Speckmisser
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2001
- Messages
- 12,900
- Reaction score
- 27
Bow Hunting for Wild Hog
by Hank Pellissier, special to SF Gate Monday, March 9, 2003 Click to View
Jim Cox teaches people how to hunt with a bow and arrow for local wild game like deer, turkey and the fierce, tusked, 250-pound feral pigs that reside in numerous California counties. I interviewed him in his Salinas office, where he sells archery equipment, organizes expeditions (Jim Cox Adventures) and promotes classes (the JCA Bowhunting School).
Hi, Jim --
Before we get started, I have to ask you something -- are you in PETA? My friends warned me not to do this interview. I don't want any trouble with the bunny huggers, the Doris Day types. They send me hate mail. It's not right.
My philosophy is: I don't care what you do -- you can have your religion and be gay. I don't care. I believe people should make their own choices; if someone wants to hunt, let them hunt. It's not fair for folks to stand here in leather boots and a leather jacket, eating a hamburger and telling me I'm a killer. Local ranch kids understand hunting, but city kids don't.
I'm not in PETA. I eat meat. I was raised on a ranch where one of my chores was to decapitate chickens. But -- Doris Day? Why did you mention her?
Doris Day lives in Carmel. She's against hunting. She's a spokesperson for animal rights. So, you understand what I'm doing? Sometime, you want to go on a pig hunt?
Yeah, maybe. It sounds really fun. What do you teach people at the JCA Bowhunting School?
It's a weekend school where they get me or an assistant as a guide to harvest an animal. We teach them how to shoot with hunting arrow points instead of target points, we teach them where the animal's vital organs are. We teach how to track, how to field dress an animal, how to quarter it and pack it out and how to skin it for mounting.
Why do you prefer bow hunting? You could hunt with a rifle.
It's a challenge, because you have to get so much closer. Bow hunting is about crawling in there, sneaking up while keeping the wind in your face. It's about hiding behind brush, making the stalk for 2-5 hours to get a shot. It's kind of like foreplay. The average animal taken with an arrow is from 30 yards away; with a gun, it's probably 100-150 yards, maybe even 200-300 yards. Bow hunters only get animals on 8 percent of their hunts, while riflemen are 85 percent successful. If you want to put meat on the table, you use a gun. But with archers, it's not the killing we like, it's the stalk.
Is bow hunting popular in California?
No. The 11 western states only hold 10 percent of the bow hunters. Last year, there were only 16,000 bow-hunting licenses issued in California. In Michigan, there were 306,000. Other big states are Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, Ohio. The No. 1 problem in California is that there's a lack of places to hunt, because Clinton turned a lot of areas into "parks." Bow hunters here also don't get a longer hunting season than riflemen like they do back east.
You take people on bow-hunting expeditions locally and internationally. What animals are you hunting?
Bow hunting in Alaska is moose, Kodiak brown bear and caribou. In Australia, it's water buffalo. In Africa, there are 52 different species to hunt -- many are dangerous. We hunt a lot of waterbuck there. In California, it's hogs, deer, bear, elk, antelope, turkeys and varmints.
Varmints? What's that?
Fox, coyotes, bobcats. You bring them in with "calling" -- making a noise like a squealing rodent. But the trouble in Monterey County is, if you do varmint calling, you might get a mountain lion. We've lost a couple of people to mountain lions, and it's illegal to shoot them.
What's the most popular animal for bow hunters?
Most of my clients are interested in pigs, for lots of reasons. Pigs are real good eating -- the best game flavor in the world, in my opinion. Everyone also seems to want a big, old, ugly boar head on the wall. Plus, you can hunt them year-round, because there's too many of them. Hogs breed three times a year, with 6-10 piglets in a litter. Monterey County is the No. 1 pig-hunting county in California, and San Benito County is probably second. They're almost a nuisance here -- they're everywhere.
Wild hogs -- feral swine -- aren't they incredibly dangerous?
Oh, yes. If a hog gets you down and hooks you with a tusk, they can kill you. They are aggressive, moody animals with teeth that are actually sharp on both sides, and pointed. The majority of the time, they run away from you, but they're dangerous if they are hurt or cornered, or if a sow has babies. Sows don't have tusks as long as a boar's, but she can still knock you down and bite you and make you holler and make you wet your pants.
