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As previously reported, my youngest daughter and I had a guided hunt booked with D and E guide service in Middletown, CA. Our original plans were for a trifecta of hogs, turkeys and bass fishing. The weather however, dictated something different for us. It was too windy and the rain was coming in sideways so our fishing trip was out.
At any rate, we headed out for Friday night for hogs and Ernie's son Mike put me on a group of big, big boars. Did I tell you they were big? This group had one sow with piglets, multiple other boars and sows, all shootable and then 3 monster boars. There was every color you could want. Jet black pigs, black and white spotted, red pigs, red and white spots, red and white stripes, it was amazing.
Mike somehow got my disabled big bodied frame through a barbed wire fence and over two ridgelines on our 1/4 mile stalk. The wind was in our favor but rather than move out of the tree line and into the open, I chose to take a seated position with my back up against an oak tree and used my brand new Primos trigger stick bi-pod as my rest. I was perfectly steady but I missed the 200 yard shot a little high. I was shooting at a slight down hill angle and not sure how I did it but I launched that round right over the top of the biggest boar in the group. A 250+ pounder that was jet black with visible tusks.
I was frustrated to say the least. Mike, the guide, was very cool. He checked and checked and checked to make sure there was no sign of a hit but we were already pretty positive that the shot was a miss. Afterward we talked about what went wrong and how to learn from it so the next opportunity wouldn't be wasted. We hunted until dark never seeing another pig.
This morning we woke up to rain and heavy, heavy wind. Serra, my youngest daughter paired up with Ernie Sanders, the owner of the guide service. He had a blind set up and several other good locations scouted for her. They headed out and Mike and I went on our way to see if we could find those boars again.
Mike and I drove along the lakeside glassing across the lake to where the big boars ahd been the night before. While glassing for them WE were ambushed by another herd of wild porcine beasts. That is right, WE were ambushed. While we were glassing across the lake, a whole heard of hogs came up and around the ridge where we were sitting. They came within 30 yards of us before heading back up the hill side into the oaks. They were clearly startled by our presence and were on a run. There were three large sows and several piglets. The piglets were all 30 or more pounds and the sows were completely dry. I asked Mike if I could take the lead sow. Mike glassed it carefully to ensure it was completely dry (no bags hanging down). All three were shooters. He gave me the go ahead. By this time the pig was gaining distance up hill and was running straight away. I had to wait to get a clear shot. What took like 2 seconds felt like forever as the pig finally turned to its left quartering away from me and offering me a shot at its vitals. One shot of my 300 win mag and the pig dropped in its tracks. In that couple of seconds every thought raced through my head, especially the advice Mike gave me about learning from the mistake the night before. Also running through my mind was how the heck was I going to hit a running pig at 80 to 100 yards when I couldn't hit one standing still at 200 last night? Anyway, it didn't matter. I cleared my head and put the cross hairs on her where I wanted to lead the shot and it all came together. So there I was at 7am with my hog in the bag. She weighed in close to 200 pounds live weight. I took a pic standing right next to her so you can gain perspective on her size. I am 5'9", 250. The rain started really pouring on us and I didn't have time to get a good picture. We loaded up the big hog and headed back to the skinning shack at the ranch. Mike went to work and an hour later my hog was cleaned but both of us were soaked from the cold, driving, sideways rain. We headed into the trophy room and had some sandwiches and snacks waiting to hear from Ernie and Serra.
Somewhere around 10 am Ernie and Serra returned. Ernie had put her on multiple turkeys but she had bad luck in connecting. One turkey flew off as she was taking aim. It landed in a tree and kept moving around before it came back down and she hit it a little low at about 40 yards. The gun had a good pattern at 40 yards, but the bird seemed to shrug it off and it escaped. Ernie and Serra looked for it just in case but it appears to have been uninjured and it got away. Ernie located another good group of birds but again, luck was not on Serra's side. The big tom of the group strutted around but then began to walk off. She shot it but the bulk of the shot hit a rock as she was leading it. In all of her practice at the range on turkey targets, she was having a hard time with these moving targets.
After Ernie and Serra had an early lunch, we all headed out together. Ernie wanted to check a spot with a steep canyon, lots of oaks and two streams. He said that he always finds turkeys there. You could see that Serra was anxious. Her confidence might have been a little rattled but she was eager to prove she could do it. As we crested a very steep ridge in the truck we spotted a large group of turkeys heading from down in the canyon up into the oaks on the steep hillside. Ernie told Serra to go up the hillside and ambush them as they came by. Her and Mike headed up the hill, having to run to get into place. Mike grabbed Serra by the jacket and used his 6 foot plus frame to help her up the steep hillside. They got into position. Ernie and I stayed back at the truck and watched it all unfold. She got to a spot where she could ambush the birds as they came through the oaks. The first group of birds were all jakes with small visible beards. All legal. Mike and Ernie suggested she hold out until the Tom came up the rear. He was a two year old bird with a respectable beard. Serra got a glimpse of him as he let all the jakes and hens work first. The tom came through the trees and was determined not to stop for a shot. Serra took a bead on him and led him a little too much. Mike helped her get to a better spot to ambush the bird. He kept working up the hillside and as he came through an opening in the oaks, he presented a full body and head shot. Serra let another shot go from the 12 gauge and the bird was down. It was a hard earned bird and a definite trophy for her first bird.
The two year old tom had an 8 1/4 inch beard and 1 1/4 inch spurs. We have it in a roasting bag in the oven now as we listen to the same wind and driving rain outside. I am getting hungry while I type this.
As always, Ernie and Mike put on a great hunt. They did a ton of pre-scouting that helped us to be successful. I can't say it enough. These guys are relentless hunters and don't stop trying until you are successful. Oh, and before we left, Ernie gave Serra a beautiful pocket knife. On old school style knife with two blades and a dyed bone handle that is a beautiful blue color.
