Last weekend I had a fishing trip cancelled due to just foul water and not a ton of fishing going on. Buddy who was supposed to go with me said, "hey, lets go pig hunting...". You only have to tell me once! I keep most of my gear in my office so I am always ready to go on a dime. I make sure I wash everything and pack it all away right when I get home so it didn't take much to get ready and roll.
We are hunting a private ranch area north of LA just around Gorman, off the Highway 5. I think they have the 280k acre property but into North and South. We are mostly on the North side. I can't seem to keep my compass in my head working around there...LOL (good thing I have on on my wrist).
Anyway, busted out at around 11 AM, got through Smell-A (Car pool lanes help) and got to town in time to make sure we were refueled up, grabbed an extra ice chest at the local hardware store (forgot one) and off we were for the evening hunt.
These trips for me are more about getting out of town. Weather could not be nicer, cool, spring day. Might be a bit too warm for piggy hunting but what the heck, at least we could wear light clothes. These trips are repetitive in a sense. We hunt certain areas in the AM catching strays or groups that stayed out too late and are working their way back to the brush. Then around 10 AM we grab breakfast in town, grab a shower/nap, and head out to an early afternoon hike. (Love the exercise!) and that is followed by some secret spot just at sundown where we always seem to get lucky.
Friday was super nice. Light wind, great weather. Got into the property and heading into the grounds not expecting to see anything out in the open. Ready to park and get some boots on the ground. In the early afternoon I find myself and my buddy hiking about a 6 mile loop. We travel parallel at all times, are on radio at all times, and maintain visual just before we enter dense brush. I have done quite a few of these and they still freak me out sometimes. I have my rifle to maintain, keep an eye on my buddy, hold my radio, pack, look out for game, and breath. All this going on during loose dirt hiking, side hilling, in the middle of nowhere at an elevation of 3500'. These hills are going up and down 500 to 1000 feet and you really learn your gear. I use them as training grounds and test my socks, boots, pack, etc. I am still learning what not to pack.
Here is a shot from one of the view points, quite a lot of country out there.
One these runs we always stir up a pig or two and this run was no different. I got into some Sage, my buddy was uphill, I was down, and we were in a 200 yard bunch of sage about 50 yards wide. You can smell them, see fresh beds, fresh tracks, and scat with flies on it. They were just there...these pigs hold until you get within 10 min. Sometimes they grunt, sometimes they bolt. This time I could see a very large white one (these are cross between domestic and Russian boar, all colors) but it was just grunting and doing circles. Only 50 yards from me, if I had a bow I could have shot it, but not with the rifle and my buddy up the hill to the right. My luck the bullet would ricochet off a skull or something. I should have gone uphill and ran them down but went right through, two more shot out Zombie speed to my left, both black, and with a quick 300 yard dash were gone, my buddy came down, I want out and the white one and probably others went down. This all happens in seconds and there were no safe sure shots to take. Pigs 3, Hunter 0. Hey, we saw pigs!
Continued on and over a couple other hills, I'm huffing and puffing and BOOM. A GIANT Boar runs out 10 feet from me. He had been sitting under a tree, way up high, overlooking everything coming up a canyon and we came over a hill on him. No sound, nothing, you just see a 300 lb animal jump 4 feet and run. I took one shot at less than 100 yards as he was out in the open, right in front of me slowing down going up a hill, but I saw my bullet kill some dirt behind him. (kinda like my duck hunting). My buddy had a bead on him but did not shoot. Glad we missed, that would have been a lot of meat to pack out...LOL Pigs 4, Hunter 0
Same hill on the next day, 6 ELK jump out and run up the hill right where that Boar was the day before. Scared the squat out of me. Cool to see Elk in California. I am supposed to be hunting but I grab my iphone alot. This PIC looks far but I was standing right there. They were trying to figure out where I was, they heard me, could smell me, but I just stood there.
Finished up with some thoughts about putting duct tape on my feet next time (before socks) and got back to the car after some well needed exercise. Got some breathing, some blood circulation, and saw pigs. Great afternoon so far. Funny how I can hike in these boots all day on Cowles Mtn but when I get to side hilling and up/down steep terrain, the blisters come out in crazy places. Still tying to figure out that perfect boot. Should it be tight, should I just duct tape up, double socks....Think I bought all my boots too large in anticipation of cold and now need tighter "Summer/Fall" Boots.
Finished the evening with some light scanning of the usual places. This drought is impacting quite a bit of action in that area these days. Noticed all the larger groups are down in the deep brush, poison oak areas where no man really wants to go. Hauled tail to town to catch some dinner at the one restaurant in town and it closed at 9, otherwise dinner is at Jack in the Box.
