C.N.F. Pig Hunt Efforts on 6/25/11

[ChefTodd]

Well, no pigs were taken and we covered quite a bit of ground. We all had a good time though, beats sitting at home and watching the hunting channel...thats for sure. There was a total of five of us that made it out.....Thanks men for making this happen. I am looking forward to doing some bird hunting with you guys...

 

[Ducks2001]

Im sorry guys Dad and me couldnt make it but are ready for round II we have to find them!!!

 

[Caninelaw]

Oh come on. You guys couldn't have been trying too hard. After all, according to all the news articles I've read lately those pigs are just overrunning the place and its just plain dangerous to be out there....right? (I mean, the media wouldn't lie to us would they?)

 

[THE ROMAN ARCHER]

hey thanks for the report and photo's! wish i could of been hunting pig's instead of working!....tra

 

[BADBuckfever]

Good job, we are just getting started with this. Thanks for posting these pics.

 

[Kevin S]

Thanks Todd! It was GREAT to meet you guys this weekend, and spend some good time in the bush. So much better than sitting on my couch dreaming about hunting. Definitely looking forward to getting together soon for some more productive hunts! Here's my summary of the weekend's fun;

On 6/24/11, I arrived at Firebase Gloria (aka "big pond at Kessler Flat") around 15:00. This suppoed "secret spot" was overrun with hunters - five gents from Perris, one lone bowhunter, and a random family who pulled in to go for a swim.

The initial news wasn't good. Seal Team Six (the Perris crew) had been out earlier that morning with the lone bowhunter and saw nothing - no sign, no pigs - just a bunch of rabbits, squirrels, and several battalions of deer ticks.

Of course, yours truly doesn't believe a word of it - still in thrall of the popular propaganda reporting a literally biblical scourge of feral swine continuously plowing under the fragile riparian habitat of the Cleveland National Forest. So I head out heavy - lots of water (90+ at that point), lots of chow; ready to settle into the first good sit for the night.

Along with two members of Seal Team Six, I head out south from Firebase Gloria - up over the Flats proper and down the valley towards Cedar Creek. You couldn't picture a better spot - nice rock outcrop overlooking a meadow and good stretch of creek. I settle in - blood boiling with excitement; sure - DARN sure I was going to get something before the day ended (of course - so I could laugh at the rest of the JHO crew as soon as they came in). Immediately after settling in with my sticks propped up, nice cover, perfect - BOOM - an explosion of movement at the creek bottom - about 200 yds away. Immediately the glasses come up. Shaking and breathing like a racehorse after the Kentucky Derby; I wait to see what comes out of the brush. A few minutes later, I see a good sized muley buck in nice velvet. Bust. Always the game you can't hunt is what you see...

Anyway - the rest of the evening is the same. Grand total of one other hunter, two bucks, two does, two owls. whoever goes up there for deer season's gonna have a couple at least to shoot at!

So - after a nice in-the-dark stumble back to camp (I swear that brush gets deeper at night!); have a few Sierras with Seal Team Six, and wait for RoosterKiller and sdnative to arrive.

The boys (and the tireless Nikki!) roll in about 11:30; we catch up and hit the rack. 3:15 comes early. Early like an icepick in my forehead. Kick the boys awake, and walk up to meet up with Todd and Jason. Given the fact that there were cars parked everywhere (not only Firebase Gloria, but the whole road was covered with like-minded hunters waiting to eliminate the hog scourge that day - the boys found my lone lantern pretty quickly). We then gear up and plan our "Operation Death from Above" - hit the high ridge above Deadman's Flat, and bust the bad bush downhill to the big pond. Simple in theory - and "downhill" is the only good part about it. Between the poison oak on the left, the rocks to the right; and misery right down center; we charge our respective ways down to the first pond. Kudos to Todd and Jason (brush busters extraordinaire) for going full-on under, around, and straight through the double-overhead poison oak banks. Lots of mosquito and tick sign everywhere. Pig sign; not so much (or at all).

