22/12/2021
Back stories ....
Wild stories continue... around 1999.
A gusty Southeast wind was pushing air up the dam wall and into the nose of my only hunting dog, Drapess. We'd walked about 10km to get here and sat patiently side by side as a wild pack of two. He had dog skills.
I had bloke skills. Mixed together we thought we were pretty cool treking hours through the dead of night catching large pigs.🐗
Anyway, time ticked and nothing came in so we quietly walked down the side wall and straight into a head-on with an evil boar.
The punch from this pig was monumental and for some reason I was taking photos instead of helping. The explosive power was next level and Drapess was in trouble, his front feet off the ground connected to a 125kg+ boar.
I joined in, we ended the fight and right there two bodies lay motionless in the settling dust. I'd made a big mistake. 🕊
About a minute passed and Drapess was gone..... killed by a large boar...........then like cracking a joke he hopped back up on his feet wagging his tail. 🤨
As if that wasn't enough, the night was only young.
We sat together for a short while before making the decision to carry him. Off I went, a 35kg dog in the arms, his chest plate on the shoulder and 10km from camp. After numerous breathers and a few kilometres done he seemed happy to walk.
We walked near side by side when disaster struck. Another 100kg+ boar appeared, we had walked straight onto him, just four or five metres ahead. Drapess being a hard arse gave no f*x and hit up only to be thrown immediately. The boar bolted just few metres, stopped, turned and coiled like a spring to nail Drapess like Tyson. He lugged and by now I was in there to help and put this big boar on deck only for him to stand straight back up with my full body weight on him. This happened twice and next time it stayed down and the dog got away without a touch.
Fast forward some hours, carried Drapess some more, lead him on a rope and made it back to camp.
Here's where the story really starts lol.
The mozzies were bad so I lit a small fire in the salt couch grass to let it burn to a metre diameter before stomping it out to place a small fire in the centre.
Well life is twisty hey and we learn some big lessons. That fire took off like a bullet in the 20 knot winds. ...
It was a losing situatuon and within a minute or two was now burning a narrow bush peninsula and 6ft up paperback trees. The fire was about to take over and burn a giant island. 👎
I'm not one to sit back but man was there trouble brewing. There was just one chance at winning this battle and that is all it was.
The tides had been massive and about 10m away across a soft sticky mudflat was a very shallow puddle of saltwater, maybe 20mm deep. I grabbed the dog bucket, skimmed the water and ended up with about three cups full, approached the flames and ditched the water across it and to my surprise it put out a snippet of fire.
Now imagine this, one bucket, three cup fulls at a time, 20m return laps for water, a strong wind, a fire burning two metres up trees and covering about 15m in length, and a NEVER GIVE UP attitude.
When flames were extinguished some came back near on instantly. Two steps forward, one step back. As dawn skies emerged my exhaustion grew but hope had now changed to being in control. The next battle was the mental one. Give in to pain and weakness or push through to win.
Just writing this brings back the emotion from that night. A near dead dog, a long slog carrying a 35kg mate, wrestling another 100kg boar, then sheer exhaustion after more than an hour putting out an advancing fire with an attitude that wouldnt take no for an answer.
Those trees still bare fire scars from 20 years ago, Drapess has since long passed, and I learnt so much about life in just one night!
And honestly what better way to learn than by fukkking up.
