Wild boar hunting - “What time can we meet on Saturday?!?!? Maybe I didn't hear right ... At noon?!?!? " - I can't hide my amazement while talking on the phone with Pietro, the huntsman of the great Sarteano team. Go for "a little later", but the appointment at noon .... !! Pietro explains to me: “In November, on Saturday mornings we give the opportunity to some to work, and to many to dedicate themselves to other forms of hunting: only in this way can we bring the whole team together. Therefore, some of us in the morning take care of a careful mapping to organize a "targeted" afternoon joke. “Then go by 8:00 to the hunting lodge; I will come and trace with you so I will feel less a guest "- this is how I conclude my phone call to Pietro. I arrive in front of the hunting lodge where Pietro, his son Giordano, Bruno and Alessio are waiting for me, ready to leave. I get into the car with Pietro and it is with great pleasure that I notice that we are not alone: for the tracing phase, Pollicino will help us. The short-haired dachshund di Pietro, valid in the role of limiere, delights in identifying the remittance areas. The area we are going to probe is the one called “Dei repeaters”: an extensive cut crossed by numerous trots. The abundant traces and the decided barks of Tom Thumb confirm the presence of a large herd in the area.
Being still "early", Pietro proposes to go and probe another area and decides for the so-called "Il Fitto". In this second area the tour to be done is shorter. There is some trace that forces Tom Thumb to tug at Pietro but the signs of transit of the animals are clearly lower than those of the area explored before. At a certain point our gaze is attracted by a small yellow spot between the leaves: “Ah though !!! This is beautiful !!! " exclaims Peter. The sight of a grain of corn on the side of a white road makes a strange thought flash in Pietro's head: “Do you want to see that some poacher rules with corn on the side of the road to facilitate any close encounters? If in doubt, today we ruin the programs: I have decided !!! We will hunt in this area. " I agree with Pietro's decision, even if, the craze at the beginning of the season, would have made many people lean towards the “Dei repeaters” area.
We return to hunting house. Sarteano's team is now complete. Pietro's speech, counts it for the arrangement of the posts, winch, satellite to the dogs ... all as expected. The loose of dogs is not long in coming. After the first scagni, the dogs are immediately on a good track. A short steady bark precedes a nice squawk that brings a boar straight to the post office ... but not ours. While steady barks and cries cheer up the other side of the post office, in the distance two close shots anticipate Emiliano's excited voice via radio: “It's big… it's bigooo !!! Watch out, it's just gone ... but I'm sure I caught it with the second one .... "
Unfortunately, his impression is real: a large boar anticipating the arrival of the dogs, moved from his lestra, letting himself be glimpsed by Emiliano who, in the thick of the bush, attempted the shot by placing a 20-gauge ball on his side, which however, he did not get the better of the animal. At that moment several Maremmans arrived on the lestra set off in canizza unleashing a real hell in the scrub. The big boar, pursued by the dogs, crosses an asphalted road and, before reaching the post office, chooses a dense tangle as an arena where to face the dogs. Here the ingredients for the irreparable are all there: a wounded and angry boar ... a thick spot and a dozen dogs that incite each other. In fact, the yelps of dogs do not let themselves wait: “Run Mario! Run !!! If not, everyone will slice them !! " Emiliano shouts over the radio. Mario rushes to the spot. Grunts and yelps intertwine in the thick junipers without being able to glimpse the protagonists. Mario, a few meters from the animal, leaning with his back on an oak, waits for the boar to take a few steps.
In no time at all, a mountain of bristles also targets its two-legged enemy, but Mario's promptness and instinct anticipate every reflection: a shot fired at a very short cold distance the animal in charge that immediately collapses to a few inches from his feet. Only at this point Mario realizes what happened and…. that was about to happen! The scene that is shown to his eyes is disconcerting: a real monster with enormous defenses lies at his feet, while the junipers appear Maremma bleeding from the numerous wounds. Peering through the junipers, with his hands still trembling, we can glimpse the lifeless body of a Maremma with a deadly cut on his neck, and a second dog, whose entrails are scattered on the ground, which will just have time to expire in his arms. of his master. Emiliano's fear was well founded but the timely intervention of the canaio meant that his prediction did not come true in full. Mario is unable to hide the effects of the tremendous adrenaline rush and confesses to us: “I've been doing the kennel but I had never seen such a thing !! "
The joke comes to an end on evening. Seven large wild boars are to be recovered but the curiosity to see the already legendary boar shot by Mario Ceccarelli up close pushes many to rush to the killing site. The amazement in seeing it is unanimous: no one had ever seen traces or had ever hypothesized the existence in these areas of such an animal! Inevitably, the assumptions about the weight of the monster arise: "One hundred and fifty" .... "one hundred and eighty!"… Everyone is sure to have the scales in his eyes, but only the scales of the hunting house will give the final verdict: 174 Kg !!! Once again the Sarteano team managed to give us strong emotions with one of what was supposed to be a "quiet afternoon joke", the fate of which was decided by a small but precious grain of corn.