Rotorhead
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- Joined
- Nov 24, 2008
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I finally got a chance to get out and burn some boot leather on Saturday. I headed out onto a patch of BLM land that I had been researching. I believe it is the same area that Live2Hunt had posted a kill on a couple of weeks back (but I didn't stop to gamble first). I intended it to mainly be a recon trip since I had never been there before, but carried the rifle anyway.
In short, it was a great a great day to be in the field, saw beautiful country, learned a lot about the area, but didn't spot a hog. Mr Garmin said I hiked 16.9 miles - tired feet!
Forced to get a late start, had to drop my son off at the ski bus to Tahoe. I must be a failure- he would rather snowboard than hunt. Anyway, 120 miles later I got to the parking area at 0715 and hit the trail up. By the time I got to the top (about 3 miles), it was already pretty late and I glassed a bit but figured the critters were already holed up. Found a couple of places with relatively fresh sign, but kind of hard to tell because it hadn't rained in awhile. Made a big circle to check things out & get the lay of the land, and ended up back at the top to glass until I could no longer shoot. Didn't spot anything and walked out in the dark.
I now have a better idea of where the most activity is and will be able to focus in better next time. I do think I'll wait until it rains again to try to have a fresh slate to work with.
I admit that I was spoiled having lived in Washington & Oregon. Millions of acres of productive public land with seemingly more critters. For me, these pigs are a LOT harder to track than elk but I'll figure it out!
Thanks for all the tidbits of wisdom shared here.
Rotorhead
In short, it was a great a great day to be in the field, saw beautiful country, learned a lot about the area, but didn't spot a hog. Mr Garmin said I hiked 16.9 miles - tired feet!
Forced to get a late start, had to drop my son off at the ski bus to Tahoe. I must be a failure- he would rather snowboard than hunt. Anyway, 120 miles later I got to the parking area at 0715 and hit the trail up. By the time I got to the top (about 3 miles), it was already pretty late and I glassed a bit but figured the critters were already holed up. Found a couple of places with relatively fresh sign, but kind of hard to tell because it hadn't rained in awhile. Made a big circle to check things out & get the lay of the land, and ended up back at the top to glass until I could no longer shoot. Didn't spot anything and walked out in the dark.
I now have a better idea of where the most activity is and will be able to focus in better next time. I do think I'll wait until it rains again to try to have a fresh slate to work with.
I admit that I was spoiled having lived in Washington & Oregon. Millions of acres of productive public land with seemingly more critters. For me, these pigs are a LOT harder to track than elk but I'll figure it out!
Thanks for all the tidbits of wisdom shared here.
Rotorhead