“Think, ‘hog control,’ not hunting.”

That was the key message in the email sent out to our group by way of introduction from Rod Pinkston, CEO of JagerPro Hog Control Systems and, along with Winchester Ammunition, our host for two nights and days.  JagerPro specializes in two things, nighttime hog depredation with advanced thermal imaging equipment, and hog trapping. We had been invited to experience a little bit of both.

Our group consisted of myself, freelance writers MD and Julia Johnson, and Brian Lynn from Outdoor Life.  Mike Stock, the Winchester marketing representative who put the whole shindig together, was along as well.

The plan for the visit was centered around two nights of depredation hunts with Pinkston’s thermal imaging scopes, mounted atop AR-platform .308 rifles from Lewis Machine and Tool (LMT).  I’m still pretty new to the AR rifles, so I can’t offer a lot of explanation about what really sets these rifles apart from others in the genre, but I can say they’re a pretty cool piece of machine-work.

Ammunition for the hunt was provided by Winchester.  We’d be trying out their new Razorback XT.  The .308Win load is topped by a 150gr, lead-free bullet (gilding metal) that is specifically designed for delayed expansion so that the bullet can penetrate the thick, mud-caked hide and heavy cartilage of these tough beasts.  The JagerPro guides questioned the choice of 150gr,  but Mike was confident that the bullet would perform.

The proof would be in the pudding.  All we needed to do was to find some hogs and put the bullets to work.

Jager Pro does their best work at night. 

I sort of knew that going in, of course, but what I didn’t think about was that these guys aren’t hunting.  This isn’t sport.  This is eradication, and it’s business.  To the farmers whose crops are being destroyed by the porcine raiders, it’s a matter of hundreds of thousands of dollars.  To the guys at Jager Pro, it’s a matter of pride and a sense of responsibility to their customer.  They don’t play in half-measures and they don’t work for half the night.  This is a game of sunset to sunrise.

So I shouldn’t have been surprised that, after my arrival on Monday afternoon, there was no time for rest.  We spent a little time sighting in the rifles, ran out to a local Mexican joint for dinner, and hit the field.  Sleep would come later… much later.

Mike, Brian, and I hit the road with guide, Lance Hopper.  MD and his wife, Julia would ride out to another location with guide, Chris Monhof.  The guides had been scouting all day, and had a couple of prime properties to get started.  Unfortunately, the weather-guesser had lied again, and the rain that was supposed to taper off by early evening only intensified.  So had the wind.

By 22:00, the wind was driving the rain sideways across the peanut field.  Lance had spotted a small group of hogs earlier, but the wind shifted and they took off before we could make a stalk.  Once the weather turned harsh, we knew the odds of spotting more pigs were getting slim.  We stuck it out anyway.  The results were predictable.

At around 05:30, we rolled back into the lodge.  The rain had turned into an old-fashioned downpour as we sipped “nightcaps” and recounted the fairly uneventful night.  Exhausted, I was good for one drink and then turned in for the day.  Sunrise was a hazy glow through the window when my head hit the pillow.  I’d been going strong for well over 24 hours.

After a couple of hours sleep, I spent the afternoon riding with Rod.  I’d asked him if he could show me some of his traps, and talk a little about trapping as a depredation method.  He had a new design for traps and an approach to trapping that was producing some pretty amazing results.  In some cases, he was able to catch the entire sounder of hogs.  The majority of trappers are lucky to get a handful of juveniles, while the more mature and experienced hogs shun the traps.

We checked out a trapping site, and stopped off at the fabrication shop where they were assembling some trap parts based on his specifications.  The parts weren’t ready yet, though, so I didn’t get to see them at work.  I’ll have to catch up with that later, I suppose, but you can read about it on the JagerPro website if you’re interested.

Back at the lodge, we made it just in time to be served a phenomenal, down-home, Southern dinner.  There was enough food for three times as many people, and it included chicken-fried steak, collard greens, black eyed peas, and corn bread.  Dessert was apple cobbler and ice cream.  With a belly full of all that, it was a surprise any of us could get away from the table.  How we’d make it through another night in the field was a mystery to me.

We rolled back out as the sun was dipping behind the pines.  We’d be working an 1800 acre farm that had been seeing a lot of hog activity. The plan for the evening was for Mike and myself to ride with Lance, while Brian would head out with Rod.  MD and Julia were forced to pull out early due to unexpected circumstances.  Chris had an errand to run, but would be back out to scout some sections that we couldn’t see.

The moon would be completely full, but the skies were still heavily overcast and spitting rain.  The wind died out for the most part, though, and we were all pretty hopeful for a very eventful night.  In my mind, I was imagining scenarios from some of the Jager Pro videos off of YouTube.  We’d see groups of eight or ten animals and let the Razor Backs fly!  In the morning light, we’d be posing with piles of dead peanut thieves.

If you want to limit your success on a hunt, invite a bunch of outdoor writers.

We’d set up on a high spot in the middle of a huge field.  The evening turned into night, and still, we sat waiting.  Every once in a while, Lance would get up and glass the field with the “heavy”, a large version of the thermal imaging scopes.  Eventually we sort of started taking turns scanning the area.

