Lake Sonoma Hog Hunt Alert

[buck_t1]

Hi my name is buckt_t1 and I am new to this site but not new to hunting I shoot a 3 pc t\d Pronghorn longbow. I live in N. Ca.I hunt Deer, Turkey ,Hogs and go to Idaho two times a year once for Elk and once for Bear. I have been watching the post on the sonoma pig hunt and am going to hunt their on monday jan.12.Is anyone else going their on that day or would like to go let me know.I am taking my canoe and going to spot and stalk hunt.I would like to meet some fellow bow hunters in the local area and it looks like their is alot on this site. hope to talk \ type with you all soon. buck

 

[Backcountry]

Hi Buck,

Welcome aboard Jesse's!!!

Of import to you, if you are planning to drive in to the car-topper launch ramp at Yorty Creek with your canoe...

When I was up there last week, the last gate before the boat ramp and picnic area was closed and locked. There were a couple of grumpy old men there that were griping about the locked gate as it was at least a 1/4 mile walk from the spillover parking area to the water... a bit too far to lug a rowboat if you're 70 years old, but maybe not a canoe if you're young and strong... the old guys said the Army sometimes locked the gate (with no notice) during/after rains because of mudflows, but I saw no mudflows that would have caused a driving hazard.

You should call the visitors center on Sunday and find out if ALL the gates will be open ALL the way to the Yorty Creek boat launch area before you head out and get disappointed. If you intend to just hunt on foot, no worries, locked gate or not...

Do us all a favor if you call... please post back here what you found out about those dang gates. Thanks, and have fun!

Backcountry

 

[buck_t1]

Yo, Backcountry thanks for the info. it looks like I will be hoofing it everyone has to work and I dont want to do the canoe thing alone. Looks like it might rain also so sounds like my kind of trip, (will remind me of elk hunting). I am going to try and go next week

if anyone is interested. I will post what I see and how it was.thanks for the welcome. buck

 

[Mel Carter]

Backcountry,
I'll give you a call on Wednesday evening and let you know if we have a boat, if not, it's all on foot.

Buck_t1, welcome to the site, you're going to love it here. Good luck on Monday.

 

[buck_t1]

Yo, fellow bowhunters buck_t1 here,well I went to lake sonoma today (monday jan.12th)and went out to yorty creek,the gate was open and I parked in the lower parking lot. Did I say FOG well it was kinda FOGGY and didnt burn off all day. I have never seen so much hog sign in my life, never seen a hog but seen lots of deer. I went over to liberty campground to check it out and it looks like it has been tilled also, did I say Foggy real forggy over there too,but I did see some turkey and got some pic's of them. Real nice area up there I talked to a guy that hunts there alot and he said the liberty camp side is better because it is the side they have the archery only hunts and that yorty creek is allways the riffle side and gets hit hard because you can drive right to it. I will be back there I think if the time is put in someone will get into the hogs. I am shure their were hogs around but it was so FOGGY that it was hard to see. backcountry and mel thanks for the welcome if I can help in anyway let me know. It would be nice if someone got one. Thanks Buck

 

[MikenSoCo]

Howdy, Not to sound like a broken record, but... The same theme seems to be popping up here. 1) Sign everywhere 2) Lots of deer sightings 3) few hog sightings for the amount of sign... Having hunted hogs here in Sonoma County for quite some time, I can say the same thing has happened to me both at Lake Sonoma and on private property. It took 20 yrs. , but here's what I've learned... At Lake Sonoma, the largest/widest/steepest/thickest part of the hunt area near the Liberty Glen side is the chunk between Rock Pile Rd. and the Broken Bridge Campground on the Dry Creek arm. By myself I hunted sidehilling back and forth all the way to the lake and found bedded hogs more than once. Three or four guys abreast would be even better. I really think the hogs there are out at night and back bedded in this area during the day. I saw one hunter down in there in 5 or 6 trips. A boat at the bottom is a life saver if you're successful. A pack frame and some help are a must on foot. Talk about leg cramps! You can park at the pull out near the top of the rd. to the liberty glen campground. Then walk across Rockpile rd. Good Luck and report back

 

[buck_t1]

Sounds good to me but I get to wait for everyone in the boat. lol

 

[Backcountry]

Originally posted by buck_t1@Jan 12 2004, 08:08 PM
Sounds good to me but I get to wait for everyone in the boat.  lol 

With multiple cold ones I hope...

