Opening day report from Lake Sonoma

[Backcountry]

It was so crowded, three bowhunters got trampled to death at the sign-in kiosk.

It was so crowded, there was a 43 boat pile-up in the fog.

It was so crowded...

...ah the heck with it... I haven't heard anything from anyone about anything, but I bet there is a hell of a party going on back in Yorty tonight.

Wish I was there!!!

Anybody really hear anything?

 

[Rancho Loco]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Backcountry @ Nov 6 2006, 07:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Anybody really hear anything?[/b]

Just you eating your heart out..

did you look at any dirt today? bwaaahaaahaa..

 

[Arrowslinger]

Nope, nothing here either...waiting on SacFire, Youngblood, or LD to call w/ updates.

It had to be crowded out there....if not, i'm going to punch myself in the throat for not going.

 

[Backcountry]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rancho Loco @ Nov 6 2006, 07:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

did you look at any dirt today? bwaaahaaahaa..

[/b]

Touché! I "looked at dirt" for a half day and then shot a bunch of arrows in my shop preparing for my Saturday pig hunt with MikenSoCo.

 

[oneshothunter]

well guys we just got back .. as of 3pm sacfire and my group are shut out .. loggers camp we had about 15 or so hunters there as far as boats there was boats coming and going most of the day all the spots we tryed we seen sign but no pigs sac and I talk back at camp we think maybe the full moon and the massive amount of gun hunter sat. sun. might have made it much harder to get a pig so far anyway great weather and we had fun meeting some new jho members sacfires elk was great eats thanks jeff oh ps arrowslinger i think it was LD .. last night he was very drunk lol as im told he gets by jeff .lol

 

[MikenSoCo]

I'm going to throw this out there one last time , I'm sure you guys are getting tired of it..... I hunted Lake Sonoma from the beginning, the first time it was opened(can't remember the year). After huckin' those hills for years, the best spot I found was as follows.... Arrange for someone to pick you up at Broken Bridge campground in the afternoon. Cross Rockpile Rd. at the top of Liberty Glen C.G. Glass the top open meadows at first light. Work your way down to Broken Bridge sidehilling back and forth. I found hogs in there most of the time. When you find brand new babies in there you know the hogs feel secure there. Also, if you look at the map of available hunting ground, it is one of the largest tracts of land up there. As you know, the private property fences come way down close to the water in many places.
I haven't hunted there in years, but I'm sure it's not much different these days. Just my

 

[jb229]

Did not see anything on this trip accept for the Sow that somebody was able to put down. At first I thought it had been in the bushes for a while until i noticed the fresh gut pile. Then the buddy of the whoever shot it came out on a trail. Talked to him for a little bit, kinda got the impression that he thought i was going to steal his kill. Offered to help him out and i was on my way. Anytime I can get out and hunt is better that sitting in the office all day.

Just want to thank the guys with the extra boat plug,

If you read this, I'll get you a case of your favorite beer.

 

[PIGIG]

hey AS how come LD only gets drunk at sonoma??

i think i have seen him sip a beer at chops!

 

[bigtusker]

Did somebody say sumpin about a buttplug?

 

[Orso]

Chop - Of course you did... LD was drinking beers. or so it sounds.

 

[wtpops]

Dooh

 

[PIGIG]

and there off

here is where it starts to get good, i am sure LD wil have something to say about SFJT

 

[PIGIG]

call from copperjohn and youngblood pigs 0 but nice weather

 

[BDB]

No pigs shot in our group of 7 hunters. A couple of shots were taken but I'll let the archer tell his own tale. Good times but I didn't even spot a pig. Actually 4 of our 7 never laid eyes on one. Today wasn't very crowded like yesterday. Very slow, much more than I expeted. I imagine the junior hunt didn't help us much.

 

[Lurediver]

Well 1st a big thanks to Rangerjoel for letting us JHO members have a great place to hunt. I wasn't going to post anything do to the fact that I was bummed about not killing any pigs but decided that wasn't fair to the great time I had and to the other guys in camp.

It was a tough hunt, there was a full moon Sunday night which was the brightest I've ever seen and had the pigs out feeding all night and Monday being warm and toasty had them bedded up. I think the weather had a big part in the few sightings and me not seeing any pork at all. I made sure that I busted my butt crawling all over those hills because I wanted to get my public land pig so badly. I glassed every little black or brown rock, bush, log but couldn't turn them into any living oinkers. Plain and simple there was plenty of sign and no pigs. I found 2 buck skulls w/horns which was a bonus.

Everyone in camp were great guys and always welling to help in way. We had a good time and the only thing that could of been better was to have some hogs on ice. Nice to meet a few new faces also.

Thumb Camp Rules


"ps arrowslinger i think it was LD .. last night he was very drunk lol as im told he gets by jeff .lol"

Yeeaaah, Thumb Camp heard screaming and moaning coming from Loggers Camp late Sunday night and we decided to check it out. Peaking over the hill we see sacfirejt running around with a bottle of JD in one hand and a frying pan in the other, Please explain that one.

 

[Rancho Loco]

 

[oneshothunter]

LureDiver ------------ jeff was tellin us back at loggers some storys .. lol man we need to party lol funny stuff Ithink loves the storys at the end of the day it was very fun to meet some new jho members and jeff did have some good eats sunday <elk steaks- hog sausage> and to hang out was the fun of are weekend monday was not good for us very slow no hogs seen by us and jeff scott and his buddy where still out so i cant say anything on there end <hope sombody got a hog > as far as you drinkin a lot thats part of havin fun also .. untill we meet the storys are killin me .. thanks

 

[Big Bubba Daddy]

Hi guys.

