First off I have to say that Randy and Jay were very nice people and it was a real pleasure meeting them. They have an absolutely incredible piece of land to hunt on and great accomodations. There hospitality went beyond what I would have expected and I really appreciated it, thanks guys! Here is how my hunt at RNJ Wild Hog Hunts went-
FRIDAY NIGHT-
I arrived on Friday afternoon and we quickly got the paperwork stuff out of the way and headed out (around 4:30 PM). By about 5:30 Randy spotted a big tusker way off in the distance, it looked like a little dot on the side of a hill to me until I looked at it with the binoculars. We headed off in the Jeep towards the hills that it was on, hoping to cut it off in its path. Well, we got across the canyon and didn't find any sign of that one. It was going on about 6PM by now and Jay, again with eagle eyes that these guys have, spotted a group of 3 or 4 pigs way off in the distance. They were so far away we didn't consider heading over there. We drove up the hills for a bit then started back down the canyon. All of the sudded Randy spotted a hog and scoped it at 340 yards. It and another pig, a white one, were headed thru some JUNIPER up to a field for feeding. Jay and I headed out on foot across the ravine and up around where we thought they were heading. We circled around up there for a bit but never found them again. I saw Randy playing catch with a Coyote though...the coyote didn't seem to want to catch the rock Randy was throwing. Jay and I headed back across the ravine and we took the Jeep up to one of the ridges to try and spot some pigs. It was getting up close to sunset now and we weren't seeing anything. The wind was howling pretty hard and whipping our smell all over the place I'm sure. We started heading down the mountain and Jay spotted a group of pigs feeding out in the middle of a field. We stopped the Jeep and walked down the hill to the area where he had spotted them. We crept thru the field and over the ridge, but no piggies anywhere to be found. Thankfully Jay went back up the hill for the Jeep, I sat with Randy and waited...glad I didn't have to hike back up that hill! It was now dark and time to quit for the night.
SATURDAY MORNING-
We got out in the field very early and were ready to catch the piggies heading home for the day. We sat on a ridge glassing the canyon for homeward bound piggies but didn't see anything. We began driving out towards some water sources and came around a corner right up on a good size black boar about 60 yards out. He saw us just as we saw him and as he turned to high tail it I grabbed my rifle, jumped out of the jeep and dropped my scoope just in time to be lined up with his ass ducking over a hill and vanishing. Four words made me very nervous just then. "There was your shot", I heard Randy say. Well, a 2-3 second window to nail a pig running away from me isn't what I would call a reasonable shot...but I'm new to all of this and I'm not arguing. We saw a couple more pigs off in the distance that morning, but nothing promising.
SATURDAY DAY-
Randy recommended the Burgers over at the cafe in Parkfield, so I headed out for a burger. He was correct, very good burgers! To bad I didn't try the fries and shake that I later heard are also something to be tried! I enjoyed checking out Parkfield and the San Andres Fault.
Back to the hunt... I returned to RNJ about 1PM and Randy asked if I wasnted to go for a walk. Man, I had no idea what I was in for! He Jeeped us up the side of a mountain and dropped J and I off. Weather.com says it was 102 degrees up there. It felt like 150! I am fat and out of shape! There...can't really explain it any better than that. Jay took me out to try and surprise some piggies in their beds. We hiked the hills for several hours until finally meeting up with Randy again at the top of Mt Everest. Well, after that hike in that heat it sure felt like Mt Everest! We never saw any pigs but did see lots of sign. Tree rubbing and some nice tusk gouges in a couple trees. Lots of dried up pig shit and some tracks. We headed back to base for a break...much needed!
SATURDAY NIGHT-
The sun was just about to set and we were out on it again. We spent several hours combing the hills, glassing the canyons and just searching our asses off but there were no pigs to be seen anywhere. It was just about dark and we were heading back to base. Somehow, Randy saw two pigs out of the back of his head behind us on a ridge. He quickly told us to jump out and hide behind the Jeep. He pointed in the direction that he was seeing them. They were probably 300 yards out and smelled us and were boogying up the side of a hill. They were gone! That was it for the night.
SUNDAY MORNING-
I was pretty frustrated at this point but had high hopes. They told me sometimes guys wouldn't bag one until Sunday morning...I could be one of those guys!
We covered a huge amount of ground Sunday morning and got atop some ridges overlooking vast amounts of land. Never saw any hogs anywhere. They must have gone to bed early.
CONCLUSION-
So, my first hunt ended up costing me in the ballpark of $1200 total and I came out with nothing! Ouch, that stings pretty damn bad... Randy was nice about it and said that this was the hardest they had to hunt in a very long time. He brought up the one pig we drove up on as my chance, saw that one coming, and that was that.
I know they have hogs out there, I saw them at a distance several times. I didn't expect to go "pig shooting" but I did expect to have a much greater opportunity at pigs. It is hard for me to say anything bad about RnJ, I just wish I had been there on a better weekend when pigs were actually out and about! This has discouraged me on paying to hunt on private land. I can go have unsuccessful hunts on public land right out in our mountains here.
