BY VERNER CHAD ESTEVES
This is a true story of a hunter who was saved by his hunting dogs during a hunting trip.
IN EARLY 1972 THERE WAS A HUNTER called Thomas at Sulka in the Pomio District of East New Britain. Instead of attending mass one Sunday he decided to take his hunting tools and dogs to wander into the forest to hunt pigs. While he was there something terrible happened to him.
Before he left his wife called to him, “Thomas! Are you coming with us to church?”
He replied angrily. “Bullshit! You know what I always do on a Sunday like this; I go hunting stupid! We have enough meat for next week, do we? Besides, this is the right time to hunt because there will not be many other hunters hunting in the same spot.’
Saddened by her husband’s angry words his wife turned away and marched off to church.
After his wife and children had gone he called all his hunting dogs and checked his hunting tools, especially his bow and arrows. None of his arrows were blunt - he had been doing this all his life. They strode off into the thick forest.
They walked and walked for several hours until they reached the foot of a mountain. The sun was high and he took out his bottle of water from the spring and drank most of it, not realising that his dogs had disappeared up the mountain slope.
He was checking his hunting tools again when suddenly loud barking noises coming from the mountain caught his attention.
“No time to waste,” he said to himself and started running up the mountain, bulldozing his way through the thorns of canes and vines. The loud barking noise from the mountain could even be heard many miles away straight at the church grounds.
Everyone turned to look at Thomas’ wife and started whispering to each other. “Is Thomas hunting again?” asked an old man. “I wonder when he’s going to learn?” asked another. ‘Shssh! Mind your own business you!” said an old woman.
Feeling ashamed of herself Thomas’ wife lowered her head and continued praying.
As he ran up the mountain Thomas started calling to his dogs. The cuts and bruises started to feel painful. He heard yelping from everywhere and saw the dogs’ paw prints. He came to an area where there were only shrubs and small trees; it looked as though a clearing had been made for logging.
He looked everywhere but there was no sign of his dogs, only their paw prints. Then he noticed another set of prints that were much bigger than he expected. He thought of his other hunting trips. This one is a bit different than the ones he had seen before. By the look of it he imagined that he was hunting a huge dinosaur!
“Woof! Woof! Woof!” came the sound of his, dogs maybe fifty metres away from him. He crept closer to the sounds and he spotted two of his dogs being torn apart by the beast. That’s what he kept asking himself - “Is this a beast?’
Lying helplessly under the thick growth two more of his dogs were whining their last breath. He began to wonder what kind of challenge he would be facing.
A grunting noise shocked him out of his thoughts and as he stepped into the clearing to his surprise he came face to face with a huge wild boar. It was no bigger than any other boar that he hunted however. Maybe this was the Devil which had been sent to punish him for all his wickedness?
Straight away Thomas knew that this would be his last hunting trip. He knew he couldn’t escape the beast. There was not even a tree branch nearby that he could climb to escape if it charged at him.
Shaking and trembling Thomas stood looking straight at the boar and thought about his wife and children. He also thought about his dogs. There was nothing he could do but face this ugly, fierce-looking beast.
He could feel his heart rhythm matching his fear. The boar, looking straight at him lowered its head with its two red eyes focused on him. It showed the two ivory tusks in its upper jaw and started digging its two back legs into the ground.
Sweat flooded his face as he aimed his arrow at the boar. He placed one of his legs behind him for support and put the other out front.
The silence was broken as the boar charged at the hunter. “Steady, steady”, said Thomas and when the boar was within three metres he let go of his arrow.
“Sssswwwpt!” went the arrow as it struck the boar in the neck and pierced its heart. At the same time the boar’s tusk ripped open Thomas’ ribs and he closed his eyes and fell backwards. Everything happened so quickly that he couldn’t remember when the boar crashed into him; everything just went blank.
After several hours lying unconscious Thomas tried to move his legs and open his eyes but he couldn’t do it; only his ears were open.
A few minutes later he heard movements and the sound of people cutting bushes. He heard talking and he tried to recognise the voices but none of them were familiar. He groaned with pain and then he felt himself being lifted onto a stretcher and being carried down the mountain towards the village.
After walking for some time they put him down. Whoever they were he didn’t know.
“Woof! Woof!” came a barking noise as he slowly opened his eyes. He was surprised to see the huge boar next to him and to one side his four dead dogs. He wanted to cry but he was curious as well.
Whining and yelping his dogs came running back with his family. As he closed his eyes again he thought about what had happened to him up the mountain and who and how they had carried him down to his village. He thought about his dogs. Nobody was there with him on the mountain, only his dogs?
Miracles can happen, nobody knows, only God knows, he thought. “Forgive me”, his mind kept saying as he was rushed to the clinic not far from the village.
Verner Chad Esteves (29) was born at Nonga General Hospital in Rabaul and lives at Kokopo. His mother is Tolai and his father was of mixed Trobriand Islands, Indian and Filipino descent. He had to leave school after his father died and he could no longer afford the fees. He worked variously as a shop assistant and in steel building construction. He is currently unemployed.
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