New hog hunters looking for help!!!

[raypung]

Hey everyone brand new to the site but I spent all day reading post's. A few buddies and I are planning a trip in the begining of May to go down to Los Padres National Forest and we are thinking of heading down through the Arroyo Seco exit. I have also seen a bunch of FHL info and it was much appreciated we are debating which area we should go to and if you have information that would be great. I know that everyone is recommending guide services but at this point in time it is to expensive for our pocket books. Any information on Los Padres or FHL would be appreciated if someone could just point us in the right direction that would be helpful. Thanks for all the help and happy hunting!

After reading all the post's I wish we had the money to go visit deedy at hesperia!

 

[easymoney]

Welcome,
Look up at the top of the forum page and there are links to all the hog hunting info on public land you could imagine, thanks jesse...
And pick up the DFG booklet on hunting hogs on public land.
The LPNF is steep, brushy, the hogs transitory and nocturnal. All the secret spots are not secret anymore and get lots of attention. Carmel River, Arroyo Seco, Chews Ridge, Botcher Flat and the rest are well known and in the booklet. There are many places where random sightings or sign are seen, but the odds of stumbling on them out in the open near a road is rare, but not impossible.
I would recommend starting at FHL(there is also loads of info on those links) as the base is not open everyday or 24/7 so the animals get a reprieve from the constant pressure they normally see on the National Forest land and is fairly large so the odds of getting in and to a spot with out the hoards is good. If you bow hunt there are TAs set aside just for primitive weapons, but the base can close without much notice for security or training. Camp Roberts is smaller and has similar rules. Look for water, sign and trails running to and from the private ranches where they feed at night.
Good luck and welcome to the realm of public land hunting. It's nearly free, but no one ever said it was going to be easy and take it from me it's not.
The recommendations on hiring a guide are something all newbies should heed, as their reputation and future clients are based on success. And you can pickup valuable info and tips to help you later on public land hunts.

 

[jackrabbit]

I haven't hunted that area in 30 years, but I used to go in thru Arroyo Seco. That road follows the high ridge line, very steep both up and downhill with rock and scrub brush mostly. But the southern end of that road takes you towards FHL and you start to get into some more flat land with oak trees and grassy meadows. Just before you cross the boundary to FHL there is a lot of flat land, good for camping, and lots of grass and oaks. I used to track a lot of fresh pig sign in that area for a few years. But the sign always led into the heavy brush tunnels where the pigs go to hole up during the day. Pretty exciting to be crawling thru those tunnels with a rifle, and then realizing I could not even turn the rifle barrel around if I needed to defend myself!!! Fun though! And there was always fresh sign in the area -- just no fresh pigs during daylight! I was driving from Santa Cruz at the time so I came in from the north, but I found it was quicker to go thru Jolon and FHL to get to the south part of Las Padres in that area.

 

[raypung]

Thanks Guys for all the information if anyone has anything else it would be much appreciated. I will keep checking back the more prepared we can get the better off we will be. Love this place thanks for all the help Good hunting!

 

[myfriendis410]

Listen; hiring a guide isn't just an extravagance--if you have never seen hogs in the wild you will NOT know what to look for. It's like training your mind to wrap around the concept. I hunted for two years on Vandenberg before I ever saw one, and then it was like the flood gates opened up. We see hogs now at least half the time and at some times of the year every night we go out. Hiring a good guide that is willing to teach you what to look for and how to hunt them is worth the money, particularly with gas at $3.75/gallon.

Failing that, I would hit FHL before I did Los Padres. And hit, and hit it and hit it.............

 

[Huntr Pat]

Alan,
When are you hitting that V place again, I know about this time the flea's and thick's are out full force. But I 'm thinking in may some time.

 

[easymoney]

One other fact about going in at Arroyo Seco, the road to the Indians is closed, has been for years because of a slide. And other roads in the LPNF have been cut off by locked gates in the recent past, land owners cutting off public access to public land.
There are some BLM spots up in Monterey and San Benito Counties that are also very well known and sometimes you see pigs, but again it takes a lot of driving around especially if you get skunked...

