Catch a wild boar weighing over 200 kg! Interview with Takayuki Yoshizawa, a hunter who killed a giant wild boar

March 17, 2020

On November 17, 2019, Inohoi received a report that a giant wild boar was killed in Suigaya, Kiyokawa Village, Kanagawa Prefecture.

This time, we asked Mr. Takayuki Yoshizawa, who lives in Kanagawa Prefecture, who killed the giant boar, about how he started hunting and what it was like when he killed the giant boar.

Taking the hunter cram school as a catalyst for hunting

- When did you start hunting and what was the trigger?

Mr. Yoshizawa: It all started when I participated in the Hunter School held in Kanagawa Prefecture in 2014. I was originally interested in hunting, but hunting with a hunting rifle was somewhat difficult for me, and there was no one around me who was hunting, so I was looking for an opportunity to start.

So, I happened to hear that the first hunter training course called "Hunter School" planned by the Kanagawa Prefectural Hunting Club was being held, so I attended it with my childhood classmate. At the Hunter Cram School, I was taught how to obtain a license for hunting and hunting guns, and the procedures involved before starting hunting.

It was a great opportunity, and although it would take time, I thought I could do it, so after taking the Hunter Cram School, I immediately got my hunting rifle license. However, even after I got my hunting gun license, there was no one around me who was hunting, so I didn't know how to start hunting. rice field.

Then, I found out that the chairman of the Inada branch happened to live in the neighborhood, so he introduced me and made me a friend. I started hunting about 5 years ago.

Hunting groups, especially big game hunting, are dangerous, so there are very few newcomers. That's why I was told that I had to start by having them remember my name by participating in shooting events and hunting-related events.

I happened to be invited to go hunting in Chiba, but if I hadn't been invited, I wouldn't have participated. If you don't have that kind of contact, you won't be able to go out hunting even if you just get a license.

( Explanation of the photo): I usually hunt wild boars, and I do activities within an hour and a half to two hours by car.

- In which area and how many people usually hunt?

Mr. Yoshizawa: We have hunting permits in Kanagawa, Chiba, and Yamanashi, and we mainly hunt wild boars, so our main hunting grounds are around Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture. I work at hunting grounds within an hour and a half to two hours by car.

Basically, I'm aiming for wild boars, but when I go to hunting grounds in Kanagawa, there are a lot of deer, so when I see deer, I catch them. I want to catch a wild boar, but it's quite difficult to target just one, so many people would rather catch one than ten deer (laughs). On the contrary, there are more wild boars than deer in Chiba, so I often go to Chiba.

Also, hunting in Chiba and hunting in Kanagawa are different groups. In Kanagawa, it's basically group hunting, so we do maki-gari with a large number of people.

( Description of the photo) : Hounds that firmly support hunters even against big game.

-How many people are in group hunting in Kanagawa?

Mr. Yoshizawa: Kanagawa is a special area, and there are several hunting areas, which are managed according to the hunting area management regulations established by the game area setters. Basically, there is a group to belong to, but if the number of people is too small, it will not be a group hunt (roll hunting).

Recently, the number of people who hunt has decreased due to the aging population, so depending on the location, several groups used to hunt together, but now they have become one group and hunted. It feels like there is. During the hunting season, I usually go hunting every Saturday and Sunday. On weekdays, each of us has a job, so our schedules don't match up with the other members.

In terms of age group, the bottom is in the 20s and the top is in the 80s. Little by little, young people joined our group, and until then, I felt like I was the lowest in the group. A veteran hunter happened to see this member in his twenties when he applied for hunting at the hunting club, so he approached me and brought me here (laughs). , Young people won't come in if you don't do solicitation activities.

( Explanation of the photo) : A frame with fellow hunters. When you enter the mountains, you can forget about your daily work and refresh yourself. It's an irreplaceable moment.

"Non-standard size" recognized by veteran hunters

ーPlease tell us specifically about the size of the giant boar that you killed.

Mr. Yoshizawa: It was a male boar, and although I didn't measure it, it exceeded the width of the light truck bed, so I think it was probably 150 cm from the bottom to the tip of the nose.

It is impossible to put the weight on the scale as it is, so when I dismantled it and weighed only the meat, it was about 106 kg. If you include the bones, skin, and internal organs, I think it will probably be close to 200kg. It was so big that everyone around me couldn't even imagine how heavy it was.

I killed it in a place with relatively good footing, so normally it would take about 30 minutes to carry it out, but it took about 5 hours to carry it out. Their tusks weren't that long, so I think they probably grew up eating a lot of nutritious food.

According to the veteran hunter, he doesn't seem to be that old, and living long doesn't mean he grows up. Later I heard that the wild boar that I had killed was an individual that had been sighted for a long time, and that it was famous in the area for being amazing.

