They lucked out!

The next afternoon Tom arrived from North Carolina and immediately set off to another bait site with myself. With a cameraman in tow we didn't wait long after dark when the hogs showed up.There were a bunch of them milling about but Tom and myself managed to isolate the biggest one and Tom also made an excellent shot in the moonlight to take a very nice boar.Congratulations Tom!

Meanwhile Hans and Eric where at another blind waiting patiently....As their luck would have it nothing other than warthogs were showing themselves. Again they lucked out!Hans had sat out two nights on his previous safari here in 2008 without success either.So he had spent four nights now without luck.The pressure was on.The next afternoon they headed to the same blind they were in the night before as I said there was no chance the bushpigs would stay away there two nights in a row.At 18h40 the bushpigs appeared and Hans made that shot,congratulations!

Apart from this feat of three bushpigs in four nights at Blaauwkrantz, is that Tom and Rafael had made 25 hunting safaris to Africa between them and had neither taken a bushpig yet.They had been to countries like Tanzania, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Zambia, Namibia, Benin, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana and South Africa with Tom only once catching a glimpse of them in Tanzania.

No one can ever guarantee getting the extremely shy bushpig, but I can certainly say that Blaauwkrantz has something special here.

Yours in buhpigs,

This is how we are giving our wildlife a chance on private land

2010-07-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

Less than two weeks ago my Brother,Francois, and I apprehended and arrested this poacher with his plunder on our property,Blaauwkrantz.
The Police were still on their way by the time we risked our lives and intercepted him before he crossed the boundary.He is still in their custody.Although this incident was a relatively uncommon occurence,our efforts weren't just by chance as we are constantly vigilant on our private property and have professional scouts giving us the alarm should any trespassers/poachers be spotted.

This is the beauty of the equation involving private land and "incentivised" conservation :the wildlife is really being protected.

We don't JUST talk conservation...we DO conservation here.

More specifically the value attached to these animals,by means of ethical hunting,is paying for their own protection.This sounds like a strange statement to the misinformed, but this is the only way wildlife will survive on this planet in future.

Competition and demand for the resource of land is growing all the time and therefore land has to sustain itself and what better way than keeping it in its natural state?If the wildlife has no value it will unfortunately result in its marginalisation and promotion of other forms of agricultural practices and land uses such as increased livestock farming,crops and mining etc.

I'm happy to report that bushpigs are very much part of this resource sustainability equation and they are actually financially contributing not only to the protection of their own but even more importantly,their habitat.Poachers and trespassers rarely risk their freedom as a result of all this "incentivised" vigilance around here.

Bushpigs forever!

Bushpig Taxidermy

2010-07-10T05:53:00.000-07:00

Bushpigs are such unusual looking animals that I always recommend the full mount to give the correct visual perception of what these strange animals really look like.They have very large heads with extended snouts and the boars have those prominent warts or protuberances from their upper snouts that make them look almost alien-like.Bushpigs also have those glistening, shaggy coats that distinguish them from all other pigs.Their short stocky legs are also a feature of interest.

An extended wall-pedestal would also give the mount its due as just a frontal view doesn't allow for enough depth.Bushpigs can't turn their heads, so a 1/2 turn on a head mount is not an option and just plain straight-facing head mounts aren't fashionable anymore.The wall pedestal would then be advisable if not going for the full mount.

In the end it's up to the hunter to choose but these are such fascinating strange creatures that they deserve all the credit they can get,believe me!

Immortalising the bushpig hunt is just another good reason to give this animal its due.

Long Live Bushpigs!!

(The full mount of the bushpig attached to this entry is that of a goat killing pig that I shot in November 2008.The excellent taxidermy was done by Basil and Kevin Boucher of Port Elizabeth)

Some more tips for practising that moonlit shot

2010-06-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

In three more nights the new moon will be bright enough to illuminate a target early in the evening with each night getting brighter as the moon nears the full stage on June 26Th.

A couple more tips that I have thought of in addition to the previous entry to practice looking through the scope in the moonlight , is firstly to make sure the backdrop of the target ( e.g. a 40lbs hay bale ) is lighter than the target. This will easily outline the target.Bushpigs normally appear black in the moonlight,so the backdrops of most bait sites are lighter than the pigs.

