Joice Island

[dirtpoor]

Had a great time but without success,got in before lite my wife and I walked about 3 miles in but didn't find any even close to fresh sign nor did we hear any pig's. Went back to the truck and met another hunter who told us we had permission to drive the island which we proceeded to do. spent a total of 12 hours hunting and the last 3 were humping thru brush and tuleys( did manage to get a limit of ticks ) saw probably 20 cock pheasants and 1 hen. Not my kind of hunting, I prefer the woods and fields. Stopped at Bryson on the way back to say hello and saw a ton of pigs on private property. Joice is probably better earlier in the season, fish and game told us that they were averaging 1.3 pigs per weekend, think I'll stick to what I know best spot and stalk on dry land, my wife said on Joice it would be spot and swim !

 

[BDB]

Yeah, I hear ya. I hunted pheasants out there and it's not what I would like for pigs. Bummer you didn't get one though. Was anyone running dogs?

 

[Metdawg44]

From what I hear these pigs have "dens" in the thickest tule patches and they use tunnels to go in and out. Sounds like hunting them can be a little scary

and a little dangerous. Thanks but no thanks.

 

[BrysonHesperiaResort]

Dearest Dirtpoor, glad to see that you & yours made it home safe and sound... I hate to tell you this but we bagged FOUR hogs this weekend. I'm sure the stories will be going around here shortly... Thank you so much for dropping by- glad you found me out in the field. Also, the new turkey call you gave me is sweet! I called one big boy in today with it... that thing even makes me sound good...!

 

[tradman]

Sorry you didn't get a pig, but I'm not really surprised to tell the truth. I've been in the area (Grizzly Island mainly) a few times for small game and never saw any pig sign. If there are any pigs there, I'd imagine you'd either have to have some good dogs, or a whole lot of luck. I too limited out on ticks though, and I almost got the business from a few skunks.

But then I guess you never know, some guys really study a place and learn how to score repeatedly. Not unlike Lake Sonoma in that regard.

 

[billrob]

Dirt,
It was a pleasure to meet you and your wife this weekend while hunting with Deedy.
Wow, did I have a great time.
We scored shortly after leaving you.
Deedy got me on the meat pigs I asked for and she set me up so well I was able to take one with the rifle and later (same evening) one with the bow. Wow what a trip!
Deedy and Karin work their butts off up there.
The turkeys were not cooperating so I'll have to work harder next time.
The closest I could get a shooter was 49 yards.
She did get me on em up close and personal and a gang fight broke out with two different roosts there were tons of jakes and some big toms fighting it out, but they were too close together to hit just one, so I held off.
Anyway, sorry about the Joice island experience.
Take care, maybe I'll see you up there again in the future.

 

[dirtpoor]

BDB, no dog's were running and I even tried crawling around the hole's in the tuley's but I figure they've been pressured since Jan so I wasn't surprised at the lack of pig's. All in all it was another adventure to store in my mind for my old age.

Billrob, We also enjoyed our chat, I knew you would score because it's easy to tell from your conversation you're a dedicated hunter, couple that with Deedy's expertise and it's a winner ! Right after we left you we went about 2 mile's and saw a large group of pigs grazing right next to the road, 2 big black boars and 2 sows 1 red 1 multi-colored and probably 15 football's, then just about 100 more yd's I saw the 2 biggest black pig's I've ever seen in the wild, they looked like 50 gal drum's only about 50 yds off the highway., Bill

 

[BrysonHesperiaResort]

Kinda looked like this huh? That's my gang... the sows are doing great there is four producers in that bunch that are slamming down babies like clockwork. Then the boars are coming in to say hello, sows are breeding back right now. Bunch of meat hogs too. We watch them like hawks, having a poacher problem so the Sheriff's and Fish and Game babysit them at night for us. God bless them guys for keeping our pigs safe. Pretty nice bunch- you got two out of that "family" dirtpoor...

[attachment=41448:attachment]

 

[larrysogla]

Outstanding!!!! Deedy, thanks for the pictures and the stories......your posts are funny and very entertaining. 'Nuff said and God Bless.

 

[Speckmisser]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tradman @ Apr 24 2007, 08:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Sorry you didn't get a pig, but I'm not really surprised to tell the truth. I've been in the area (Grizzly Island mainly) a few times for small game and never saw any pig sign. If there are any pigs there, I'd imagine you'd either have to have some good dogs, or a whole lot of luck. I too limited out on ticks though, and I almost got the business from a few skunks.[/b]

Haven't seen much sign (if any) on Grizzly Island proper, but Joice Island is eaten up with them. I've been in the heart of the their territory while duck hunting. The trails are cut in every direction, and there's crap everywhere. You can see tules moving as they truck through that stuff, but I have yet to actually see a hog there. Problem is, they're in that thick stuff and I think it'd be tough to get them out. If I hunted it for hogs, I'd definitely go in waders and with a radio. Some of that mud sinks straight down to hell.

 

[QuackWhacker]

I've been lucky enough to get drawn twice over the past five years.

The first time I was able to take two pigs during a one day hunt. The second time, was another story!

Although there was plenty of sign everywhere, it was very clear that they had been running dogs on the island and there wasn't a pig to be found anywhere. They had been pushed off the island and were on the surrounding property. Dogs had not been allowed during my first hunt. What a difference!

Oh well....we can't have success every time out (or can we)!

 

[Kentuck]

One tip about hunting Joice without dogs.

Watch the tide.