monday Tejon Ranch and the snow.....

[kcravnit]

well guys we headed out to tejon on monday for the opening day of the spring access....spring my ass...
I pulled into the parking lot at bear trap at 630am, and saw lots of life at first light. Just as i was coming down the hill to the camp site 20 turkeys jumped roost and flew right in front of me to the north side of the road. As i parked and got the polaris off the trailer, my buddy and fellow JHO'er HiFi (damian) showed up with his polaris. We were off hunting in about 20 mins as it started to snow lightly..We went back into several canyons and found lots of fresh sign but no piggies...we did come across lots of deer and a couple of nice large bucks....by this time its probably dropped 3" or so of snow and the road looks like snot...Th polaris made all the difference in the world, we went back on roads that no truck would have ever fit on...
By now its 1030am or so and my other buddy had just drove up to join us, we went to camp and got some food and some dry gloves and we were off again. This time we headed north up to the water pipes to do some glassing...as we headed up the road the weather worsened and we had to turn back. we got to the trucks and my buddy said screw this and packed up and headed out.
HiFi and i packed my polaris up and i attempted to escape the mighty south side...but the road was iced up by now and i was stuck....:skeered:
We took HiFi's truck with lil tires that went right through the snow and drove up to get his bobcat tags stamped by Lana and Maddi. As we got back to my truck the road looked a lil better so we disconnected the trailer and i followed him up the road tires spinning the whole time...but we made it...So i parked the truck by the front cattle guard in the road and we headed back to get the trailer...As we got to my trailer the snow had finally stopped with only 6" of fresh snow from the previous 3" earlier....what the hell was the weather channel talking about...they said 2-3" max.....
So since we were already there and we had time with the weather clearing we headed out in his ranger to find some pigs....
We came to a lookout that I have always seen pigs from and we glassed....Finally we hear a bunch of squeels and snorts...Glassing we found nothing. After about 10mins HiFi spots a giant boar down in the canyon at about 1200yards...We watch him for about 10mins but he doesnt seem to be moving much, walked out of the brush about 10yrds and just stood there, and then walked back in and out again. Then I hear the squeels again and look up on the hillside and see 2 piggies fighting and chasing each other, then a 3rd pig right behind them.
We tried to put a stalk onto them but the brush and trees were just to thick to see, but with fresh pig sign everywhere we were very optamistic.

We decided to head back to another spot where we had been earlier in the day and had seen pigs there many times before...As we came up the hill an old boar was running across the road into the open and we jumped out and loaded up, but it just wasnt big enough to take, so as i turned around i noticed a large group of hogs not 80yrds from us just up the road feeding. This time HiFi has his video camera and is taping us making the stalk up to the pigs. The wind is blowing like 15-20mph in our face (perfect) and we sneak up a lil knowl to a fallen tree to get a rest. We spot about 15 pigs, 3 giant sows, all wet, with about 10-15 lil 5-10lbs piglets runnin about rooting whereever they could. There was one nice size boar but I opted to let them live to see another snow filled day. Not 5 mins after setting up on that log that old boar came right back from where we just were limping towards the other group. He looked like he had been fighting or losing for that matter.
We watched them into darkness and headed out back down those treacherous roads seeing many nice hogs crossing the road and stopping just 20 yrds off in the distant light.
What a day it was, good times with friends, especially HiFi who without him i might still be there....:lol bashing sign:but thats what hunting is all about...
We had a blast and I cant wait for HiFito post the video...i hope it comes out..
to all who have memberships, if you ever want a hunting partner just give me a holla...im always game:JHO rocks:......

 

[One Track]

Wow! Sounds like an epic adventure. Severe weather really makes hunting a lot more challenging and fun. Looks like the snow really brought out the hogs. Fun to see that many hogs in one trip. I've seen it where there were hogs all over the ranch, and where I where I killed myself to see one hog. Good times.

 

[K&Ts Dad]

Pig Huntin'

to all who have memberships, if you ever want a hunting partner just give me a holla...im always game:JHO rocks:......[/quote]
Kcravnit- I am new to archery hunting, only one elk hunt under my belt. I am signing up for the April 17-19 archery pig hunt at tejon, will you be there?
This will be my first time hunting Tejon, so I know nothing about the layout, etc. Can you bring quads?
If you are not participating that weekend, do you know anybody else that is? Maybe we can meet up so I can get some much needed info.
Thanks for the assistance. By the way, great description of great weekend with friends.

 

[kcravnit]

i wont be there since they block off access for hunting for us so that you guys can have some fun on the ranch. They only do it a few weekends a year so its no big deal, but they do allow us to take a guest up to shoot a pig for just a lil bit more than the pig o rama....pm me well talk a bit and maybe i can give you some much needed info....