The second most important tip here is to make sure that there are no shadows on the target such as from tree branches or other structures.Trying to see something in moon shadow will be difficult for most people.

Obviously the less cloud cover there is the better to see something in the moonlight too.

The distance is always important too, anything further than 100 yards starts getting difficult for anyone when looking through the scope in the moonlight.

Lastly....keep eating those carrots!!!

Preparing yourself for that moonlit shot..

2010-06-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

Shooting a bushpig in the moonlight may not be longest shot you'll ever make but it may the most extreme shot you'll ever take in terms of quality of light.In other words it's like the saying goes..."almost a shot in the dark!"The emphasis here is on the word ALMOST, so here is a simple exercise that may help prepare you for this shot of a lifetime.

I'd suggest before embarking on the long trip over here, to practice looking through a very good light gathering scope (such as a Zeiss or Swarovski with at least a 50mm objective) at an object roughly the size of a bushpig during a moonlight night. A 50 lbs hay bale at plus minus 75 yards should do the trick.
If you can see the hay bale in the moonlight through the scope you should be able to see the bushpig at bait when the hunt is on.
I understand that the skies aren't always as clear in the Northern Hemisphere countries as we are lucky to have here in Africa, but when it's full moon there should be ample light filtering through for this exercise.
Don't worry about the cross hair, the scopes we have here have very faintly illuminated reticules to show where to hold. All you need to do is to identify and practice looking into the darkness.

Hunters should also read and research the bushpig before arriving as this will certainly help them understand this elusive and wary quarry they are targeting.

The sense of achievement and the look of pure elation I've seen on many bushpig hunters faces after making this incredible shot certainly goes a long way in me encouraging prospective bushpig hunters to succeed too.

Happy Hunting!

The Southern Africa (SA) HOG SLAM

2010-05-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

Tony Silva, May 2010

Dr Terry Witzu, June 2009

In the Southern African countries of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique there are two indigenous wild pig species. Most hog hunters should know these to be the warthog and the bushpig.

Further North in the equatorial belt the red river hog replaces the bushpig and the giant forest hog also occurs in these rain forests. Along the the Mediterranean coast of North Africa the Barbary boar (similar to the European boar) represents the wild pigs there.

In the Eastern Cape of South Africa both the warthog and bushpig occur in relatively good numbers. When considering a safari to Blaauwkrantz the Southern Africa Hog Slam is a goal that all hog hunters should try for, given that hunting these two species is relatively cheap as compared to a current guided safari in Central and East African Countries such as Central African Republic, Cameroon, Benin, Tanzania and Ethiopia where legal trophy hog hunting is still possible but at a hefty price.

Bushpigs are a challenge in themselves (just read all the other blog entries) and the thing with warthogs is to try find a monster boar (10 inch tusks or more). Finding a really big warthog takes a lot of luck , of course location and what is also really important is the time of the year. From end of April until end of June the big warthog boars come out of hiding and start getting restless as they start marking territories and scouting for sows that may be on heat. That eerie sound of a big warthog boar chomping on his tusks is a really strange and exciting sound...

At Blaauwkrantz we have had a few fortunate hunters who have completed the SA Hog Slam and note ably the following clients have done it on a single safari :

1. Danny Hicks (May 2007)

2. Dr. John Tucker (May 2008)

3. Val Nicholls (May 2009)

4. Dr. Terry Witzu (June 2009)

5. Dr. Chad Nelson (April 2010)

6. Tony Silva (May 2010)

Last night Larry Boyd tried but was unlucky in completing this single safari Hog Slam. He took a spectacular warthog (see www.blaauwkrantz.com/latestnews ) a couple days before but true to the wary bushpigs ,they didn't come to the party...Next time Larry!

The One that got away....almost,Anthony (Tony) Silva,California

2010-05-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

In May 2007 Danny Hicks from Central Valley,California hunted with me and one of his priority species was the hard-to-target bushpig.His safari lasted 6 days and after an initial disappointment at missing a bushpig at bait,Danny managed to get another chance a few evenings later and shot a very large bushpig.He wrote a story about this hunt and submitted it Safari Club International and they duly published it in their bi-monthly magazine.