I took my turn somewhere around 22:30.  Have I mentioned how cool this thermal imaging stuff is?  If you’ve never seen it, the scopes show images based on their heat signatures.  The hotter an object is, the whiter it appears.  The cool thing to me was that almost everything had some sort of heat coming from it, whether it was a longleaf pine or a sand road.  All around the field edges, I could see the shining white bodies of dozens of deer.  Some were feeding.  Some were bedded in the peanuts.  Some were just sort of meandering.

But none were hogs.

Then I spotted something different.  It had the sort of distinct, rounded back profile that could be a hog, but it wouldn’t turn broadside so I could get a clear look.  I got a little excited, and panned around for a moment to see what else was out there.  When I came back around, it had moved a little.  I still couldn’t tell, so I called Lance to take a look.  It was a ‘possum.

Since he already had the scope in hand, Lance took a spin.  I watched as he slowly scanned in 360 degrees, and then he stopped suddenly.  His posture changed as he peered into the scope to verify what he saw.  He lowered the scope and then raised it again.  Then he turned to us.  “I’ve got two hogs,” he said.  “They’re probably 600 yards away, a long walk, but I think we can get to them.”

The stalk was on.

Stalking at night, under these conditions, is a really different experience.  You follow single-file behind the guide, who is carrying the “heavy”.  Since he has the spotter, he’s the only one who can see what you’re stalking.  It’s a weird feeling, because for all we knew, we were just walking toward the darker line of trees on the horizon.  The guide watches the hogs and their body language, stopping when they get alert, and then moving as they feed.  When he stops, we stop.  When he goes, we go.  A few hundred yards like this seem like miles, and at every stop we cringe, waiting to hear that the hogs have winded us and left the field.

They didn’t leave the field, but Lance started getting nervous as we got closer.  Despite the heavy cloud cover, the full moon was still lighting the place up pretty well.  Out in the open as we were, we’d be somewhat backlighted.  He finally called a halt, and signaled us to set up our shooting sticks.  It was on.

I put my rifle up on the sticks, and struggled into position behind the scope.  With these thermal scopes, the trick is to put your eye fully into the eye piece housing.  This housing is pliable rubber, but putting my eye into it flies in the face of years of shooting with traditional scopes.  Get too close, and you’re gonna get bit.  Not so with these, but it took a conscious effort to stay in proper shooting position.

The next trick was identifying the target.  At first, I couldn’t find it at all, and then the hog was just a glowing blob.  It was only after my eye adjusted that I could recognize the profile.  I couldn’t see the second hog at all, but my job was to shoot the one on the left.  Mike would be responsible for the one on his side.  Lance would shoot backup.  You don’t want the hog to leave the field, if you can help it.

We were to shoot on a countdown from three.  Lance started counting, and I took up the slack on the two-stage trigger.  At one, I felt myself tensing, and when I should have pulled the trigger I jerked the whole rifle.  Despite hearing Mike’s gun going off, I backed off and took a quick breath before bearing down on my hog again.  It hadn’t quite realized what was happening yet, and I was able to send a round behind the shoulder.  The hog dropped on impact.

I still heard shooting, so I scanned to see if the other hog was running into my field of fire.  I couldn’t see it, but as I passed across my hog, I saw that the damned thing was back on its feet.  I fired again, and realized that Lance was shooting too.  I think my second shot was a miss, but on my third shot the hog rolled, feet in the air.  I breathed a sigh of relief, but kept the scope on him.

Sure enough, the bloody thing was back up and pushing for the woodline.  Lance was shooting, and I sent a couple more rounds at him.  He seemed to drop, and then was up again.  I lead him across the nose and sent one more.  At that shot, the hog dropped out of sight.

“He’s down,” I heard Lance say.  “But keep an eye on him.”

I stayed in the scope for a bit longer, until Lance finally said to put the rifles back on Safe.

“That was a little longer shot than we usually take,” he said.  “But I thought we were gonna get busted any minute.”

Usually, the shots are inside of 100 yards.  They’re often in the 60 to 70 yard range.  Lance walked off the distance as we moved to check on our animals.  We reached my hog at 215 paces.  Mike’s hog had been about 30 yards or so to the right of mine, but there was no sign of it.

Because I thought we were so close, I’d imagined my hog would be in the neighborhood of 125 pounds or so.  As it turns out, he was quite a bit larger.  I’m still waiting on an official weight (Lance sent him whole to a taxidermist).  No wonder he took so many hits from that .308 to bring down!  I’m fairly certain that I hit him at least twice in the body, and Lance was pretty sure he’d made at least two hits as well.  I think that my last shot went in just ahead of his eye and out through his nose.  At any rate, someone’s shot did… either mine or Lance’s.

We tried to trail the other pig, but besides a set of running tracks in the muddy road, we found no sign of it.  There was no blood, and the tracks appeared to be running normally (no dragging feet or stumbles), so we think he managed to escape unharmed.  Either that, or he was simply bulletproof.

We loaded the boar and went back to our glassing point.  There was a lot of night left, and the conditions seemed perfect.  Nevertheless, we never saw another pig in our field.