A friend of mine -- Boomer -- is in the hospital right now. He was up in the hills, cutting wood, when a big old boar came out of the brush and got him by the arm and shook him. I've known half a dozen guys put in the hospital in critical condition. Pigs are quick -- they can fix you right up in a matter of seconds. Pigs can definitely make you bleed -- I've seen six- inch gashes -- but the biggest trouble is getting an infection.
What do you do if you wound a wild pig and it charges you?
First off, if you just sting a pig, you don't want him to see you -- you need to hide back in the brush. If they do see you and they come after you, I either jump up a tree, or I give him another arrow, or I pull out my pistol. I've had hogs charge me numerous times; I once had a hog leap in the air at me and a client. The important thing to remember is, you have to wait until they're 5-6 feet away to shoot them again. We call that the "big-balls award" when you get them up close. You have to do it that way because the hog's head is built like a wedge, and a bullet can glance off it. Wild pigs also have an armor plating of cartilage 2 1/2 inches thick on the front shoulders that's almost impenetrable. That's why you have to wait until they're so close, so you can angle a shot in.
What do wild pigs look like?
The local ones are from Russian boars that were brought to the San Carlos Ranch in 1935. Russian boars were all black, but they've been breeding with other feral swine, so now they come in brown with black spots, red with white spots, in all colors.
What kinds of people take bow-hunting classes from you?
I get all kinds of clients, 16-80 years old. Some of the best are ex-riflemen who want the extra challenge, like I mentioned. But also women -- I just did an all-ladies hunt, for mainly hogs. There's women just as tough as guys out there; my wife and daughter are two of them. My daughter shot her first hog when she was nine. I do kids' hunts, too. Archery is a great family sport.
What's the favorite part of your job?
I like being in the outdoors, the sounds, the smells, watching the quails, the rabbits. There's so many things you get to see just outside the city limits. Another thing I like is when I'm calling a wild hog in and the guys start shaking. Maybe they've been kinda windy on the hunt, telling me how experienced they are, but then, in the heat of battle, they actually run away because they're so afraid and then when it's all over, they're so grateful they want to hug me.
I've been lucky enough to do what I enjoy for a living. I was a professional archer, I've been a sales rep for Martin Archery since 1970 and now I get a big kick out of guiding people in bow hunting. My only complaint is, I wish the bunny huggers would leave us hunters alone.
by Hank Pellissier, special to SF Gate Monday, March 9, 2003 Click to View
Jim Cox teaches people how to hunt with a bow and arrow for local wild game like deer, turkey and the fierce, tusked, 250-pound feral pigs that reside in numerous California counties. I interviewed him in his Salinas office, where he sells archery equipment, organizes expeditions (Jim Cox Adventures) and promotes classes (the JCA Bowhunting School).
Hi, Jim --
Before we get started, I have to ask you something -- are you in PETA? My friends warned me not to do this interview. I don't want any trouble with the bunny huggers, the Doris Day types. They send me hate mail. It's not right.
My philosophy is: I don't care what you do -- you can have your religion and be gay. I don't care. I believe people should make their own choices; if someone wants to hunt, let them hunt. It's not fair for folks to stand here in leather boots and a leather jacket, eating a hamburger and telling me I'm a killer. Local ranch kids understand hunting, but city kids don't.
I'm not in PETA. I eat meat. I was raised on a ranch where one of my chores was to decapitate chickens. But -- Doris Day? Why did you mention her?
Doris Day lives in Carmel. She's against hunting. She's a spokesperson for animal rights. So, you understand what I'm doing? Sometime, you want to go on a pig hunt?
Yeah, maybe. It sounds really fun. What do you teach people at the JCA Bowhunting School?
It's a weekend school where they get me or an assistant as a guide to harvest an animal. We teach them how to shoot with hunting arrow points instead of target points, we teach them where the animal's vital organs are. We teach how to track, how to field dress an animal, how to quarter it and pack it out and how to skin it for mounting.
Why do you prefer bow hunting? You could hunt with a rifle.
It's a challenge, because you have to get so much closer. Bow hunting is about crawling in there, sneaking up while keeping the wind in your face. It's about hiding behind brush, making the stalk for 2-5 hours to get a shot. It's kind of like foreplay. The average animal taken with an arrow is from 30 yards away; with a gun, it's probably 100-150 yards, maybe even 200-300 yards. Bow hunters only get animals on 8 percent of their hunts, while riflemen are 85 percent successful. If you want to put meat on the table, you use a gun. But with archers, it's not the killing we like, it's the stalk.
