In Africa, Ugly is Awesome
Joe Byers 09.22.17
A mounted warthog is one of the ugliest creatures you can display on a wall, yet hunters can’t get enough of all those warts, whiskers and protruding tusks. Every safari hunter wants a warthog among his wish list, whether he’s using a .375 H&H Magnum or bow and arrow. Warthogs aren’t the smartest, largest or most handsome of African animals, yet what they lack in these traits, they make up tenfold in character.
Hunting Styles
My first African warthog encounter happened on the third day of a safari in 1994. I’d been in camp 3 days without releasing an arrow, and soaked up knowledge at the evening campfires like a dry sponge. “You can tell a female from a male warthog by the number of warts,” I was advised. “Both have tusks. Males have four large warts on their head, while females have two.”
That afternoon, my PH dropped me at a waterhole with a treestand that overlooked it. About 2 hours before dark, a large warthog and a young piglet appeared downwind from the water. They searched for danger and then suddenly came directly to drink just below me. Seeing the piglet, I assumed the large animal was a female, despite its 10-inch tusks. Suddenly, I counted warts and saw that there were four. Holy cow! It was a shooter. Aiming carefully, I put an Easton 2016 aluminum shaft in the nape of his neck. The beast ran 75 yards, made a circle and crashed. My PH had cautioned me about trailing game in Africa, yet this big pig lay in the wide open and I just had to have a close look. What a beast.
Calling All Pigs
The next year, I hunted with Luke Blackbeard in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. This was wild Africa as it had been for thousands of years, and we spotted and stalked all game. One morning, Luke and I spotted a large bore feeding with two sows in an open pan (a dusty African field). We crawled on hands and knees within 100 yards, then Luke whispered, “Nock an arrow and get ready.”
Having no idea what would happen next, I obeyed as Luke threw a handful of powdery dirt into the air. Although warthogs have poor eyesight, that big male saw that dust fly, raised his head, then charged directly for us, closing 70 yards in seconds. Thankfully, the pig stopped, and I guessed the range at 40 yards — my arrow sailed over his back. The pig whirled and ran back to his sows.
Again, Blackbeard tossed dirt into the air, and the pig made another charge, stopping in the same spot. Incredible! Knowing the range this time, I pierced the warthog’s ribs with a broadhead. He made a staggering run and crashed. Talk about excitement!
Built Like a Tank — with Tusks
I recently returned from a safari where my rifle hunting friend and I saw a huge warthog boar a couple of days in a row. He bagged a trophy Cape buffalo and then switched to crossbow hunting by water. Although he had never launched an arrow before, he quickly took to the CAMX X330 bow and Slick Trick RaptorTrick two-blade, expandable broadheads that flew exactly like target points.
After practicing on the camp target, he took a male baboon with the CAMX rig, and believed he was ready for bigger game, sitting on a waterhole on consecutive afternoons. The first evening, the huge boar came to water on two occasions, yet the animal was crafty enough to present my friend with a lethal shot angle. Before the second sit, PH Rassie Erasmus (bowhunt@rassie.co.za) sprinkled some protein pellets on the ground to slow the boar’s progress.
Like a Texas whitetail, the big tusker couldn’t resist stopping to sniff the pellets, and my friend made a perfect quartering-away shot. The powerful arrow penetrated the length of the body, and the beast crashed after running only 75 yards.
Hog hunting in the states is becoming increasingly popular, yet there’s no pig like the ultimate ugly African creature that’s a beauty to hunt.
