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Up again at 4am, we headed straight for the turbo charged breakfast spot and ate as we drove. Not sure if we are getting balance on trans fats intake, but we are working hard at getting it right.

Today we were aiming to catch the buff out early and watch them go to water for the stalk, or get at them if the opportunity arose when we spotted them. Of course when bowhunting, all good plans go out the window when you are dealing with wild animals.

And so we did change our plans when a couple of hefty boars were spotted a couple of hundred meters off the road as they were heading for the thick stuff. We drove on and pulled up a little further down the road. As we hopped out another mob appeared closer to us and the stalk was on. Myself on camera, the two Paul's and Alan with their bows. Paul W was on point and we got set up as he eased a blackstump through both shoulders of an average boar and the pig silently went to his final place with no fuss 10m away, leaving the other pigs unawares.

They then turned and fed toward Alan where he got winded just as he was to release on a ginger minger. As these pigs turned face, a larger lone boar was spotted further out and the two Paul's went for it, as Paul W really wanted to get a trad kill on film.

They quickly got on to the boar and Paul then realised that he forgot his shooting glove. With a quick lick of the fingers, the string was back to the corner of his mouth and unfortunately he shot under the boar and it was off. He went after it and Paul W circled around in order to try and catch the show. In the end Paul T didn't get back on to his boar, but the action didn't stop there.

Alan, who was with me, went down to see how the guys went and Paul W caught his eye and let him know that the ginger minger was in a wallow not far away. Alan dually stalked in and had no choice but to sneak right up it, as the wallow was steep sided and the pig couldn't be seen from a distance. He eventually got up little more than a few meters and stung it good, seeing it run only 20m before it was lights out. He got his ginger and was happy as he hadn't shot a coloured pig before.

Alan with the Ginger Minger

As Paul W went a different way, he soon came upon the original big four boars we first spotted. He set up his camera and readied for the shot. After setting up for the shot, a larger boar suddenly appeared and he had no chance to change the camera angle and let rip through both shoulders. The pig travelled straight to some thick stuff and he knew the hit was good. Paul quickly made his way back to us and we went to find the boar he shot.

His famous words were, “It is only 150m up there, I marked it with the broken shaft where he went in�. Well 400m later we found his shaft. The pig we found soon after and it had only gone 10m or so. The blood trail was absolutely phenomenal and there was no way we were never going to find it.

This is the blood trail, unbelievable stuff.

This was no ordinary pig though. As we came up on it, it's massiveness quickly became very apparent. This thing was a behemoth hog and it took all we had in the thick regrowth to maneuver him into position for the photo session. This thing weighed at least 125kg and was around 6 feet long and it took three of us to move it around. No need to say it, but Paul was a very happy boy and he had taken for himself a true NT beast of a hog.

Here he is, a bloody huge hog

Look at how long he is

I think Paul is in love

Just have a look at how thick this things fighting pad was

This image here shows the advantages of a tanto point. The non tantoed head folded back on a 45kg boar earlier in the morning from Paul's bow and then the one with the tanto went through both shoulders of the beast hog and held up beautifully. Both shots were virtually identical.

After sweating ourselves silly, due to moving the big boy around and then getting his tusks out in what was probably the most humid spot in the NT that morning, we were off once again in search of buff. We came across mobs of cows and smaller bulls again and had plenty of chances to take them, but elected against it.

A little after midday, we came across a beaut spring fed waterhole and decided to try for a fish. After a few casts, a small sooty grunter was caught and a barra was lost again by Paul W. (It is going to happen we hope)

We walked a little further down and Paul then got himself a great sooty and he was all smiles again.

When we got back to our little waterhole lunch spot, everyone was feeling rather lethargic. The jet lag from the 1.5 hour time difference was really killing us (just jokes), and we all decided it was prime time for a nap. Paul T was first to go and first to wake and caught this happy snap of us in our slumber.

If you re going to take a buffalo you have to make like one and sleep in the shade on the edge of water when it is hot. All part of the strategy, be the creature I say.

By the time we woke, the day was boiling and I decided it was time make like a buff even more and I jumped in for a dip. The boys soon followed and we were like little kids having a splash around, but man did it make a difference to your core temp and the breeze on wet clothes really made it a great move. Paul W even did his best impersonation of a croc attack, which gave us all a bit of a giggle and Paul T a bit of a dribble.

See we even wallowed in the heat

Croc!!!

Once again we had to make moves as the afternoon was getting on. We found an old skin and bones cow with pretty cool horns, but we let her be.

Not much longer after the, it became a great decision not to take her as we came across a really nice bull and the Paul's went after it. It gave them a merry chase and Alan and I had to head right across country to pick them up, unsuccessful they were.

It was not to be the end of the day though, as we were to try for the hogs again as they emerged from their day beds for their nightly feeds.

The trip to pig honey hole was drawn to a quick stop as we spotted another good looking bull a couple of hundred meters out. Paul T was up and we got into range to watch and film the final moments of the stalk. Paul was all stealth and got the sneak on big time. I will put these photos here and finish it off tomorrow as it got very dark very quickly.

One of my favourite photos I have ever taken

Thanks again for tuning in.. Till tomorrow...