Somewhere around 04:00, Mike decided we’d had enough.  I couldn’t argue.  We’d sit it out another half hour or so, and then pack it in.  As we waited out the clock, a single shot came from the other field.  A moment later, it was followed by one more.  Then there was silence.  Brian and Rod had just whacked a hog.

We gathered up the gear and headed out at 04:30.  It was near 06:00 when we finally made it back to the lodge.  We conducted a short photo session (thank goodness for auto-focus cameras, because I doubt any of us could see straight enough to focus manually).  There was a lot of goofiness and laughter as we set the animals up for pictures, but we finally got it done.

I wanted to do a post-mortem on the big boar, to see how many shots actually connected (we were pretty sure there were at least four in the body), and what these new Winchester bullets did.  A boar like this would be a real test for any bullet.  None of the shots had passed through, except for the shot through the nose.  The mud-caked hide was enough to stop some bullets by itself, and I could only imagine at the thickness of the boar’s cartilage shield.  I was eager to get the skin off and see what we could find.  Lance wanted to get him to the taxidermist, though, and let the professional handle the caping.  I was way too tired to argue, as he loaded the boar up and took off down the road.

Update:  10/14/2011 12:40 – Just got word from the taxidermist in Georgia.  The boar weighed in at 276lbs, live weight. 

The big hog had taken three hits to the body.  Two had passed clean through, side-to-side.  I still can’t believe we didn’t see any evidence of exit wounds, but it’s hard to describe how dense and mud-packed the hide was on this animal.   A third shot had quartered in (probably while he was running away) and passed through the entire thoracic cavity to lodge in the off-side leg bone.  The recovered bullet had expanded fully and still had all of the petals (no shearing, even when lodging in the large bone).  That’s pretty good bullet performance.  A fourth bullet had glanced off of the shoulder, and the fifth was the aforementioned shot through the nose.   

Brian’s hog was not a tiny thing either.  It was a good 140lb boar, and they’d hit it twice.  The first shot, from about 83 yards, had gone in behind the last ribs and quartered forward into the animal.  I opened up the skin and separated the off-side shoulder.  After some digging, I found the spent bullet lodged in the boar’s shield.  It had passed through about a foot and a half of hog, and mushroomed perfectly without losing any petals.  That’s not too bad, although I was a little surprised that the lead-free bullet hadn’t completely blown through.  Another testament to the toughness of hogs.  The pig had been dying, but not dead.  Brian’s second shot had gone into the head and exited, so I couldn’t check that bullet.

All in all, the whole thing was a pretty extraordinary experience.  Shooting hogs with thermal imaging optics definitely ranked high on the “cool” meter.  Because of the way the whole thing played out, it wasn’t really all that different from spot and stalk in the daylight.  We found the animals, moved on them, and made the shots.  The fact that it took place at night certainly gave us some advantage, although I think an identical stalk could have been done with the sun up.  Of course, had we come up on an entire sounder, the cover of night would certainly have been a necessity to get close enough for multiple kills.

I’d like to shoot a couple more hogs with the Razor Back XT ammo, before I make any huge pronouncements, but the fact is that both hogs we hit were very dead.  The big one soaked up a lot of lead copper, but I’m pretty sure the first hit would have been fatal over a short time.  There wasn’t much blood, but with a well-placed shot, you don’t need a lot of blood trail anyway.

I would be very interested in seeing a similar bullet for the 30-06 in 168 or 180 grains.  I get the feeling that would be a hog-slaying combination!  Mike said that more calibers would be on tap after the initial rollout.  I’m looking forward to it!

I also saw the perfect use for the AR platform on this trip.  When you need a lot of firepower, these rifles are designed to deliver it.  The recoil is barely noticeable, and you can put a fair number of shots on target in a short amount of time.  If you’re trying to take out as many animals as possible in a single engagement, this is definitely the way to go.  And honestly, shooting these rifles is just kind of fun anyway.

Overall, it was a great trip and a learning experience.  I’m really thankful to Winchester Ammunition for sponsoring this trip, and for allowing me to be part of the whole thing.

I’ve got some more to say about Jager Pro and what they’re doing in upcoming posts.  I think I’ll be digging into trapping and depredation a little more in the near future as well, and Rod Pinkston and his guys are definitely in a league of their own.  Stay tuned!

More about the Razor Back XT:

The Razor Back is the first round completely designed with the hog hunter in mind.  The bullet is lead-free, so that it can be used in every state (CA DFG certification is in the works).  The initial release will be in 150 gr .308 and 64 gr .223, and is intended to make the round available for the growing AR market, as well as traditional rifles in these calibers.  More calibers will be added to the line after it is rolled out.

The design of the bullet provides a deep, hollow point in a beveled profile to control the expansion.  Full expansion is intended to occur shortly after impact, so that the bullet can penetrate the thick hide, big bones, and cartilage shields that hogs are known for.  On this hunt, I didn’t see any pass-through body shots, but it was apparent that the bullets were hitting hard and delivering plenty of energy. 