 

[songdog]

Th polaris made all the difference in the world, we went back on roads that no truck would have ever fit on...

...there's your problem.

 

[kcravnit]

what the hell is that song dog....what problem is it that i seem to be having? as I see it we stayed on the roads never left them...and were able to get under those fallen trees and around those giant boulders that had fallen into the roads path...The only problem i see is that i was hunting monday enjoying the beautiful scenery and had the opportunity to kill many pigs, but decided to watch them instead...what a problem to have....yup i guess i have a problem.....so songdog if you have a problem with the utv's....get over it....they are the same size as those lil samuri's....

 

[DADDYGUN08]

kcravnit, well said. I have to admit I'm jealous and I plan to buy a utv before summer. Hope to see you up there. What kind of utv do you have? Any recomendations?

 

[wingbone_2003]

Kravnit sounds like u had an awesome time i just got back from there last weekend of Jan. it was my first time i took a rhino and also went on those little 2 track roads no tag filled but scenery elk,deer hog sightings made up for it good luck on your hunts.

No Quads Allowed1

k&T i will be hunting that weekend also it'll be my first time on the South Ranch i hunted the North a couple weeks ago hope to see there "Bows and Hogs" that's what its all about!

 

[kcravnit]

Daddy gun you are welcome to join us anytime, HiFi and i both have 2009 polaris rangers, and they performed perfect....maybe a lil more ground clearance(lift kit) and some bigger meats with deep tread for that nasty mud. and wingbone if you have never hunted the south you are in for a treat..the whole ranch is amazing.....pm me for some info if i can help...

 

[songdog]

what the hell is that song dog....what problem is it that i seem to be having? as I see it we stayed on the roads never left them...and were able to get under those fallen trees and around those giant boulders that had fallen into the roads path...The only problem i see is that i was hunting monday enjoying the beautiful scenery and had the opportunity to kill many pigs, but decided to watch them instead...what a problem to have....yup i guess i have a problem.....so songdog if you have a problem with the utv's....get over it....they are the same size as those lil samuri's....

...sounds like the lack of exercise is making you a little testy.

 

[Speckmisser]

The agreement that members and visitors sign in order to use their UTVs includes a statement that ALL vehicles will be operated ONLY ON BLADED ROADS.

Not to say anyone here violated that agreement, but they usually only blade the main roads where a full-sized vehicle will "fit". Lots of cow trails and old skid roads look like two-tracks, but they are NOT bladed roads.

If other members or inside landowners start to complain about people driving where they don't belong, that'll be the end of the UTV allowance.

 

[hifi55]

Dangit! Just typed up a novel and my internet connection went haywire and lost it all.

Here we go again:

There is a difference in capability between a small light vehicle like a Sami and a Polaris Ranger, but not the difference that seems to be assumed. The Sami actually can get much higher ground clearance and run much bigger/better tires, and as this past Monday and Tuesday showed me, a properly setup Sami can go places a Polaris Ranger cannot. A spring member in such a Sami got much further than I could. Should Sami drivers be criticized as well?

There seems to be an assumption that any UTV driver is breaking rules. I can tell you first hand that the ones I have met are more respectful of the ranch and the regulations than many full-size truck drivers. How many times have you seen a big ram going offroad, or down a heavy cattle trail? I've seen it plenty of times. Never seen a UTV doing this. Sure, there's not many UTVs up there but my point is that its not the vehicle that you need to be worried about, its the hunter and their respect of the ranch and the rules. Just because someone is driving a UTV does not make them a bad apple. Kelly and I go way out of our way to follow the rules and show our respect. We've did not nor would not go on a road that wasn't bladed. Heck, last year I could have driven 200 yards offroad down a cattle trail to get my last 160# pig recovered easy (like many folks would do), but no, I dragged that pig to the road and my back paid for it for two weeks. That's just how I role.

In my case, I didn't get my ranger to go offroading. I got it to get me through roads that were not possible in my big Ram. This time of year, especially with weather, there are plenty of such roads that are impossible without a smaller vehicle. I was tired of being limited to 50% of the ranch where other guys were getting the whole thing. I could have gotten a Sami but I could not find one that I felt I could reliably operate through the season without having to wrench on it constantly. I'm extremely happy with my decision and the only negative thing so far is that I'm now labeled as a problem.

It really is not fair but if that's what you're gonna do then so be it. Its funny how judgemental some folks can be towards someone without ever meeting them or knowing ANYTHING about them. Yeah, Kelly sure needs exercise! LMAO!!!!

