Speckmisser
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Good luck!
I'm heading out for Camp Roberts in a few hours. Should be a productive weekend for JHP hunters!
I'm heading out for Camp Roberts in a few hours. Should be a productive weekend for JHP hunters!
Well I dont have any pics because my camera decided it had more fun in King City and wanted to stay there. Me and my buddies Kris and Jeff met me Friday morning and we headed North. The traffic sucked all through Hell A so we were a bit behind schedule. Arrived at the ranch about 5, met our guides and headed out. First canyon we glass has a nice hog bedded and sleeping. We set Kris up at the ambush spot and Jeff went in to take first crack. The hog looked like it might be a sow with piglets laying around it so we did't want to shoot it in its bed. We wanted a better look. The guide tosses a rock but didn't quite have the distance (96 yards, as verified by my rangefinder). I set my rifle down and warm up the arm. I then proceeded to drop about 10 fist sized rocks within a 6 foot radius of the hog. It decided it was safer hunkered down so it would not get up. Then all of a sudden, while we were all staring at the ground looking for good throwing rocks, the hog gets up and hauls butt. It turned out to be a nice sized boar and not a sow. Jeff takes a shot and misses as it is running away through the brush. But it is headed straight towards Kris at the ambush spot. It comes into a clearing and Kris misses first shot behind the hog, then swings way out in front and skids the pig in the dirt. Perfect shot right behind the shoulder. Gut it, toss in the truck and go look for more. We see a group of about 15 hogs but they were all only about 75-90 lbs. Too small to take the first night. That was all for the evening.
Next morning, we head to a different ranch. Spot a group of 15-18 real nice hogs about a half mile off. They were coming out of a barley field and going back to bed in the thick brushy canyons. Jump in the truck and jam to cut them off before they make it on to the neighbor's ranch where we can't hunt. On the way we spot a nice lone boar. We haul across this open field in the truck to get in front of the pig before it crosses a fence and gets into this brushy canyon. The plan works and we skid to a hault as Jeff jumps out and starts blazing away like the Duke with a .270. He hits it three out of four times and it finally goes down. A .357 round in the dome and it is done. No more piggies to be found for the day.
That night we go back to the ranch from last night to fill my tag. We hike this ridge next to a brush patch where we know there are some beds. I spot about 10 little pigs and knew there must be a sow in there. Sure enough the sow gets up and walks around. She doesn't know we are there and beds back down. I back off a ways and call our guide on the radio and ask him if I should take this hog. He asked me how big the little ones were and I told him 25-30 lbs. He says they're weined and if you get a shot take it. I then radio Kris and Jeff (Who are now far from sober. They started drinking non stop at 9:00 am after Jeff tagged out and its now about 6:30 pm.) and get them to sweep the brush patch to try and jump the hog and send it towards me. They whine a little bit but agree and hike up to me. They sweep through the brush and no pig. They think I am B.S.ing them and are calling me all kinds of colorful names. I tell them they walked right past where I saw the sow bed down. I really wanted that sow to come charging out of that bed and knock one of them over. That would have been a good laugh. They turn around and I direct them with hand signals. Sure enough that hog jump out right at Kris' feet and charges out the wrong way. I catch a fleeting glimpse but no shot. Our guide is watching from high on another ridge so he can see if we bust one out. But of course the sow takes the brushiest route and we lose sight of her. Darn!