 

[myfriendis410]

I'm in the "V" place every week; going in tonight and did last night. Slowed down radically with no sightings since last Saturday. Ticks are out, no fleas. Pulled two of the bastards off me last night. I have gotten into places where I had over 100 on me at once, not fun.

 

[Cold1nhand]

FHL is known for ticks and poison oak, not to mention beating and scratching up trucks. And the LPNF is one brush covered mountain after another. I am with 410 in that in your first few trips hunting with a guide is a MUST. You can learn more in a weekend with a guide that you might in a year on your own. Plus it is never a great idea to hunt areas you are not familiar with. Too many times you can end up on someone else's property, next thing you know you are arrested for poaching. And not knowing where the boundaries are will not keep you from going to jail. Pigs are very smart animals and the better educated you are in their habits, the more likely you are to have a successful hunt.

 

[BrysonHesperiaResort]

Raypung

Thank you so much for huge compliment, I really appreciate it.

If you get over this way please stop by... I have some maps and a little advice, I just have not seen any sign over in Las Padres by FHL at all. Weird, usually they are or have been in there by now.


You guys rock Easy$$ and Jackrabbit- very nice of you both. You guys probably just saved him a bunch in gas money. Nice.

Friends410 say hi to my buddy Stevie for me! You two keep up the good work at Vandyland!
Deedy

 

[easymoney]

deedee,
What he needs to do is book with you for a hunt and get an education on hunting pigs and what the area is really like. And all the positive feedback on you and your operation from locals and those here on JHO should be a good tipoff for him.
Those of us who have lived and hunted here for decades have worked hard to get the few pigs off of the public land we have and when gas was cheap I would not hesitate spending the whole weekend driving around and "looking", not hunting but just looking. Now that gas is $4 I don't take those drives any more...

 

[BrysonHesperiaResort]

Easy$$- thanks for the kind words about my operation. And I totally agree that if Raypung's (or anyone's) goals are to learn to hunt pigs successfully, he/she should definitely go on a guided hunt with a guide that's willing to take the time and share all their years of wild pig hunting knowledge. Not all guides do.

I have a theory about novice pig hunters. Most novice pig hunters don't really know how hard it is to hunt pigs on public land. Heck, pigs are pretty hard on private land when you know your pigs. Just for the record, Raypung, I think the success rate on public pig hunting land is less than 5%. That's why when someone pulls it off, they get huge kudos around here on Jesses's.

I actually have had guys stay here at the resort that have been hunting pigs on FHL for 15 years and have never even seen a pig. But maybe they really don't want to get a pig- who knows. I believe most of them just like to spend time with their buddies around the campfire. Which is cool. Not knocking it at all, that's a great part of the hunting "experience".

Some of them have got to put their time in, however "bagless" it may be. After they've reached their maximum frustration level, and added up the fuel costs, they'll go on a guided hunt and learn the tricks of the trade.

I really enjoy guiding those frustrated guys though, they sure do want to learn and they sure do listen. They are like sponges, soaking it all up.

So that's my two cents.

What is that saying? You don't know what you don't know yet...
Deedy

 

[easymoney]

Very well put, deedee... Good words of wisdom for a novice hunter.

 

[tracker13]

That's a pretty solid investment if i do say so myself, turning 2 cents into $600.00

 

[raypung]

Thanks guys for all the information I have to talk with everyone else but it seems as though they want to try out on our own without the guide. I would love to stop by Hesperia and talk with deedy I will be giving her a call. Thanks for all the info and I should be posting back in a few to let you guys know how the trip went! Once again thanks for all the info and help!

 

[jackrabbit]

Good luck to ya raypung. You got some words of advice here, now you've made your decision for this trip, and it sounds like you got what you wanted out of this thread. Also sounds like you feel you got enough advice already for this thread and you are shutting down your thread here. As a new guy to the site here, don't feel obligated to answer continuing posts here from others. Of course it you want to, that's your choice. But please do feel obligated to let us all know how the hunt went after you go (start a new thread), kill or no kill! I am confident you will see good pig sign whether you hit Los Padres, FHL, or both -- you will have fun I believe, as long as you see sign. Now you got me thinking of going back to that area after 30 years away from it!!!