For the depredation hunter shooting at night, and for the sport hunter who may shoot at first or last light, Winchester has developed a powder that delivers a reduced flash.  This allows the shooter to stay on target and not experience the night blindness that sometimes comes with a bright muzzle flash.  Since we were using thermal optics instead of night vision, I couldn’t tell first-hand what the muzzle flash was like.  I wish I’d had the opportunity to video some of the shooting, but the hogs and weather just didn’t cooperate to provide enough opportunities. 

The Razor Back XT will become part of Winchester’s “black box” line of ammunition, but should be priced significantly below the E-Tip and XP3 loads.   They should be available for the 2012 hunting seasons.

What do you think about a new round that’s specifically designed for hog hunters and depredation?  It’s built around a specially designed, lead-free bullet that will provide serious expansion and penetration at the same time.  It also uses a special powder blend to reduce muzzle-flash for night time depredation shooting.

I realize that most of you regular readers are recreational hunters (as opposed to dep hunters), but I’m still curious about your take.  Is this something you could see a use for?  Those of you who use premium bullets, would you consider this one?

Personally, I’m sort of ambivalent.  I think it’s really cool that hog hunting has become so prevalent that a major manufacturer thinks it’s worth the effort and cost to develop a round specifically for swine killers.  On the other hand, this status comes as the direct result of the spread of a destructive species that’s costing states and private landowners a lot of money.

As far as the ammo itself, I can’t say more yet.  I haven’t even held one in my grubby mitts.  However, next week I’ll have the opportunity to try this new round in real, field conditions on real hogs, and learn a lot more about the marketing plan behind it as well.  I will let you know a lot more about this thing next week.

Fall Pig Hunts Offered in Yolo County

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) will conduct eight permit-only wild pig hunts on Bobcat Ranch in Yolo County between Oct. 24 and Nov. 18.A total of 64 wild pig hunters will have access to the private property during two archery hunts, two apprentice hunts and four general method hunts. All are two-day hunts.

Applications will be accepted for parties of up to two licensed hunters for the archery and general periods. Apprentice hunters must have a 2011/2012 junior hunt license, and must each fill out a separate application. Applicants may apply for more than one period but will ultimately only be drawn for one.

The Bobcat Ranch is located in Yolo County’s Vaca Mountain foothills, west of Winters. Hunting under the Shared Habitat Alliance for Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Program will help achieve the ranch’s long-term conservation management objectives, including controlling the wild pig population.

Applications must be received by 4 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2011. More information and applications are available at: www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/share/index.html.

This opportunity was made possible by the SHARE Program, which offers incentives to private landowners who allow hunts on their property. Participating landowners receive liability protection and may receive compensation for providing public access to or through their land for wildlife-dependent recreational activities. The goal of the SHARE Program is to provide additional hunting, fishing and other recreational access on private lands in California.

In July, DFG secured a $500,000 federal grant to support the creation of additional public hunting and fishing opportunities through the SHARE Program. This hunt is one of the new game bird and big game hunting opportunities expected to happen statewide as a result of that grant.

More information on the grant can be found here:
http://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/dfg-receives-federal-grant-to-support-share-program/.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 12, 2011
The Great South Predator and Wild Hog Extravaganza Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter – McGill Market Place May 20-22, 2011 – Perry, Georgia www.scurryoutdoorssouth.com

ATLANTA, GEORGA (May 11, 2011) — Scurry Outdoors South presents the Great South Predator and Wild Hog Extravaganza, the only trade show exclusively dedicated to Predator & Wild Hog enthusiasts. Scurry Outdoors South has brought together hunting experts, equipment manufacturers, and other hunting industry professionals to create a unique experience for the predator enthusiast.  Events will include nationally renowned hunting experts, the World Predator Calling Championship, a taxidermy competition, a Night Vision, Thermal, Laser & Spotting Light Seminar and a Pig Rig Truck Competition. Attendees can also visit over eighty predator and hog hunting companies.

THE EXHIBITION – Eighty different companies including holographic scope manufacturers, custom animal traps, predator callers, hunting specialty magazines, guided hunts, predator attraction scents, camouflage manufacturers, decoy developers, night vision and night lighting gear, Pig Rig vehicle customization companies, weapons manufacturers and resellers.

LEARN FROM THE PROS -  Brian “Pigman” Quaca from the Sportsman Channel, Andrew West from Discovery Channel’s “Hogs Gone Wild”, “Mr. Predator” Byron South from the Pursuit Channel and Glenn Guess, Field Editor for Boar Hunter magazine and many top experts on a variety of subjects pertaining to predators and wild hogs.

OUTDOOR NIGHT VISION EQUIPMENT DEMONSTRATION – This hands-on, outdoor educational night time event is specifically designed to show the latest products and technology for the night hunting enthusiast.  Vendors will demonstrate their products on various animals along with humans set out at 100 yard intervals.

THE GREAT SOUTH PREDATOR & WILD HOG TAXIDERMY COMPETITION – For both amateur and professional taxidermists.  Competition categories include full mounts and shoulder pedestal mounts. Attendees can expect to see coyotes, foxes, bobcats, wild hogs, bears, snakes and even alligators.  There is a special “first ever” Ugliest Mount category.

