Hogs in Ca??

[Mntman]

Good morning,
I am from AZ and looking to go hog hunting either bow or firearms in Ca in March.
New to this site and was wondering if someone could point me in a good direction for private or public land hunting?
What is the CA G&F website, how much are the tags and what is the seasons?
Thanks in advance.

 

[1SoCalHunter]

Mntman:
First let me welcome you to the best hunting forum on the web.
As far as your question goes, I'll try to answer it the best that I can.
As far as hunting spots, on the public side they are a few that are good, one of them is Laguna Mountain which is tough terrain but from time to time it produces some nice hogs.
On the private side, they are numerous guiding services as well as trespass fee ranches in CA available that they vary in prices, I can say that they go anywhere from $300 to $750 depending on where you go, if bow or rifle and what's included in the hunt. One of the most popular trespass fee ranches is the Tejon Ranch with their Pig-o-ramas which run for $310 (including insurance) and it's for the weekend, another one is FHL (Fort hunter Ligget) which you can buy a weekend permit for $25 I believe or a whole year permit for $75 I believe.
The DFG web site is http://www.dfg.ca.gov
The season for wild pigs is year round and there is no daily limit and no limit on possesion, the pig tags are $13.90 each for non-residents and the hunting license for non-residents is $107.90 for the year and $30.20 for a 2 day license.
I hope that this information helps, also the rest of the guys will contribute as to more hunting spots for both public and private land, GOOD LUCK!

 

[BirdDawg]

There are both public and private area's all over the state to hunt hog's....scroll down and look at some of the posts here and you'll get some good advice....the DFG website is here ---> ---> DFG <---.

 

[shaginator]

Mtnman, welcome to JHP!

Here's a good starting point for California hog hunting info:

http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com/calhog.html

That and other good starting points are pinned to the top of the thread list in this Hog forum.

The rule of thumb, as usual, is better piggie success on private lands, much worse on public even though most of us guys just like to get out.

On that link I gave you are references to public limited-access lands like Fort Hunter Liggett and Camp Roberts. The most popular private hog ranch on this board is Tejon Ranch, located a car-hour's north of Los Angeles. The most well-known public lands are located around Central California out the coast (Roughly Fresno west and north to Monterey); there are scattered areas of BLM, Calif. DFG, and National Forest lands.

 

[bigtusker]

Don't make the mistake of buying a 2-day license and trying to hunt hogs with it. They are not for big game. Check out this website for archery only.
Birds and Boars

There is no season on wild pigs in California, It is open year round.

 

[Speckmisser]

Oops.. Bigtusker beat me to it. Anyway, he's correct. You can't hunt big game on a short-term (2-day) license in CA, you have to buy for the whole year. Also, non-residents get a single pig-tag, as opposed to the 5-tag book that residents buy. You can buy additional tags, though. So your total license cost would be:

Annual license @ $107.90
NonRes Pig Tag @ $13.90
-------------------------------------
Total per hunter = $121.80

Not bad for an out of state big game hunt, when you think about it.

If you are planning to be here in March, there is a Tejon Ranch Pig-o-rama happening on the weekend of March 14-16. As 1SoCal mentioned above, the cost is $310 and that covers ONLY the access and hunt. It's a do-it-yourself deal. You can camp on the property over the weekend, or you can stay in a nearby hotel and drive in each day. The camping is a blast, since there's usually a bunch of good folks around a campfire or two (there'll be a pile of JHP guys at the March hunt), and definitely beats staying in a hotel room.

Welcome to JHP!!!

 

[bigtusker]

Hey Speck, is that POR 3 full days of hunting or how does it work?

 

[Speckmisser]

Bigtusker,

The POR is two and a half days of hunting. The hunt starts officially at noon on Friday, and ends at the end of shoot time on Sunday. I believe you check in on Friday morning, but no scouting or pre-hunting. However, the way most folks do it is to scout and prehunt on Friday afternoon to locate hunting spots for the rest of the weekend. Of course, odds are decent of getting your pig on Friday too.

Also, something I keep failing to mention about the POR is that there is a biggest hog prize of $500 for each area (North, South, and Desert). That'll pretty much pay for the trip, if you win.

Personally, I'm just out for some pork and some fun, but if a big boy should wander out in front of me...

 

[Mntman]

thanks for all the help/advice.
I am going to search for the tejon website if they have one and try to make it to the pig-o-rama. The cost is great and I love to rough it.
Let you knoww when I get things arranged to set-up a place to meet some of you.
Thanks again.

 

[boarrunner]

mtnman,
good luck on your hunt. There is also a population of hogs in Arizona west of kingman, along the river, could not tell you where exactly, and we didn't catch any when I was there, but there was lots of sign, (and snakes). I have seen quite a few pics of hogs taken in that area.
good luck!