Uhunt Mag Information

• Posted By : BRISTLE UP
• Posted On : Jun 30, 2019
• Views : 4780
• Category : PIG DOGGING » ARTICLES, TIPS & HOW TO GUIDES
• Description : ‘‘ Embarking on such a trip takes a lot of planning and preparation to ensure you have a successful trip!”

Overview

• By The Smith Brothers
  
  If getting up close and personal with big, rank, hooky boars that love to punch on gets you excited, then you need to be planning a trip to Far North Queensland (FNQ)! The Gulf of Carpentaria and the Cape York Peninsula are two of Qld’s most highly regarded premier destinations for any pig hunter looking for that trip of a lifetime! Paperbark swamps, lagoons, mangrove fringed coastlines, dry creeks, croc filled rivers, rainforests and even open savannahs set the scene for a mind-blowing trip into some of the most remote and wild parts this country has to offer! Oh, did I mention pigs? Well don’t worry, there is plenty of them buggers to keep you going! 
  Over the past few years, we have become frequent visitors to many parts of the Gulf and Cape York. With our pack of finding dogs, we have experienced some of the best pig hunting known to man! Coming from Central Queensland, we are very familiar with big boars over the tonne, however its not every day you get to consistently see upwards of 100 pigs per mob like we found in parts of the Gulf. The numbers aren’t quite the same in the Cape, but the quality more than makes up for that with hefty boars that all have super impressive hooks! 
  
  
  
  But don’t be fooled FNQ isn’t all beers and skittles, embarking on such a trip takes a lot of planning and preparation to ensure you have a successful trip! 
  When traveling to any remote hunting locations there is a lot of “what ifs” you need to consider. Here’s a few hints and tips from the Bastards that might help you out, especially in FNQ, where there is no phone service, no vets and beer can cost you in excess of $80 a box! Believe us, having no phone service can be a big issue if your ute breaks down or gets bogged in the middle of nowhere. We are talking from experience, but that’s a story for another day! Ensuring you have a reliable vehicle in A1 mechanical condition is a must for these big trips. However, things can still go wrong. We recommend taking an extensive tool kit that has all the usual gear. You can’t take the entire workshop, but there are a few spare parts we always pack; fuel filter, fan belts, fuses, an assortment of nuts and bolts, plenty of zip ties, hose clamps and duct tape. Also, throw in a battery drill and grinder. These things come in bloody handy! A bloke can get quite inventive when he has to. While talking about spares we always carry three spare tyres with us and a high lift jack to get us out of a few of those sticky places. 
  
  
  
  A good recovery kit is also a must and should include; a winch, snatch straps, max tracks and, of course a crow bar and shovel. One last tool we have found useful to include for when you’re bogged is a hand saw. Not only is it good for removing tusks but is great for cutting a bit of extra timber to put in under tyres to gain that bit of traction. As we all know when hunting with dogs, accidents sometimes happen, and with being a day’s drive from any vets, this can spell trouble. Your dogs first aid kit needs to be up to scratch with absolutely everything you could possibly think of plus more! And spare a thought for your personal first aid kit too. There isn’t a doctor just around the corner you can visit if you cop a jab from a big brown or lose a limb to a hungry hand bag!
  Unless you’re from up that way your dogs won’t be used to the heat or humidity, it can be full on and is likely to take a toll on the dogs. Ensuring your dogs are match fit before the trip will give you a leg up in the right direction. Always keep a good supply of drinking water on hand for both you and the dogs as not every water hole will be safe to let the dogs in. Vet products such as Energel and Rehydrate definitely have a place in the kit on these big trips!
  
  
  
  Another thing to be cautious of is alcohol. In a lot of areas in Cape York, alcohol is a prohibited item, and if your caught with it you can find yourself in a good wedge of trouble! So, it pays to double check with the local council or the nearest police station to where you are planning to go regarding what laws are in place. Being prepared for the worst isn’t a bad thing. It may be costly but if the budget allows we would highly recommend having a satellite phone with you, so you can raise help as soon as possible. Having a sat phone with us on one of our recent gulf trips may have saved us a 47km walk after spending 2 and a half days in a bog hole but like I said before, that’s a story for another time! That’s just a couple tips we recommend and have found useful over our last few adventures into FNQ. You don’t need to be a Diesel Fitter but if you have a master’s degree in bush-mechanics it will be an added bonus. So, with the wet season just a few months away now is the time to get your mates around with a few coldies and start planning your big trip North, because as they say if you’re not up north you’re nowhere! 
  The Bastard Smith Brothers..
  Luke, Wade and Dean Smith