Next day early rise to catch that graylight. Hit up our usual areas and saw sign, Deer, Bobcat, Elk again, but only piggies were 600 yards away and heading into a place no one wants to go. Morning was skunked so we headed to breakfast, some R&R, some documentary on Frank Sanatra on HBO (far too much than I needed to know but boy did that guy work hard!).
OK, got some clean clothes, duct tape on feet, back out for the Sat afternoon/evening run. We go to an old spot where I shot my first pig years ago. We found some steep hills way above the road, full of beds. You can drop off a guy, he waits, then you drive all the way around and down. The truck can sit 300-400 yards below you and see the entire hillside. Both have radios but in that scenario you can actually almost talk to each other as the sound bounces. I volunteered to be the runner, my buddy the shooter. That brush is so thick you are down in there, vertical sliding, then along their trails walking. Tons of beds, fresh, creepy. I start clapping my hands, tossing giant Rocks and WHAM...another really big Boar just crashes out. He ended up running across, away from me and we got one shot off. But the rifle on the pack, at the angle it was, with some fluke...I heard one shot then "X@#@#%". Silence. Then finally another shot followed by "@#$###$$". LOL The spent cartridge somehow flipped up in the air, did a few rotations, and landed right in the chamber jammed perfectly with the new cartridge being inserted. My buddy was amazed that this pig was large and colored exactly like a Coyote blending in with the brown grass, got his gun jammed, and trotted away (slowly I might add) over the hill. Pigs 5 Hunters 0
At this point I am laughing and still having a good time. OK, sometimes the pigs win and this was one of those weekends so far. Time to get over to the 'secret spot' and hope no one was there already. Got over there and everything looks perfect. Wet, dark, brushy, man I am not feeling like running into that brush right now. Going to get dark really quick and I am suddenly not feeling like a hike, alone, with a "meet me at X" set of instructions. Luckily, we come around a corner in a very deep canyon and luck has it (for us) there are two Sows rolling in a ditch, in the mud. Go figure, never seen that....they quickly try and exit up the steep hill 75-100 yards but that was not a good idea. My recommendation was for them to run down the road, but they did not listen. My buddy dispatches the one on the left, I got the one on the right and in better than expected conditions, they both roll down the hill almost to the road. These were the small tasty size. Wish I would have brought the big cooler perfect to keep whole but that involves a ton of skinning, tree, etc and dark was rolling in along with 5 million mosquitos.
I have been on fishing trips where I have not caught a single fish for two days and catch all my fish in the last few hours. This was one of those trips. Got these two at the right time. Hit the hotel, showered, hit the road and home by 1 AM. Does not get any better than that!
We are hunting a private ranch area north of LA just around Gorman, off the Highway 5. I think they have the 280k acre property but into North and South. We are mostly on the North side. I can't seem to keep my compass in my head working around there...LOL (good thing I have on on my wrist).
Anyway, busted out at around 11 AM, got through Smell-A (Car pool lanes help) and got to town in time to make sure we were refueled up, grabbed an extra ice chest at the local hardware store (forgot one) and off we were for the evening hunt.
These trips for me are more about getting out of town. Weather could not be nicer, cool, spring day. Might be a bit too warm for piggy hunting but what the heck, at least we could wear light clothes. These trips are repetitive in a sense. We hunt certain areas in the AM catching strays or groups that stayed out too late and are working their way back to the brush. Then around 10 AM we grab breakfast in town, grab a shower/nap, and head out to an early afternoon hike. (Love the exercise!) and that is followed by some secret spot just at sundown where we always seem to get lucky.
Friday was super nice. Light wind, great weather. Got into the property and heading into the grounds not expecting to see anything out in the open. Ready to park and get some boots on the ground. In the early afternoon I find myself and my buddy hiking about a 6 mile loop. We travel parallel at all times, are on radio at all times, and maintain visual just before we enter dense brush. I have done quite a few of these and they still freak me out sometimes. I have my rifle to maintain, keep an eye on my buddy, hold my radio, pack, look out for game, and breath. All this going on during loose dirt hiking, side hilling, in the middle of nowhere at an elevation of 3500'. These hills are going up and down 500 to 1000 feet and you really learn your gear. I use them as training grounds and test my socks, boots, pack, etc. I am still learning what not to pack.
Here is a shot from one of the view points, quite a lot of country out there.
One these runs we always stir up a pig or two and this run was no different. I got into some Sage, my buddy was uphill, I was down, and we were in a 200 yard bunch of sage about 50 yards wide. You can smell them, see fresh beds, fresh tracks, and scat with flies on it. They were just there...these pigs hold until you get within 10 min. Sometimes they grunt, sometimes they bolt. This time I could see a very large white one (these are cross between domestic and Russian boar, all colors) but it was just grunting and doing circles. Only 50 yards from me, if I had a bow I could have shot it, but not with the rifle and my buddy up the hill to the right. My luck the bullet would ricochet off a skull or something. I should have gone uphill and ran them down but went right through, two more shot out Zombie speed to my left, both black, and with a quick 300 yard dash were gone, my buddy came down, I want out and the white one and probably others went down. This all happens in seconds and there were no safe sure shots to take. Pigs 3, Hunter 0. Hey, we saw pigs!
