DAQ80
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2011
- Messages
- 258
- Reaction score
- 3
So I called up Tom on the 30th to find out the meeting place for our hunt scheduled for the 1st of June. I told him I planned on making it into town on the 30th since I was coming up from San Diego. He asked if I wanted to go ahead and start with an evening hunt on the 31st since i was going to be in the area, I said "Yeah let's do it".
We made it into the area about 1pm, got a camping spot at Lake Nacimiento. Met up with Tom in the Town of Bradley later that evening, and followed him to the ranch we were going to hunt. The heat has already kicked in full force up there, it was about 95. Tom said it was still pretty damn warm for the pigs to even think about coming out, so he killed a little time changing out a battery in a tractor before we headed out.
Our first spot was a high spot on the ranch overlooking a lot of land and a barley patch that looked promising. We spent maybe 2 hours there and only saw a group of 4 turkeys, and single pig way off in the distance on a neighboring property.
So Tom decides it's time to go check another spot. On the way there he said we'll probably see some elk in this field. When we get close enough for the field to even come into sight Tom immediately spots animals, stops, grabs the binos, and confirms it. An elk and a pig. It's pretty amazing that he even saw them when he did, and a huge lesson for me in spotting game and knowing what your actually looking for. We drive to the other end of the field (where there are 2 more elk), park, and get out of the truck. As we're walking along the fenceline into the field my son and I are focusing on the pig next to the elk that was in the middle of the field. The 2 elk we were walking towards run away up a hill in the back of the field, and so does the one in the middle, but the pig stays put. I see Tom take a step over and look up the hill where the elk ran, and he starts walking faster, tromps through a little creek, hands me the sticks and points up the hill.
Apparently as I was focusing on the pig in the middle of the field Tom spotted this one, behind the trees/brush, even closer. The pig was walking up the hill and when it entered a clearing I pulled the trigger. It ran about 20 yards up the hill then rolled down the other side and landed dead right on a little dirt road. Made for an easy retrieval with Toms quad. It was a young fat boar, Tom estimated about 180-200lbs.
Tom held true to his reputation and skinned/gutted the pig in about 10 seconds, and like I said it had a lot of white fat on it. Tom said it must have been feeding on that grain for a while, but should make for good eating. He took up to his place to hand it in the walk-in overnight, and was even nice enough to meet me in San Ardo the next day so I could pick it up, I think he had some business to do there anyway, but it worked out for both us.
Nothing but praise for Tom though, the man definitley knows where the animals are, and has access too them. Like others have said on here, he is almost too efficient. 12 hours of driving(roundtrip) isn't bad for a 2 day hunt, but for a 2 hour hunt! Can't complain though, the freezer is soon to be full and valuable lessons learned.
I ended up taking the pig over to Creston Meats. They deliver down to San Diego, and I figure if Tom recommends them they must be good.
Pictres to come.
We made it into the area about 1pm, got a camping spot at Lake Nacimiento. Met up with Tom in the Town of Bradley later that evening, and followed him to the ranch we were going to hunt. The heat has already kicked in full force up there, it was about 95. Tom said it was still pretty damn warm for the pigs to even think about coming out, so he killed a little time changing out a battery in a tractor before we headed out.
Our first spot was a high spot on the ranch overlooking a lot of land and a barley patch that looked promising. We spent maybe 2 hours there and only saw a group of 4 turkeys, and single pig way off in the distance on a neighboring property.
So Tom decides it's time to go check another spot. On the way there he said we'll probably see some elk in this field. When we get close enough for the field to even come into sight Tom immediately spots animals, stops, grabs the binos, and confirms it. An elk and a pig. It's pretty amazing that he even saw them when he did, and a huge lesson for me in spotting game and knowing what your actually looking for. We drive to the other end of the field (where there are 2 more elk), park, and get out of the truck. As we're walking along the fenceline into the field my son and I are focusing on the pig next to the elk that was in the middle of the field. The 2 elk we were walking towards run away up a hill in the back of the field, and so does the one in the middle, but the pig stays put. I see Tom take a step over and look up the hill where the elk ran, and he starts walking faster, tromps through a little creek, hands me the sticks and points up the hill.
Apparently as I was focusing on the pig in the middle of the field Tom spotted this one, behind the trees/brush, even closer. The pig was walking up the hill and when it entered a clearing I pulled the trigger. It ran about 20 yards up the hill then rolled down the other side and landed dead right on a little dirt road. Made for an easy retrieval with Toms quad. It was a young fat boar, Tom estimated about 180-200lbs.
Tom held true to his reputation and skinned/gutted the pig in about 10 seconds, and like I said it had a lot of white fat on it. Tom said it must have been feeding on that grain for a while, but should make for good eating. He took up to his place to hand it in the walk-in overnight, and was even nice enough to meet me in San Ardo the next day so I could pick it up, I think he had some business to do there anyway, but it worked out for both us.
Nothing but praise for Tom though, the man definitley knows where the animals are, and has access too them. Like others have said on here, he is almost too efficient. 12 hours of driving(roundtrip) isn't bad for a 2 day hunt, but for a 2 hour hunt! Can't complain though, the freezer is soon to be full and valuable lessons learned.
I ended up taking the pig over to Creston Meats. They deliver down to San Diego, and I figure if Tom recommends them they must be good.
Pictres to come.