Danny wanted to return again with some friends who he hunts with in California, one of their quarry species is feral pigs.

Last week Danny returned to Blaauwkrantz with three of his friends and one of them,Tony Silva, is an avid hog hunter over there and had heard all about bushpigs from Danny and through our meetings at the SCI show in Reno each year.

Tony understood very well that hunting the bushpig was a different ball game all together to feral pigs..

Due to the moon on the waning phase, things were always going to be tough when staking out these nocturnal creatures at bait.

I had a bait set up where I thought the pigs wouldn't be too nervous of the spotlight that we would need to illuminate the target instead of the preferred moonlight.

We spent two nights at this sheep carcass where my camera had indicated some pigs coming in.

The 10 hours we spent there in total proved totally fruitless.It was tough but I must commend Tony on his resilience and intrepidness at being able to sit so still for so long.These bushpigs are worth that effort and Tony fully understood that!

We had two nights left of the safari and we were trying to squeeze in as much other hunting as possible as we were hunting a 2x1 which effectively halved the hunting time per hunter,so the pressure was on..(see the Blaauwkrantz website http://www.blaauwkrantz.com/)

On Friday the 7Th May we returned from a successful gemsbok hunt for Danny and headed straight to another one of my more established bait sites, problem is that at these spots the pigs are often wary of an artificial light.

We settled into the hide at 5:45 pm and waited for 4 hours in complete silence until I noticed two pigs through the dark night making their appearance at the bait from the thickets.The bait was only 35 yards away, so seeing the shapes through my Zeiss 8X56 binos was possible, but barely.

One of the pigs started wandering over to our hide and it looked like the sow, it was now or never as this pig was going to become aware of us inside the hide. I indicated to Tony to get ready and I put my little Surefire flashlight onto the pig at the bait, after a few stern words under my breath telling Tony to SSSShooot, he fired.

The bushpig bolted at tremendous speed and was gone into the night.We didn't hear the shot hit and the bushpig didn't drop at the shot as they often do when they are hit.

We went to investigate at the spot but saw no blood or any sign of the pig.The reality started dawning,Tony might've missed.We were all feeling sick and travelled the 25 min trip back to the lodge in complete silence.

Tony did however say he felt confident at his shot.

The next morning I went to investigate in daylight as this bait site was close to my home.

I saw not a drop of blood and was getting really despondent after a few minutes of it becoming a reality that Tony had missed.Suddenly, Marty my Wife , Carmen's, little cross-breed poodle started barking and growling in the thick bush some distance away.I went over to investigate and to my great relief there was a 160lbs bushpig boar lying stone dead!

The 150 grain 30-06 bullet had hit the bushpig from behind as this is how it was turned when the light went on.The shot went into the stomach and chest,the bushpig probably took a while to die there,but only went 100yards, so it was the best thing we could've done ,to leave it there in the night otherwise we may of had one angry pig charging at us in the darkness.

Needless to say everyone was overjoyed when I arrived at the Lodge with Tony's monster.

Well done Tony, 14 hours at bushpig bait was well rewarded.

2010-04-30T23:22:00.000-07:00

Dr CHAD NELSON,UTAH

Chad arrived at Blaauwkrantz with his Dad,Reed and Brother Travis after making the long trip from Salt Lake City as the moon was waxing nicely in the evenings.Thanks to this blog Chad was aware that he would be here in prime bushpig hunting time:THE WAXING MOON PHASE.

On their arrival Chad indicated that he would be interested in hunting one of these ghosts.Chad was already pursuing many of the other fantastic species available too,but I assured him and his PH, Francois, that I was always prepared for bushpig hunters especially when the moon was good...

According to their tight schedule we decide that Wednesday the 28Th would be the night, it was the night of full moon and the second last night that would be available in this months' moon cycle to attempt a moonlit hunt.

The weather forecast indicated cloud cover and a possibility of rain, I had two specific baits that were getting regular hits from big pigs, and as the afternoon progressed we noticed the heavy clouds rolling in, things were looking dicey..

I eventually decided to send them to the Bloustoot Bait site that was further away from the coast than the other good one, as the inclement weather was coming in from the ocean and maybe this would give them time to hunt before the rain set in making visibility at night even harder.