Three hours later, we all roll back to the pond and recharge a bit - drinking gallons of water, ripping ticks off, and getting psyched up for the next great push - operation "Scare the Tourists at the falls with all our Scary Guns" (otherwise known as "Hunt the San Diego River Drainage"). Meanwhile, the great rock-lined oven that is the Saddleback Ravine has finally pre-heated to 500 degrees - ready to bake our soft bits in camo wrappings, melt the glass in our optics, and light off every round in our magazines. As we descend into the flaming depths of Hades (er - the trail to the falls), we meet Seal Team Six struggling to climb their way out of the furnace below. Word is they've been pushing the whole river drainage since dawn - nothing, no sign, no movement - which is not surprising since there is no life on the surface of Mercury.

At this point; we make the smartest decision of the day. Turn around, head for the shade and the AC of the vehicles. We're done. The pigs are laughing at us.

After a couple of days of relfection; I know what happened to all the hogs. I have it on good authority (my overheated hallucinations are as good authority as I can muster) that the pigs - with partial funding from PETA and Hugo Chavez - purchased a surplus Russian AN-124, fueled it with the shattered dreams and unrequited tears of Southern Californian hunters; and split for the same place Saddam's WMD are - Syria, the Moon, or wherever good dreams go to ground, never to be seen again.

Grand total in the bush that weekend - five from JHO, a group of seven, and another group of two. Between all these groups, pretty much every viable location was covered. Nothing. Nada. Feds are gonna be PO'd when they spend $10M to trap ghosts. They can have them.

Still - I wouldn't have traded that weekend for anything; I had a blast and it was great to hang out with some great folks and can't wait to do it again!

 

[ltdann]

LOL..That was good! Also why I won't even TRY for those hogs for at LEAST 5 more years. Big country, big valleys....pigs small.

 

[RoosterKiller]

Good write up kevin S. All in all we had a few good laughs and a great time. .

 

[ChefTodd]

Kevin, my buddies name was Jason, John was a close one though, they both start with J.

Guy.....are you going to hunt any cottontail next weekend?

T.

 

[Kevin S]

Sorry Jason!!! Todd; thanks for letting me know. My lack-of-sleep-and-heat-addled brain never caught the mistake

 

[nickmetz]

I agree, I made it out in the morning on Sunday, but did not call you Kevin as it was left, I saw nothing out there. I think the pigs began their great migration to Mission Bay for the 4th of July fireworks and then fleet week, which is coming up on the calender. The only bacon I saw yesterday was on my burger on the drive home.

 

[Vermonster]

Hey, you do know "Seal Team 6" is patented by Disney now, right????? :lol bashing sign:

Funny report. Good to see you guys gave it a go. :thumbs up2:

 

[palladin]

Great write up!

Who got to be Hafner?

 

[weimyowner]

:hog chewing::skeered:I like the guy with the thigh rig....

 

[theJester]

re:

Kevin, That was freakin Hilarious! Sorry you didn't see any pigs, Sounds like you saw my g13 doe though.

 

[BADBuckfever]

KS - great story!

 

[asaxon]

Here is your first "thanks" - fun read.

 

[ChefTodd]

I thought I skipped out on the poison oak this time around, but I guess not, I was planning to go back and pop a few cottontails this weekend, but after this rash has appeared I think I might try to find a new location......Dang...I ITCH!!!!!

T.

 

[theJester]

I thought I skipped out on the poison oak this time around, but I guess not, I was planning to go back and pop a few cottontails this weekend, but after this rash has appeared I think I might try to find a new location......Dang...I ITCH!!!!!

T.

OUCH! stay clear of that stuff man. Oh cottontails opens this weekend? Dang, I will be in Yellowstone looking at tons of animals I wish I could shoot.

 

[THE ROMAN ARCHER]

great morning read Kevin S., thanks for sharing your public land pig hunting adventure!...tra