Dec. 30th Lake Sonoma Hunt

[Kentuck]

Well I am home now and extremly exhausted. I will do a full story tomorrow as being up since 3:30 am and humping those hills at Sonoma kicked my butt. Quick recap, probably saw close to 30 hogs, my stepson Dominic drew blood and had a great time meeting and hunting with Mel and his son Justin. I will confirm what Backcountry said about the deer there. Saw more than I ever seen in one day in California. They were everwhere. If Mel sees this and wants to add his story before go ahead buddy, although I'm sure he is more tired than I since he left home before I was even awake.

I do want to say a huge THANKS! to MIKEINSOCO for first bringing this hunt to our attention and the same THANKS! to Backcountry for following up with all the details.

Before I sign off I'll post some pics.

This first one is of Dominic, Mel and Justin starting the hunt at our first spot.

 

[Kentuck]

This second pic is of me and Dominic on top of the ridge we had just climbed. Great scenery up there.

 

[Kentuck]

This last pic is of Mel, Justin and Dominic putting the stalk on close to 20 pigs. unfortunately my camera does not have a zoom lense and takes terrible distance pics. You can see Justing (white shirt). The pigs are bunched up around the oak tree on the ridge in the left hand corner. Probably can't tell too much but I tried. All I can say for myself is I HATE LEG CRAMPS!!!!

 

[Backcountry]

Heh, heh... leg cramps... I'd laugh at you but my legs are a bit sore today too. Them hills are steep!

I'm stoked that you guys got on some pigs. Were you up in Yorty or elsewhere when you saw that herd-O-hogs?

I oh so hope that this hunting opportunity becomes permanent or even expanded to weekends. To that end, I'll be looking in to precisely who is in charge of the decision making process. We should plan on bombarding them with letters of praise for this opportunity and not hesitate to beg for it to be continued beyond February once they complete their evaluation.

Great job, and better luck next time (when is next time?).

Cheers, Backcountry

 

[Kentuck]

The Story.....(may be a little long).....

My stepson Dominic and I met up with Mel and his son Justin in at Highway 4 in Concord and followed him to Lake Sonoma since I had never been to the lake. I took my boat and the plan was for the four of us to hunt out of it. It didn't take near as long to get there as I originally thought which was nice since we didn't have to hurry. We got to the Lake and checked in at the visitor center and shot the bull for a short time. Other hunters started arriving so we decided to head on to the ramp. We loaded the boat and took off up the lake. There were three other boats with hunters and two went to the west side of the lake back towards the marina and the others went up the lake. My plan was to go to Cherry Creek and start there.
About three quarters of the way up the lake, Justin spotted a big black spot up on the hill above the lake. I soon picked it up and it turned out to be a huge pig. It was a long way away and it looked huge. Turned out to be about a dozen pigs there with the big one. We quickly whipped out the map we got at the visitor center and unfortunately the pigs were in the closed area on the east side of the lake. Bummer, in a way. It would have been a heck of a climb up that hill. I think that is why that area is closed off, extremely steep hills. That was cool seeing pigs so early on though.
We went on up to Cherry Creek and there was two guys getting out of their boat at the spot I wanted to go first. We went on up the creek and there was another boat further up already beached so I figured that area was being covered. We went back another arm of Cherry Creek and beached the boat to start the hunt (that was the first pic I posted). We hiked up that ridge and there was pig sign everywhere but nothing looked fresh and no fresh tracks. We ended up on top of the ridge at the fence line to private property without seeing any pigs but I did find a nice three-point shed antler along the way. This is the area of the second pic I posted. We hunted back down to the boat and took a break. We headed out to the main lake and up to the end of the upper end of the lake. We went as far as we could and then started back. We stopped along the way anI dropped Mel and Justin off and Dominic and I went on down the lake to hunt that side of the lake. Met up with Mel and Justin a short time later without any of us seeing any pigs but again, plenty of sign.
We then cross the lake into Yorty Creek and hit an area to the north about three quarters of the way back in the creek. Again lots of hiking and sign everywhere but all we were seeing were deer. Seemed like there were deer everywhere you looked. Might have to put in for that hunt next season. It's about 2:30 now and realizing we don't have a lot of gas left I suggest we just take a leasurely ride back towards the boat ramp. We are just about out of Yorty when I see Justin glassing a hillside across the lake. I had already glassed that hill and figured he was checking a row of rocks I had seen that sure looked like a group of pigs. He kept looking and shortly after he pointed and there was a herd of pigs coming out onto this open hillside to feed. I picked up the speed and we found a spot to beach the boat around the corner from the pigs. It was a straight up the hill climb which would have put us ahead of the pigs. About 30 yards up the hill I was having a bad leg cramp every step I took. We hit an old road bed and I told the others I would go around the hill and be the spotter. Mel, Justin and Dominic continued up. I rounded the hill and the pigs were still in the last spot we had seen them. I got Mel's attention and let them know they needed to go further up. They contined the climb and I started to circle in from the other direction. They got within about 50 yards or so of the pigs, Mel could give a better range than me, and a couple of pigs started fighting, knocking eah other down the hill and squeeling. We the other three were starting to close in with Dominic up almost on the same level as the pigs with Justin just below him and Mel to the left from Justin.
About this time the biggest pig started heading right towards Dominic. I was thrilled as this was only his second time out bowhunting. Just as I thought the pig was going to be in range it turned and started down the hill. I was thinking Nick should let it go because it was moving and if it continued the direction it was going it would have run right into Mel. Well Dominic shot just as the pig started to trott instead of walking causing the arrow to hit it in the rear leg up near the hip. Seeing this and the pig head right towards Mel I was praying Mel would be abel to put a good shot on it. The pig ran past Mel and stopped not from him and he shot but before the arrow got there the pig turned to run and the arrow punched air right where the pig was standing. I ran around the hill to try and get sight of the pig and where it was going but did not see anything but some deer. Dominic and Justin went after the rest of the herd and Mel and I started tracking the pig. We found Dominic's arrow and the news wasn't good. It only had blood about 4 inches up the shaft and the broadhead had broken off right where it screws onto the arrow. We found a little bit of blood for a short distand but it ended and we could not find any more. Dominic and Justin returned and I reminded Dominic that he had wounded an animal and his first priority was to find that pig. We ended up lining out across the hill and unfortunately did not find the pig or any blood. I have a feeling the pig will survive but I hate to loose an animal and especially a rookie hunters first hit.
We started back to the dock as it was getting dark and about a mile from the dock the boat motor sputters and dies. Sure enough, we are out of gas