Continued on and over a couple other hills, I'm huffing and puffing and BOOM. A GIANT Boar runs out 10 feet from me. He had been sitting under a tree, way up high, overlooking everything coming up a canyon and we came over a hill on him. No sound, nothing, you just see a 300 lb animal jump 4 feet and run. I took one shot at less than 100 yards as he was out in the open, right in front of me slowing down going up a hill, but I saw my bullet kill some dirt behind him. (kinda like my duck hunting). My buddy had a bead on him but did not shoot. Glad we missed, that would have been a lot of meat to pack out...LOL Pigs 4, Hunter 0
Same hill on the next day, 6 ELK jump out and run up the hill right where that Boar was the day before. Scared the squat out of me. Cool to see Elk in California. I am supposed to be hunting but I grab my iphone alot. This PIC looks far but I was standing right there. They were trying to figure out where I was, they heard me, could smell me, but I just stood there.
Finished up with some thoughts about putting duct tape on my feet next time (before socks) and got back to the car after some well needed exercise. Got some breathing, some blood circulation, and saw pigs. Great afternoon so far. Funny how I can hike in these boots all day on Cowles Mtn but when I get to side hilling and up/down steep terrain, the blisters come out in crazy places. Still tying to figure out that perfect boot. Should it be tight, should I just duct tape up, double socks....Think I bought all my boots too large in anticipation of cold and now need tighter "Summer/Fall" Boots.
Finished the evening with some light scanning of the usual places. This drought is impacting quite a bit of action in that area these days. Noticed all the larger groups are down in the deep brush, poison oak areas where no man really wants to go. Hauled tail to town to catch some dinner at the one restaurant in town and it closed at 9, otherwise dinner is at Jack in the Box.
Next day early rise to catch that graylight. Hit up our usual areas and saw sign, Deer, Bobcat, Elk again, but only piggies were 600 yards away and heading into a place no one wants to go. Morning was skunked so we headed to breakfast, some R&R, some documentary on Frank Sanatra on HBO (far too much than I needed to know but boy did that guy work hard!).
OK, got some clean clothes, duct tape on feet, back out for the Sat afternoon/evening run. We go to an old spot where I shot my first pig years ago. We found some steep hills way above the road, full of beds. You can drop off a guy, he waits, then you drive all the way around and down. The truck can sit 300-400 yards below you and see the entire hillside. Both have radios but in that scenario you can actually almost talk to each other as the sound bounces. I volunteered to be the runner, my buddy the shooter. That brush is so thick you are down in there, vertical sliding, then along their trails walking. Tons of beds, fresh, creepy. I start clapping my hands, tossing giant Rocks and WHAM...another really big Boar just crashes out. He ended up running across, away from me and we got one shot off. But the rifle on the pack, at the angle it was, with some fluke...I heard one shot then "X@#@#%". Silence. Then finally another shot followed by "@#$###$$". LOL The spent cartridge somehow flipped up in the air, did a few rotations, and landed right in the chamber jammed perfectly with the new cartridge being inserted. My buddy was amazed that this pig was large and colored exactly like a Coyote blending in with the brown grass, got his gun jammed, and trotted away (slowly I might add) over the hill. Pigs 5 Hunters 0
At this point I am laughing and still having a good time. OK, sometimes the pigs win and this was one of those weekends so far. Time to get over to the 'secret spot' and hope no one was there already. Got over there and everything looks perfect. Wet, dark, brushy, man I am not feeling like running into that brush right now. Going to get dark really quick and I am suddenly not feeling like a hike, alone, with a "meet me at X" set of instructions. Luckily, we come around a corner in a very deep canyon and luck has it (for us) there are two Sows rolling in a ditch, in the mud. Go figure, never seen that....they quickly try and exit up the steep hill 75-100 yards but that was not a good idea. My recommendation was for them to run down the road, but they did not listen. My buddy dispatches the one on the left, I got the one on the right and in better than expected conditions, they both roll down the hill almost to the road. These were the small tasty size. Wish I would have brought the big cooler perfect to keep whole but that involves a ton of skinning, tree, etc and dark was rolling in along with 5 million mosquitos.
I have been on fishing trips where I have not caught a single fish for two days and catch all my fish in the last few hours. This was one of those trips. Got these two at the right time. Hit the hotel, showered, hit the road and home by 1 AM. Does not get any better than that!
