BC and FMBC's excellent adventure

[Backcountry]

Many of you know that future-Mrs.-Backcountry (FMBC) recently acquired a new Tikka T3 Light Stainless in 7mm-08 for the express purpose of taking it pig hunting. Many also read the thread from a month ago when I took BDB (aka, “the gimp with a busted wing”) pig hunting up in Sonoma County on a ranch behind Lake Sonoma and we both scored nice pigs in short order.

http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/index....howtopic=134930

Anyway, last weekend we got the 7mm-08 sighted in (topped it with a Leupold VX-II 3-9x40) and it seemed to digest the Accubond 140’s just a bit better than the Barnes TSX 140’s… I figured that for long shots FMBC would use the Accubonds, and for shooting over dogs, the TSX’s.

 

[Backcountry]

Day One

This was pretty much a carbon copy of the last trip… FMBC and I arrived at the ranch at 4:30pm on Friday and went out for a short reconnaissance drive at about 6:00pm. Yowzer! Pigs were out and about everywhere!

Not far from where I killed my pig back in February I spotted a couple big boars down a ridge, so we bailed out and put the stalk on them… it was me, FMBC, the guide Pat, and his 10 year old son Ryan… we got within about 150 yards, but with absolutely no wind and four peeps creeping around, two of which had limited experience trying to be quiet on a stalk, the pigs busted us when a twig snapped and they took off over hill-n-dale. No worries, we’ll sick the McNab Sheppard’s on them in the morning.

…so we continued on a few miles to the end of the ranch and split up to cover a few high vantage points… at about 7:00pm, FMBC starts waving her arms so we get to her spot and sure enough, she’s spotted a half dozen hogs waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down the ridge. Now the guide and I were leaning towards leaving them be until the next morning (it was cocktail hour after all), but FMBC, having never hunted hogs before, was super enthusiastic and said LETS GET IT ON NOW. So off we went…

It took us about a half hour to scramble down the ridge and get set up for a cross canyon shot of what should be an easy 175 poke… I’m solid with my .308 out to near 275 yards, and FMBC should have no trouble with that shot.

We had six or seven hogs to choose from, and a nice spot to set up in prone position, which FMBC had never shot from in practice (mistake number 1). I chose a nice sized pig down low and told her to pick one of the ones up high and we would shoot “on three”… you guys know what I mean… count “one”, “two”, “thr-BANG-ee”… FMBC hadn’t practiced that either (mistake number 2) so she was a bit surprised when I shot. She claims I actually fired on “two”, but that’s a low blow that I wouldn’t pull on BDB or even Rancho.

…so at the shot my pig disappears down into a draw and pigs burst from everywhere… there must have been 10 more pigs that started running around that hillside… I got a little jacked up when Pat started shouting “PIGS IN THE OPEN - SHOOT AGAIN”, and I managed to short stroke my Mauser bolt action and get two rounds into the space where one should be, so I’m temporarily out of the action. Meantime, Pat is letting loose with a barrage from his ported .444 Marlin which FMBC has never experienced and it was giving her a case of the jitters… when he stopped shooting (all misses) we got FMBC to settle on a pig that had stopped but still it was a rushed shot for her and at about 200 yards the bullet impacted just shy of the pig. FMBC claims it was because she was in an uncomfortable shooting position and I’ll give her that since we hadn’t practiced prone position (keep it clean fellas!)...

There are still pigs running all over the place, but they are disappearing fast… we spot one making it’s way along a steep trail in the oaks and when it gets to an opening it stopped and I managed to unjam my gun (thank goodness for the BDL floorplate!) and rolled him (range finder confirmed it at 290 yards). When I say “rolled”, I mean it dropped and rolled down into a hell hole way out of sight… I knew it was going to be hours before we were back at the cabin… cocktail hour would be a loooooong way off.

I sent the guide back to the cabin in my truck to get help and a quad with a half-mile cable while we set off to find the pig, or pigs (not sure if I hit the first pig).

Sure enough, that first pig I shot didn’t go two yards… it had dropped straight down into a ditch, dispatched with a 165 grain Barnes TSX that broke both shoulders and clipped the lungs. About a 130 pound boar…

That’s the guide’s son Ryan in the pic with me… a finer, stronger, more mature 10-year-old you will not find anywhere.

...more to come...

 

[Backcountry]

The second pig was a different story… just after dark, I got myself into a seriously scary situation while trying to work my way into the creek to find the pig that fell… I started a high speed skid on the scree and had to roll over and use my rifle (with it’s newly refinished stock) to self arrest before I went over a 40-foot cliff into the creek… yeah, I was skeered.