PIG RIG, TRUCK AND ATV COMPETITION – With this competition, the ATV, truck, golf cart or any other vehicle used to climb, crawl or get buried in the swamps, marshes and mud flats of the South will be judged with the winner receiving a pair of Tri-Tronics Trash Breaker Dog Collars.
ABOUT SCURRY OUTDOORS SOUTH
Scurry Outdoors South (SOS) was founded by brothers Ken and Jeff Scurry with the purpose of developing trade shows specifically for hunting enthusiasts.  To do this, they brought together their lifetime love of hunting and the outdoors with their combined 40 years convention and trade show industry experience. The result is THE premier event incorporating the excitement of both predator and wild hog hunting.  As predators and wild hogs continue to adapt and thrive in almost any environment and condition, their pursuit has become a rapidly growing sport.

I got this tale in yesterday’s email from my friend, Lt. Dan.  Lt. Dan is one of the fortunate folks who gets to hunt over on Vandeberg AFB, which is open to active and retired military and contractors.  Until last year (I think it was), the base was also open to escorted guests, but that program has been shut down. 

That’s neither here, nor there, I guess.  The point is, everytime I hear from Dan about a hunt at V-berg, I get a little jealous.  Not only is the place loaded with pigs, it sounds like a beautiful piece of central coast landscape… the kind of place where just getting out there is its own reward.  But remember… every reward has its price.

So anyway, here’s Dan’s tale.  Enjoy!

Ever had a bad case of buck fever?   You get the shakes and the cross hairs always seem to point at sky?  I’ve had that.  I’ve also had swine flu, similar but the cross hairs seem to rest on the dirt.

This is the first time I’ve really had a bad case of Spring Fever and it’s different.   Spring Fever makes you do stupid things, things that defy the bounds of common sense.  That’s how this story begins….

So I’ve had a case of Spring Fever for awhile and been dying to hit the field and chase some hogs.  Scheduling and weather have been thwarting those efforts until last week when it all seemed to come together. 

I gave my buddy Jim a call and as it turns out, he was suffering from the same illness and it’s off to Vandenberg we go.  A friend of mine lives up in Lompoc and is some sort of hog guru.  He’s got the golden pig touch, so we give him a call to get the latest hog report.

I swear that guy should just make a recording, “Hi, this is Al and here’s Friday’s hog outlook.   Area 4 is looking good, with fair to medium sized sows with the occasional sighting of boar expected…..” Anyway we got the report and made it one of our favorite spots, and the one spot Al advised AGAINST.

It’s about 5:30, early yet.  The wind is absolutely whipping down the valley and over the edge of the cliff.  I mean, it’s a cheek flapping,  g-force, nostril burning kind of wind.  We quickly decide to try a different spot and spend about an hour and half in a quiet little valley seeing absolutely NADA.  The big fat zero.

As it gets closer to dusk, the wind starts to ease off and we head back to our little rock perch and sure enough, no sooner had we rested butt cheeks on rock when Jim calls “HOG”. 

He describes it as black and silver and of course, I don’t see squat.  We go through that famous litany all hunters know, “…see that yellow bush? Next to the dead branch?  It’s right there!”

Of course,   all I see is tall vegetation, much taller than I remember from our last trip.  Suddenly, a big brown hog steps into a small clearing and I grab the Tikka, and just as quickly, it disappears.  Jim doesn’t see it, but we know there are two hogs down there.  A minute goes by and into the clearing steps the silver and black hog Jim saw.  The hogs steeply quartering away and I’ve got maybe 3 seconds to make the shot.  I throw the rifle up settle the cross-hairs and let fly.  It’s 7:30.

Jim almost fell off the cliff.  In retrospect, I should have warned him of the impending shot.  Did you know that 30-06 is loud?  Apparently so.

Anyway, the hogs down at about 150 yard and a -27 degree angle and I realize I’ve done a stupid spring fever thing.  I’ve got to go down the cliff in failing light…and it’s steep.  Almost vertical.

Jim stays behind to guide me to the hog and I begin my descent.  Quickly, I realize that it’s REALLY steep and the only thing preventing me from plunging to my death is the lush vegetation.  Ever go down a water slide and have the swim shorts ride up the crack of your butt?  It’s like that, except no water, just….poison oak!  Aww, crap. I knew that green stuff looked familiar!  My pants legs are riding up to my knees and lots of bare leg exposed, but I’m committed, and gravity knows no master.

Jim takes the truck down to the end of the valley, unloads the cart and brings it back and helps me drag the hog the 100 yards to the cattle trail.  It takes an hour to bust through 100 yards of brush and poison oak and another hour to the truck.   Took the shot at 7:30 and got to the truck at 10:00.
 
We vowed never to hunt that spot again, this late in the spring.

The boar weighed 144.6 dressed and had ½ inch gristle plates.  The bullet went in behind the left shoulder and lodged under the right ear.

My doctor’s appointment is in about an hour.  I know what Spring Fever does.  It causes the strawberry colored blisters forming on my legs.  It also causes the smile I’m wearing today.

Tikka T-3 lite, 30-06
Winchester 150 gr E-tip
Nikon 3x9x40 BDC
150yds, -27 degrees.

