That time an anthropologist followed me around...

So , this all started on June 18, 2019 when I opened an email from a bloke called Paul Keil. 

He'd bought my book, The Makim Method, on line and wanted to have a chat.

" I am not a pigdog hunter myself. I am an anthropologist, but I did do research on training and teamwork with sheepdogs in NSW several years back. I thought the ideas and instructions that you gave in your book shared interesting similarities with what I learnt when talking to and watching sheepdog workers and trialers.

"I am emailing to ask if you would be open to speaking with me about pigdogs in the near future (early August)? Basically, I would like to ask some questions about pigdog hunting and get a better feel about training and teamwork.

"In August, I am beginning a 6-month research project in Northern NSW on feral-pig agricultural damage and pigdog hunting. I will be travelling around the area speaking with landowners and hunters - people with experience with feral pigs. Ideally, I would like to work with people who are interested in teaching me and showing me first-hand how things work."

And that's how it all started.

We spoke on the phone and I felt him out. I've been asked to discuss pig hunting and the dogs we use by lots of journalists and researchers. I'm happy to have a say if I feel I can trust them professionally. That is, I want to be quoted accurately and in context. Mostly that happens because I limit my exposure by just sticking to a few facts I want to get across.

However, this was very different. This was a person who was asking to talk in depth, come into the field with me and look at pig hunting with dogs through the eyes of an anthropologist. What did that even mean?

My family was bemused with one son, pig hunting Paul ,  suggesting researcher Paul would be doing an Attenborough and following me around like I was a chimp. Even started doing the Attenborough voice: "the old chimp lies around a lot in the shade but can become agitated and impatient at the hint of the presence of a wild boar..."

From that point on, researcher Paul (pictured above mid hunt) became known as Chimp Man. 

To the rest of the world he was:   

Paul G. Keil Ph.D.

Postdoctoral researcher, TANDEM Bewildering Boars Project

Institute of Ethnology, Czech Academy of Sciences

Honorary Postdoctoral Fellow, Macquarie University, Australia 

He is Australian but lives and works in the Czech Republic and has done lots of stuff in lots of places. But by August he was in Oz and heading for Inverell. That visit launched a fascinating chapter in my life as I talked to Paul at length about why I hunt and why I do it with dogs. We went hunting in sometimes challenging conditions. He was with me when I found the Big Gorge eagle nest you could view and film from above. He camped out, opened gates, help me drag pigs out of blackberry bushes and asked many, many questions. 

I introduced him to other hunters on the basis of his ethics and resilience. He also had a sense of the ridiculous. That on its own is a great asset to have when hunting. It's never like the magazine stories or the videos...

We spent a couple of evenings of sophisticated revelry in The Two Tigers Bar in my shed as well. Turns out that among his other qualifications he was also great company.

The whole experience was an huge positive for me. It helped me better observe pig hunting from within the lifestyle and without. It helped me better articulate what hunting and the relationship with the dogs is to me. And it helped me better understand the depth and complexity of genuine research. I don't mean research like chasing down information on Google to support your existing point of view. I mean professional, ethical and comprehensive research done by properly trained people. It was an eye opener.