Apologies to Nash Buckingham, but I couldn’t think of a better title for this one. 

To set the stage, my friend Matt, from the Jesse’s Hunting and Outdoors forum, has been on a tear lately with what he calls his “Man Thursdays”.  Most weeks, by agreement with his wife, this is his day without the kids to get out and do some hunting, and he’s been making the most of it.  You may remember his photo posted back in January, with the nice boar he took in the snow.  Well he’s turned up almost every Thursday since then with another kill.  That right there is some serious hunting, and some great success! 

Anyway, he’s done it again… and this time, he’s really outdone himself with one monster of a hog.  Keep in mind now, that in CA, our feral hogs are many, many generations away from domestic.  There’s also a strong likelihood that some populations have interbred with the descendants of eurasian wild boar.  Point being, you’re not gonna see any of these second-generation, feral pigs like you do in some states that top the scales in the 700-800 pound range.   CA wild pigs have been wild for a very long time.

No, out here, a 200 -250 pounder is, honestly, a really good pig.  Most CA hunters take pigs in the 100-150 lb. range.  It’s very rare to see one go to the 300-pound class, and anything over that is a monster by local standards… which makes Matt’s “Man Thursday” story for last week even more impressive.  This animal never saw a scale, but Matt’s pretty experienced as a hunter and guide, and he knows what pigs weigh.  His conservative estimate put this monster between 300-350 lbs. 

Matt’s BIG boar…this is a monster for CA wild pigs.

Last week he didn’t make the regular Thursday trip, but he got out… better late than never.  I’ll let him tell the tale in his own words.  

Heres the deal,

The wife was on business all week. She got home late Thursday, hence, no “Man Thursday”.

I had all 4 jackals all week… “Mr. mom”.  Needless to say, I was ready to go.  I hit the road at 2:30am,get to ranch at 5:30am, get to my look out spot, glass til 9am ,no hogs, only turkeys gobblin’.

I tell my self, “I will kill a hog today,” strap the wolf pack on, and start the cardio workout up the mountain to one of my favorite mid-day spots, “the hog hacienda,” is what I call it.  It is in the nastiest, thickest,poison oak-filled canyon out there!  This spot produces about 50% of the time when I hit it.

I don’t hit it too often, as this is their safe ground, and once you blow um out of there it will take a few weeks for them to come back.  By this time it is in the 80s and I know these hogs will be fast asleep.  The trick is gettin close enough to see um before they blow out.

As I get to the place where I will start pickin my way to through the canyon, I notice fresh scat with flies attached… large diameter turds at that!  I start to smell the rank smell of the nasty sour boar. For those that have smelt this ,it only means one thing… big boar nearby! The scope is on 3 power, I have to crawl a bit to get to an opening, and as I am doing so, it happens!! The big bastard busts out and stops in the thick stuff “woofing” the whole time. 

Now in my experience, the biggest boars will stop and hold there ground, until they figure out what you are, and that is what this dude did.  I was 10 yds from a blob of hog woofing at me. “Woofing” is what I call the sound they make when there trying to wind you and make some noise to get you to move, smart dudes they are. I take another step, he has had it at this point and starts his descent down hell canyon.

I still have no shot! I look ahead and see a small opening about 50 yds out.  As soon as he hits it, I yell,“HEY!” 

He stops like a jackass, the crosshairs find him, and at the report of the rifle ,there was no reaction… he keeps going!Great!  Here we go ,pig tunnel crawling time! My favorite!!  All is silent in the thick stuff… too silent.

I get down to where I last had visual, and of course, no blood… there hardly ever is on the big boars as their plate seals on both sides if you get a pass through. I’m thinking, “wtf, did I miss?”

At this point, the god-awful smell starts becoming more apparent, I crawl a bit more, and DAMN, there he is at 5ft, chompin his cutters! 

About the time I try to raise the rifle, here he comes. I try to stand up but the manzanita is so thick it hooks my back.  I have no option. I stick the rifle out in front of me and “bang stick” him at a few feet. His momentum takes him through me and he hooks the sling on my rifle, taking my forearm with him and leaving a nice 3 inch laceration.  The cutters on this dude were apparently pretty sharp!

The hog is dead and I’m in hell canyon 1 mile from my quad.  Damm I love pig hunting! 

After coming to my senses and letting the heart rate get down a bit , I start the assessment.  It’s not good.  The arm is o.k., but the reality of gettin this guy out is not looking good.  I’m thinkin, “why cant my 3 boys be about 16, so I can put um to work?” 

The fact is, I’m going to have to go old school with this guy, take lots of pictures and start boning him out and packin… 3 trips to the quad!!

Aw the joy after the fun for the morning!  I reflect on why we do what we do… because this is America and we can! 
After a quick trip to urgent care on the way home for a tetanus shot, Ii have a few cold ones at the house and tell the story to the kids.  Man I can’t wait ‘til they are old enough!

**Side note – for those that don’t hunt during mid-day, give it a try.  Some of the best hogs are taken during this time, as most people are back at camp sleepin it off.

Until next time…

Oh, as for the gun and ammo details, the hog was taken with a .270win, shooting 130gr Sierra boat tails. 

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