I was concerned with the weight we had in the boat

we were using more gas than normal and that turned out to be true. I do have a trolling motor on board so I dropped it into the water and turned the control on high and we eventually made it back to the dock.
Overall it was a great trip. Super good weather, good hunting buddies and a nice place to hunt. I will be back up there very soon.

Thanks again to Mikeinsoco and Backcountry for the heads up on this hunt. People like them are what make this forum rock!

I guess that's it. Thanks for taking the time to read story, at least my version anyway. Maybe Mel can add some things I may have overlooked.

 

[MikenSoCo]

Awesome. Nothing like getting into hogs on a public hunt. I bet the youngster had good case of adrenaline goin' lookin' down those sights with a big hog that close! Sorry to hear about the shot, happens to the best of us. My pleasure to share the heads up about the hunt, the more the merrier. Why haven't BDB and Speck chimed in? I know Speck is itchin to bloody his recurve. And who can forget Steve's heart shot. If you're goin...... Check the large area from Rockpile rd down to broken bridge campground, good spot. If you can arrange for a boat ride out, even better

 

[Kentuck]

Mikeinsoco

I will be getting back up there as soon as I can line up a day. Was thinking about a monday as that would be after the pigs have had a three day rest from hunters. Thanks for the additional spot to check. Talked to a couple guys at the ramp coming in and they took three pigs there last week. I would say that if you want to get one with a bow and on public ground this has to be the absolute best hunt to do. I talked to the Ranger at the ramp last night and told him what a great opportunity they were providing us and he said thanks to us for helping with the pigs. Wish others would think that way. I'll post up when I'll get back up there. Unfotunately I think I will have to stick with a three person max on the ol' boat though. First time in 13 years I have run out of gas and I've been on bigger water than that. Just think four of us was a little too much especially if we would have gotten a couple of pigs.

Kentuck

 

[Loye]

Kentuck,
Sounds like you guys had an awesome public land hunt,compared to others.When is Lake Sonoma open for hunting and could you tell me the odds for that deer hunt there ?

Thanks

 

[MikenSoCo]

Howdy Loye,

 

[MikenSoCo]

The tags are limited to 25 either sex tags. Not sure how many apps. It's a late season hunt with restrictions on the number of days during the week you can hunt. Check last years regs., it shouldn't change much. An archery hunt in the A zone in Nov. is awesome. Good Luck

 

[Kentuck]

Loye

The pig hunts are every Monday-Thursday until Feb. 29 of this year, open to all bowhunters.

Kentuck

 

[Loye]

So Im assuming ALL hunting is archery only ?

 

[Backcountry]

Originally posted by Loye@Jan 1 2004, 05:13 PM
So Im assuming ALL hunting is archery only ?

Hi there,

The new pig hunting regulations at Lake Sonoma are only in effect until the end of February. There will be an evaluation of the current experimental hunt and we'll just have to wait and see if it's continued.

The current pig hunting is archery only, and only Monday through Thursday... no hunting on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. This keeps pressure pretty light, considering there's about 15,000 acres open to hunting. All the details about this great opportunity can be found in the following thread...

http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/index....opic=51407&st=0

I don't know anything about deer hunting at Lake Sonoma, nor whether or not DFG is looking to turn over deer management to the Army Corp. of Engineers (as they are currently experimenting with pig management).

Cheers, Backcountry

 

[Mel Carter]

Kentuck,
First just let me say, Thank you very much for letting me and Justin tag a long for the ride. It was great meeting you and Dom and I can honestly say this was one of the funnest hunts I've had in a long time. On the story, you didn't miss a thing, great pictures also. I'm planning on going again probably in a month or so. We will be heading up on a Sunday and will hunt Monday and Tuesday. When the dates get confirmed I'll let you know. Thanks again for the great company and thanks to Backcountry, MikenSoCo and all others who provided information on this hunt.

Take care.

 

[Justin Carter]

wow i look really fat in that jaket lol

justin

 

[Mel Carter]

Hey Justin,
Now that's funny!