We are in February, the hours of light begin to increase but the wild boar make you wait at best until the last moments of twilight before getting out of the woods and head to the fields of pasture. The area where we are now is not particularly suited in theory to the species that instead has been common here for some years in great redundancy. That’s why selective hunting serves the task of limiting wild game when it’s in numerical imbalance compared with other species.
We are in the hills of central Italy and we are awaiting the arrival of a small herd of six wild boars that usually hung out on the wet meadows on the edge of a oak forest where invertebrates and roots abound. We are lying in wait near one of the olive trees that overlook the vast field to have olfactory and visual coverage from the wild boars, that are always suspicious when they come out into the open. The tested tools I have are the same ones I have described previously, all classics for selective hunting and long-range shooting: the Sabatti Rover 870 bolt action rifle and the Swarovski Z6i 2.5-15 x 56 riflescope.
We are at a distance of at least a hundred meters from the exit point of the wild game from the forest and in the absence of wind, but the boars must have still sensed our presence because after long minutes of silent waiting only a young isolated animal leaves the wood to head decidedly towards the field. It is a female and looks calm even if on some occasions it nervously sniffs the air to make sure it is safe.
I focus the illuminated reticle on it and I switch the red dot on waiting for the wild boar to offer its flank. The support is stable, I have in fact the tri-stand that allows me to precisely direct the angle of the shot; the range is also optimal as we are around 100 meters so I decide to shoot without any uncertainty. The right time arrives after some endless moments and the shot aimed at the animal ‘s neck hits the mark making it collapse on the spot. Once again the reliability of the Sabatti Rover rifle, coupled with the Z6i riflescope, allows for a clear and successful conclusion of the action, avoiding unnecessary suffering to the animal and a difficult retrieving.
For more information about the Rover 870 please visit Sabatti website.
For more information about Z6i 2.5-15x56 scope, please visit Swarovski Opitk website.
