Pakistan - a wildlife country.

For over 20 years keen hunters of wild boar have visited the country of the 5 great rivers to take part on our very well known, exciting and well organised boar game drives with local beaters. Wild pigs are classified as pest in Pakistan and for staunch Muslims even just touching these wild pigs is not considered, and for this reason these animals aren’t afforded any protection at all and aren’t hunted by the local population by European hunting rules or customs. Young farmers will instead organise a few game drives to show off the skills of their bullterrier in tackling a few females or sometimes even a big boar. This might in rare cases interfere with our planning of hunts. Our organisation however, supported by our local professional hunters, knows the best wild boar retreats far away from local villages where we are able to offer our hunting client unforgettable hunting experiences. Our average daily bag exceeds normal expectations and is shot under exciting circumstances and includes a high percentage of old boars. All popular hunting calibres are allowed. Pakistan, despite its poor international reputation, is a safe travel destination and visitors are always treated with great hospitality.

For German hunting clients the trip usually starts from Frankfurt. From here the connecting flight is with PIA, Pakistan’s National Airline, which in seven hours reaches Islamabad. From here the hunting clients are transferred in modern small busses to the hunting areas which are generally between 100 to 200 km road journey away. Wild pigs are widely distributed in the rural areas of Pakistan, from the Indus flood plains to the foot hills of the Himalayas, but not all habitat areas nor seasons are suited to conduct game drives. For instance, wild pigs just love sugar cane plantations, but as soon as harvesting starts they wander off into jungles or swamp areas with high reeds and congregate here in numbers never expected during any other season. Similar movements take place during harvest time of other crops like rice, maize or peanuts.

Wild pigs are magically attracted to these crops and local knowledge of their movements is essential to guide the foreign hunter to the best areas. 22 years of experience in organising these game drives, good, keen and experienced beaters with local knowledge of terrain, guarantee that the foreign hunter will be positioned to get his chances, even if he sometimes misses out during a drive. On average 5 drives are executed daily. Depending entirely on the terrain, whether thorn bush jungles, grassy plains along rivers or wild canyons in the foothills of the Himalayas, at times short walks to the individual shooting position have to be undertaken. In most cases however the hunter will be driven by car quite close to his assigned shooting position. This permits even the older hunters to participate. The sun usually shines at temperatures that remind us on sunny autumn days in Europe or on the Indian summer on the east coast of the USA.

Be reminded to take with you not too warm, but strong tear resistant cloths, suitable for most weather conditions and similar solid shoes. Included should be sun blocker and sun glasses.

Accommodation
Normally in the hunting areas we reside in colonial type guest bungalows. Their interior is of the same vintage, but coupled with a roaring fire in the fireplace, radiate a sense of romantic comfort in the evenings after a successful hunt. The night time temperatures usually drop to near freezing levels and so a warm pullover or overall should be included in the luggage. The adjoining bath room is tiled, but naturally doesn’t meet any modern standards. Guest usually sleep 4 persons to a big room. Only very few hotels which we at times utilize for accommodation have double rooms. Please be reminded to bring your own sleeping bag.

Hunting guns
Pakistan allows all foreign hunting clients who have booked a hunt through a registered local tour operator, to temporary import one or more hunting rifles. Ammunition of up to 100 rounds is allowed for each client. We recommend 40 to 60 rounds. Too much ammunition only creates the wrong impression of someone wanting to destroy too much wildlife. Even in Pakistan wild pigs don’t breed like rabbits, even if it appears so at times, judging by the daily tally of shot pigs. The daily average is 8 pigs by 8 hunters. The percentage of big boars is quite high as the experience of the last years has shown. The ammunition used by the average hunter was 3 rounds for one pig. This should act as a guideline to how much ammunition to take. The standard calibres for wild pigs are known to all hunters and so we don’t want go here into details. Our recommendation is a heavy and medium fast calibre. Shooting distances are usually between 5 to 50 meters and a combination gun in experienced hands could be of advantage.

Food and beverages
The food served by our camp staff generally earns good marks from our clients. We serve European, Chinese and of course Pakistani dishes. Only our breakfasts are lacking the continental or English standards. It is impossible to purchase bread or bread rolls in Pakistan and bacon, ham, cheeses or sausages are totally unknown. We therefore recommend our clients to bring with them a loaf of bread, salami or hard cheese for their own consumption. This is also recommended for alcoholic beverages which aren’t available locally. With a little luck it is possible to get one or two bottles of whisky past the custom officers who are generally more interested in the firearms.

Custom and Immigration formalities
To enter Pakistan the passport has to be valid for at least another 6 month and should have a valid tourist visa for Pakistan. We will arrange for the issue of a tourist visa. A health document is not required and particular inoculations aren’t necessary. Malaria does not occur in the winter month and the rightly much feared poison snakes disappear in earth holes during the whole winter time. In all the years only on one occasion did a hunter see a snake and it was very slow moving.