An unlicensed man has been charged after allegedly driving onto a private farm and hunting without permission.

Police say the 27-year-old drove a ute onto a property on Wyuna Road at Gunnedah, in northern NSW, about 2am on February 11 before beginning to hunt.

The landholders, woken by the noise, rushed outside and approached the vehicle.

The man then allegedly accelerated towards them before swerving away at the last moment.

Police were told the driver then fled the property, carrying three dead feral pigs in his ute.

The same ute was spotted about 7am the same day on Wandabah Road, where officers stopped it and spoke to the driver.

Police allege the man did not hold a current NSW driver’s licence and returned a positive roadside drug test for cannabis and meth.

He was arrested and taken to Gunnedah Police Station for secondary testing before being released pending further inquiries.

Following further investigation, police located three dead pigs in Milroy — about two-and-a-half hours from Gunnedah — and allegedly found that only one of the three dogs in the back of the ute was registered.

The 27-year-old was arrested at a Gunnedah home on February 13 and his Holden ute was seized.

He was charged with entering private land to hunt without the owner’s consent, driving a motor vehicle in a manner menacing with intent, driving without a licence and littering dangerous materials in a public place.

He was granted conditional bail to appear before Gunnedah Local Court on April 7.

“The Rural Crime Prevention Team encourages all farmers to report all rural crime in a timely manner to assist in positive outcomes, especially illegal hunting, and trespassing,” police said.