Fish and Game Offers May Pig Hunts Through SHARE Program

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) will conduct a permit-only wild pig hunt on Bobcat Ranch in May. This hunting opportunity – under the Shared Habitat Alliance for Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Program – will give 56 wild pig hunters access to the private property during two archery periods, two apprentice periods and four general method periods.

  The SHARE Program is a voluntary landowner incentive program.

Participating landowners receive liability protection and may receive compensation for providing public access to or through their land for wildlife-dependent recreational activities. The goal of the SHARE Program is to provide hunting, fishing and other recreational access on private lands in California that would not be available otherwise.

 The Bobcat Ranch is located in Yolo County’s Vaca Mountain foothills, west of Winters. Hunting under the SHARE Program will help achieve the ranch’s long-term conservation management objectives, which include controlling the wild pig population.

 Applications must be received by 4 p.m. on April 5, 2011. More information and applications are available on DFG’s SHARE Program website at: www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/share/index.html.

Tejon was, as always, an absolute blast.  For those who’ve never hunted there, you don’t know what you’re missing.  For those of you in CA who can hunt there as residents but haven’t, there’s very little excuse.  You can do a weekend-long, self-guided hunt there for a little better than half the cost of an economy guided hunt.  It’s even cheaper than most self-guided hunts on private land.  And the quality of the habitat and the game is absolutely priceless.  Where else can you hunt hogs with a very high chance of success while crossing paths with California Hybrid deer (muley/blacktail), Rocky Mountain elk (some in the neighborhood of 400 inches), quail, turkeys, black bear, condors, bald eagles, coyotes, bobcats, and lord knows what-all?  This past weekend, I think the only thing we didn’t see was black bears… but they’re there.  It’s 277,000 acres of western outdoor paradise.

Here’s the kicker… that wasn’t a sales pitch.  I don’t work at Tejon, and I sure don’t get any kickback for sending folks their way.  The place is just that awesome. 

Anyway, my weekend went sort of like this:

Day 1, Friday:  I hit the field, bow in hand, at around 15:30.  Less than 20 minutes in, I heard the unmistakeable “huff” and grunting, followed by the sound of many short legged beasts trampling away in the other direction.  I stopped and checked the wind.  It was dead in my face.  Two steps later, it was blowing up the back of my neck.  Damn canyons.  That was as close as I got, and the end of my bowhunt.

Day 2: Saturday morning:  I put the bow in the cab of the truck and grabbed the Browning.  This is a rifle that has shot lights-out since the first time I laid it across the sandbags at the Oakland range.  It’s killed a fair number of animals in the short time I’ve owned it, and done so handily and usually with a single shot.  In .325 Winchester Short Magnum, it’s more gun than any North American hunter ever needs. 

I was late getting on the ridgetop, and things were looking bleak.  Then, from at least 2000 yards away, I spotted movement. Crossing the wide-open ridge was a single, huge, hog.  He topped the hill and dropped into the draw out of sight.  Judging by his direction, I was pretty sure he’d follow the sidehill trails and keep coming right to me.  All I had to do was wait.

It was nearly ten minutes later that he topped the next ridge, having dawdled his way across the canyon and up the other side.  He was still moving steadily though, and he dropped into the next canyon out of sight.  This kept up for at least 20 minutes.  Every time I almost gave up, he’d appear again, topping the ridge and keeping the general path… right to me.

Finally he started closing to realistic range.  I held the crosshairs on him at 400 yards, broadside, but kept my finger off the trigger.  I centered it on him again at 340 yards, but restrained myself.  At this range, I could tell which trail he was using.  It would cross within spitting distance of my solid rest on the rocks.  All I had to do was wait.

As he came down the last hillside, he slowed to an ambling walk.  At 215 yards, I couldn’t help myself anymore.  It was a bad call, a total breakdown of critical patience, but I laid the crosshairs a shade ahead of his nose, took a breath, and touched the trigger.  The bullet splashed into the dirt a few inches over his ear and the boar kicked it into high gear.  Rookie mistake by an experienced hunter.  But I still couldn’t believe I missed him.

Jump ahead an hour and a half.  I’ve decided to pack it over to a bedding area that has held pigs every single time I’ve hunted it.  It’s an ugly spot, which is why it’s seldom hunted (and why I hunt it).  I’m hiking in, not even close to the good stuff, when a shadow comes between me and the morning sun.   I flinch involuntarily, and then look up to see a calico boar running full out on a parallel course to my own.  I snap shoot without a thought, stupidly, and of course I miss. 

Strike two.

The boar disappears without another good opportunity and I continue down to the bedding areas.  As I do, I catch movement across the canyon.  Eight to ten pigs are scrambling up the opposite ridge.  I range them at 400 yards and moving out.  No way I’ll get a shot on these unless they turn and come back down.  They don’t.

I sit down to take a breather, and glass the opposite ridge.  At first there’s nothing, but then I pick up a black spot.  After a moment, I realize I’m looking at a huge pig bedded on the hillside.  I get the scope on it and notice small animals a few feet away.  I think it’s weird to see squirrels so close to a bedded pig.  Then I realize the “squirrels” are piglets.  It’s a wet sow… no shot.