There was a pigsty nearby, and I was told that I was eating delicious food near the pigsty, so I think I was able to catch it. Even a veteran with about 40 years of hunting history says, "This is out of the standard." I started blogging because I was recommended to send out information.

( Explanation of the photo) : I compared the legs of a killed boar and the palm of a human. You can easily imagine how big the boar was from this hoof.

ーCould you tell us more about what happened when you captured the giant boar?

Mr. Yoshizawa: On November 17th, the location was Susugatani in Kanagawa Prefecture. On that day, we were a group of 8 people, including Mr. Seko (*1), our local mountain guide. The members got together and started climbing the mountain around 9:00, and actually started hunting around 9:30. While climbing a mountain, I set up a tatsuma (*2) and stood at the place where prey seemed most likely to pass.

(*1) Seco: The role of driving out prey

(*2) Tatsuma: The role of placing people ahead of places where wild boars are likely to pass, and killing those that come close to them.

After a while, I received a radio call telling me, ``Be careful, a very large prey has gone by. I was waiting. Then, when he climbed about 20 meters directly below me, I shot at his vital point, and the bullet hit the spine just below my head.

A big wild boar would run away if hit by one shot, but it happened to hit a good spot and it rolled with one shot. In order to stop it, I went down to the boar that had fallen under the cliff.

At that time, the dog was also involved, so if I didn't kill it quickly, the dog would be killed by a wild boar. . After that, I tried to remove the blood and rolled it, but it was too heavy to move at all, so I called for help over the radio, and in the end, about six people gathered and pulled it out.

Everyone who came to support us was surprised, saying, "I can't imagine it being this big even though it's big." A wild boar happened to come near me, and luckily I rolled it with one shot, but it was so big that if it hit another spot, it would run away.

It doesn't look that big in the picture, but when you see it in real life, it's pretty big (laughs). , It took 5 hours and finally I was able to put it on the loading platform of the light truck.

( Description of the photo) : A picture taken with a wild boar that I killed. It is easy to understand that it is a “non-standard size” that is recognized by veteran hunters.

"Anyway, it's heavy, and I'm exhausted to carry it, and I don't have time to get sentimental (laughs)."

ーHow did you feel the moment you shot the giant boar?

Mr. Yoshizawa: I don't have that much experience, but for some reason when I kill prey, I can hear the wild boar climbing up and I can afford to hold my hunting rifle ready to shoot. bottom.

It is said that he was able to roughly predict where the wild boar that had been driven out would come from the tatsuma he had been hunting, and since the wild boar was so large that he could not run so quickly, he was in a situation where he could come out and aim and shoot. There may also be

Also, the day before I caught a big boar, and two days before, I was hunting in Chiba and Kanagawa, and I caught a boar weighing 100kg, but I missed the shot and let it go. At that time, I was disappointed and frustrated at the same time.

ーAt what point did you feel that you had killed a big boar?

Yoshizawa: When I tried to roll it to remove the blood, it didn't roll at all. "This is not normal. It has never happened before. What is this?" But after that, I had to pull the prey, so I was tired of carrying it, and I didn't even have time to immerse myself in sentimentality (laughs).

There is a world in the mountains that is not in everyday life

( Explanation of the photo) : With the wild boar that I killed for the first time in the world of hunting. From now on, I would like to continue to cherish having fun.

ーWhat is your favorite time when you are hunting?

Mr. Yoshizawa: Once you're in the mountains, you forget about work, and if you're not good at it, there are places where you can't even get a cell phone signal, so you don't get any interference. If you walk alone, you will spend time alone, so it's quite fun to be able to create such a space in a different world, a world that doesn't exist in everyday life. Because there are many things in the mountains that you can't experience in ordinary life.

ーPlease tell us about your future hunting goals, Mr. Yoshizawa.

Yoshizawa: I don't have any specific goals. I do it completely as a hobby, so I go to the mountains every week whether I catch any game or not. It's not about studying, but if you go around the mountains and learn the topography, or if you find a route that wild boars take, the chances of catching prey will increase.

Rather than a goal, I think it's good to be safe and have as much fun as possible.

I've been lucky enough to gain a lot of experience, but in the end, there are quite a few people who spend 3 or 4 years without seeing their prey, or 5 years without pulling the trigger of their gun. Well, there are many people who get bored and quit. Hunting is not that easy, and with group hunting, the more people there are, the less chance you have of catching your prey. But it's still fun.

I think that people who enjoy hunting even if they don't kill it themselves will continue to hunt if their friends kill them and catch prey. I hope I can continue to enjoy hunting.