Ok, I'll stop with all that, I don't mean to offend anyone or belittle, but certain comments can get the blood boiling a bit. I've vented. Now on to more important things:

It was an awesome time on the ranch. I just got back yesterday and got within bow range of at least a dozen good pigs and passed on 'em all. The highlight was a huge boar probably pushing 350# that I had to drop down about 1000ft to get to, only to have the wind swirl and bust me at around 70 yards. With the snow and mud it took me almost 1.5 hours to climb back up to the road. Seen over 100 pigs, within 100 yards of around 50 of them, and a good portion were boars, which was a nice surprise.. usually I don't see many. With the weather I couldn't go very far and was mostly limited to the main road, 1/2 the way to squirrel canyon, and bear trap. Roads were more decent on Monday but got really nasty Tuesday. I saw a couple bobcats, even called one in but he saw my blind at around 100 yards and just stood there for 1/2 hour watching me until he got bored and went off the other way. Shot a squirrel with the bow and even got one at around 100 yards with the .223 with iron sights (I'm normally a terrible rifle shot so I was proud of this one). I've got some video from Monday that I'll try and get posted up here later.

 

[hifi55]

Oh yeah almost forgot, while calling for bobcat I got 2 coyotes with the bow! My first time hunting them and won't do it again until later in the year (everyone says its bad form after feb due to mating season). The primos catnip call and the quiver critter decoy got them coming in quick straight to the decoy where I stopped them at around 50 yards from my blind with a whistle. Got them back to back about 20 minutes apart. Fun stuff!

 

[kcravnit]

well song dog you live real close to me....why dont you come down for a workout....ill give you a free session since im a personal trainer for a living...or maybe next time were on the ranch together you could ride with us in the rangers and have some fun....Speck we are guest's on a beautiful piece of property and treat it with the respect it deserves....never abusing it....so enough of this bull from everybody about the utv's

damian it was a blast to hunt with you...and thanks for the help..you were a life saver on monday....im trying to get friday off so i can hunt with you guys....i need to order my windshield for the ranger and the top and back like yours untill the doors come out for the modular polaris cab...

 

[kcravnit]

damian what bow do you shoot, i want to get into that...

 

[hifi55]

Hey Kelly, it was great hunting with you too man, looking forward to doing it again.

I shoot a Hoyt Katera XL, a good bow but there are even better ones out now. Look at the Hoyt AlphaMax and the Mathews bows are good too. If you are gonna get one let me know I'll cruise down to your local archery shop with you to get you fitted and try out some bows!

BTW Speck is a great guy with valid concerns and a true stewart of the ranch, JHO and hunting in general, and has taught me a great deal. Trying to see all sides of the story here and take it for what its worth. Hope you guys can meet someday soon. My comments about judging were not directed at him, but rather Songdog and his derogatory jabs.

 

[Speckmisser]

No bull here, and no accusations... as I said. Just reminding folks that there are lines drawn, and folks are gonna accuse you of crossing those lines when they read things like:

Th polaris made all the difference in the world, we went back on roads that no truck would have ever fit on...

And...

i took a rhino and also went on those little 2 track roads

There are a lot of old roads on the ranch that are being intentionally allowed to grow over. Driving on them cuts them up with tire tracks, and if one person sees existing tire tracks, they're more likely to drive on the trail as well. A good indication is that, if a regular truck won't fit on the road, then neither will the grader/dozer. It's probably not a "bladed road" and shouldn't be used.

With the environmentalists breathing down Tejon Ranch Co.'s neck, we need to go out of our way to minimize our impacts on the place. This is the same stuff we've all been told time and again at the orientations.

Now if you know you weren't breaking any rules, then there's no need to be angry or overly defensive. Just be aware that UTVs have a bad name due to the abuses of a handful of riders, and a lot of folks are gonna be real skeptical of you because of that.

And in the interest of disclosure, I got a Sami specifically for the same reasons that Damian got his Ranger... because a full-size, 3/4 ton truck simply isn't safe on some of those roads, particularly when it's wet. This little thing could give me access to an awful lot of places that are not officially roads, but just as the UTV drivers, I have to resist that temptation.

Even so, I've seen tire tracks (NOT UTVs) in several of those places... the problem is hardly limited to UTVs. I've seen jeeps and even full-size pickups in places I'm not sure I'd take my horse.

If you're following the rules, good on ya. Other than that... drive whatever. I don't much care.

Damian, and maybe KC, I'll see you guys up there next weekend.

 

[kcravnit]

Thanks for the insight on bows, i will let you know maybe well go to bass pro and try em out...
This crap about utv's is funny....But i understand specks concerns....we just dont need some dog singing a song about utv's being bad before they get a chance....

 

[kcravnit]

what time you leaving on friday? maybe get there early and sneak out for some scouting...im trying to get out of work that day and stay till noon or so sat as i have a dinner i have to go to with the attorney wife of mine.....always bookin shit for us on the weekend...

 

[kcravnit]

look forwqrd to meeting you speck....hopefully i can sneak out for some play time....