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Quench your big-game hunting appetite with a private hunt
Dave Rice, RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
4/1/2003
Getting a tag to hunt big game (deer, antelope, sheep, elk and mountain goat) through the state lottery system in Nevada is not easy and many hunters are unable to hunt each year.
A number of these individuals apply for tags in other western states, but often face even tougher odds. So many hunters, like Carson City native, Don Quilici Jr., have found ways to quench their appetite for big game hunting by paying to hunt exotic species on private land in other states.
Quilici returned home in early December from such a hunt in California where he pursued wild hogs within a 1,000-acre enclosure near Salinas, Calif., in the Golden State’s coastal mountain range. This was his fifth hunt at JC Adventures, run by Jim Cox of Salinas, where hunters pay $400 to take a wild pig, Russian wild boar, which grow long tusks, or one of many exotic sheep and goat species from throughout the world. Those desiring to take additional animals pay $300 more for each. The fee includes two days of hunting and the use of cabins, showers, dining and cooking facilities including a large barbecue area.
During previous hunts, Quilici has taken four pigs and a Barbados sheep with his “traditional” recurve bare bow (no mechanical sites or devices) and arrow. This year he held out for one of a number of big wild pigs that he has found hanging out in the steepest terrain of the entire hunting area. He missed a shot at the big boar he was looking for but says he go back next year to try again. The largest pig taken to date by a hunter weighed a little over 500 pounds. Cox, a bow hunter himself with more than 40 years experience, caters to bow hunters like Quilici, but will also allow firearm hunters during special separate hunts.
Potential hunters should not get the idea that hunting in this enclosed area is easy, according to Quilici.
“Some of the best hunting is found in terrain that is so steep you actually need to pull yourself uphill by grabbing onto the limbs of trees and bushes,” he said.
In addition, he said wild pigs have a nasty disposition, very sharp teeth and do eat meat readily. And to make things even harder, they can run amazingly fast for their size. Hunting licenses and tags are not required by the state to hunt in the enclosure.
Although much leaner than it’s domestic relatives, Quilici says wild boar meat tastes very much like store bought pork meat.
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For more information:
JC Adventures, Jim Cox, Owner/Manager, (831) 443-9752. Salinas, Ca.
Wild boar hunting is open statewide in California throughout the year on both public and private lands. Hunting licenses and special nonresident tags (about $14) are required for most areas. Call the California Fish and Game Department in Sacramento at (916) 227-2245 and request a copy of their free Hunting Guide For Wild Pigs in California publication, or visit the California Fish and Game Department Web site: http://www.dfg.ca.gov.
Additional information on hunting wild pigs on both private and public lands is available under the web search title, California Wild Pig Hunting.
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Dave Rice retired in 2001 after 30 years with the Nevada Division of Wildlife, 25 years as chief conservation officer. He can be reached at thomascreek@worldnet.att.net.
Dave Rice, RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
4/1/2003
Getting a tag to hunt big game (deer, antelope, sheep, elk and mountain goat) through the state lottery system in Nevada is not easy and many hunters are unable to hunt each year.
A number of these individuals apply for tags in other western states, but often face even tougher odds. So many hunters, like Carson City native, Don Quilici Jr., have found ways to quench their appetite for big game hunting by paying to hunt exotic species on private land in other states.
Quilici returned home in early December from such a hunt in California where he pursued wild hogs within a 1,000-acre enclosure near Salinas, Calif., in the Golden State’s coastal mountain range. This was his fifth hunt at JC Adventures, run by Jim Cox of Salinas, where hunters pay $400 to take a wild pig, Russian wild boar, which grow long tusks, or one of many exotic sheep and goat species from throughout the world. Those desiring to take additional animals pay $300 more for each. The fee includes two days of hunting and the use of cabins, showers, dining and cooking facilities including a large barbecue area.
During previous hunts, Quilici has taken four pigs and a Barbados sheep with his “traditional” recurve bare bow (no mechanical sites or devices) and arrow. This year he held out for one of a number of big wild pigs that he has found hanging out in the steepest terrain of the entire hunting area. He missed a shot at the big boar he was looking for but says he go back next year to try again. The largest pig taken to date by a hunter weighed a little over 500 pounds. Cox, a bow hunter himself with more than 40 years experience, caters to bow hunters like Quilici, but will also allow firearm hunters during special separate hunts.
Potential hunters should not get the idea that hunting in this enclosed area is easy, according to Quilici.
“Some of the best hunting is found in terrain that is so steep you actually need to pull yourself uphill by grabbing onto the limbs of trees and bushes,” he said.
In addition, he said wild pigs have a nasty disposition, very sharp teeth and do eat meat readily. And to make things even harder, they can run amazingly fast for their size. Hunting licenses and tags are not required by the state to hunt in the enclosure.
Although much leaner than it’s domestic relatives, Quilici says wild boar meat tastes very much like store bought pork meat.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information:
JC Adventures, Jim Cox, Owner/Manager, (831) 443-9752. Salinas, Ca.
Wild boar hunting is open statewide in California throughout the year on both public and private lands. Hunting licenses and special nonresident tags (about $14) are required for most areas. Call the California Fish and Game Department in Sacramento at (916) 227-2245 and request a copy of their free Hunting Guide For Wild Pigs in California publication, or visit the California Fish and Game Department Web site: http://www.dfg.ca.gov.
Additional information on hunting wild pigs on both private and public lands is available under the web search title, California Wild Pig Hunting.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave Rice retired in 2001 after 30 years with the Nevada Division of Wildlife, 25 years as chief conservation officer. He can be reached at thomascreek@worldnet.att.net.
