KevinZ
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Hello all;
I finally decided to give pig hunting a try - now I see why so many of you guys hang out in this section of JHO.
Wildturk and I headed up to Mendocino County last Friday and were greeted by some cool weather (about 40 that evening). We got up early Saturday and actually saw pigs right off the bat, but they were not on the property we were hunting. We did not see any other pigs that morning, and really not a lot of signs.
We went out Saturday afternoon (after a little mid-day siesta) and headed toward a remote area near some water. It was a very tough hike into this area. Wildturk is quite a bit taller than I, so it was difficult keeping up with his long strides. There was some fresh signs near the water, so we hung out there a while. We did not see any pigs. At about 8:00 PM, we hiked back to the truck and made plans to come back to this spot in the morning.
Sometimes I guess it is better to be lucky than good - while driving back to our campsite, Wildturk looks out the window of the truck and sees a group of about 10 pigs. The pigs took off running when they saw us get out of the truck. They headed toward a ravine out of harms way. I quickly put the clip back in my .270 A-bolt, and tried to get the crosshairs on the biggest pig in the group. No time to range, but we estimated the distance at about 180 yards. My first shot was a clean miss, and the largest pig moved out of sight. I quickly pick-up the next biggest pig, squeeze off a shot, and down it goes. A clean shot to the vitals (it even rolled down a hill onto a ranch road - no dragging required).
The pig was a sow that we estimated to weigh about 140 pounds. Not a trophy from the standpoint of having long tusks, but a good meat pig. I will post some pictures in a bit.
I finally decided to give pig hunting a try - now I see why so many of you guys hang out in this section of JHO.
Wildturk and I headed up to Mendocino County last Friday and were greeted by some cool weather (about 40 that evening). We got up early Saturday and actually saw pigs right off the bat, but they were not on the property we were hunting. We did not see any other pigs that morning, and really not a lot of signs.
We went out Saturday afternoon (after a little mid-day siesta) and headed toward a remote area near some water. It was a very tough hike into this area. Wildturk is quite a bit taller than I, so it was difficult keeping up with his long strides. There was some fresh signs near the water, so we hung out there a while. We did not see any pigs. At about 8:00 PM, we hiked back to the truck and made plans to come back to this spot in the morning.
Sometimes I guess it is better to be lucky than good - while driving back to our campsite, Wildturk looks out the window of the truck and sees a group of about 10 pigs. The pigs took off running when they saw us get out of the truck. They headed toward a ravine out of harms way. I quickly put the clip back in my .270 A-bolt, and tried to get the crosshairs on the biggest pig in the group. No time to range, but we estimated the distance at about 180 yards. My first shot was a clean miss, and the largest pig moved out of sight. I quickly pick-up the next biggest pig, squeeze off a shot, and down it goes. A clean shot to the vitals (it even rolled down a hill onto a ranch road - no dragging required).
The pig was a sow that we estimated to weigh about 140 pounds. Not a trophy from the standpoint of having long tusks, but a good meat pig. I will post some pictures in a bit.
