May 10-12 Pig-o-rama at Tejon

[Cacciatore]

Sounds like just about everyone had a great weekend and brought home some pork.  It's too bad we didn't get a chance to set up camp with you guys.  Darrell at the gate suggested the campsite I was looking for was on the left hand side of the road, but when we got in around noon it didn't look like what was described in the forum so we set up camp in the first open spot with a tree on the right hand side of the main road (we were off of Bear Trap Canyon).  After that we didn't spend a whole lot of time at camp except to cook up some food and get as much sleep as we could, so I didn't get out to see where you guys were set up.

We were tagged out and northbound on I-5 by 11:30 am Sunday, so it was a great trip for 3 first time pig hunters.  The ranch is a beautiful place, everyone that works there was very helpful,  and they let you roam free and do your thing without any policing.  I plan on making this an annual trip at the very least.

Mike was the first one to get his pig dressed and in the truck on Saturday morning.  It weighed in dressed at 137 lbs.  He had the easiest time of all of us, as he shot his "only" a few hundred yards from the truck and managed to drag it back by himself.

Pat wasn't so lucky.  He shot his in one of those HELL HOLES about 6:30 am on Saturday, and we figured the best way to retrieve it was to go down hill instead of up.  We sent him down and I set off to meet him at the lower road.  After some back breaking carrying and leg burning dragging, we got his catch in the truck and back to camp at 2:00 pm.  Didn't bother to weigh it as it appeared the same size as Mike's and we knew the leader was at 176 lbs.

I got mine Sunday morning at 6:00 am.  I was set up in between 2 canyons with good views of 4 or 5 trails that were upwind.  This is where it gets a little interesting.  Nature called and I was answering when 2 deer bolted down the canyon about 75 yards uphill, shortly followed by a boar moving at good speed and in my direction.  I got to my rifle quickly but didn't have the time to get my pants back in proper order.  So there I was trying to get in a good position for a shot without startling the pig, all the while balancing myself on a hillside above a hell hole with my pants acting as leg shackles.  The pig made it into cover without me getting a shot.  Let me apologize to anyone who may have been glassing my way from across the canyon and got an unwanted freak show.  The story ends well as I was able to pull myself together and get set up in the same position and the same boar came back out of the cover where I got a clean shot at about 40 yards.  I would guess he weighed close to 90-100 lbs. dressed.  I learned from the lessons of others and dressed, skinned and quartered him from where he stopped rolling down hill and packed him out on a frame pack.

It was a great trip and I look forward to getting a chance to do it again.  Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with some of you guys then.  

 

[Hook]

Thanks for the great pictures and stories. It sounds like everyone had a great time, even though it was hard work getting the hogs out of those Hell Holes.

 

[sdbowyer]

Thanks for the great pics guys.  Sounds like a good time was had.  Enjoy the pork!

 

[Speckmisser]

Too bad we didn't get to meet you and your friends, Cacciatore.  Glad to hear you all did well, though.  Sounds like a really high success rate for the weekend!

Anyway, I'm almost done butchering my hog, I got a little sleep last night, and had a chance today to stick my "story" together.  The long version is on my website at http://www.elwing.com/hunting/pigorama.html  

Here's the condensed version...(still pretty long, I know)

The first evening and morning hunts, my brother and I covered a lot of ground on foot, and didn't see a bloody thing.  We weren't even finding fresh sign.  At lunch we got a tip about a better spot, and on Saturday evening the tip proved true... we saw about 20 or more pigs moving on the ridges, unfortunately across a 1/2 mile of canyon from where we were glassing.  But we knew where we'd be on Sunday morning.

Russman's two-wheel drive truck was proving to be a handicap to him, so I offered to let him ride up with us on Sunday morning.  I'm sure glad I did.  Grtwythunter also followed us up, which proved beneficial as well.

Grtwythunter drove on in to cover a different section of canyon.  Russ, my brother, and I split off along the ridge we wanted to hunt, and the morning opened on a shooting gallery.  The first shot came right at (maybe a touch before) legal shoot time, and the next couple of hours seemed like steady gunfire.

At about 0630, I heard a shot from up where Russ and my brother were, followed by the squealing of a pig.  A minute or two later, I heard the deep boom of a .44.  I wasn't certain yet, but I had a feeling my brother had just killed his pig.  He had, and here's how he described it...

He heard a truck down in the bottom of the canyon, and a moment or two later six pigs came trotting out of the thicket below him.  The one he wanted was a long shot, he figured maybe 300-400 yards, but it was the last day of the hunt so he propped the rifle on the monopod and took the shot.  The pig squealed and ran into a bush, while the other five split for parts unknown.  He marched down to see if he could collect the pig.  As he came near the bush, the pig came charging out at him coming to within probably 10 feet before veering off and turning back down the canyon.  He managed to draw his .44 as she turned, and made a beautiful quartering away shot behind the ribs and straight into the boiler room.  Those 240gr jacketed soft points did one heck of a job!