Is bow hunting popular in California?
No. The 11 western states only hold 10 percent of the bow hunters. Last year, there were only 16,000 bow-hunting licenses issued in California. In Michigan, there were 306,000. Other big states are Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, Ohio. The No. 1 problem in California is that there's a lack of places to hunt, because Clinton turned a lot of areas into "parks." Bow hunters here also don't get a longer hunting season than riflemen like they do back east.
You take people on bow-hunting expeditions locally and internationally. What animals are you hunting?
Bow hunting in Alaska is moose, Kodiak brown bear and caribou. In Australia, it's water buffalo. In Africa, there are 52 different species to hunt -- many are dangerous. We hunt a lot of waterbuck there. In California, it's hogs, deer, bear, elk, antelope, turkeys and varmints.
Varmints? What's that?
Fox, coyotes, bobcats. You bring them in with "calling" -- making a noise like a squealing rodent. But the trouble in Monterey County is, if you do varmint calling, you might get a mountain lion. We've lost a couple of people to mountain lions, and it's illegal to shoot them.
What's the most popular animal for bow hunters?
Most of my clients are interested in pigs, for lots of reasons. Pigs are real good eating -- the best game flavor in the world, in my opinion. Everyone also seems to want a big, old, ugly boar head on the wall. Plus, you can hunt them year-round, because there's too many of them. Hogs breed three times a year, with 6-10 piglets in a litter. Monterey County is the No. 1 pig-hunting county in California, and San Benito County is probably second. They're almost a nuisance here -- they're everywhere.
Wild hogs -- feral swine -- aren't they incredibly dangerous?
Oh, yes. If a hog gets you down and hooks you with a tusk, they can kill you. They are aggressive, moody animals with teeth that are actually sharp on both sides, and pointed. The majority of the time, they run away from you, but they're dangerous if they are hurt or cornered, or if a sow has babies. Sows don't have tusks as long as a boar's, but she can still knock you down and bite you and make you holler and make you wet your pants.
A friend of mine -- Boomer -- is in the hospital right now. He was up in the hills, cutting wood, when a big old boar came out of the brush and got him by the arm and shook him. I've known half a dozen guys put in the hospital in critical condition. Pigs are quick -- they can fix you right up in a matter of seconds. Pigs can definitely make you bleed -- I've seen six- inch gashes -- but the biggest trouble is getting an infection.
What do you do if you wound a wild pig and it charges you?
First off, if you just sting a pig, you don't want him to see you -- you need to hide back in the brush. If they do see you and they come after you, I either jump up a tree, or I give him another arrow, or I pull out my pistol. I've had hogs charge me numerous times; I once had a hog leap in the air at me and a client. The important thing to remember is, you have to wait until they're 5-6 feet away to shoot them again. We call that the "big-balls award" when you get them up close. You have to do it that way because the hog's head is built like a wedge, and a bullet can glance off it. Wild pigs also have an armor plating of cartilage 2 1/2 inches thick on the front shoulders that's almost impenetrable. That's why you have to wait until they're so close, so you can angle a shot in.
What do wild pigs look like?
The local ones are from Russian boars that were brought to the San Carlos Ranch in 1935. Russian boars were all black, but they've been breeding with other feral swine, so now they come in brown with black spots, red with white spots, in all colors.
What kinds of people take bow-hunting classes from you?
I get all kinds of clients, 16-80 years old. Some of the best are ex-riflemen who want the extra challenge, like I mentioned. But also women -- I just did an all-ladies hunt, for mainly hogs. There's women just as tough as guys out there; my wife and daughter are two of them. My daughter shot her first hog when she was nine. I do kids' hunts, too. Archery is a great family sport.
What's the favorite part of your job?
I like being in the outdoors, the sounds, the smells, watching the quails, the rabbits. There's so many things you get to see just outside the city limits. Another thing I like is when I'm calling a wild hog in and the guys start shaking. Maybe they've been kinda windy on the hunt, telling me how experienced they are, but then, in the heat of battle, they actually run away because they're so afraid and then when it's all over, they're so grateful they want to hug me.
I've been lucky enough to do what I enjoy for a living. I was a professional archer, I've been a sales rep for Martin Archery since 1970 and now I get a big kick out of guiding people in bow hunting. My only complaint is, I wish the bunny huggers would leave us hunters alone.