 

[Mel Carter]

Backcountry,
Check you messages, you have one from Kentuck. I'll call you tonight and see what's up.

 

[Justin Carter]

hey that lake sonoma hunt sounds really fun i would love to go.................lol....... hahahaha sry dad luv ya call me when u now whats up

justin

 

[Mel Carter]

Hey Justin,
Sorry to dog you out on this, I feel kind of bad about it. It looks like you will need to make it up with Jim and I next month, so just hang in there. Look at it this way, atleast you'll have your new carbons by then, and if that hog runs past you like last time, he won't have a chance. Take care bud, I call you on my way home and let you know how it went.

 

[Justin Carter]

wow that lake sonoma hunt sounds really fun wish i could go

...........lol

...................sry dad just playin

justin

 

[Justin Carter]

naw its cool i understan go and have fun (u better bring some meat home)

k well ya just be sure to call me i want to now every thing k talk to u later bye

justin

 

[Backcountry]

Another tiring yet beautiful hunt at Lake Sonoma... Kentuck, Mel, and yours truly made it out today. Echoing MikenSoCo's comment about the broken record, same theme today... (1) sign everywhere (2) lots of deer sightings (3) few hog sightings for the amount of sign... The hogs we did see were (1) big, and (2) crossing a small open area between zones of very thick cover on steep slopes… they did not cooperate when we split up and tried to put the stalk on ‘em, but we’ll be back (once we’re well rested).

We found a couple nice new sheds today, both forks, one with nice mass (for coastal blacktail). Also had some up-close-and-personal time with coyotes… Kentuck will have to relay that story… I can’t do it justice.

Here’s a sunrise pic just after we left the boat ramp and headed out on the lake… Note Kentuck piloting his luxury pig hunting vessel and looking quite warm compared to Mel, who out of the kindness of his heart was acting as primary windbreak for Captain Kentuck while I served as photo-journalist and secondary windbreak. Tell you what, having a boat has it's perks!

Thanks for the boat ride today Kentuck, and nice to meet both you and Mel… good times and good company!

Cheers, Backcountry

 

[MikenSoCo]

Howdy Backcountry, my " broken record" comment was about me and my comments on the Rockpile to Broken bridge hunt area, not about people not seeing many hogs. I've told several people about the area and thought you all may have been tired of hearing it. With that being said.... Did anyone try it out or were you back at Yorty? Where abouts did you see the hogs, generally speaking of course. Did you spot them from the boat or on foot? I'm still hoping to launch my canoe and slip silenty along the shoreline. Stay tuned... Mike

 

[Kentuck]

Thanks for the pic Backcountry, I'm not so sure how good a wind break you all were cause my eyes were watering pretty good when you took that pic. All's good though. Was warmer than a couple of weeks ago! Since you mentioned it I guess I can add what was the highlight of my day.
Mel, Backcountry and I reached our first hunt spot of the day, spread out and worked our way up the hill. I found a bedding spot just below where we saw hogs a couple of weeks ago. That hill is absolutely tore up. Looks like a lot of the more recent rooting was closer to the lake this time though. Like MikenSoCo said, probably at night. Anyway, we hooked up again and decided to split up and meet back at the boat later. I took the mid-point of the hill and work my way up the lake. After about 70 yards I decided it was much too warm for thermals so I decided to remove a layer of clothing. I put my bow on a stump and took my pack off, removed my jacket, shirt and had just got my thermal top off when I saw movement about 20 yards away through the low limbs of a redwood. I thought great, here I am with no shirt on