We head to a different part of the ranch. My hopes are fading as the sun starts to go down. Just then we spot a group of about 20 hogs far away and high up on this ridge. My guide calmly says there's some hogs but he is still driving. I say why aren't we stopping. He says those are really far away. I tell him to let me range them and maybe take a crack. We stop and they run into a little brush patch. They hole up in there for a few seconds but they had to pass another small clearing before cresting the ridge. I pull out my range finder and it reads 318 yards. Far but doable. I rest over the hood of the truck and the hogs start trotting out of the brush. I pick one up in my scope, compensate for bullet drop and place the crosshairs on the top of a hog's front shoulder and let fly. I hear the tell-tale thump of a hit but I can't see as I am coming out of recoil. Guide says you hit it, holy %$#@, you hit it! What I forgot to compensate for was lead as they were trotting and that was a far distance. I end up blowing out the pig's hips. We hike up there and can't find the hog. The guide goes back to get a dog. When he returns he unleases Beau and she immediately finds the pig, still very much alive but without the use of its hind legs. I run over to the grunting and squealing and the guide pull his dog off. I try to get to the side of the hog to put a pistol round in its ear. But the pig had other plans and snapped at me. It almost bit me where the sun don't shine. It was literally inches away. So I gave up the ear idea and let the hog have it right between the eyes. Funs over. Now the bad news. This pig weighed 45-50 lbs tops. It was just too far away to be able to accurately judge its weight. And I ended up having to throw both hams away. Our guide, being the cool guy that he is, lets me go out again in the morning and try to get a bigger one. He actually wanted some meat so he was going hunting anyway and wanted me to go. He totally didn't have to. Once you pull the trigger his job is done and you better pay up. But this guy is way cool and that is why we have hunted with him for the last 9 years.
Up at 4 next morning and go out to the same ranch again. Spot a lone boar at water right at first light. He takes off up and over a ridge. Our guide knows where he is headed and hauls butt in the truck. Mario Andretti has nothing on this guy. We cut it off and I muff a fairly easy shot. The guide shoots and misses twice. That makes me feel a little better. Again, I am amazed at how fast these things run. We jump back in the truck to try and get on top of it again. We drop down into another canyon as the boar is sidehilling above us. I spot another pig on the other side of the canyon. I tell the guide to stop as this one offers an easier shot. He skids to a halt and I jump out. The hog is about 100 yards away and high up on the side of this canyon. It starts running. I tell myself that I am not going to make the same mistake twice. I swing way out in front of the hog and as my crosshairs pass the tip of the pig's nose I touch off my 30-06. The pig immediately folds and rolls down the hill. It actuallly rolled all the way down and stopped about ten yards away from the road. The shot went in the neck, severed the spine, and exited the off side ear. It ended up being about a 225lb sow and fat as a butterball. We toss it in the truck and go skin it out. I split it in half and gave half to my guide along with a healthy tip. Put it in my cooler and head back to the hotel to wake the wounded. They are in the hurt locker from yesterday's bender. We all load up and head for home. Another successfull trip. I'll try to post some pics of Jeff's and Kris' pigs as those were taken on a different camera.
Next morning, we head to a different ranch. Spot a group of 15-18 real nice hogs about a half mile off. They were coming out of a barley field and going back to bed in the thick brushy canyons. Jump in the truck and jam to cut them off before they make it on to the neighbor's ranch where we can't hunt. On the way we spot a nice lone boar. We haul across this open field in the truck to get in front of the pig before it crosses a fence and gets into this brushy canyon. The plan works and we skid to a hault as Jeff jumps out and starts blazing away like the Duke with a .270. He hits it three out of four times and it finally goes down. A .357 round in the dome and it is done. No more piggies to be found for the day.
That night we go back to the ranch from last night to fill my tag. We hike this ridge next to a brush patch where we know there are some beds. I spot about 10 little pigs and knew there must be a sow in there. Sure enough the sow gets up and walks around. She doesn't know we are there and beds back down. I back off a ways and call our guide on the radio and ask him if I should take this hog. He asked me how big the little ones were and I told him 25-30 lbs. He says they're weined and if you get a shot take it. I then radio Kris and Jeff (Who are now far from sober. They started drinking non stop at 9:00 am after Jeff tagged out and its now about 6:30 pm.) and get them to sweep the brush patch to try and jump the hog and send it towards me. They whine a little bit but agree and hike up to me. They sweep through the brush and no pig. They think I am B.S.ing them and are calling me all kinds of colorful names. I tell them they walked right past where I saw the sow bed down. I really wanted that sow to come charging out of that bed and knock one of them over. That would have been a good laugh. They turn around and I direct them with hand signals. Sure enough that hog jump out right at Kris' feet and charges out the wrong way. I catch a fleeting glimpse but no shot. Our guide is watching from high on another ridge so he can see if we bust one out. But of course the sow takes the brushiest route and we lose sight of her. Darn!
