Legendary hunter tells more tales

High in the ranges over the Waihopai Valley on a crisp, clear Tuesday morning, Kim Swan and her 11-month-old dog Mint clamber up what she affectionately calls ‘Mt Jill’, reporter in tow.

With her 20-year-old silenced Remington slung over the shoulder of a bright pink shirt, Kim is the picture of an outdoorswoman in every sense of the word.

With her job in forestry quality control and silviculture fitting between writing about her adventures, breeding and training her Smithfield cross dogs, riding horses, dragon boat paddling, mountain biking, and of course hunting, she revels in her rural life. As she climbs, Kim admires the beautifully rugged back country scenery while also observing animal droppings, ripping out invasive plants and examining the handiwork of the beds wild animals make. Kim’s home is the back country for work and for play, and she’s regularly filthy and sweaty before most people are even out of bed.

“Everywhere from the snowline to the seaside I see landscapes so many people never see. You get such a buzz from coming up here whether it’s your first time or your thousandth – it’s beautifully hard country”.

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Kim is a keen admirer of both the landscape she loves and the animals on it. Her keen eye spots a fallow deer in the treeline, and she trains her dogs to humanely hold wild pigs. She gathers discarded antlers while telling tales of adventures on far hilltops.

On April 25th every year, she hikes up Mt Jack to place her ANZAC poppy down in memory of the tough back country men she follows in the footsteps of, those who left these landscapes and never came back.

Kim has written and published her outdoor adventures since 1991 and has been hunting for far longer. Her new short story anthology Hog, Dogs and a Rifle brings together 60 of her favourite anecdotes.

“Writing allows me to edit and craft stories - the lifestyle I have is awesome and I love sharing it, but for example when I speak at a Pink Ribbon Breakfast, I’m ter- about remarks I make while kids don’t have a clue but enjoy the adventure.

“It’s amazing the amount of people that come up to me and ask ‘are you that Kim Swan lady? I’m not a hunter but I love your stories’ which I love.

“I’m never afraid to take the piss out of myself – we all have our adventures and misadventures”.

Kim advocates for competence and capability without fanfare and believes small changes in people’s lives show themselves they’re capable of more.

“You don’t have to be rural to be more observant, but being out here makes you very self-reliant.

“Test and extend yourself a little every day – people are far more capable than they think, and you get better quickly by making little improvements every week.” young and male. They tell cracking jokes and are fantastic to work alongside, and I’m always happy to lend an ear or give them a hug, to be a spoonful of sugar in what can be a landscape and industry full of salt”. the other is climbing over the ridgetop, I’m still just one person and I must decide –you suck it up and pick the least bad option. rified because I don’t have a live filter,” she explains.

Kim extends this theory to challenge hunters to take more care of the land they patrol, and knows they are a key cog in conservation efforts.

After countless adventures into the wilderness Kim knows things go wrong, but says how you react makes all the difference.

“I’m nearly 60 and I still make mistakes, it’s part of being a human being but out here your mistakes get punished, especially on your own – but that’s ok.

“I’m not stopping for the fear of failure”.

Hog, Dogs and a Rifle releases on the 10 July for $39.99 through Bateman Books and bookstores around the country.

“If I write my stories in the right way, adults can have a chuckle to themselves

“Hunting done right is conservation in action; harvesting game animals is only one part, you gain so much respect and knowledge from trips.

“Dogs are athletes, they need to be match fit to perform because pigs are far smarter and craftier than people give them credit for. Smart hunters give animals as much respect as they give themselves and their dogs, if not more.

“Because I’m observant of my environment, I spot what’s unnatural or unbalanced and take action – responsible hunters help find ecological solutions.”

For her last planting season for her silvicultural role, Kim was in Banks Peninsula and this year she’ll be down in the Mackenzie Basin. No matter where she is though, the outdoors is her home and she’s never afraid to be feminine in a heavily male-driven industry.

“I love doing tough jobs while being a feminine presence on the worksite or in hunts, especially when working alongside forestry contractors, who are generally

“I make delightful adventures out of everything, but things go wrong for the sake of going wrong.

“If I’ve got one dog down by the river while

To win one of the first copies of Kim’s book, email william@topsouthmedia. co.nz or comment on our Facebook post with a photo of your happy, dog.