ranch/guided hunts

[hunt hard]

I read this out of california fish and game magazine does anyone know about this outfit. any info would be appriciated


Many hunters choose a guide to hunt pigs. Craig Van Housen (707)-279-0422 leases several ranches in mendocino County for wild pig hunting, and offers both hunting with dogs and spot-and-stalk. His most popular hunts are the spot-and stalk, which are very low-cost, self-guided hunts. He gives the hunter a two-way radio and then drops him off in the field. When the hunter bags a pig (or accepts defeat), he calls Van Housen on the radio and is picked up. Van Housen says the hunts have a high success rate and cost only $ 175 per person, with no trophy fee.

 

[hunt hard]

sorry I read this out of california fihing & hunting news magazine

 

[BDB]

Never heard of him but I like the price!

 

[Speckmisser]

That's a danged good price. It'd be good to hear from someone who's used him or knows him.

 

[Rancho Loco]

One day pig hunting...Next day Ab diving...Some wine tasting too...

Hmmm...

 

[GUNNER5569]

http://espn.go.com/outdoors/hunting/s/h_ma..._deer_F&HN.html here is a link that say he uses payne ranch sound pretty good if someone checks it out or calls him please post what you find out he also does deer hunts

 

[Live2hunt]

I went on my first pig hunt with Craig Van Housen when I was in High School. IT'S THE FIRST AND LAST HUNT I WILL EVER DO WITH HIM! We hunted a 5000 acre ranch near Booneville. I chose to hunt with him because he was the cheapest guide ($325) listed in the first edition of the book "Hunting Wildboar in California" by Bob Robb. It was my first ever pig hunt and I knew very little about pig hunting. So Craig had the advantage of feeding me with what looks like a big pot belly pig. One of Craig's friend came along to help out with the hunt. We cruz the ranch roads in two quads. I and Craig road on his quad and towing a small trailer with three dogs. His friend on another quad. At every fork or intersection of the ranch roads, Craig would stop and have his friend ride off in a different direction to look for sign while we waited. From dawn to about 9am I didn't see a single sign of pig as I pretty much knew what pig signs looks like by reading Bob Robb's book. We came to a flat spot on a ridge and Craig decided that this time he would ride out alone to check for pig signs. I hopped of the quad, Craig unhooked the trailer, and rode off. Ten minutes later he speed back on the muddy road like the Duke of Hazards. He panic hooking up the trailer and telling myself and his friend that a pig was spotted. We speed up to the spot and he released the dogs. Minutes later the dogs found the pig about 100 yards down the hillside. Craig slid ran downhill and grabbed the pig by the leg as the three dogs already had their jaws locked on the pig's neck and ears. I ran down, Craig handed me a .44 revolver, told me to point the pistol behind the ear and squeeze the trigger. I was not satisfied by the hunt as I was expecting to shoot one with my 06. And the hunt was nothing similar to my dad's pig hunting stories. I got curious so as Craig and his friend was trying to haul it out of the steep hillside, I wandered off to take a peek at what looks like a shack on a more level part of the hillside. And to my surprise pig activities were all over the inside of the shack with the door open. I looked by the door and a couple of fresh footsteps were printed on the wet dirt. So I knew Craig had the pig locked up in the shack waiting for me. I felt somewhat upset about the hunt, but with no knowledge of pig hunting, I didn't know what to complain. I brought the pig home and my dad came over to help me scald. The minute my dad walked in the backyard, he said potbelly pig. He could buy pigs like it for $10 from a ranch in Sacramento. We went ahead and cleaned it using the scald method. When we gutted it, it had corns in the stomach. Now that I learned and know more about pig hunting than I wanted to know, I am even more pissed off at this bastard so called Craig Van Housen everytime I think about this hunt. I never ever want to take a glance at anything that has to do with this guy's hunting service. And for those of you who are new to pig hunting, my advise is to not go with this guy because you won't learn any pig hunting from him but will only give him the advantage to rip you off jus like he did me. I can go on and on with complaints about this guy, but why waste my time when I can make something more productive out of it. I hope he see this post and read it.


L2H

 

[hunt hard]

live2hunt sorry two hear about what happend to you with this hunt. Im looking to go on a guided hunt and when i seen this artical in the magazine for $175 per person i thought well lets see what jeepers have to say about this. thanx for your post .