A hunter killed a wild boar weighing over 117 kilograms with a single arrow at Sourcieux-les-Mines in the Rhône department on Saturday, September 26, after an encounter that involved a fierce baying pursuit, a tracking dog deployment, and a final charge.
Malik, a hunter approaching his sixties who began hunting in 2019 and shoots exclusively with a bow, encountered the animal shortly after taking his post above a basin on the Saint-Pierre-la-Palud side of the sector known as La Falconnière. The battue had gathered roughly twenty stationed hunters and four trackers in the area.
The Bow Shot at the Falconnière Sector
The boar trotted out from the left while hunting dogs remained far behind, giving Malik a clear target at roughly ten meters. He released an arrow from his compound bow, which he uses exclusively for big game alongside a traditional bow for small game. The animal continued on its path without showing immediate distress. Malik informed the trackers of a wild boar he estimated weighed approximately 50 kilograms, matching an animal he had successfully harvested with archery equipment in 2023.
While the initial tracking dogs followed the animal’s trail, trackers elsewhere in the woods encountered a different boar and fired shots before realizing it was not the animal Malik had struck. The original animal continued roughly a hundred meters further before a pack of about twenty dogs, including hounds and golden retrievers, cornered it in a baying standoff.
Boar Kills One Hunting Dog During Violent Clash
Bastien, one of the four trackers on site, described a chaotic scene upon reaching the bay. The hunters did not get a clear view of the boar during the confrontation, but the impact on the hunting pack made its size immediately apparent. One hunting dog was killed and two others sustained injuries during the violent clash, during which Malik’s arrow was torn from the animal.
Following the loss of contact, the hunting group called upon Jean-Marc, a bloodhound handler accompanied by his dog, to resume the search four hours later from the thicket where the standoff occurred. The tracking dog picked up the scent and followed it for 200 to 300 meters before stopping at a large bush near a property line. Before the hunters could contact the property owner for entry permission, the boar burst from the thicket and charged directly at the handler’s dog, passing between Jean-Marc’s legs and throwing him into the air. The handler landed heavily on his back in the sloping terrain alongside his dog, sustaining muscle soreness from the hard fall.
Final Confrontation Against a Wire Fence
The charging animal sprinted toward a wire fence where Bastien waited positioned roughly five meters above the trapped boar. Bastien fired his weapon to end the pursuit, noting afterward that the animal bled very little despite the fatal positioning of the strike.
When the carcass was transported back to the hunting cabin, an internal examination solved the mystery of why the animal had traveled so far after the initial arrow strike. Malik discovered that his arrow had sliced directly through the boar's heart, an injury the strong animal had managed to carry for hours before the final confrontation.
Boar Weight Exceeds Malik's Initial Visual Estimate
Subsequent scale measurements revealed the animal weighed over 117 kilograms, far exceeding Malik’s initial visual estimate of 50 kilograms made through his bow sight at close range. The harvest did not break regional records in the Rhône department, but the archery method and the dramatic sequence of events marked it as an extraordinary hunt.
Reflecting on the encounter, Malik noted that knowing the true size of the animal beforehand would have prompted him to adjust his bow to maximum power settings. The experience showed the extreme difficulty of judging weight under pressure during sudden close-range encounters.