I would not discourage anyone else from trying their luck at RnJ, I'm sure my experience was a fluke!
FRIDAY NIGHT-
I arrived on Friday afternoon and we quickly got the paperwork stuff out of the way and headed out (around 4:30 PM). By about 5:30 Randy spotted a big tusker way off in the distance, it looked like a little dot on the side of a hill to me until I looked at it with the binoculars. We headed off in the Jeep towards the hills that it was on, hoping to cut it off in its path. Well, we got across the canyon and didn't find any sign of that one. It was going on about 6PM by now and Jay, again with eagle eyes that these guys have, spotted a group of 3 or 4 pigs way off in the distance. They were so far away we didn't consider heading over there. We drove up the hills for a bit then started back down the canyon. All of the sudded Randy spotted a hog and scoped it at 340 yards. It and another pig, a white one, were headed thru some JUNIPER up to a field for feeding. Jay and I headed out on foot across the ravine and up around where we thought they were heading. We circled around up there for a bit but never found them again. I saw Randy playing catch with a Coyote though...the coyote didn't seem to want to catch the rock Randy was throwing. Jay and I headed back across the ravine and we took the Jeep up to one of the ridges to try and spot some pigs. It was getting up close to sunset now and we weren't seeing anything. The wind was howling pretty hard and whipping our smell all over the place I'm sure. We started heading down the mountain and Jay spotted a group of pigs feeding out in the middle of a field. We stopped the Jeep and walked down the hill to the area where he had spotted them. We crept thru the field and over the ridge, but no piggies anywhere to be found. Thankfully Jay went back up the hill for the Jeep, I sat with Randy and waited...glad I didn't have to hike back up that hill! It was now dark and time to quit for the night.
SATURDAY MORNING-
We got out in the field very early and were ready to catch the piggies heading home for the day. We sat on a ridge glassing the canyon for homeward bound piggies but didn't see anything. We began driving out towards some water sources and came around a corner right up on a good size black boar about 60 yards out. He saw us just as we saw him and as he turned to high tail it I grabbed my rifle, jumped out of the jeep and dropped my scoope just in time to be lined up with his ass ducking over a hill and vanishing. Four words made me very nervous just then. "There was your shot", I heard Randy say. Well, a 2-3 second window to nail a pig running away from me isn't what I would call a reasonable shot...but I'm new to all of this and I'm not arguing. We saw a couple more pigs off in the distance that morning, but nothing promising.
SATURDAY DAY-
Randy recommended the Burgers over at the cafe in Parkfield, so I headed out for a burger. He was correct, very good burgers! To bad I didn't try the fries and shake that I later heard are also something to be tried! I enjoyed checking out Parkfield and the San Andres Fault.
Back to the hunt... I returned to RNJ about 1PM and Randy asked if I wasnted to go for a walk. Man, I had no idea what I was in for! He Jeeped us up the side of a mountain and dropped J and I off. Weather.com says it was 102 degrees up there. It felt like 150! I am fat and out of shape! There...can't really explain it any better than that. Jay took me out to try and surprise some piggies in their beds. We hiked the hills for several hours until finally meeting up with Randy again at the top of Mt Everest. Well, after that hike in that heat it sure felt like Mt Everest! We never saw any pigs but did see lots of sign. Tree rubbing and some nice tusk gouges in a couple trees. Lots of dried up pig shit and some tracks. We headed back to base for a break...much needed!
SATURDAY NIGHT-
The sun was just about to set and we were out on it again. We spent several hours combing the hills, glassing the canyons and just searching our asses off but there were no pigs to be seen anywhere. It was just about dark and we were heading back to base. Somehow, Randy saw two pigs out of the back of his head behind us on a ridge. He quickly told us to jump out and hide behind the Jeep. He pointed in the direction that he was seeing them. They were probably 300 yards out and smelled us and were boogying up the side of a hill. They were gone! That was it for the night.
SUNDAY MORNING-
I was pretty frustrated at this point but had high hopes. They told me sometimes guys wouldn't bag one until Sunday morning...I could be one of those guys!
We covered a huge amount of ground Sunday morning and got atop some ridges overlooking vast amounts of land. Never saw any hogs anywhere. They must have gone to bed early.
CONCLUSION-
So, my first hunt ended up costing me in the ballpark of $1200 total and I came out with nothing! Ouch, that stings pretty damn bad... Randy was nice about it and said that this was the hardest they had to hunt in a very long time. He brought up the one pig we drove up on as my chance, saw that one coming, and that was that.
I know they have hogs out there, I saw them at a distance several times. I didn't expect to go "pig shooting" but I did expect to have a much greater opportunity at pigs. It is hard for me to say anything bad about RnJ, I just wish I had been there on a better weekend when pigs were actually out and about! This has discouraged me on paying to hunt on private land. I can go have unsuccessful hunts on public land right out in our mountains here.
I would not discourage anyone else from trying their luck at RnJ, I'm sure my experience was a fluke!