Francois and Chad settled into the blind just before dark which is at 6:15 pm this time of the year. At approximately 7:15 pm a single pig appeared from the thick brush, according to Francois and Chad it seemed very nervous ,darting around the bait and disappearing into the bush again.

They were getting very excited and anxious at the same time as it appeared and disappeared,not sure if it winded them or whether it would return.Eventually at 7:30pm it reappeared and started feeding cautiously,Chad decided to shoot as it didn't seem like there was another pig with it.

Chad levelled the 300 WSM topped with a Trijicon scope on the pig,he could just make out the body through the scope in what was fast becoming a very dark night as the clouds were rolling in. The illuminated reticule indicated where to aim on the shape of the bushpig as Chad squeezed the trigger and the pig dropped dead in its tracks.Chad made a fantastic and unique shot: a bushpig in the moonlight!

The big sow tipped the scale at 67 kg or 147,4 lbs.Congratulations Chad and welcome to the Bushpig Hall of Fame!(see the picture)

Happy Hunting..

(See the rest of Chad and his Family's fantastic trophies on the Blaauwkrantz website at http://www.blaauwkrantz.com/ )

Bushpig Downtime..

2010-04-12T05:32:00.000-07:00

The moon is disappearing and soon it will be New Moon...So in the meantime the nights are pretty dark and no good to see those ghosts coming in or not coming in to those baits!
The baits are getting hits but without moon there's cant be too much pig-action..
Watch this space though!

Ghost in the darkness taken!

2010-03-27T03:07:00.000-07:00

Fleming Lund and his parents with his trophy bushpig taken in just the moonlight.We've had an early start to season this year,with two Swedish clients arriving in the 1st week of Feb already. The second Swedish hunter,Ulf Daniellson , arrived a couple weeks later and bushpig was on his list.
Although both hunts were conducted in generally hot conditions the other trophies taken were fortunately hot too!
PH Eric guided both hunts and managed to negate the heat and hunting very well.
I took Ulf out on two evenings in the waxing moon phase.The first night was fruitless with no pigs coming to the bait we were staking out.
The next evening I decided to switch locations and it wasn't long and a pig made its appearance.There was a bit of cloud cover obscuring the 1st quarter moon, so Ulf battled to see the bushpig at first.When he managed to pick the pig up in the scope he shot and the pig dropped in its tracks.I could see the bushpig spinning around where it fell and yelled ; shoot again!
Before Ulf could shoot again the pig jumped up and disappeared into the moonlit night never to be seen again.
After a sleepless night we went to investigate the next morning but only found its tracks where it made the speedy getaway into the notorious Eastern Cape thorny thickets that the famous author, Maj. Pretorius , once called "a hunters hell" in his book , Jungle Man.
Ulf's shot was probably high on the shoulder.Bushpigs are one of the harder species to target and this episode clearly illustrated just that.
Hard lines Ulf, maybe next time!

Halfway through March old friend ,Fihl Jensen, from Denmark returned for his seventh visit to Blaauwkrantz.He brought the Lund Family with him for their first African trip.
Fihl, a Bushpig Hall of Famer himself , indicated to Flemming Lund that he should accept the famous bushpig challenge in addition to his plains game package he was hunting. After arriving and spending a few days out in the thick bush and being assured by PH Francois that there were buhpigs all over but hardly ever spotted, he accepted the challenge to target the these "ghosts".
The first evening I took Fleming out , was the night before first quarter (Mon 22March).
Once again that group of bushpigs' sixth sense rescued them and we sat till 10 pm with nothing coming in.
The next evening,at a different spot, saw a clear night with the first quarter shining brightly once the sunlight had gone. At 7:50 pm two pigs came walking almost within touching range from our bush blind.The wind was good so they didn't smell us.They passed by and did their customary "circle" around the bait and then closed in.We could clearly see the boar was larger than the sow,although this is not always the case.(bushpig sows are good trophies too)They had their heads facing us as they started feeding.They stayed in this position for more than 15minutes.These 15 minutes felt more like 15 hours!Finally the boar turned and Fleming made an excellent shot with the bushpig dropping dead in its tracks.Fleming was using his .308 topped with a Swarovski Z6i 3-18 X 50P scope.This scope also has the feint orange dot to indicate the centre.This rig makes for an excellent bushpig combination in this type of hunt.
The bushpig weighed 70 kilograms or 154 lbs.Tusks should go good silver medal SCI.

Congratulations to Fleming Lund ,the first Bushpig Hall of Famer for 2010!

What's the difference between a trophy species and a non-trophy species?

2010-03-09T11:17:00.000-08:00

I often wonder about this topic as who can really say they have the authority to call a trophy a trophy and who cant?
Why should Rowland Ward or SCI decide that certain species are good enough to "make" the book and others not?
I suppose if it has horns,antlers or tusks there seems to be consensus they "make" the book because they can be measured.But what about the cats?They don't have horns,antlers or tusks yet they're in the book.
What about the impressive Zebra? They're not in the "book" although they have a skull like the cats.
Why should some be left out while others enjoy all the glory?

I'm sure the folks who put the record books spent a lot of time discussing this issue: is size really always the goal?
At the end of the day it is each individual hunter who decides what is HIS trophy and how much hew rates it.
The bushpig probably doesn't look as regal as the sable antelope to most but that's just looks..what about all the other qualities like degree of difficulty that are attributed to species?Surely they count too?
Fortunately these other qualities are mostly in the eye of the beholder as they can't be measured with a tape.

I'm happy to say the bushpig makes the "book" as a trophy species in both publications and is much more than that in my eyes too.

Proof that bushpigs can fly!

2010-02-20T03:35:00.000-08:00

Almost as if this pig read my last entry...he also had to show that I wasn't making things up about bushpigs flying.

The flash didn't quite light him up as he was a bit further away but one can still see him "taking off" into the night with his partner looking on in the background.

Amazing picture,amazing animals..

Meet the Superpig...ready get set...

2010-02-17T05:50:00.000-08:00

At one of my baitsites last night,my Reconyx Rapidfire camera took a picture of this bushpig in a great pose.

With a physique like that one can understand why I regard them the ultimate pig.Usain Bolt would hardly be over the the 50m mark and this pig would be over the finish line!!

These pigs Can fly.

Twitter Account

2010-02-16T01:41:00.000-08:00

I've got a Twitter account going and through my limited Internet skills I managed to get it linked to this blog post.So I'll be trying to give even more updates regarding bushpigs and other wildlife conservation issues in general on privately owned land through sustainable utilization.
The Internet is also playing an important role in wildlife conservation!
Thank-you Silicone Valley!

The heat is on!!

2010-02-15T02:22:00.000-08:00

So our show season is over and we are back from a tremendous amount of travelling and moving in the fantastic US of A! As arduous and tiring all the airports and flights are,as accommodating the rest of the great country is.

From the cold winter in North America to the dry heat of South Africa!February is generally the hottest and driest month here.The bit of rain we normally get at this time evaporates quicker than I can down a cold Castle after a long day in the cricket field!

It's certainly not the most favourable time to hunt but the cooler afternoons just before sunset is a good time to be out there although this a relatively short part of the day.The rest of the day is perilous!

Every night the bushpigs are feasting on the sweet prickly pear fruit that are dropping by the thousands from their thorny mother plants. Baiting them at this time is tougher but they are carbo-loading big time right now.

I have just returned from a bait site and my camera took a picture of me in the heat,and it's not even the hottest part of the day yet! It'll probably go to 45C today...118F-check the picture.

(my camera is in the shade)

I'll try get a entry on this post every week from now on for those that are interested in things relating bushpig.

The heat is on!

Dallas Safari Club

2010-01-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

The 2010 Dallas Safari Club annual convention is up and running and Blaauwkrantz Safaris is here in full force.

As usual there are a huge amount of South African outfitters exhibiting as opposed to other African countries,with the exception of Namibia who also have a fair contingent of exhibitors.
Some don't like all the opposition but I feel it is a real attribute to South Africa to have such a tangible wildlife industry as opposed to countries like Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe who also have the habitat but clearly not the quantity of hunt able game.
The reason is simple: Private ownership.
South Africa's ownership policies allows for people to own land and the animals which creates the incentive to conserve.A very simple but effective initiative.

