Suzmar1997
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- Jul 7, 2002
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12 friends got together and did a private hunt at Tejon this past weekend. Had a great time despite the less than desirable weather. Friday was great, we checked in early and got into the fields around noon. My group consisted of my Dad (Carl-Gnn961), my buddy Kenny (Huntsndives), my buddy Derek (Looking for his first pig, but second trip to Tejon) and my cousin Evan (First time pig hunting). We split up into two vehicles and headed to our honey hole in the Squirrel area of the ranch. We glassed into the depths but didn't see a whole lot, so we descided to drive around to the opposite side to look back below the areas we we're standing above. We glassed a lot of area with out any sighting and decided to commit a little bit and hike down lower to get a better view of some of the ridges. Kenny & Derek went down further in the truck to glass some other ridges. After hiking about 10 minutes or so we glassed and didn't see much, so we were either going to head back up or go over another ridge when I heard something. I looked at my Dad who had the same look on his face and then asked Evan if he heard what I heard. We all agreed (Even though my Dad probably didn't hear it) and looked in the direction and I picked up about 6 pigs trotting across the canyon at about 500 yards. These pigs were big and I was hoping they'd get a little closer so Evan could get a decent shot on them (Oh yeah, I forgot to say that he left his rifle in the Jeep because we were just glassing-Never fails). We hiked further down to close the distance as they decided to bed down. We watched them for approximately 20 minutes, hoping they'd come down to play but a few were zig zagging in and out of the thick stuff while the others took a cat nap. I was lined up on a nice one at 280 yards but held off as Evan made the long hike up to get his rifle. I had my eye on at least 1 nice boar and a few really big sows when Kenny showed up. Kenny informed me they saw a good 20 pigs further down but they were on the move and 400-500 yards away after they most likely winded us from where we were. Kenny showed me the video footage he had and when I told him what I had he looked and saw three of the pigs cresting the ridge and one straggler feeding a good 500 yards away and then he too was gone. While we were busy bs'ing they put the fast one on me and bugged out. Evan showed up shortly after to realize he wasted all that energy for nothing (That'll teach him).
We headed back up to our original vantage point and split up to try to locate the pigs but came up empty handed after an hour or so. We decided to check up above headquarters and look down but didn't glass anything there either. It was about five when we decided that Kenny, Derek and I would head out towards camp from the front I-5 area, while my Dad and Evan drove out through Squirrel. We wound along the five and were near the bone yard area when we saw a group of hogs playing with each other about 300 yards ahead. We quickly started the stalk and had a hard time keeping up as they were playing chase w/ each other and doing so in a direction away from us. We continued the stalk and set up on the group 125 yards away. There were approximately 12-14 hogs total. We each marked a hog and went back and forth saying we were ready, only to lose the shot to high grass, bad angle etc. Kenny and I switched hogs when they crossed and finally we were all in agreement. 1-2-3 boom,boom,boom three hogs down. We congratulated Derek on his first hog, a young boar, and then began dragging the trio to the truck. We headed back to camp and saw that our buddy, his daughter and another friend all scored hogs also. We were stoked for his daughter and let me tell you she's the real deal, she's gonna be terrorizing the hog population in the years to come.
We slept in a little the next morning as we only had to fill Evan's tag and figured that would be no problem in a day and a half. We woke up to rain, wind and unfortunately low clouds w/ anywhere from 30' to 1/8 of a mile viz. We headed back up topwards our honey hole and once we got to the top we couldn't see anything. We decided to drive back through squirrel and finished the last 3 miles mud bogging it in 1st gear. We decided to take the road down rather then driving back through the freshly bladed road=mud bog and through the front road. I put her in 4-low and crawled down in first gear. We had some great slides which sent us perpindicular to the road at times and at the whim of the mud. We made it down and after some of the guys pulled the material out of their sphincters we were on our way. We decided to try Bear Trap hoping for a road hog as the viz did not allow anything else. We drove all the way up Bear Trap w/ no results, so we decided to hike up it towards Gehgis. We hiked up, over and through numerous ridges w/ no luck (Plenty of fresh sign) and w/ intermitten visibilty we headed back down. My Dad, Evan and I met up with Kenny and Derek and decided to go back to our honey hole. It was now 3 pm and we didn't have much time so we grabbed some snacks and headed up. On the way there we bumped into two buddies as they were dragging out a hog. We continued up and got to the top. After reaching our destination, we realized it was a lost cause with the visibilty going down to about 30'. We headed back down and hoped to get lucky out front again. As we were winding along the road and after coming around the corner I saw 2 pigs standing on the road. I told Evan to get out as the hogs ran down the hill and into the swamp. I saw a total of 3 hogs before they disappeared into the tunnels. Kenny walked out into the swamp and was withing 20 feet of one of them as Evan set up for a shot if one busted out.