and a pig is coming right at me. Turns out it was a coyote sneaking along looking for some grub. I turn to pic my bow up and the coyote sees the movement through the limbs and stops no more than about 10 yards away. Just then another coyote comes up on the little bench I had been walking. This one heading right for me when he spots movement. It looks at me, obviously confused as to what that white pot-bellied thing was in front of it. It didn't know to run or try and eat me though. I started making kissing sounds to keep it's interest while I continued to get an arrow on my bow. This was working for a little bit but it was obvious the coyote was thinking it should move on. Then I started kissing the back of my fist, a trick I learned back in my coyote hunting days, and sure enough this coyote was getting real interested but just couldn't figure what it was looking at. It started walking around peeing on everything, climbed up a short way on a tree limb and even barked at me. It finally came a little closer and I drew. But then I remembered the hunt rules said the only animal that could be taken was a pig so I let down. Too bad because it had a real nice thick reddish brown hide. This was about all that they wanted so the pair went off up the hill. I'm now seriously thinking of hunting in a loin cloth now cause I think the Indians had something going there!

Like Backcountry said, we found a couple of nice sheds and did see a couple of big pigs cross a fire-trail up in Cherry Creek. God awful thick brush there though. We did give them a stalk but I think they had other places to be. I will say that fire-trail had some good sign on it and where the pigs crossed at looked like a pig highway. Backcountry did find the lower jaw from probably a young pig though and that was cool.

Once again, a good hunt, saw more deer than anywhere I have been in CA, found plenty of pig sign, including some very fresh tracks that morning, but I'm thinking the warm weather didn't help us.

Good to hunt with Mel and Backcountry although I should warn everyone though, if you come up on a really steep and tall hill with Backcountry, you will be in for a hike! Needless to say, he beat me and Mel up to the top.

LOL! Nice to meet ya Backcountry and maybe before all is said and done we can do it again. I hope to make it up there one more time.

 

[Jatos21]

Hello all, I stumbled across your posts a few days ago and have been really intrigued by your findings at Lake Sonoma. My friend and I are new to pig hunting and have been looking for a good spot to try. We have tried Fort Hunter Liggett and down in the Los Padres Forest. The spots looked good but for possible spring time.

Anyway my buddy and I have a trip planned to Lake Sonoma in Feb. due to what I have read from your guys posts. If you could lend us a hand on where the sign was or if by boat is better we would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Mel Carter]

Hey Jatos21,
Welcome to JHO, you'll get hooked on this site very fast.
A boat is a huge plus hunting at Lake Sonoma, you'll cover a lot more ground and will be able to access the better areas. There has been people taking hogs on foot also, but you'll have to do a lot of walking. Read through the pages on this post and you'll find a map of the lake that Backcountry has posted, most foot hunters are going out of the Liberty Glenn and Yorty Creek areas. Good Luck.

It was great hunting with Kentuck again and meeting Backcountry. I tell you guys, my legs were sore the next day, but it was fun.

As of right now, I have tentative dates set for February 3rd, 4th and 5th to give them one more try. I really liked that one area where we hiked that monster hill and then met back up with Kentuck. It will be on my list of areas to try.

After hunting this lake as much as we have, I hope it will give us an advantage when they reopen it later in the year.

Backcountry, let me know if you open for those (tentative) dates. If my son can get out of school for those days I need to take him, but I'll see if I can squeeze you in the boat with us. I just need to clarify it with my buddy. I'll let you know when I find out.

Until then, hope you stick a hog in the meantime in your other area.

Good Luck!

 

[PIGIG]

got the boat hooked up and heading up today for a 3 day hunt, a buddy and i will be camping midway up the lake to more Centralize our hunting options. i will post the pic's when we get back. we have been waiting for this for over a month now!!

 

[Mel Carter]

Hey PIGIG,
Good luck! Make sure you post back and let us know how you did.