Later we couldn't find any sign of the shot from the 30-06.  I think he over-estimated the range a bit...a pretty common error for hunters who have never hunted big country like this.  I looked at the area, and figured it closer to 200 yards...maybe 250 tops.  He said he held a little over her back, and that probably accounted for his miss.  He's generally a heck of a good shot.

Meanwhile, three pigs from that herd charged over the hill and I picked them up coming toward me at about 150 yards.  I was on a steep hillside that had been rooted to bits.  I sat down and tried to get a rest on the bipod, but the hill was too steep.  I kept sliding down and the bipod didn't reach the ground.  I had a brief moment where one of the pigs was in the crosshairs, but I didn't feel good about the shot and passed it up.  The three pigs disappeared into the brush and headed into the bottom of the canyon.

A minute or so later, just when I'd decided to walk out and help my brother with his pig, they burst out of the bushes less than 50 yards away.  I drew the .44, but didn't feel real confident and holstered it again.  As they came to within 30 yards, I leveled off the 30-06 and as the lead pig, a nice little boar, stepped out, I put one through his shoulder.  He squealed once, stepped right, then left, then turned tail to follow his buds back over the rise.  I heard some crashing, and heard pigs running through the brush at the bottom of the canyon.  I pulled the pistol out again, and walked over to look down.  The hillside was easily a 50 degree slope, and he had fallen about halfway down and fetched up against an oak tree.  He was trying to get up, so I slid down the hill and put a .44 round between his ears (when I opened him up and saw what my first shot, from the 165gr Nosler ballistic tip had done, I couldn't believe he had still been moving...tough danged animals!).  If he'd gone the rest of the way down, we'd have really had a nightmare job!  Talk about hellholes.

Of course, that's when the real work started.  

I gutted him, and tried to lift him or drag him, at least to the top of the ridge where we could get to him easier.  No go.  I'd need some help.  I humped it back up to where I'd left the truck.  My brother and Russman had gone further up the hill, so I drove up to find them.  We tied together every bit of rope we had, ran out the winch cable, and still had a heck of a drag ahead of us.  

We'd gone about 25 yards uphill when we saw Grtwythunter coming down to see what we were doing.  I asked him to tie his rope to the end of our collection, and he came on down to help out.

Even with the four of us and the winch, it took about five hours from the time we shot them, to get both pigs onto the truck.  I hate to think what it would have taken for just my brother and myself.  Many, many thanks to both of you guys for the help.  

Russman, I felt bad that you didn't even get to raise the rifle on one Sunday morning, and that you still didn't get one in the evening hunt.  You worked pretty danged hard to go home empty-handed.  Hope you had fun anyway.  Come on up to the Bay Area one day this summer, and I can promise you a southern-style barbecue dinner by the pool.

A couple of final ballistics notes, for anyone who cares (or anyone who has read this far...)...

Like I said, my 30-06 was shooting 165 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips from Winchester.  The shoulder I hit dead center, quartering toward me, was demolished.  Almost no salvageable meat there.  The bullet crossed through the vitals, obliterating the lungs and a chunk of heart and severing the end of the esophagus before going through the offside rib and lodging just under the skin.  Very impressive. I recovered the bullet, and will probably post a pic of it later.  

The follow-up shot, at about one yard with the .44 mag, was using a Winchester 250 gr. Partition Gold.  The shot went just left of center of the skull, behind the ears.  It did not exit, but it nearly severed the spine.  After skinning, I was able to twist the boar's head off pretty easily.  No cutting required.  

Big fun altogether.  There was so much else to go on about, but this is way longer than any of you guys probably wanted to see in the first place.  

(Edited by Speckmisser at 12:23 pm on May 14, 2002)

 

[bowhunting fool]

great story Speck I was so happy to see you and your bro come out all dusty and your truck tail heavy with pork. I was praying that you and your bro, gr8twythunter, and russman, would fill those tags. As for the bullets I used a 150 gr green ballistic tip from federal Premium, on my hog from my 308. and I hit him dead in the shoulder at 235 yards just shattering every single ligament and bone connection and then the bullet kept going length wise through the body entering the entire pelvic and upper femur region just bustin bone all to hell. When I finally butchered all the meat I found what was left of that 150gr bullet was a bunch of chewed up green plastic pieces and small lead chunks all bunched together right against the skin, almost bustin out. the holes were tremendous except for the entry hole which was your standard 30 cal hole the rest was just getting bigger as it went. I was really amazed at the way it just shattered heavy bone in the shoulder as well as the hip socket not a bone touched survived the bullet. What a great hunt!!!!  Lets do it again!!!

 

[One Track]

Now that was some dang good reading. I am so happy that most all of you got hogs.  I know that I had sold the Tejon Ranch as having a very high success rate.  Saturday around noon, I was getting worried.  But, you guys came through and hunted hard and smart. That was a great trip. It was nice to meet all of you.  You are all top quality people that I would love to go hunting with anytime.  We really only had 1 1/2 nights around the fire, as the eyelids were so dang heavy after 10 hours of spotting each day.  From Thursday morning to Sunday night, I had a total of 12 hours sleep. I wish we had more time  to  shoot the bull.   I wish I could have hunted that last Sunday afternoon. However, I was just a walking zombie with a long drive ahead of me.  