I keep glassing for a few seconds before I realize that the clay-colored shape just below her is actually a red and black calico boar.  I range him at 266.  It’s a long poke, but completely realistic with the solid rest I’ve set up in front of me.  I take the time to stuff my ears with toilet paper (forgot to get my SportEars out of the truck), settle in on top of my pack frame, and control my breathing.  My finger inches toward the trigger. 

The boar stands up, leaving my crosshairs hovering over empty dirt, and goes to sniff at the sow.  She doesn’t like that and jumps up to chase him into the thicket.  They both disappear.  Damn!

The don’t leave the thicket, so I hold my position and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Finally, I see movement at the top of the brush.  The boar steps out, stretches like a dog, and sprawls out on the ground.  There is no possible way he could expose more of his vitals to me.  I tuck the rifle into my shoulder, get a solid sight picture, check the area around the boar in case the piglets came back out (they didn’t), and put the crosshairs high on his shoulder.  At this range, I should hit right where I’m aiming, but this will allow for a little drop or drift. 

At the shot, the boar jumps to his feet and dives into the brush.  I’m sure I’ve hit him.

Getting across the ravine to the spot where the hogs were is no mean feat, but after some time and sweat I’m there.  Unfortunately, the hog is not there.  Neither is there any sign of a hit.  No blood.  No hair.  Plenty of tracks, but nothing stumbling or dragging.  I scour the thicket and the surrounding area, but nothing.  I’ve missed again.

At this point, I’m not having a very good day.  I’m having thoughts of Catalina, and really worrying.  Have I just lost my ability to make the shot?  One miss is bad enough, but understandable.  Three in a row?  Come on!

At Catalina, the problem was 100% with the trigger nut.  You know what a trigger nut is, right?  It’s the nut that pulls the trigger and makes the gun go boom.  Yeah.  It was all me. 

I was pretty sure this was the case on this hunt too.  The Browning had never let me down before.  Nevertheless, I drove back to camp, made a target out of a paper plate, and took it to a safe place to shoot.  Someone else had apparently decided this was a good place to shoot, and had set up a serviceable bench.  I set the target at 100 yards, settled in, and touched off the first round.  I couldn’t see a hole in the plate.  I fired another round, and the hole appeared several inches to the right and a couple of inches high.  I’d zeroed the rifle for dead-on at 100 yards. 

After a couple of adjustments, I was center-punching the target.  Unfortunately, the excercise left me with six rounds.  I briefly considered switching the 30-06, but I’m too stubborn for that.  I rolled back to camp, had a snack, and headed for “my” ridge. 

Just before dark, I looked across the canyon and saw a hunter slipping across the face of the hill where I’d missed the hogs earlier.  Across the draw from him, I saw a big pig, feeding in the open.  I thought to myself that this would make some great video and settled down with the camera.  Several minutes went by but the hunter never showed.  I decided he’d had his chance, and now I’d take mine.

I ran as hard as I could up the hill, then dropped off onto a finger ridge.  I managed to close the distance to 158 yards on the boar, still unaware.  He was big, but I didn’t think too hard about that at the moment.  I settled onto the ground and found a steady rest.  I waited until my breathing had settled down, put the crosshairs on him, and waited for him to put his head down to feed. 

At the shot, the boar started tumbling.  The steep hillside dropped away about 500 feet into the creek bed below, and I could hear the boar crashing like an out of control 18-wheeler all the way down, breaking through the scrub oak all the way down until I heard the splat of the boar in the creekbed.  Then everything was quiet.

The recovery was no fun.

While our group of nine guys saw a lot of hogs over the weekend, we only brought out four by the time we drove out of the gates on Sunday.  It was a disappointing outcome, but that’s how hunting can be.  Tejon can be a really tough hunt, but it’s always rewarding, and often educational. 

Here’s a little video of the event.  Consider it your reward for reading all of this!

In the meantime, I’ve had to settle myself with tales from my friends in the blogosphere.  At least someone is hunting swine out there!

First up, I popped over to check in with Jeff and the good people at Cypress Creek Hunting Club.  It looks like the South Carolina hunters had a pretty good deer season, but with that behind them and turkeys still over the horizon, it’s time for hogs.  And boy, oh boy, it looks like they’ve got them! 

Even with the wacky, foul weather (snow, freezing temps, rain, more cold, etc.), they still managed to keep the meat pole sagging with fresh pork.  Check out the action at Jeff’s Skinning Shed blog!

Back at the end of January (seems like so long ago), my new online friend and blogroll member, The Bumbling Bushman headed down to Florida to see if he could do his part to defend Mickey Mouse and the orange groves from rampaging hogs.  From the sounds of things, Jamie and crew had a great time down there and even managed to knock over a couple of orange-thieves! 

My jaw drops as I look out into the field – a herd, a sounder of hogs, maybe 25 strong, is rooting contentedly in the rain-soaked soil. There are three or four black ones that look enormous compared to the kaleidoscope of shoats swirling around their feet. One of them is a boar and he is sniffing the sows to see if any of them are in season for breeding. In addition to the tankers, another five or six sturdy looking pigs of varying colors and patterns complete the group. They are 200 yards away and the sun is setting rapidly.

