Tejon Camping Report

[One Track]

Just wanted to let you boys know that me and my three buddies had a great time camping at Tejon this weekend. The weather was beautiful, surprisingly in the 70's by 8am. The sky was blue, and the meadows were green. There was absolutely no wind. We drove to the far reach of the beatiful ranch and saw hundreds of deer. We hiked down through all the giant canyons, and up all the towering ridges. I really enjoyed the exercise. The ranch is absolutely beautiful.

That's about it. I'm going to go lay down now.

 

[rusman66]

Dude that is so not right!

sleep if you must, but the stories better be extra good in the morning!

 

[One Track]

Alright, I can't leave you hanging. We went Ofer four! Ouch. That wasn't easy to type.

Dang is right. We hunted our tails off. We saw pigs. But, they were not out long, and they were extremely wary. Most of the ones we saw were already on the run. I like to spot and stalk, in hopes of seeing a hog before it sees me. I saw a few of these hogs, but they were already headed for cover down in the abyss. Most of the hogs we saw were running from other trucks. And, they didn't stop running until they were over three ridges and down into the abyss. Between the four of us, we saw a total of about sixty hogs. We just couldn't get in front of them, whether by foot or by truck. I went deep into the thick stuff several times, where I know the hogs live. They were in there, but the brush was too high to see them, and they were not busting out into the open for my buddies to whack. I heard them running from me. I actually went face to face with a big boy at about 15 feet while crawling through the pig tunnels. He was gone in a flash.

We checked out about 2pm today, Sunday. At that time 75 hunters had tagged 15 hogs. That's way down. Around the campfire, (several campfires,) we discussed many reasons for our lack of success. One, lots of new green grass. The hogs don't have to venture far from their beds. They are eating the green grass, which means less rooting time. Less time out in the open. I never saw a hog just feeding in a meadow. (The ranch hands warned us about this during check in.) Two, no wind to cover up the sounds of trucks, or the noise we make while stalking at a 65 degree angle. Three, water in every creek. Four, these pigs are getting smart.

I have no idea what the jackpot hog weighed in at. I do know of one that went 180. I think I saw another hanging, that might go 230.

I tried all my hot spots from past hunts. It just didn't pan out. No complaints. We had a great trip. There are plenty of hogs. It was just more challenging than usual, and I kinda like that part of hunting. It's nice to close the deal, but hey, it's hunting. It sure beats working.

To those that scored, a big CONGRATS. You earned it.

The month of May will be different. The food source will have changed, and the hogs will be working for it. My best two hunts were both in May. I can't wait for May!

 

[oneclearshot]

GREAT recount, One Track! Always enjoy reading your Posts...never been to Tejon, but know about the general area and it SURE IS beautiful country up that way! Sorry to hear that nobody in your group got meat, but we all know, that's how it goes sometimes :-( just as long as you got some time away from work, traffic, chores, etc., it's STILL a good outing! