bjake21

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Well after I realized how long this post was I cut out all the parts about my hunting partner canceling, driving home after saturday to fix the scope on my rifle, getting my truck stuck, jamming my truck window, and hunting without seeing pigs
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, here it goes...

This is a little before 3pm on Monday and I have yet to see a pig. I am going down the hill and decide I better look for a place to turn my truck around and head back. I stop for a minute and then I see a deer jump across the road. So I get out of my truck and see if I can see where it went and maybe get a photo. As I am walking down, I am pretty deep in back in there and there are a lot of tall trees, unlike most of the rest of CR's oak / grasslands, so I am in the shade and it is pretty cool down in there. I notice a couple of small black animals that I think are pigs
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, at last! I get closer expecting them to be raccoons or something else and there about 4 pigglets!

It was hard to see through all the trees but all I could make out was a big black sow that they are following. To this point I had never seen a hog on public land, let alone shoot one and I'm thinking "great, I finally see some pigs and it is a sow and pigglets, nothing I am going to shoot".
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I follow them about 50 yards and all of a sudden I see about 5 more big hogs!
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I could not tell you how much my blood was pumping when I saw those! The thing was that they were about 50 yards in front of me and 50 yards up on a very steep hill.

I figure there is no way I am going to catch them and get a shot off between the trees. Then, one of the bigger pigs, a boar, steps broadside in between two trees about 2-3 feet apart. I quickly took a standing shot right behind the ear. The rifle kicks and I can barely make out the pigs scrambling up the hill into some more trees. I figured I missed since I don't see anything or hear anything. DAM! I run up to were the hog was and can see the pigs about 100 yards up into the hillside through the thick trees, it's over, they're gone. I take one step backwards and turn around to see if I can spot any blood and about 2 steps behind me, THERE HE IS
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in between those 2 trees, dropped him where he stood with a shot through a neck artery with my Savage 30-06 (core-lokt 150)!!! I drag him down the hill and get to a small bridge, as I am crossing my right foot goes right through a board almost fall through, but at this point I really didn't notice.
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When I got to the DFG window at about 4pm he weighed in at just over 130 lbs dressed. Man what a long weekend, but I got my first hog!
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By the way the folks at the gate and window could not have been nicer and helpful towards me, it was a great (long) weekend. When I left Monday evening there was 13 or so hogs taken and about 75-100 total hunters, it seemed like most of the lucky ones were JHO members
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HOGHUNTER714

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Very Nice. I think that makes 5 hogs taken for the JHO Crew....Way to go guys!!!
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hunt hard

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nice hog just by reading your story got me fired up again.
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Mel Carter

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Nice job, there's nothing like your first. Congrats!
 

Speckmisser

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Congrats! First hog AND on public land! That's no small accomplishment!
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There'll be others, but nothing will ever be as rewarding as the first.
 

bjake21

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Thanks guys, there is nothing like it. I was so fired up
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I forgot to take photos in the field and almost lost my way getting out of there.
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If anyone has any good websites or books on butchering game let me know.
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He's still on ice now and I am going to get the process going after work tonight. Since he should be a good meat hog I am going to get as much out of him as I can before taking the rest for sausage. I'm thinking backstraps/fillets, ribs and hams. Can't wait to get some of that on the BBQ this weekend!
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Speckmisser

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Bjake, check out the Recipes forum down below. THere are several butchering websites and videos discussed there. You'll want to get that hog cut up pretty soon, and get the meat in the freezer. Pork doesn't keep like beef and venison.

Congrats again!
 

BobcatJess

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BJake, Congratulations!!
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Remember Gents, Persistence pays off!

Jess.
 

crodog

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You never forget your first...
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Congrats...
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Crodog.
 

bjake21

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BLAST - It was in area 3 on the south-west side of the mountains. Some deep canyons back there and I almost got lost coming out, OK I did get lost but I made eventually. I was hunting areas 1, 2, 3, 4, and by the river all weekend and didn't see a thing. I put in a lot of hours on that place and every time I would stop in at the DFG window it seemed there was another polaroid on the board. I finallt gave up on Monday afternoon and just started driving all the roads just getting to know the place a little more before the evening hunt, which I was planning to just sit by the river with my shotgun and see if I could see these pigs that everyone kept seeing. I didn't even hear a shot fired except mine all weekend.
 

bjake21

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hunt hard - The only reason I went back out there was because I got all fired up when I read you and gunners' posts. All day Saturday I noticed my scope was loose (after spending time at the range of friday fine-tune scoping it in
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). So I started back home and hit the range and couldn't even hit paper!
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I only had about 15 rounds to sight it in and that didn't do it. The gun stores were closed for the weekend so I called it quits on Saturday afternoon.
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Then after reading those posts on Sunday morning I found some 150gr core-lokts at the local sportsmart and headed back up to the range, scoped it in and headed back out to CR!
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BTW - I put a roast on the rotiserie last night and
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hunt hard

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bjake21 im happy that you got a hog
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and about getting to know camp roberts it takes a couple of times of getting lost to know it aspecially if its foggy. The reason that i think i got my hog by the road is because no one had been driving on the roads in area 3 in a wile the grass was tall and there was no tracks. cheers
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youll remember your first forever.
 

GUNNER5569

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congrats bjake cr is a great place and there is alot of wildlife on it if you put in the time you will eventully get your prey i seen a few really nice bucks last year during archery season but couldtnt get close enough and jumped a couple of hogs but didnt get a shot off so far this year it has been good to me and i will be there every time i can hopfuly this year i may even get my buck it seem like everyone this year has had good luck there so maybe we can keep it up
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