2 Hogs Down at D and E Guide Service - YES!!!!!

[db 183]

Just got home from another great trip with Ernie at D and E Guide Service in Middletown.

I will write up the story tomorrow.

I shot a 100 pound meat hog. My buddy ended up with a nice 200 pound sow. His first hog in about 6 or 7 years. I need to get his photos to add them here.

Anyway - Here are the photos of my pig.

 

[saravonshep]

Great pics, glad you got a pig out their!!

 

[asaxon]

What do D&E charge? The intel on their web site is from 2007 and it says 400/day for hog hunts. What is the price structure? cost for second pig? trophy fees? etc. Thanks

 

[db 183]

What do D&E charge? The intel on their web site is from 2007 and it says 400/day for hog hunts. What is the price structure? cost for second pig? trophy fees? etc. Thanks

They charge $500 per hunter and $150 kill fee. The kill fee doesn't matter if it is a meat pig or the monster trophy of a lifetime, it is a flat rate.

This was my second hunt with Ernie. The adventures of my first hunt can be read here: http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums...nds-of-.44-ammunition?highlight=Ernie+Sanders

The price may seem a bit steep (it did to me the first time I went) but I can tell you without a doubt that Ernie works hard for his customers. He is the only guide service on the ranches he hunts and he guides most of the hunts himself. He scouts everyday regardless of whether he has a hunter or not. He never takes a day off. He knows where the pigs will be and the quality of the animals. He also can put together multiple packages that include upland game like Turkeys or Mountain Quail as well as Large Mouth Bass Fishing. He makes sure to cater to your needs. He is a no nonsense guy and he only cares about getting you an animal. Sometimes to a fault. He tries and tries and tries and if things aren't going right, he works even harder and sometimes stresses a bit until he finds one. I would have a hard time going with another guide after going with Ernie.

He usually runs a special during the spring turkey season where it is $400 per hunter and you can take one turkey (no kill fee) and one hog. The hog has the usual kill fee attached.

The reason for the kill fee is that he pays that to the ranch owners for allowing him to hunt their properties. He also pays a portion of the guide fee to the ranch owners. This is how he gains access to the ranches.

 

[db 183]

So here is the story that goes with the pics....

I had placed a deposit of $300 with Ernie last year after my first hunt with him. It was supposed to be for the early goose season but since I got drawn for X7b which coincided with that season, I had to cancel. So instead, I told Ernie to hold on to my money and to call me when the hogs were in great abundance. In the meantime, one of my co-workers, Dale, decided to go. My wife went too but didn't hunt, she was just there for the adventure. We stayed at the Twin Pine Indian Casino about 10 minutes from Ernie's house. We had a great time the night before the hunt which included dinner, drinks and some gambling (and we won a little too which is always good!!!).

Ernie knows about my muscular dystrophy and told me we should wait until the acorns are dropping and the pigs show up just outside his house on the front part of the Comstock Ranch (one of his hunting properties). With the wierd weather this year, the acorns didn't drop until very late. But eventually the hogs showed up on this portion of the ranch and Ernie had them patterened. They were coming through between 6am and 10am every day for weeks. The area looks like someone came through with a tractor and rototilled the dirt under all the oak trees and oak brush. It is seiously torn up.

This area of the property is a very easy ride via 4 wheeler or truck and a very short walk from the vehicles to the hunting area. We set up in a stand made of lawn chairs under an Oak Tree. Unfortunately for us, the weather did not cooperate at all. The night before had rain and a full moon. The next morning the wind was not blowing and a heavy, heavy fog settled in the valley we were hunting so as the sun came up, we were very comfortable in our lawn chairs but we couldn't see more than 30 or 40 yards. Every hog in the world could have walked past us and we never would have seen them.

We tried to wait out the fog but it was well after 10am before it lifted. When it did lift you could see the trails. The hogs had been coming through just like Ernie said. There were 3 or 4 heavily used trails and the medows and all around the trees were all torn up. Ernie was a little stressed by this since he was just foiled by the pigs and the weather.

But as always, Ernie has great knowledge of the properties he hunts and where the pigs will be. He split us up. My wife and I went with Ernie and Dale went with Ernie's son Mike. The guides took us out to glass areas where they had been seeing pigs. Ernie took us all over the ranch and we glassed and glassed and glassed but didn't see anything. We were headed back to his house to take a break and come up with another plan but just short of the house, we jumped a wet sow with piglets. Wet sows are strictly off limits. We glassed the thick brush but did not find anything else. These pigs were working up a hill side that fed into the area where the pigs were bedding before heading down the trails into the valley we hunted in the morning. Figures...damn pigs were now heading into the area they were supposed to be in the morning.... Ernie took us up the hill side and we tried to ambush the pigs we just saw, hoping that there were more mature animals that we could shoot. We parked the rig up on the ridgline at the top of the hill and began our walk down to where we could set up on an ambush. The wind was in our favor all the way to the spot where we would cut off the hogs in their travels. The wind shifted and nothing showed. The hogs held tight to cover. We headed back to the house.

Dale and Mike met us there. We all took a long break and made our plan for the evening hunt. We left the house and headed back out. Ernie took me back to the spot where we caught the hogs crossing. We were going to set up and watch the trail heading up the backside of the hill hoping to catching them. Well as we round the corner there are hogs on the hill side in the thick brush. I got out and the hogs busted into the thick brush except for two. One was a wet sow and the other was a 100 pound sow with no piglets. The sow stood in some thick brush only about 40 yards from me. I had to make the shot left handed and off hand but with that close range I felt pretty confident so I snapped the rifle up and shot it. One shot and the pig tumbled down the hillside got up and ran about 30 yards back up the hill side and died. If it had been early morning I would have passed looking for something a little bigger but given the tough conditions, I was very happy to find the hogs and to kill this one. It will be a good eater. Since I won a couple hundred bucks at the casino, I decided to spoil myself and take the hog to the butcher instead of doing the work myself. I am having the loins, tenderloins and ribs cut and wrapped. I am having the rest of the hog made into hot links and and bulk breakfast sausage.

Sorry for the sidetrack....back to the story. After cleaning my pig, Ernie headed out to glass for hogs while Dale and Mike hiked the ridgelines looking for hogs. Around 30 minutes prior to last light, Ernie located a great group of hogs. Guess where they showed up? You guessed it, right in the field we were hunting in the morning. Dale, Mike and Ernie put on a stalk and 15 minutes before end of shooting light, Dale made a shot on the largest pig in the group. It was 162 yard shot and he shot the largest pig in the group, a 200 pounder. What made it even cooler was in the group was a couple of immature boars (both around 125 to 150 pounds) that were sparring with each other...they were going at it nose to nose next to a couple of sows.

Dale didn't take any pics of his hog in the field so I don't have anything to show you on that front. Dale has been living in Hawaii for work the past 6 years so he hasn't been able to hunt in a long time. He was very happy to get this hog and has got the bug real, real bad and is already trying to plan another hunt.

 

[asaxon]

Gracias

Thanks db 183 for the intel. I'm particularly interested in the turkey hunting and will give Ernie a call tomorrow.

 

[db 183]

Thanks db 183 for the intel. I'm particularly interested in the turkey hunting and will give Ernie a call tomorrow.

Tell him I referred you please. I think you will find him to be a hard core hunting guide. Ask him about the turkey/hog combo and if he is running that special yet. I believe he is. He mentioned that he might change it up to $450 which includes Turkeys in the morning and bass fishing in the afternoon. But anyway, I know you will have a good trip no matter what you do with him.

I am seriously thinking of giving my youngest daughter a turkey hunt with him.