WHEELCHAIR WARTHOG
Where there’s a will, there’s a way
O VER T HE YEARS Ih ave been on many hunts with my friend Neil Pretorius, usually for our own enjoyment and mostly using muzzle-loaders. Occasionally in his capacity as a p rofessional hunter, if the event was going be out of the ordinary, Neil invited me along; such as taking out a blind hunter or a hunter with an artificial leg. Regular readers will remember my articles on these hunts as being tales of determination shown by courageous men. Recently Neil told me about another unusual hunt he had just completed and I felt it deserved being told.
It all started when Hein Neil, a fellow PH, was asked by a lady friend if he could arrange a warthog hunt for a chap who was confined to a wheelchair. Knowing Neil was always willing to take out handicapped hunters, Hein asked him if he would arrange and handle the outing. “Sure thing,” replied Neil, and plans were made to spend a day hunting in the large area owned by outfitter, Loodt Buchner, of Tootabi Hunting Safaris.
Hein’s lady friend, Truzanne Taylor, and hunter, Piet Marais, arrived before dawn; Piet had driven them from their hometown of Somerset East in his specially-adapted vehicle. Neil found Piet to be an extremely likeable and friendly chap and certainly no novice because he had sent photographs of himself with various plains game he had hunted. But, he had never hunted a warthog and Loodt had kindly offered him one for free!
The hunting grounds lie on the seaward side of the Zuurberg Mountains and comprise thick coastal bush, deep valleys and rolling grasslands. Neil knows the area well because he has guided many overseas hunters there. Piet was in the good hands of two professional hunters plus Truzanne who is a competition shooter.
Piet used a Ruger 7mm-08 rifle firing a 139 grain Hornady SST bullet driven by 44.5gr Hodgdon CFE 223 powder at 2 946fps from PPU cases. Piet loads them himself.
The day before, Neil had scouted around for wheelchair-friendly areas and knew where they could get Piet into good shooting positions. Heading for the nearest spot they saw a number of warthogs already feeding at the first light of day. Neil halted and they quietly climbed out the vehicle to begin a stalk. The terrain was uneven and the going tough but the team pushed and pulled the hunter towards a big prickly pear tree. On the way they all had a good laugh when Piet harshly whispered, “Hey, if a buffalo or lion appears you won’t run away and leave me will you?” The reason for this remark was a sign on the entrance gate warning people of the presence of these dangerous animals.
ON REACHING THE prickly pear tree they found it provided little cover – positioning a wheelchair-bound hunter was a new challenge for them. Everyone crouched down as flat as possible while getting Piet into position and setting up the shooting sticks. Their efforts were not in vain though, because a short time later a big boar presented itself 180 yards away. Sitting in silence they watched and waited but the creature kept moving around, bobbing up and down as it grazed. This presented a problem as Piet’s chair had to be constantly repositioned and the shooting sticks repeatedly set up at a different angle to be aligned with the target. The other difficulty was that Piet did not have full function of his hands so, when he pulled the trigger, he had to use his whole arm. This was something he had obviously practiced and when the warthog finally stood still, Piet fired a shot that brought it down. Neil raced forward but his concern was
unnecessary because the hog had bitten the dust. Piet had his pig.
The next move was to get Piet down to his kill. This was done with a lot of huffing and puffing, pushing and pulling while Truzanne became the gun bearer – a difficult task having to handle three rifles at the same time. Finally the very happy hunter was at the scene to examine his first warthog and have photos taken. When their success was radioed back to the Tootabi headquarters, Loodt asked Piet if he’d like to shoot another warthog for camp meat. Piet’s wide grin, which seemed a permanent feature, was answer enough. The truck was then brought down and the warthog was gutted and loaded.
HAVING ACHIEVED THEIR objective of getting Piet a pig, the shooting party was now relaxed and in a jovial mood. They headed for another easily accessible place that Neil had selected and spotted a number of warthogs rooting around. Once again Piet was swiftly transferred to his chair and, powered by Neil and Hein, they made for the nearest cover. The pigs were 400 to 500 yards away so they patiently waited for one to wander closer. Unfortunately none did, so the hunters decided to try another spot.
On arrival they saw pigs aplenty so Neil drove his vehicle as close as he dared, then parked behind a bush. Piet was quickly loaded into his chair and again, with a great deal of man power, they moved him closer. As they were doing this, Neil glanced around and saw the backs of two warthogs above the long grass – and they were within easy rifle reach. Like a well-trained artillery crew, they swung Piet around and manoeuvred him into a firing position but discovered he was too low down to see the targets. Unfortunately all this movement gave them away and the hogs scurried off with tails held high. “Not to worry,” said Neil, “we’ll just sit for a while and watch.” By now it was high noon and no more pigs appeared so Neil suggested they take a well-earned break to have a midday braai. Chatting around the fire, Neil asked Piet if he wanted to continue the hunt in the afternoon. Without hesitation the keen hunter snapped back his positive answer.
While everyone was relaxing after a good lunch, Neil rose and strolled off to answer a call of nature. While standing behind a bush he looked around and to his amazement he saw a lone warthog feeding out in the open. Crouching low he retreated and hurried back to camp. The team sprang into action grabbing rifles, shooting sticks, wheelchair and