We head to a different part of the ranch. My hopes are fading as the sun starts to go down. Just then we spot a group of about 20 hogs far away and high up on this ridge. My guide calmly says there's some hogs but he is still driving. I say why aren't we stopping. He says those are really far away. I tell him to let me range them and maybe take a crack. We stop and they run into a little brush patch. They hole up in there for a few seconds but they had to pass another small clearing before cresting the ridge. I pull out my range finder and it reads 318 yards. Far but doable. I rest over the hood of the truck and the hogs start trotting out of the brush. I pick one up in my scope, compensate for bullet drop and place the crosshairs on the top of a hog's front shoulder and let fly. I hear the tell-tale thump of a hit but I can't see as I am coming out of recoil. Guide says you hit it, holy %$#@, you hit it! What I forgot to compensate for was lead as they were trotting and that was a far distance. I end up blowing out the pig's hips. We hike up there and can't find the hog. The guide goes back to get a dog. When he returns he unleases Beau and she immediately finds the pig, still very much alive but without the use of its hind legs. I run over to the grunting and squealing and the guide pull his dog off. I try to get to the side of the hog to put a pistol round in its ear. But the pig had other plans and snapped at me. It almost bit me where the sun don't shine. It was literally inches away. So I gave up the ear idea and let the hog have it right between the eyes. Funs over. Now the bad news. This pig weighed 45-50 lbs tops. It was just too far away to be able to accurately judge its weight. And I ended up having to throw both hams away. Our guide, being the cool guy that he is, lets me go out again in the morning and try to get a bigger one. He actually wanted some meat so he was going hunting anyway and wanted me to go. He totally didn't have to. Once you pull the trigger his job is done and you better pay up. But this guy is way cool and that is why we have hunted with him for the last 9 years.
Up at 4 next morning and go out to the same ranch again. Spot a lone boar at water right at first light. He takes off up and over a ridge. Our guide knows where he is headed and hauls butt in the truck. Mario Andretti has nothing on this guy. We cut it off and I muff a fairly easy shot. The guide shoots and misses twice. That makes me feel a little better. Again, I am amazed at how fast these things run. We jump back in the truck to try and get on top of it again. We drop down into another canyon as the boar is sidehilling above us. I spot another pig on the other side of the canyon. I tell the guide to stop as this one offers an easier shot. He skids to a halt and I jump out. The hog is about 100 yards away and high up on the side of this canyon. It starts running. I tell myself that I am not going to make the same mistake twice. I swing way out in front of the hog and as my crosshairs pass the tip of the pig's nose I touch off my 30-06. The pig immediately folds and rolls down the hill. It actuallly rolled all the way down and stopped about ten yards away from the road. The shot went in the neck, severed the spine, and exited the off side ear. It ended up being about a 225lb sow and fat as a butterball. We toss it in the truck and go skin it out. I split it in half and gave half to my guide along with a healthy tip. Put it in my cooler and head back to the hotel to wake the wounded. They are in the hurt locker from yesterday's bender. We all load up and head for home. Another successfull trip. I'll try to post some pics of Jeff's and Kris' pigs as those were taken on a different camera.
Speckmisser
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Awwwwright! That sounds like a jammin' hunt, and kudos to the guide for giving you an extra chance.
Wish my weekend had been as productive as I'd anticipated. It was nice, but no meat for the freezer.
Wish my weekend had been as productive as I'd anticipated. It was nice, but no meat for the freezer.
Hunter2003
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Congrats on the pigs. Just wondering what the guides name is, the price, location, and phone number. I may be looking to go on a hog hunt myself.
Thanks
Thanks
HOGHUNTER714
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SDHUNTER,
Thats sounds like a Mustang Guide Hunt...Nothin but "GoodTimes"
Thats sounds like a Mustang Guide Hunt...Nothin but "GoodTimes"