Exciting stuff, Jamie!  The adventures that followed were equally exciting.  Florida is high on my “One Day” list for hog hunting destinations.

Scooting back across the continent, I slid by Al’s SoCal Bowhunter blog to see that he’s been out chasing hogs a little bit.  Unfortunately, as you can read on this post, the sign he encountered was primarily from pigs of the two-legged variety.  This is a damned shame, and one of the very few things that really gets me pissed off.  I don’t often see it on the scale that Al and his buddies encountered, but folks, please! 

Of course, my daily blog visits are never complete without a stop at Rex’s Deer Camp blog. 

Rex and the boys have been having a good bit of success with the hogs down there too.  Even better is that they have a hog hunt scheduled next month that promises to be epic… if not in the harvest, then at least in the story-telling that I’m sure will ensue.  Despite my constant threats to do so, I have yet to be able to coordinate a trip to Mississippi to visit Rex, and to help rid the swamps of those horrid beasties. 

If California ever gets that damned lottery machine fixed, I’ll use some of my newfound fortune to pack my guns in the tactical vehicle and road trip to some of these folks, starting with Rex and his crew. 

As sort of an aside, but actually quite relevant, in my adventures around the blogosphere, I spotted a most unlikely magazine blogger out in pursuit of sus scrofa.  Kiera Butler, Articles Editor from Mother Jones magazine was down in Georgia hunting feral pigs with Locavore Hunter, Jackson Landers.  Kiera did an excellent and entertaining three-part blog series about the hunt.  It’s not your everyday hunting story, but it’s definitely worth a read if you have half a chance.  Here’s the first part, and in it you’ll find links to parts two and three. 

One of the coolest things about seeing this story in a magazine like Mother Jones was that it reinforces my feeling that hunting is entering something of a new age.  There’s a combination of factors here, including the number of people coming to the sport late in life, the accessibility of hunting via television, and the locavore and slow food movements that is really changing the way a lot of Americans see the sport of hunting.  And in a lot of ways, wild hogs are sort of intermingled in the whole picture.

I got one such email yesterday from Jon, in Southern California.  Here’s what he had to say:

Got a question I thought I might pose to you, maybe for the rest of your readership to consider as well.  I know you don’t usually use dogs to hunt hogs, but I’m considering training one– right, just one.  I’m looking for a dog that might help me find hogs, but not bay or hold the hog.  Essentially I’m looking for a “pig pointer” (pointing from very far away, of course).  

To your knowledge, is this something someone else has tried?  I have several concerns, not the least of which is having to explain to the rest of my family how our pet got gored by a pig.  So I’m approaching this cautiously and with open ears.  Who knows.  This may prove to be fodder for some humorous posts. 

BTW pursuing the one dog option because we already have two crazy human pups in the family, and alpha female is not keen on more than one dog. 

Jon’s right, of course.  I’m no houndsman, and while I’ve been involved in dog hunts it’s certainly not my forte.  I know a few breeds, and I understand the basics of bay dogs and catch dogs, but beyond that my expertise dries up.  So when it comes to choosing a hog dog, I’d defer to my readers who do have that experience.  I hope some of you might speak up now.

But what Jon’s asking may not be so much for a pit bull or catahoula.  Most dogs with a little hunting instinct can learn to pick up a pig track and maybe even lead you in the right direction.  Cyrus, my labrador, is crazy about pigs and will follow a trail if I give him half a chance.  I’ve had him literally go “on point” while quail hunting, only to find that he’s stumbled over fresh pig sign.  With a little encouragement, I’m pretty sure I could get him to trail and locate a hog.  Of course, I don’t want him doing that.  He’s athletic and strong, but a wild hog is a nasty customer.  Fighting a hog requires instinct that I’m not sure a labrador has… and I don’t like the idea of finding out. 

How did Cyrus become a hog hunter?  It was partially an accident, but shouldn’t be a surprise.  As a pup, we took him on a hog hunting trip.  With a hog down, I encouraged him to check it out.  The more excited he got, the more I encouraged him.  Later, we tossed him some scraps during the field dressing (some veterinarians would recommend against this). 

The next time I took him down to Native Hunt, he took an immediate interest in the Eurasian hogs roaming near the lodge.  I called him off, but there was no mistaking the way he sniffed around and watched the pigs.  A less obedient dog would have been in trouble, which is something to consider.  If you’re planning to train a non-fighting dog to find pigs, you’re gonna want to have a dog you can reliably control with voice commands. 

At any rate, Cyrus has become a pig-hunting bird dog.  Any time he crosses a fresh pig track, he looks at me for approval.  I’ve let him follow a track or two, but so far we haven’t caught up to a live hog (besides the ones at Native Hunt).  I have no doubt that we could do it, though. 

Is it a good idea?  I don’t know.  It can certainly be dangerous for your dog, but with an obedient animal and some common sense, I don’t think it’s any more dangerous than walking an untrained dog in pig or bear country. 

So what do the rest of you think?  Hog-doggers out there… any tips, thoughts, or ideas?