At any rate, we headed out for Friday night for hogs and Ernie's son Mike put me on a group of big, big boars. Did I tell you they were big? This group had one sow with piglets, multiple other boars and sows, all shootable and then 3 monster boars. There was every color you could want. Jet black pigs, black and white spotted, red pigs, red and white spots, red and white stripes, it was amazing.
Mike somehow got my disabled big bodied frame through a barbed wire fence and over two ridgelines on our 1/4 mile stalk. The wind was in our favor but rather than move out of the tree line and into the open, I chose to take a seated position with my back up against an oak tree and used my brand new Primos trigger stick bi-pod as my rest. I was perfectly steady but I missed the 200 yard shot a little high. I was shooting at a slight down hill angle and not sure how I did it but I launched that round right over the top of the biggest boar in the group. A 250+ pounder that was jet black with visible tusks.
I was frustrated to say the least. Mike, the guide, was very cool. He checked and checked and checked to make sure there was no sign of a hit but we were already pretty positive that the shot was a miss. Afterward we talked about what went wrong and how to learn from it so the next opportunity wouldn't be wasted. We hunted until dark never seeing another pig.
This morning we woke up to rain and heavy, heavy wind. Serra, my youngest daughter paired up with Ernie Sanders, the owner of the guide service. He had a blind set up and several other good locations scouted for her. They headed out and Mike and I went on our way to see if we could find those boars again.
Mike and I drove along the lakeside glassing across the lake to where the big boars ahd been the night before. While glassing for them WE were ambushed by another herd of wild porcine beasts. That is right, WE were ambushed. While we were glassing across the lake, a whole heard of hogs came up and around the ridge where we were sitting. They came within 30 yards of us before heading back up the hill side into the oaks. They were clearly startled by our presence and were on a run. There were three large sows and several piglets. The piglets were all 30 or more pounds and the sows were completely dry. I asked Mike if I could take the lead sow. Mike glassed it carefully to ensure it was completely dry (no bags hanging down). All three were shooters. He gave me the go ahead. By this time the pig was gaining distance up hill and was running straight away. I had to wait to get a clear shot. What took like 2 seconds felt like forever as the pig finally turned to its left quartering away from me and offering me a shot at its vitals. One shot of my 300 win mag and the pig dropped in its tracks. In that couple of seconds every thought raced through my head, especially the advice Mike gave me about learning from the mistake the night before. Also running through my mind was how the heck was I going to hit a running pig at 80 to 100 yards when I couldn't hit one standing still at 200 last night? Anyway, it didn't matter. I cleared my head and put the cross hairs on her where I wanted to lead the shot and it all came together. So there I was at 7am with my hog in the bag. She weighed in close to 200 pounds live weight. I took a pic standing right next to her so you can gain perspective on her size. I am 5'9", 250. The rain started really pouring on us and I didn't have time to get a good picture. We loaded up the big hog and headed back to the skinning shack at the ranch. Mike went to work and an hour later my hog was cleaned but both of us were soaked from the cold, driving, sideways rain. We headed into the trophy room and had some sandwiches and snacks waiting to hear from Ernie and Serra.
Somewhere around 10 am Ernie and Serra returned. Ernie had put her on multiple turkeys but she had bad luck in connecting. One turkey flew off as she was taking aim. It landed in a tree and kept moving around before it came back down and she hit it a little low at about 40 yards. The gun had a good pattern at 40 yards, but the bird seemed to shrug it off and it escaped. Ernie and Serra looked for it just in case but it appears to have been uninjured and it got away. Ernie located another good group of birds but again, luck was not on Serra's side. The big tom of the group strutted around but then began to walk off. She shot it but the bulk of the shot hit a rock as she was leading it. In all of her practice at the range on turkey targets, she was having a hard time with these moving targets.
After Ernie and Serra had an early lunch, we all headed out together. Ernie wanted to check a spot with a steep canyon, lots of oaks and two streams. He said that he always finds turkeys there. You could see that Serra was anxious. Her confidence might have been a little rattled but she was eager to prove she could do it. As we crested a very steep ridge in the truck we spotted a large group of turkeys heading from down in the canyon up into the oaks on the steep hillside. Ernie told Serra to go up the hillside and ambush them as they came by. Her and Mike headed up the hill, having to run to get into place. Mike grabbed Serra by the jacket and used his 6 foot plus frame to help her up the steep hillside. They got into position. Ernie and I stayed back at the truck and watched it all unfold. She got to a spot where she could ambush the birds as they came through the oaks. The first group of birds were all jakes with small visible beards. All legal. Mike and Ernie suggested she hold out until the Tom came up the rear. He was a two year old bird with a respectable beard. Serra got a glimpse of him as he let all the jakes and hens work first. The tom came through the trees and was determined not to stop for a shot. Serra took a bead on him and led him a little too much. Mike helped her get to a better spot to ambush the bird. He kept working up the hillside and as he came through an opening in the oaks, he presented a full body and head shot. Serra let another shot go from the 12 gauge and the bird was down. It was a hard earned bird and a definite trophy for her first bird.
The two year old tom had an 8 1/4 inch beard and 1 1/4 inch spurs. We have it in a roasting bag in the oven now as we listen to the same wind and driving rain outside. I am getting hungry while I type this.
As always, Ernie and Mike put on a great hunt. They did a ton of pre-scouting that helped us to be successful. I can't say it enough. These guys are relentless hunters and don't stop trying until you are successful. Oh, and before we left, Ernie gave Serra a beautiful pocket knife. On old school style knife with two blades and a dyed bone handle that is a beautiful blue color.
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