Private pig hunts Texas vs Cal

[leftyhunter]

I am debating with myself what is the better deal in terms of having a father son ( my son is 12 and hasn't been successful yet )hunt. I have hunted with a guide in Cal and I blew a shot I was wondering what Texas hunting is like on the private ranch's. I get the impression that they do a lot of baiting and one just waits on a stand and its a done deal to get a pig. I know texas is far but there are low cost airlines and DHL can ship back the meat for not to much money.

Thanks;
Leftyhunter

 

[Speckmisser]

Never a "done deal" anywhere, Lefty.

I've only done the one trip to TX so far, and what I saw was good, but I got skunked on my trip (for pigs... I killed an axis doe and a blackbuck antelope, and could've killed as many more axis as I could afford). Honestly, where I was the focus really wasn't on pigs, though. If you go to a place that "specializes" in pig hunts, then you shouldn't have the same issue.

Best thing there is that if you shop around you can find some really cheap pig hunts. They manage the pigs like pests there, so in most places you can take them just about any way you want to... and you can usually take more than one for no extra charge. Most hunting is either over feeders or with dogs, although there are spot and stalk opportunities. These hunting styles are different from what a lot of CA folks are used to, so you'd have to decide for yourself if it's "for you" or not.

Private land in CA, besides being expensive, can be a good to great hunt. For the most part, if you do your job you'll kill a pig, so success ratio is usually as good as TX. There are technically more pigs in TX, but there are plenty in CA and private land is the place to find them.

Depending on how you plan to travel, drive or fly, the price difference may be a wash. But if you shop carefully, you can go to Tx, do a multi-day, multi-pig hunt for you and your kid, and still come out cheaper than a quality guided hunt in CA.

 

[BirdDawg]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

Never a "done deal" anywhere, Lefty.[/b]

well I'd disagree with spec here on this one........depending on what ranch you hunt on in Texas......alot of fenced ranches where they haul in hogs and run feed lines and feeders.......with all the hog's there if you can't shoot one maybe you should take up golf......LOL.......

 

[leftyhunter]

Good points I think my kid just wants to blast a few because I blew a great opportunity for him. Killing one pig is not cheap in Cal for multiple kills Texas would seem to have the edge. If anybody else has experience on a particular ranch in Texas please let me know. The major cost drawback to Texas is of course its 1500 or so miles away since the best pig hunting seems to be in the southeast part of the state.

Thanks guys;
Leftyhunter

 

[Bigisle87]

lefty- dont get me wrong here, as i am nobody to judge anyone, but with your comment about "my kid just wants to blast a few", it made me wonder if you're really teaching your boy about the reality that hunting is just that, with no guarantees. you will get skunked, and other times you'll be succesful. shouldnt the emphasis be about getting out in the woods and enjoying whats out there, and being able to make a kill just an added bonus? i hope those are the qualities of hunting that you're trying to instill in him, qualities that he will someday hopefully pass on to his own child.. not just to go out and blast whatever comes into view.

 

[Rick]

All that noble stuff is great, and I do buy into it myself, but you have to get a kid successful if you want him to be enthusiastic about hunting. Otherwise, you will lose him to video games and/or extreme sports. My son is 9 and can't wait until he goes hunting - and that is because he wants to shoot something. He goes camping with me all the time, riding quads, catching bugs, lizards and snakes. He wants to go hunting becuase he wants to shoot something. He has plenty of love for nature. He has been along with me enough to know that hunting is a sport of skill and luck combined.

The numbers of hunters are decreasing - we need to get more kids involved. Take too much of a "holier than thou" attitude and you just run them off. It has to be fun and it needs a good shot at success. How many adults have given up hunting in California because of the lack of access to good, productive land that holds game? If the idea is just to watch animals, you can become a bird watcher and never kill anything.

 

[Lan-Lord]

Hi lefty, if you do decide to hunt Texas, I wouldn't limit your search to the SE portion of the state. Good hog hunting can be found throughout the entire state (perhaps extreme west Texas may not have too many).

If you are willing to hunt exotics in addition to hogs, you may want to give BorderBandit a phone call to get a feel for what an exotic+pig hunt would look like with him. He has some packages for exotics and pigs in the JHO outfitter listing. (2 axis does, pigs for ~ $800, includes lodging)

Also, from his Rancho Cueva property( http://www.ranchocueva.com/ ), he posted these game cam photos a little while ago.
http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/index....howtopic=148446

 

[MikenSoCo]

Howdy Lefty,
Glad to hear you're lookin' out for your kids interest in the great outdoors. Can/does your kid shoot a bow?

 

[wavesfr]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rick @ Sep 5 2007, 08:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

All that noble stuff is great, and I do buy into it myself, but you have to get a kid successful if you want him to be enthusiastic about hunting. Otherwise, you will lose him to video games and/or extreme sports. My son is 9 and can't wait until he goes hunting - and that is because he wants to shoot something. He goes camping with me all the time, riding quads, catching bugs, lizards and snakes. He wants to go hunting becuase he wants to shoot something. He has plenty of love for nature. He has been along with me enough to know that hunting is a sport of skill and luck combined.

The numbers of hunters are decreasing - we need to get more kids involved. Take too much of a "holier than thou" attitude and you just run them off. It has to be fun and it needs a good shot at success. How many adults have given up hunting in California because of the lack of access to good, productive land that holds game? If the idea is just to watch animals, you can become a bird watcher and never kill anything. [/b]

Rick,
Amen to that. It's getting tougher for Me My daughter is 13. So anything that casts her reflection in it
She's mesmirized. I started her at 8 going with Me deer hunting she done well. Then it go's to I wanna shoot something. Then it's 12 hunter safety time. Then its field time then they start getting board/discourged. She did'nt like quail hunting till she killed some now she's into it. Then these kids now days with all the sensetivity/ diversity/ anti GOD /AMERICA crap they're taught. Not to mention they're attention span being about 30 seconds. It's easy to lose them to other things.
Ricks right We need them.
Besides I would guess about 2/3 of ADULT hunters pay big money just to pull up & shoot something. Get a picture & then think eeewww what am I gonna do with this meat?
I know I'll just give it away. California is commercialized hunting & it's just getting worse!
So don't worry what people say. If you got the money to do it go for it!
Let him kill something, He'll get hooked, Then he'll start paying all those dues for his self
& actually love doing it.