What does all this have to with bushpigs?

Blaauwkrantz harvested arguably the most bushpigs on a single property(80 000 acres) in 2009(see also 2009 bushpig report) and I can quite safely say that with South Africa having the leading wildlife industry in Africa this bushpig tally can be applied to the rest of Africa too.
So not only does Blaauwkrantz deliver the most kudu trophies in the world but the most bushpig trophies too.
All this thanks to private ownership.Lets hope it stays that way.

Kruger Park bushpigs

2010-01-05T14:05:00.001-08:00

On a recent trip to the fantastic Kruger National Park (Letaba/Phalaborwa) we looked hard and often to find any bushpigs but to no avail.

I know they are there, but it just drove home my point that even in a world famous National Park like the Kruger, bushpigs are hard to find.
We did however see some monster elephant tuskers,with the biggest going well over 100lbs a side.We also spotted some really big "duggaboy" buffalo's, a few going well over 40".There were also numerous reports of lion and leopard being spotted in the area.
We also saw other game including kudu, bushbuck, steenbok, waterbuck, warthog, impala, hippo, babboon and crocs.

But no bushpig.

This gave me even more food for thought on the bushpig and the pursuit of them as compared to the other more common and conspicuous species even in a wildlife paradise such as the Kruger.

2009 Bushpig Report

2009-11-28T02:14:00.000-08:00

John Wood from Texas with his bushpig shot in just the moonlight.Its longest tusk measured 8 14/16", a new Blaauwkrantz record and SCI possible top twenty entrant.

Dr Terry Witzu from Canada with "Ultra Daddy" the heaviest bushpig shot on Blaauwkrantz yet.(191lbs or 87kg)Terry shot this monster in just the moonlight as well. A fantastic effort!

Clanton Wood with a bushpig sow that weighed 86,5kg or 190lbs.The second heaviest pig ever weighed at Blaauwkrantz.Clanton also made an excellent shot in the full moon using my Hill Country Rifles 300 win mag fitted with the Zeiss Diavari 3-12X56 illuminated reticule scope.An ideal combination for this type of hunt that help produce these fine trophies.

2009 reflected a slight decrease in the number of trophy bushpigs taken mostly due to 25 % less hunters coming to Blaauwkrantz as compared to 2008. In 2008 we harvested 16 trophy bushpigs and in 2009 we totalled 13.It must be added that there were a few misses too by clients who ended up leaving without a bushpig. So the figure could've been slightly more although their shots were taken in spotlight and this makes things very tricky. I have been hard at work building better blinds in the last couple months so as to try eliminate as many misses as possible.My strategy of trying to hunt baited bushpigs on moonlit nights is by far the best way and certainly goes a long way in giving the shooter more time to aim and make the shot at the right pig.

When using the spotlight at the baitsite,the already skittish bushpigs,start moving around when the light comes on making it difficult for the shooter to identify and lock onto the target,many of them who have never even seen a bushpig.

So prospective bushpig hunters need to try book their safaris during the waxing phase of the moon.A generation three night vision scope will eventually be the answer though so that we wont have to rely on just the moon.There are only about 12 nights every month where the moonlight is sufficient for this extraordinary hunt.

I have also been hard at work during the year getting the bushpigs to take on sour corn at the various bait sites.It is not easy to train these wary animals to eat something they are not familiar with although once they have taken on the "pap" they cant get enough and return regularly to the baitsite albeit in a very nervous,excitable manner.I have even setup a American self-timed feeder from a tree where the warthogs,guineas and kudu have also learnt to eat the bait.I have set the time to go off just after dark,eliminating the warthogs and guineas who are diurnal.

Bushpigs run the kudu off the baits taking care of them themselves.Using sour corn instead of carcasses is a lot more flexible and allows the baiting process to be timed a lot better.

Generally the sizes of the bushpigs shot were relatively large this past year.2009 saw the heaviest bushpig taken yet on Blaauwkrantz.It weighed 87kg's(191lbs) and was shot by Dr Terry Witzu from Canada in June.

The second heaviest was taken by Clanton Wood from Houston and weighed 86,5kg's(190lbs),it incidentally was a sow taken in August.