It took me a while, but I eventually made it back up the hill and tried to gain access to the creek from the other side, but to no avail. Finally, Pat the guide said ef-it (he’s quite the badazz) and he goes canyoneering straight down the narrow, waterfall filled creek, and after 20 minutes he shouts up that he’s found the pig…really amazing trying to find a black pig, in a black creek, in the black of night, with a piddly little headlamp… it was another small boar, about 125 pounds…

I eventually make my way down and we drag the pig downstream in water up to our nutz until we get to a spot that is not surrounded by cliffs that we can get the quad down to… that only took about 4 hours… GOOD TIMES! I got two nice meat pigs and we haven’t even set the dogs loose yet! Time for some skinning and cocktails!

 

[Rancho Loco]

Nice score!

 

[Backcountry]

Day Two

After what seemed like a very short time in the sack

we were up and out the cabin door at the crack of 7:15am (whoops)… we decided to split up me and FMBC and run each of us on a different set of dogs… she would start low, and I would start high, and the plan was to try to meet in the middle…

The short story is that FMBC and her guide and dogs didn’t get on a pig…

The longer story is that me and my guide and dogs got on a big boar about 10 minutes after letting the dogs loose.

We were heading down a ridge when all hell breaks loose about 100 yards in front of us on the left side of the ridge in some Manzanita brush… we catch a glimpse of a big boar hauling ass across the ridge and then down a STEEP finger ridge to the right of us with all five McNabs nipping at his balls… amazing how fast a big boar can run when getting his balls nipped at!

Pat and his son and I take off down hill and I am quickly left in the dust… I’ve got stamina for long days in the field, but I just don’t have the speed (or the huevos) to run full tilt downhill where I can’t see where I’m going on loose ground… I’m not that far behind… but far enough…

This goes on for about 20 minutes, mostly heading down… I’m keeping Pat within eyesight, which means about 10-30 yards in front of me, and we’re only lagging the dogs, and presumably the boar, by about 100 yards…

Finally we here the barking getting louder as we get to the bottom on the draw, and we hear the pig snort and squeal a bit… I’m still running full out down hill as Pat comes to a stop on a bank overlooking the creek bottom about 5 yards above the boar and the dogs… he’s hollering for me to hurry up because he’s worried about his dogs, when all of a sudden there’s a loud commotion of barking and squealing and Pat raises his Marlin 1895 and lets off two shots in rapid succession while I’m still approaching from the rear…

The pig had been cornered and had just charged through three of his dogs, cutting one in the throat, and he had to end it right then and there… waiting another 5 seconds for me might have meant another hurt, or even killed, dog, and I’m certain he did the right thing as he’s a real pro and I don’t want any unnecessary risks taken because my dress was slowing me down. I’ll get the big boar next time I’m sure…

Anyway, here’s a couple pics of the boar… real mean one!

 

[Backcountry]

One more of the cutters...

 

[Backcountry]

Because of Easter we ended up cutting this trip short... I got my two hogs on Friday night so it wasn't a big deal to leave early, and FMBC saw close to 25 pigs and got to shoot at one, and she wants to try again... that's a win-win situation if you ask me...

One thing I've been pondering on since Friday night... that short-stroke of my Mauser has been bugging me... I've had that rifle since I was 11 years old... it is a hell of a shooter... I have never missed a shot with that rifle on a big game animal from a rest and I wouldn't hesitate to use it on pigs again for spot-n-stalk...

...but, I don't think I want to ever take it again to hunt over dogs with... the bolt is very floppy, and I'm sure that contributed to me jamming the breech... I would not want to be in a clutch situation where I needed a fast follow up shot from PBR.

I mentioned this to FMBC and she agreed and has given me the go ahead to get a new rifle... I know exactly what it will be... Marlin 1895G in .45-70...

That said, I think my next venture to this ranch for pigs will be on a dedicated archery hunt... I'm gonna put together a dream team and we're gonna put the hurt on some pigs!

 

[DEERSLAM]

Way to go

Sounds and looks like a great hunt...congrats!

 

[Hogfest]

Awesome story.....and equally impressive pics to give it the extra ump.....great job on the porkers!

 

[XDHUNTER]

CONGRAT'S

 

[Redneck75]

Sounds like a great trip. Congrats on the sausage!!

 

[BDB]

Atta boy BC, nice work

Bummer FMBC didn't connect but that is just an excuse for another trip. Did she at least get her hands dirty with some gun'n and skin'n?

 

[Arrowslinger]

Great story & congrats on the hogs

 

[Kentuck]

Nice. Congrats on the pigs and FMBC partner.

 

[THE ROMAN ARCHER]

BC that was a great wild hog hunting adventure

you all had, nice story and photo's!

P.S I want to be a member of the DREAM TEAM

.................tra

 

[RLL]

Enjoyed your story. BTW, in the pic where you are cleaning the hogs ... what is hanging above the one guys head? Looks like a rock or something.

 

[Hitechhunter]

Memories to last a lifetime!

 

[wyemjohnson]

awesome hunt, story!

 

[beastslayer]

BC,

Congratulations!

Thank you for sharing with pictures and stories of your adventure.

 

[Lurediver]

Great Story Back Country