I’m the archer BDB mentioned, the one who took two shots, actually three, and came back to camp empty handed. Basically we are talking a comedy of rookie errors here, I wish I could spin a good saving grace story for you but truth be told I just plain blew it…twice.

Monday morning around 10 or 10:30 I was skirting a deep ravine peeking down in from a meadow that separated two ravines by about 40 yards. I was just about to turn off and head down the ravine on the left when I heard a racket coming from the right. I was convinced it was two hunters I had caught sight of 20 minutes before and decided to go see if I could meet up with them to learn if they had seen anything. When I approached the lip a nice black boar, probably in the 150 range, was casually walking up the lip right at me.

I was standing flat footed, 10 feet out in the open, no arrow on the sting and completely skyline. I couldn’t believe he didn’t notice me as he literally was heading right at me. I had no shot as the angle of the ravine and his path showed me only his head and upper left shoulder. He reached the top of the lip and veered slightly to his right which would bring him broadside at about 13 yard in front of me…perfect.

That’s when he winded me or realized I was not a tree and exploded for the ravine in front of him and to my left. Here comes the first of my adrenalin freaked rookie errors. I brought the bow up while drawing and swinging from right to left to lead him. By the way I shoot left handed, and am currently shooting a Great Northern Fireball Reflex Deflex longbow, 65# at my 29 ½ draw. My arrows are laminated birch telephone poles averaging 835 grains with old school Howard Hill broadheads.

I shoot instinctive and was doing my best to pick and concentrate on a spot when my peripheral vision noticed my arrow was pointed way off to the right and resting on my wrist! Seems in my “MY GOD THAT IS A REAL PIG RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME” freak out, I ham fisted my string and twisted the arrow off the shelf, think little kid trying to learn to shoot, I haven’t done that in, hell I can’t remember the last time I did that. I let down a touch, seated the arrow on the shelf, swung the bow to lead him and released. He was about 20 yards out and headed away. The only thing I can possibly hang my hat on is that I lead him perfect, problem is I overshot him and my shaft sailed just shy of a foot over the back of his front left shoulder headed forward. It would have been a well placed quartering away shot if it was lower.

Mr. Pig bulldozed down the ravine and was gone making a heck of a racket for awhile leaving me astonished at what had just happened and mad at myself for blowing my first opportunity to shot at anything bigger than a turkey with a bow.

So that was blown opportunity #1. #2 came this morning and is, well….lets just say if that first part of this post isn’t embarrassing enough this one wins the prize. It starts off with me camping a spot from blue light till about eight………..that’s when I decided to take an ittsy bitsy little nap……BAD IDEA

I woke to that half in, half out semi consciousness that seems familiar to naps for me, wondering what that noise. For a split second that noise WAS the breath and foot falls of a train of small pigs, it then instantly turned into a thunder of hoofs as the first one winded me. By the time I found my knees the last pig of the line was 8 yard dead in front of me and running into tall grass, by the time my bow came up and fumbled arrow was knocked he were around 15 yards, by the time I realized I was standing under a tree and needed to move forward out from under the low hanging branch they were 20 yards out, by the time I came to a stop from my sprint forward to draw and fire I had made up some yardage and took a 20(ish) yard shot at the back of the last pig. I missed (of course) and found myself sprinting after them for a second shot.

That’s when I realized I had taken my strap-on bow quiver off when I set up in the morning and I was running after these pigs with just my bow. Yeah…I’m feeling reeeeeeeeealy smart at this moment.

Sprint back to the tree, grab shafts, sprint back towards the pigs which have moved out about 50 plus yards with the lead pig turning to the left and down hill. I kept after them and took a hail Marry shot at the back pig which was about 25 yards by the time I cut the corner to make ground.

25 yards is my MAX MAX range and in this case really not a shot I should have taken especially since the pig was coming in and out of vision due to the tall grass and scooting along at full gate. What can I say, I took it, I missed….I was so pumped it was insane.

I shouldn't have taken either of these shots, the pigs were alert to me, running hard and loping up and down in grass about half again as tall as they were, coming in and out of sight. My percentage of getting a good killing hit was way too low, but…rightly or wrongly (I vote wrongly) I took the shots. Not really proud of that fact.

I am a very laidback mellow kind of guy, life has tossed several high stress and life threatening intense moments at me that I have taken them in easy going stride and handled them well. That said, it seems all you have to do is put a little pork on the hoof in front of me I totally lose it… the shame

If all of this hasn’t cracked you up, I left out one little fact. Little being the key word here, little describes the distance these pigs were from me when they busted my sleeping ass. BDB and I stepped it off, from my snoring head to the trail they used…5 feet...yup 5 feet...yeah I know, I’m such a puts

To the guys from camp: I enjoyed meeting you all and had a great time. Thanks for encouragement and for not laughing too had at me, well at least not in front of me! Hope to share another camp with you all in the future.

 

[Backcountry]

Sweet, sweet story! Something that you'll never live down, but dang exciting and educational to read. I've done the "fall asleep" method of hunting before and there definately is something to it.

Backcountry

 

[THE ROMAN ARCHER]

Big Bubba Daddy thanks for shareing your wild pig hunting adventure, a good read and it helps get me excited for upcoming pig hunt in choppers in december, it sounds like you guys had a great time! good luck on your future hunts.....................tra