Canadian Hunter returns after 16 years to target bushpig

Last week Darryll Hartwick from Canada returned to Blaauwkrantz to target bushpig.Darryll hunted here in 1997 with my Father,Arthur Rudman as his PH when he bagged amongst others a very good "black" bushbuck ram.

After multiple other African hunting destinations and 16 years later Darryll was unlucky on the first evening of his 2nd Blaauwkrantz hunt when the pigs caught our wind, so it was all up to the last evening of his short four day hunt  to taste bushpig success.In between he managed to hunt a fine common reedbuck and grysbok too and so not only was he lucky in dropping this fine 150lbs boar in its tracks but the pigs actually got to the bait before complete darkness, making his twilight shot quite a special occurrence in itself.

Well done to Darryll, our current Bushking!

450 Nitro Express slays a tusker on Blaauwkrantz

Bigbore huntsman Dave Branham from Arizona managed to shoot this old tusker with his 450 Nitro Express double rifle last week after an exciting hunt.

Driving along in my Landcruiser, we spotted the pig disappearing into some very thick bush and as it did I noticed that the old beast was limping quite a bit.We set off after it and due to our extremely thick bush we naturally could hardly see a thing.I got my tracker Jeffrey and student PH,Andrew to track the monster while Dave and I waited ahead in a clearing hoping they would flush it.This was also fruitless.Knowing that this was a really special trophy I decided to fetch the tracker dogs and after a couple of hours we were back at the spot and not long after turning Chalky and Jone loose we heard that they had something in bay.Dave's short double rifle was perfect for the crawling and pushing through the dense thicket to where the hounds were barking.The dogs knew better than to get too close and kept their distance making it possible for Dave to shoot the boar at 6 yards in the thick stuff.It took off and disappeared again but after a 25 yard track we found the beast dead with a good double lung shot.
It was a really old tusker, possibly 12-13 years old and had been fighting with other boars in the rut, resulting in the injuries and limp that I noticed when we first saw it.The longest tusk measured just shy of 14 inches making it a really great warthog for Blaauwkrantz.

Congratulations Dave!

Gary Gilliam-Blaauwkrantz's latest Hogslammer!

Congratulations to Mr Gary Gilliam from Texas who completed the Hogslam at Blaaukrantz last week.He had the distinction of doing it on a single safari too!Gary made two excellent shots to take down these two old boars.The warthogs are right in the middle of their rut now...so that helped a bit.Luckily the buhspig took just one night at a bait and weighed in at 165lbs with tusks that should be at least a silver medal, SCI.Gary sure is a lucky hog hunter!

Bearing in mind that large warthog boars are never easy to find and all bushpigs are extremely elusive, Blaauwkrantz is one of the few places in South Africa where a hunter can target both  hog species with a relatively high rate of success on a single trip.This Hogslam is becoming very popular as hunters are realising this challenge.

Good hunting,
E

Blaauwkrantz... home of the monsters

Although bushpigs are widespread on Blaauwkrantz,a chance encounter with these ghostlike creatures is rather slim especially since they rarely wander into openings during the day, instead they surround themselves with the impenetrable bush that Blaauwkrantz has famously preserved as habitat for its huntable game.Targeting them as a hunting trophy can be very a tricky affair and in the last few years we have proven that it is not only possible to target bushpigs as trophies here, but to bring down the bombers at a rate that is second to none.

Through a baiting process that has seen a lot of trial and error, we are seeing some truly monstrous specimens being delivered and recently a certain hunter, Mr Ramsey McCreary from Texas was lucky enough to shoot one of these Blaauwkrantz monsters.This bushpig boar weighed an astounding 94kg or 207lbs!This is the second heaviest pig ever weighed on Blaauwkrantz after Jimmy Greer also from Texas, took one that weighed a massive 97kg or 213,4lbs in May 2012.

Bushpigs are never an easy quarry, but Blaauwkrantz has certainly proven its ability to deliver big pigs that compare to best anywhere in Africa with a rare and valuable consistency.

Ramsey McCreary's 207 lbs bushpig
May 2013

                                    

Jimmy Greer's Blaauwkrantz record
May 2012

BBM invite from world renown bushpig specialist

Here is a great story about a recent bushpig hunt written by good friend Russell Adshade,enjoy!
BBM invite from world renown bushpig specialist