k_rad
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2009
- Messages
- 2,301
- Reaction score
- 71
As everyone has heard Tejon Ranch will be closed for hunting for awhile for a DFG investigation into the alleged poaching of mountain lions. So it was just pure luck that the hunt that Kelly (Kravnit on JHO) put together for Jan. 27-29th was the last hog hunt allowed until the investigation is completed. The word is hopefully around May, but no one knows for sure. I kind of feel obligated to give a detailed report for all of our buddy's on JHO that had their hunts cancelled. So here goes. I would "like" to make everyone feel better and say that "you didn't miss anything" but that just wouldn't be the truth. The truth is that Kelly and his buddy's know the ranch really well and probably average 5-10 hunts there a year. So it was almost like a guided hunt! On top of that Kelly is a personal trainer so his motivational skills are lets say: impressive. Something like a drill Sargent in the U.S.P.C. (United States Pig Corps.) By friday night Kelly and Bill had two pigs down, gutted skinned and packed on ice. The next morning at 5:30 they were the first ones up to help me Pasqual and his 18 year old son get our pigs. By first light we had spotted a dozen running hogs and gave chase but no luck. Within 45 minutes we were glassing another ridge and Sgt. Kelly and Lt. Bill spot a group of what looked like 4 nice sized black dots moving to a beading area. We make our approach and on the way Kelly spots "another" group of hogs bedded down on a hillside just 75 yds from us. We stop the Razors and start glassing and figuring out where we can take a shot when Kelly notices that two of them look pregnant and the other has piglets running around her so we decide to move on. As we get to where we had spotted the 4 pigs from the far ridge we realize that there are more hogs here than originally estimated. By probably about 20! So, Bill stays up on the road with a radio to guide us and Me, Pasqual, his son and Kelly start the stalk about 350 yds down into a hillside ravine. As we are nearing the pigs Bill sees them start to get jittery and starts yelling in the radio "shoot, shoot they know your there!" I'm not too sure what happened next because I went a little too low and didn't see one pig! Next thing I know I hear four shots go off in rapid succession and hear Kelly yelling What are you waiting for? Shoot him! I come over to see two big azzed sows laying on the ground and smiles. They were like"why didn't you shoot?" "I said shoot at what?" "I didn't see anything!" Kelly says there were 2 dozen pigs right here! None of them ran past you? I said, not a one. OH well. So we proceeded to gut and carry two big pigs almost straight up to the razors. Kelly almost lost his off the edge of the ridge (but that's another story)
Saturday afternoon I decide to go to another part of the ranch to see if I can glass up some new pork. I am glassing an opposite hillside not seeing anything when I notice a few steer way out on a ledge. I don't really pay them any attention until I start glassing in that area and notice that it is super steep terrain! I start to think, could those be pigs?...no way they are too big and there are red calves with them. Finally I glass over at the cattle just to ease my mind and "holy crap those are HOGS!" there were two big black ones that had to be 4-500 lbs! that's why I thought they were steers. Then there were half a dozen smaller red ones that I thought were calves! I immediately start to drive my jeep to as close as I dare across the ravine. I get to within 350 yds and start out on foot...(end of part 1) to be continued...
Saturday afternoon I decide to go to another part of the ranch to see if I can glass up some new pork. I am glassing an opposite hillside not seeing anything when I notice a few steer way out on a ledge. I don't really pay them any attention until I start glassing in that area and notice that it is super steep terrain! I start to think, could those be pigs?...no way they are too big and there are red calves with them. Finally I glass over at the cattle just to ease my mind and "holy crap those are HOGS!" there were two big black ones that had to be 4-500 lbs! that's why I thought they were steers. Then there were half a dozen smaller red ones that I thought were calves! I immediately start to drive my jeep to as close as I dare across the ravine. I get to within 350 yds and start out on foot...(end of part 1) to be continued...