One of the hogs headed to the far end of the swamp and froze and we told Evan to take the 100 yard shot. He couldn't pick the pig up in his sights before he was on the run and ended up missing on the running pig. We jumped into the Jeep in hot pursuit and tried to parralel the other two hogs that busted out after the shot. I was flooring the Jeep and these things were mov'in. As I crested the hill, I saw our buddies watching the hogs running and figured they were going to pick them up so we concentrated on the hog he had missed. This hog was full speed up this valley as I power slid into the trail that ran up the valley. I was flying and not gaining on this pig as Evan's brain was getting scrambled from the ride. I slid sideways and let Evan get out before his hog dissappeared into this tight/steep ravine. He had a few seconds as the hog stopped in front of the tree, but Evan couldn't find it in the scope. Luckily, it just so happened that two hunters were up on top of that ridge and shot the pig. You should have seen them side hilling across that steep hillside w/ his young daughter right behind him to get a shot on that hog. A few minutes later another buddy got a shot on one of the other two but missed. When we got back to camp we saw that two other buddies scored two pigs and we now had 10 for the twelve hunters.
Sunday, we woke up to a little bit better conditions then Saturday and decided to try to fill Evan's tag in our usual spot. We headed up there to find zero viz again. We drove all the way back to Bear Trap and once again didn't get lucky and it was too thick to try to hike up towards Ghegis. We went to an area where someone saw 6 pigs feeding earlier in the morning, but by the time we got there, you couldn't even see the ridge. We decided to hike up in the area where someone got their hogs the day before. We hiked up and glassed across to see 3 nice hogs about 500 yards across. We stayed put, while Evan and Kenny hiked down and up to make the stalk. They got to within 250 yards and lined up, but Evan was gassed out from the hike and had a hard time getting a stable rest due to the incline of the ridge. We video taped from across the way and saw the 5 larger sized pigs running before we actually heard the shot. The pigs ran about 50 yards away from their direction and then hid in the lone bush in the area. Approximately 10 seconds later they all came out and started feeding like nothing happened. We waited for the follow-up shot, but I guess they couldn't see them from their vantage point. The pigs then started bailing out at a fast rate, but somewhat towards their direction. The train was moving quickly and Evan got one more crack at about the same distance with no luck. We hiked back out, broke camp and said our good byes before leaving the ranch. All in all it was a great trip despite the weather/conditions. 10 out of twelve ain't bad in good weather let alone the limited opportunities we had due to visibility. Here's a couple of $ shots.
We headed back up to our original vantage point and split up to try to locate the pigs but came up empty handed after an hour or so. We decided to check up above headquarters and look down but didn't glass anything there either. It was about five when we decided that Kenny, Derek and I would head out towards camp from the front I-5 area, while my Dad and Evan drove out through Squirrel. We wound along the five and were near the bone yard area when we saw a group of hogs playing with each other about 300 yards ahead. We quickly started the stalk and had a hard time keeping up as they were playing chase w/ each other and doing so in a direction away from us. We continued the stalk and set up on the group 125 yards away. There were approximately 12-14 hogs total. We each marked a hog and went back and forth saying we were ready, only to lose the shot to high grass, bad angle etc. Kenny and I switched hogs when they crossed and finally we were all in agreement. 1-2-3 boom,boom,boom three hogs down. We congratulated Derek on his first hog, a young boar, and then began dragging the trio to the truck. We headed back to camp and saw that our buddy, his daughter and another friend all scored hogs also. We were stoked for his daughter and let me tell you she's the real deal, she's gonna be terrorizing the hog population in the years to come.
We slept in a little the next morning as we only had to fill Evan's tag and figured that would be no problem in a day and a half. We woke up to rain, wind and unfortunately low clouds w/ anywhere from 30' to 1/8 of a mile viz. We headed back up topwards our honey hole and once we got to the top we couldn't see anything. We decided to drive back through squirrel and finished the last 3 miles mud bogging it in 1st gear. We decided to take the road down rather then driving back through the freshly bladed road=mud bog and through the front road. I put her in 4-low and crawled down in first gear. We had some great slides which sent us perpindicular to the road at times and at the whim of the mud. We made it down and after some of the guys pulled the material out of their sphincters we were on our way. We decided to try Bear Trap hoping for a road hog as the viz did not allow anything else. We drove all the way up Bear Trap w/ no results, so we decided to hike up it towards Gehgis. We hiked up, over and through numerous ridges w/ no luck (Plenty of fresh sign) and w/ intermitten visibilty we headed back down. My Dad, Evan and I met up with Kenny and Derek and decided to go back to our honey hole. It was now 3 pm and we didn't have much time so we grabbed some snacks and headed up. On the way there we bumped into two buddies as they were dragging out a hog. We continued up and got to the top. After reaching our destination, we realized it was a lost cause with the visibilty going down to about 30'. We headed back down and hoped to get lucky out front again. As we were winding along the road and after coming around the corner I saw 2 pigs standing on the road. I told Evan to get out as the hogs ran down the hill and into the swamp. I saw a total of 3 hogs before they disappeared into the tunnels. Kenny walked out into the swamp and was withing 20 feet of one of them as Evan set up for a shot if one busted out.
One of the hogs headed to the far end of the swamp and froze and we told Evan to take the 100 yard shot. He couldn't pick the pig up in his sights before he was on the run and ended up missing on the running pig. We jumped into the Jeep in hot pursuit and tried to parralel the other two hogs that busted out after the shot. I was flooring the Jeep and these things were mov'in. As I crested the hill, I saw our buddies watching the hogs running and figured they were going to pick them up so we concentrated on the hog he had missed. This hog was full speed up this valley as I power slid into the trail that ran up the valley. I was flying and not gaining on this pig as Evan's brain was getting scrambled from the ride. I slid sideways and let Evan get out before his hog dissappeared into this tight/steep ravine. He had a few seconds as the hog stopped in front of the tree, but Evan couldn't find it in the scope. Luckily, it just so happened that two hunters were up on top of that ridge and shot the pig. You should have seen them side hilling across that steep hillside w/ his young daughter right behind him to get a shot on that hog. A few minutes later another buddy got a shot on one of the other two but missed. When we got back to camp we saw that two other buddies scored two pigs and we now had 10 for the twelve hunters.
Sunday, we woke up to a little bit better conditions then Saturday and decided to try to fill Evan's tag in our usual spot. We headed up there to find zero viz again. We drove all the way back to Bear Trap and once again didn't get lucky and it was too thick to try to hike up towards Ghegis. We went to an area where someone saw 6 pigs feeding earlier in the morning, but by the time we got there, you couldn't even see the ridge. We decided to hike up in the area where someone got their hogs the day before. We hiked up and glassed across to see 3 nice hogs about 500 yards across. We stayed put, while Evan and Kenny hiked down and up to make the stalk. They got to within 250 yards and lined up, but Evan was gassed out from the hike and had a hard time getting a stable rest due to the incline of the ridge. We video taped from across the way and saw the 5 larger sized pigs running before we actually heard the shot. The pigs ran about 50 yards away from their direction and then hid in the lone bush in the area. Approximately 10 seconds later they all came out and started feeding like nothing happened. We waited for the follow-up shot, but I guess they couldn't see them from their vantage point. The pigs then started bailing out at a fast rate, but somewhat towards their direction. The train was moving quickly and Evan got one more crack at about the same distance with no luck. We hiked back out, broke camp and said our good byes before leaving the ranch. All in all it was a great trip despite the weather/conditions. 10 out of twelve ain't bad in good weather let alone the limited opportunities we had due to visibility. Here's a couple of $ shots.
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