Three little pigs... got away!
Spent the long weekend camping with family on a friend's farm. The plot (which was pretty obvious to my wife!) was to bag a pig at dawn/dusk. Three opportunities arose and I blew them all!
1) Walking to a spot where I had planned to spend the evening. Saw a piggy at about 500 metres. Crossed a ditch and closed the gap to 200 metres which was surprising since the wind was on my back. Was preparing for a shot as I saw her nose go up and she trotted off in to the bush. Moving target, low light and the limit of my comfortable shooting range, so I held back on pulling the trigger which was the right thing to do. As I went back across the ditch, I got two boots of muddy water for my troubles, then a pretty hot electric fence to the back!
2) Following night, similar situation, but the wind was in my face. Felt a lot more confident. Pig was in/out of a ditch. When it went down in to the ditch, I edged closer. Got to within 113 metres. All nicely lined up for a shot. Thought I'd be clever and aim low for the vitals instead of my normal shoulder shot and the bullet went low missing the animal altogether! Could have taken a follow-up shot, but was convinced that it was going to fall over at any moment, so didn't pull the trigger. Pig ran back in to the bush.
3) Lunchtime on the last day. Since I missed the pig, decided to find a safe spot to check my scope zero. My wife and son came with me. After walking in to a small valley, we came face-to-face with a pig, maybe 50 metres away. No rounds in magazine and ammo pouch in bag. A lot of fumbling and noise, and of course, yet another pig disappeared before my eyes!
Weekend was a lot if fun overall. Total failure on the pig front has left me feeling a bit sorry for myself, but all fired up to give it another go and get it right!
