Hunting FHL 02/28-29 Anyone going?

[vandal968]

I'm going down to Fort Hunter Liggett next weekend for my first hog hunt. Actually, it wil be my first anything-hunt. I'm heading down with a buddy of mine who is also new to hunting. At this point I think the plan is to call in sick to work on Friday, drive down in the early afternoon (coming from SF Bay area).

We'll be camping, although we may stay at the Hacienda on Friday night and camp Saturday.

If anyone is headed down there that weekend it would be nice to meet up.

Also, if anyone has any pointers about the base, from places to hunt (thinking South side) or anything else (places to eat, and buy beer, etc) I'd be happy to hear it.

cheers,
c

 

[Huntin' Foo']

Vandel, check your PM.

 

[Huntin' Foo']

Doesn't look like I can make it as I got invited to hunt quail at the Consumnes River Ranch. Should be fun. Use caution on those wet and slippery road down at FHL.

 

[GUNNER5569]

would love to go but its probally to late to get the permits in this late ussally takes about a week so i have to wait but good luck

 

[vandal968]

Weather looks to be good this weekend, so it's on. FHL just posted the hunting update for the weekend and most zones are open:

1, 2, 4, 5, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 23, 25

These are the choices. Which is the most promising?

c

 

[hntboar]

vandal968-
I have shot pigs out of 1,2,5, 16 and 25.
Try area 16. Take the road that borders 21 and 16. 21 is a closed area. The pigs go between 21 and 16 border. Take the road that borders these areas to the top. If you go on to River road you can get there. Most of the times you will see rooting or sign off the road. Check the road that you are going up and see if there are tracks crossing to 21. Hug the road to the right when it splits off and take it to the top. The whole right side of the road you are going up is very brushy areas. Park and walk the hills right there. I think the canyon is called Lugo Canyon. If you see sign in this area and no tracks crossing into 21, then there is a good chance they could be in there. At top of the road which goes to a tower, there are some poison oak patches as you make the turn up to the tower. Stop there and go down the hill about 100 yards. Good beds there. Hunt that whole area if you see sign.
Area 25 is good also. Take Sam Jones road and go though the gate. Follow the road into area 25. You will need to turn left before you get to the bridge. Check out the right side all the way up along the road. If pigs are there, you will see fresh rooting all the way to the creek. Hunt up and down the creek in 25. You might have to get there early. I think they feed there and bed in area 27. Which of course is closed.
The other area to check in 25 is the border between 25 and 29. 29 always has pigs. Just follow the same road you were on in 25 and to to the end. When you hit Interlake road, go right to the creek. Check the creek out for tracks. They like to go up that canyon right in front into area 25. If there are tracks, go up the canyon and there are a few bedding areas up there as well.

Good luck!

 

[vandal968]

Thanks Hntboar and everyone else that has responded online and off. I'm packing now and I'm taking all the knowledge I've gotten from this group. I'll report back Monday with results.

cheers,
c

 

[Cda55]

Don't forget the camera. Good Luck!!

 

[Huntin' Foo']

Go get 'em Vandal. Have a great time and please give us an update on Monday.

 

[badcompany]

Anyone going give me a PM and I will give you a great luch at my house on base or if you need a shower, or a place to stay. Wife is gone for Three weeks so I have 2 extra bedrooms with the kids gone.
Good luck all

 

[Cda55]

What's the outcome Vandal? Did you slay em at FHL?

 

[vandal968]

The pigs outsmarted us

We arrived Friday night, checked in (really nice folks at the window). Then went up to the Hacienda for dinner. Drank a few beers and early to bed.

Saturday morning we were up at 4:40am and headed off to area 16. My buddy was driving and managed to get pulled over for rolling through a stop sign. We got off with a warning and were on our way. We parked on the road between areas 16 and 15 to the East of Hay camp road. Just as the sun was coming up we saw several sets of pig tracks heading NW, so we followed them. After about 100yrds we heard pig noises over a ridge. By the time we got there, the pigs were gone but we found more tracks. Most of them kind of disappeared in hard soil, but one big set went East so we followed those. The tracks were fresh since the ground had a light layer of frost and you could see that the ground water had seeped into the tracks themselves. We followed these tracks up and down and back up a hill until they disappeared into some heavy brush. We circled the brush as much as possible to see if they exited anywhere, but had to stop when the ground became impassible.

