Just sharing the blues here. Why? I have no idea but somehow it helps to unload some of the pain; it lets me see how I'm starting to learn this sport.
I'm 50 years old and have just recently decided I want to hunt, having spent most of my life fishing and spearfishing. From some of the comments from this forum and from other sources, I figured it would be good to go with a guide the first time. So this week I hunted on a private ranch (Mendocino county) with a guide. The plan was for a 2 day hunt that would end if I got a pig before the 2 days was up.
Day 1, we got going just as day was breaking. Windy and foggy. I decided to stalk with my bow and hunted slowly and silently on this big loop that crossed a couple of dry streams and wound around a small peak, through mixed forest and areas of thick brush. Saw a nice deer, gray squirrels, rabbits, crows, quail. Finally heard some rustling off to my right and I caught a glimpse of a small checkered pig through the deep brush and on the other side of an old abandoned pig fence. I waited to see if it would turn and move to a place I could get a better view and perhaps even a shot but it wandered off through the thick stuff.
By lunch time it had become warm and sunny although the wind kept blustering. My guide had not spotted any pigs and even scouted a nearby ranch for zero sightings. We spent some time talking about what we should do, and decided to rest up during the hot day and resume the hunt on rifle late that afternoon, and still have the next day to hunt more. To kill time, I asked him to show me some things about my rifle, a Remington .270 so we went over a bunch of things and I really learned a lot. I have only shot this at the rifle range and have only loaded a single cartridge at a time. The guide showed me how to load multiple cartridges but we discovered that it was not feeding properly. For some reason the rifle wanted to grab 2 cartridges. He tried a bunch of times and we finally concluded that the rifle needed service.
After much discussion we decided that it would be best to get the rifle fixed and then re-schedule my second hunt day. I took the guide's advice that being able to chamber a second round would be an important asset especially for a new hunter like me. I'd hate to wound a pig and have it run off while I fumbled for a second shot like Barney Fife looking for his bullets in a panic.
So I came away having hunted only 1 morning of a 2 day hunt, sighted only 1 unreachable pig, and a gun I gotta get serviced (it's going today). BUT-- I learned a ton. And I feel better for making the right decision even though it kinda hurt.
I figure that's hunting.
John
I'm 50 years old and have just recently decided I want to hunt, having spent most of my life fishing and spearfishing. From some of the comments from this forum and from other sources, I figured it would be good to go with a guide the first time. So this week I hunted on a private ranch (Mendocino county) with a guide. The plan was for a 2 day hunt that would end if I got a pig before the 2 days was up.
Day 1, we got going just as day was breaking. Windy and foggy. I decided to stalk with my bow and hunted slowly and silently on this big loop that crossed a couple of dry streams and wound around a small peak, through mixed forest and areas of thick brush. Saw a nice deer, gray squirrels, rabbits, crows, quail. Finally heard some rustling off to my right and I caught a glimpse of a small checkered pig through the deep brush and on the other side of an old abandoned pig fence. I waited to see if it would turn and move to a place I could get a better view and perhaps even a shot but it wandered off through the thick stuff.
By lunch time it had become warm and sunny although the wind kept blustering. My guide had not spotted any pigs and even scouted a nearby ranch for zero sightings. We spent some time talking about what we should do, and decided to rest up during the hot day and resume the hunt on rifle late that afternoon, and still have the next day to hunt more. To kill time, I asked him to show me some things about my rifle, a Remington .270 so we went over a bunch of things and I really learned a lot. I have only shot this at the rifle range and have only loaded a single cartridge at a time. The guide showed me how to load multiple cartridges but we discovered that it was not feeding properly. For some reason the rifle wanted to grab 2 cartridges. He tried a bunch of times and we finally concluded that the rifle needed service.
After much discussion we decided that it would be best to get the rifle fixed and then re-schedule my second hunt day. I took the guide's advice that being able to chamber a second round would be an important asset especially for a new hunter like me. I'd hate to wound a pig and have it run off while I fumbled for a second shot like Barney Fife looking for his bullets in a panic.
So I came away having hunted only 1 morning of a 2 day hunt, sighted only 1 unreachable pig, and a gun I gotta get serviced (it's going today). BUT-- I learned a ton. And I feel better for making the right decision even though it kinda hurt.
I figure that's hunting.
John