Congrats to Scott for sticking it out, and scoring big!  And, to his wife for sticking the first hog in camp.  And, to Speck and his bro for going deep and bringing home the bacon. And to my buddy Bowhunting Fool for making a perfect verticle shot through a 12 inch window of scrub oak, and fending off a hungry lion.  And, to my buddies Steve and Mike for their two hogs.  I didn't fill my tag, but I'm thrilled that my camp went 3 for 5.   I really enjoyed the entire hunt.  My favorite part was getting Bowhunting Fool's hog out of the deep creek bottom. I got to do some tricking driving, and they had to do some serious pulling.  

We saw over a hundred hogs, over a hundred deer, two elk, two bobcats, an eagle, a few dogs, and a lion!  What a ranch.  

Speck, thanks for the batteries.  Looking forward to paying you back somehow, someday.

Looking forward to the next trip.

 

[rusman66]

Wow great story, I was glad I could help out. Once again thanks for letting me tag along, I had a great time and I think I learned a lot.  I can't wait for next year!

 

[bubba]

Great job guys.  Philip, awesome story as always.

Any recommendations for my June hunt coming up?  Is anyone else going in June?

 

[Floatuber]

Hi Jesse,  I am trying to make arrangements to go up there in June.  Are you planning on being on the South side?  I'll let you know if it will work out for me.

Floatuber

 

[bubba]

I am signed up for south side, although they still haven't cashed my check.

Hey guys, what was the final verdict on that exhaust pipe inspection?

 

[bowhunting fool]

You got to do it according to Barbara, the fire station is right there at the lebec turnoff,and is easy access before you go into the ranch , all they do is check under the hood and put a rag to the tailpipe and feel how hot it is , it takes no more than 5 minutes provided you are not in a line waiting for others ahead of you. it took us really no more than 5 minutes for one tracks explorer to pass and they give you a sticker to put on your window and off you go to hunt you do not have to report back to the headquarters. good luck out there the hunting is great just remember the Hellhole we were talking about. they are for real bring lots of rope and I mean lots. Hope you fill your tag. Almost forgot don't forget a shovel and a fire extinguisher they asked us if we had them luckily one track did in his explorer.

 

[bowhunting fool]

I just have to say for One track he could of filled his tag several times over but he was very busy helping out myself and his other buddy Al who were both first timers on the ranch, he was very unselfish and was working his tail off to get the 2 of us hogs and I was lucky enough to tag one, his buddy Al got a real long shot but went a little off so at least he got us into hogs and I owe it to him that my freezer is full , thanks  again one track.

 

[Hook]

Floatuber

Welcome to Jesses, nice to have you aboard. There are bunch of great people here to learn from. I hunted at Tejon in April. (see the post further down) there is a lot of good info on where the pigs were too. I am sure the folks who went this past weekend will up to date info on where they say the hogs.

Nice avatar too, maybe I should check for a new one myself.


(Edited by Hook at 3:59 pm on May 15, 2002)

 

[Bishop]

Float tuber:
Welcome aboard.  You found a great bunch of fellow sportsmen from around the country, with the biggest California group on the web.  I look forward to meeting you on one of our future JHP hunts.  Have been on 3 so far, and have to say there wasn't a bad guy in the bunch.  We've had nothing but great times.      

 

[spectr17]

Big cyber high 5 to the hog hunters on this hunt. After reading your stories I'm wanting to head back in June with Jesse if I can find the time off.  Glad you all had a fun and safe hunt.

 

[Hook]

"With Jesse???"  

Jesse, are you having flash backs or is it just the "other you" ?????

But going back in June would be nice...

 

[Speckmisser]

One-track, Bowhunting fool, Rusman, et al... thanks for the good words, and I feel the same about the bunch of guys in camp this weekend.  I'd be happy to share the woods with any of you (and I'd feel safe and comfortable doing it, too).  

Jesse (AKA Bubba), I'm definitely not an expert on Tejon, but I'll post some tips on your June Pig-o-rama thread.  Maybe some of the other guys will too.

 

[Kernhuntr]

Guys...great stories. I've been so busy I haven't even had time to be here at Jesse's. It is great to read those stories, although now I REALLY need to get out and hunt!!!

Thanks for the great read(s).

Kernhuntr

 

[bubba]

Hey Kernhuntr, why dont you join me, and maybe Jesse, on the hunt.

Jesse, of course you would be welcomed to come along, I will have space in my new travel trailer too.

 

[One Track]

Dang.  Here I am again, gettting impatient for the next hunt.  After last weekend, I thought I could just chill for a few months, until the Albacore get here. Spend time with the family, work on the yard, clean the garage, paint the kitchen.... Now, all this talk has me wishing I had another hunt planned.  I can't get it out of my (one track) mind.  I'll have to suck it up, and live vicariously through y'all, as you plan and discuss the June hunt.  

You guys are all great.  Bowhntn Fool, thanks for the kind words.