 

[leftyhunter]

I appreciate the reply from all of you good points.i have taken my son on a few hunts for pig on WU property we didn't see any but we saw fresh sign. Thats not WU's fault of course thats just hunting. i mentioned that I did take him on a guided hunt but I blew a shot. Next guided hunt I won't bring my rifle where he hunting because I don't want to do that again. Pigs are an invasive species their ecological damage is well documented. I don't mind him taking out has many pigs or Euro doves or any invasive species has long of course has we comply with the game laws of whatever state we are in. Native wildlife is a different story its not to be "blasted". I think Rick and Wavsfr are on to something our kids are not just like us when we were kids I think it worse in terms of less physical activity and access to even worse drugs then we had etc. My son is not interested in using a bow although I have bow-hunted and hope to do so soon. My son doesn't want to be limited in his range but he is only 12 hopefully he will change his mind. When I first started trout fishing I wanted to catch the most trout on my last trout fishing adventure in Canada i happily relesed trout. Hopefully we can change and mature when we grow older. i would rather have my son focused on hunting then being "cool' in the thug rapper sense of the word which our popular culture seems to encourage.

By the way I will check out the above websites has anybody here pig hunted in the lonestar state?

Thanks;
Leftyhunter

Thanks

 

[Speckmisser]

Lefty,

Definitely check with BorderBandit. That's who I hunted with as part of the JHO Exotics hunt last spring, and I had a great time. Hogs weren't really the focus of that hunt, but if you wanted to focus on hogs I'm betting he could fix you up.

I haven't seen LarrySogla on the site in a while, but he did a bunch of TX hog hunts and had some suggestions. Might do a search on him and read some of his old posts. LanLord lives there in TX, as do a few other JHO members. Try a post down in the Texas forum and see what you can drum up...they're fairly active.

 

[MikenSoCo]

I'm sorry your son doesn't bow hunt Lefty, nothin like sneakn' to within 20 yds of a big mean boar to hook a kid forever

I've got the spot for 'em

 

[billfromtx]

Certainly check into South Texas...I have a ranch here in Duval county and I am covered up in pigs. If your not opposed to hunting near and around deer feeders it almost a sure bet. I like to spot and stalk with my bow and with the numbers here its a good bet as well. If you bring your son down give me a holler and I'll take ya'll to my place.

 

[Speckmisser]

Hey Bill... will the purty ranch hand from your avatar be working there? If so, I'll be there right away!

 

[bighog]

Leftyhunter,
I planned a trip to South Texas to hunt hogs and whitetails. My son was 10 at the time and asked if for xmas he could get his hunter safety cirtificate and go with me. So we did just that and he shot his first hog while sitting on my knee. He was so pumped up from adrenaline he whacked his head on the metal guide wire of the stand. He has returned to Texas with me each year since, he is now 14 and has taken several hogs, 2 javelinas and 4 deer. We look forward to this little vacation together each year. He is hooked on hunting and I am confident it will be something we will enjoy together for the rest of my life. I am also darn sure he will be passing it on to his children as well.

I firmly believe that young kids just starting out need to be successful very early on or we risk losing there attention. Hunting without seeing game or getting a shot can be very discouraging after a while. Texas hunting is easy compared to Ca and is perfect for kids. You sit with them up in a stand and wait for the animals to come out either to a feeder or corn on the road. They see lots of game and you have ample time to coach and teach them about shot placement, squeezing the trigger, wind, judging age, antlers etc..... everything they need to learn. It's exciting for them and they get hooked real fast. In Ca you do not have that kind of time when you do see an animal and will not see a tenth of the game you will see in one morning in Texas. Sure some adults will say it is not a challenge and for them it is probably true, but for a child just starting out it could not be any better.

Once your kid gets hooked then you can explain to him/her that because you live in Ca and we have different laws here, hunting is much different and a great deal harder. I was 39 years old when I started big game hunting here and went out in the field 7 or 8 times before I got my first hog. Hell I was ready to give it up myself so you can imagine what a kid is thinking. After they get a few animals under their belt then you can help them transition into harder,more challenging types of hunting here in Ca.

Ca is a very good place to get them into waterfowl and upland game though, but if your hunting big game and you have a youngster who's just starting out, I would go to Texas. Just my opinion....good luck

 

[leftyhunter]

Thanks again guys. I need to upgrade my membership so that I can send some PM's. BillfromTxs I definatley appreciate the offer I will PM you soon and the same for Mikein SoCO. Bighog makes a great point about Texas being the place to start hunting a tough argument to overcome!

Leftyhunter

 

[CAhntr]

If you are looking for a for sure kill for your son why not go to Big Horn Canyon? Not too far of a drive, they are in Redlands.

 

[leftyhunter]

I had a buddy who hunted at Big Horn and he killed a pig but it was just a "pink pig" that was just bought from a farmer. Big Horn Canyon has been a subject of much debate in the various forms. If me and my kid go to Texas the pigs are not necessarily confined by high fences and they are an ecological threat to native wildlife so I wouldn't feel to bad about "cheating " in terms of baiting them or hunting them at night which is legal in Texas but not Cal. It 's a good point though I just want my kid to have a little more challenge .

Thanks;
Leftyhunter