A few nights earlier at the end of July,Clanton's Dad, John , shot a boar weighing 82kg's with a Blaauwkrantz record length tusk length of 7 14/16".

There have been some reports of certain bushpigs killing domestic goats again, so my quest to elimate the goat killers continues.Last year I managed to take out 5 of these goat killing pigs.It is very difficult and time consuming to target individual bushpigs taking into account that bushpigs are territorial yet their home ranges can overlap with other bushpigs.

2010 will hopefully be another interesting year in the dynamic and constantly evolving sport of bushpig hunting at Blaauwkrantz.

Bushpig conservation related issue

2009-11-28T00:59:00.000-08:00

On Sunday afternoon 22ND November my spotter ,Pedro, had just taken up his observation post to lookout for stock thieves and poachers as we have had some trespassing and goats being slaughtered in a certain area of our property.Nearby neighbours have reported snaring and although I haven't found any snares recently we have had a problem of stock theft and trespassing.

Pedro had been spotting every afternoon for the past week and had just settled into his position with my Zeiss 8X56 Binos when he spotted an individual walking along a cut line in the distance.The individual moved along cautiously and proceeded to Georges house,who is an employee on Blaauwkrantz.George was not at home and the person then entered his house through a window.He reappeared a short while later with a bag over his back.
He then walked to a position and put the bag down when he started herding some sheep that were about 1km from Georges house.Pedro had already alerted me by then via cellphone, and I in turn had contacted the Rapid Response Dog Unit from our Police Services who met up with me in less than half an hour of me phoning.
The extremely professional officers and I then approached or "stalked" the offender.(the wind direction made no difference on this stalk)
The suspect was duly told to freeze but instead decided to head for cover.
The police used all the hardware at their disposal to immobilise the suspect.

It turned out that this thief/poacher/trespasser has multiple other convictions against him for stock theft and poaching.He had a wire cutter on him and is no doubt the snaring offender our neighbours are complaining of.(they have solely game on their properties)
Bushpigs and warthogs are definitely this illegal hunter's favourite quarry besides our fat sheep or goats.
Due to us privately owning and managing our property and resources on our land we take extra care of our belongings and in so doing protect all our wildlife too.This is the beauty of privately owned land and wildlife in South Africa.(incentivised conservation)
Paying trophy hunters who sustain our wildlife resources with their currencies are then benefiting from this system by coming to our game rich locations.

Hunting the bushpig

2009-11-16T01:20:00.000-08:00

There are two basic ways to hunt bushpigs ,besides a very rare chance encounter, namely baiting them and hunting with hounds.

The former method has proven to be more successful,for me, when a specific trophy hunter is after a bushpig.The hound method which can be very exciting is better when no specific hunter has to shoot the pig and a group of very fit hunters can cover a larger area depending where the dogs have bayed the pig. I am not in favour of this method as a trophy hunt as it has many negativity's I'll discuss in some other entry.

Welcome

2009-08-14T05:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Eardley's Bushpig Blog

The basic reason for this information page or "blog" is to share a bit of my knowledge about bushpigs.I certainly don't know everything about these creatures but am trying to learn as much as possible about these wary pigs at the same time.

Most hunters that come to visit Blaauwkrantz don't know very much at all about the bushpig,so much so that many believe them to be feral pigs like that are found in the Americas,and the South Pacific Islands.

Bushpigs are NOT domesticated pigs running wild.

Bushpigs are an completely wild species of swine just like the warthog,red river hog,giant forest hog and Barbary boar all from Africa.

The European or Russian Boar is a wild pig species occurring in Europe and Russia.

The distinguishing characteristic of the bushpig is that it is extremely nervous and shy,and is therefore very difficult to hunt in most places of its range,which is across most of the Eastern half of Africa.Given this relatively large range that the bushpig occurs,few of these animals are hunted as trophies mainly due hunters being unaware of them and their relative difficulty to hunt.

They are normally nocturnal creatures,although they do move about during daylight inside their very thick lairs.

They have an omnivorous diet, eating anything from grass to live animals.

In my next entries I will try explain how we hunt bushpigs and add more photos amongst other things.