We took a break for lunch at the campsite and enjoyed the LOUD mariachi music coming from a campsite near by. In the afternoon we headed back out. My buddy got his truck stuck in the mud. I think it was because he came to a stop in a rut filled with mud. He thinks it is because he listened to me and traveled down the road at all. In any event we got it unstuck in about 10 minutes and were on our way. This time we set up an ambush on a hillside near a stream and fairly close to the tracks we had seen earlier. We saw two groups of deer, with 4 deer in each group. The first group was at about 200yrds, the second at 150yrds.

After about an hour, I heard grunting over a small hill. I quietly went over the hill rifle-in-hand and came face to face with a deer than was only about 20yrds away. He checked me out for a minute, then took off. We saw a total of 21 deer on Saturday, and had clear shots on the two groups of four as well as the grunter. We also saw a group of about 10 Elk.

That night we made a plan for an ambush location and had pork chops at the Hacienda. A few beers later and getting ready for bed, I'm brushing my teeth. I saw my buddy loading up his toothbrush and begin brushing. Suddenly he is spitting, cursing, spitting some more. Turns out the the insect repellent paste he brought is in a tube that is very similar to a toothpaste tube. Heh heh heh...

Anyhow we fell asleep to the sound of loud mariachi music. Sunday morning we awoke when we heard all the other hunters getting up. A quick look at the watch showed that it was 6:00am, we had slept through the alarm. The ambush location we had selected required a 30 minute drive and a 30 minute hike, so we decided that we had missed our opportunity and went back to bed. We had breakfast at Denny's in King City (Meat Lover's breakfast with ham, sausage and bacon

Then headed home. So only one day of actual hunting, but it was a blast. It didn't look like anyone else got one either. I'm ready to go again...

Big fun,
c

 

[hntboar]

vandal968 -
Sounds like you had a good time. To bad you did not get a chance to catch up with the hogs. From the update, you were in the right place at least. Just needed better timing. Oh well! Nice try.
Next time!
HntBoar

 

[bearcat1]

Went to Ligget on the 29th and hunted area 3 with the bow. Saw 3, brought home a nice sized dry sow. She dressed out at 135lbs. Was about a 40 yard shot. Blew threw both lungs and stuck in a tree. I was sitting on a ridge looking over at lower ridge full of rocks when one of the "rocks" started moving. I spoke with the folks at the check-in booth and they said 3 boars were taken over the weekend. I believe the boars came out of 29, 16, and the one I got out of 3. Saw a lot of sign in 7, but that was just from the road.

keep at'em..

ww

 

[Mel Carter]

How is it at the check in station? Is there a lot of people and how easy was it to get checked in? I use to hunt there several years ago, but I imagine things have changed a little, like needing to get the forms before hand. I might be willing to take my 2 boys over there for a trip if the checking in part isn't to bad.

Hey Vandal968, Great story, got me dreamin.

bearcat1, congrats and welcome to JHO, you're going to love it here.

 

[Huntin' Foo']

Mel,

I hunted FHL extensively this past year for quail. I bought an annual pass as I knew I'd be going down there more than a couple times. When I sent in all my paperwork it took them several weeks to process, a bit longer than I expected as they lost the first series of documents I sent. Haven't heard of this happening to anyone else.

I missed opening day for quail (on purpose) and didn't make it down there until the fourth or fifth week of the season. During the first half of the season I tried to be at the check in station before they opened. Usually, by the time the station opened there was no more than 10 of us milling around. Keep in mind, this is after the "opening day rush". It only took about 15 minutes to get all the paperwork sorted out and begin heading out to our training area of choice. During the bottom half of the season I decided I didn't need to be there so early. The last few trip I made I didn't get to the check in station until about 6:30 or 7am. At those times the rush is over and I could walk right up to the window and get checked in without issues.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Huntin' Foo'