Felq
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Update:
I've put a LOT of miles on my boot in search of pig the last two days! There was a small rain three days ago, so all of the old tracks were washed out. I could see everything that moved around in the past two days, pretty cool. I checked out many places in Cleveland National Forest, and this is what i came up with:
I started at before sunrise on Boulder Creek Road, just North of Descanso. The USFS has a little map where there are red lines indicating where pig have been sighted. I scouted the little valley near Descanso, climbed up a peak above it, and walked my way back through a drainage. There was a lot of deer sign on the North facing slope of the peak i climbed, but to get to it, I had to do some terrible bushwacking through unforgiving and sharp plants for 1.5 miles. I saw big cat prints, one huge fat rattler, one doe, and a spiked buck. NO PIG SIGN.
Next stop was further up Boulder Creek Road. I parked at Three Sisters Waterfall parking, and walked up BCRd to a small USFS service road going North to the headwalls of Cedar Creek. The service road was recently regraded and was in good condition. I started to bushwack again, when I reached the first tributary to Cedar Creek. Right away, at a small man made pond that had been reduced to a few marsh plants, I saw a huge 3 point buck. It was 95* and mid day. I planned to go all the way down Cedar Creek to the next road, but there was absolutely NO water. I turned back after a mile bushwacking. I could not hydrate fast enough to replenish myself. I got to the car fatigued and ready to go to the next spot, but NO PIG SIGN.
I took an evening walk around Love Valley, near Lake Henshaw, and all but a small marsh was dried up. There was a lot of cattle there recently. I looked for smaller animal paths, but the cows really made it difficult to see anything. Again, NO PIG SIGN.
I walked up and down the small patch of USFS land along the river along Highway 76. Saw some real nice turkey, and had a poacher-like thought to take one (but DIDN'T - haha; like YOU haven't had the same). NO PIG SIGN.
I walked the Northwest shore of Lake Henshaw, NO PIG SIGN.
This morning I found myself bushwacking through the back parts of Palomar Mountain. I found (relatively) lots of water. The terrain was very steap, but not as hot as it was down South. There were a lot of game trails. I kept getting the feeling that I was on someone's game cam. But after all was said and done, NO pig sign.
I had a heat stroke, I went through 3 gallons of water, 17 miles on my boots, $50 in diesel, drew blood, ripped the knee out of my pants... and I keep on telling myself that the pig-beasts are out there! WHEN I finally find a pig in my cross hairs, all of the past few weeks of scouring CNF, and especially the last two days, will make that victory that much better.
I am starting to wonder whether there are actually pigs in CNF. And what is with the DFW's pig take report from 2010-2011... 8 pigs from San Diego? What about the MANY people here who have taken pigs? Are there THAT many tall tails? Or does DFW underreport, and WHY? Is there some sort of wild pig conspiracy involving arial pig snipers intent on preventing the 'pig invasion'?
I've put a LOT of miles on my boot in search of pig the last two days! There was a small rain three days ago, so all of the old tracks were washed out. I could see everything that moved around in the past two days, pretty cool. I checked out many places in Cleveland National Forest, and this is what i came up with:
I started at before sunrise on Boulder Creek Road, just North of Descanso. The USFS has a little map where there are red lines indicating where pig have been sighted. I scouted the little valley near Descanso, climbed up a peak above it, and walked my way back through a drainage. There was a lot of deer sign on the North facing slope of the peak i climbed, but to get to it, I had to do some terrible bushwacking through unforgiving and sharp plants for 1.5 miles. I saw big cat prints, one huge fat rattler, one doe, and a spiked buck. NO PIG SIGN.
Next stop was further up Boulder Creek Road. I parked at Three Sisters Waterfall parking, and walked up BCRd to a small USFS service road going North to the headwalls of Cedar Creek. The service road was recently regraded and was in good condition. I started to bushwack again, when I reached the first tributary to Cedar Creek. Right away, at a small man made pond that had been reduced to a few marsh plants, I saw a huge 3 point buck. It was 95* and mid day. I planned to go all the way down Cedar Creek to the next road, but there was absolutely NO water. I turned back after a mile bushwacking. I could not hydrate fast enough to replenish myself. I got to the car fatigued and ready to go to the next spot, but NO PIG SIGN.
I took an evening walk around Love Valley, near Lake Henshaw, and all but a small marsh was dried up. There was a lot of cattle there recently. I looked for smaller animal paths, but the cows really made it difficult to see anything. Again, NO PIG SIGN.
I walked up and down the small patch of USFS land along the river along Highway 76. Saw some real nice turkey, and had a poacher-like thought to take one (but DIDN'T - haha; like YOU haven't had the same). NO PIG SIGN.
I walked the Northwest shore of Lake Henshaw, NO PIG SIGN.
This morning I found myself bushwacking through the back parts of Palomar Mountain. I found (relatively) lots of water. The terrain was very steap, but not as hot as it was down South. There were a lot of game trails. I kept getting the feeling that I was on someone's game cam. But after all was said and done, NO pig sign.
I had a heat stroke, I went through 3 gallons of water, 17 miles on my boots, $50 in diesel, drew blood, ripped the knee out of my pants... and I keep on telling myself that the pig-beasts are out there! WHEN I finally find a pig in my cross hairs, all of the past few weeks of scouring CNF, and especially the last two days, will make that victory that much better.
I am starting to wonder whether there are actually pigs in CNF. And what is with the DFW's pig take report from 2010-2011... 8 pigs from San Diego? What about the MANY people here who have taken pigs? Are there THAT many tall tails? Or does DFW underreport, and WHY? Is there some sort of wild pig conspiracy involving arial pig snipers intent on preventing the 'pig invasion'?
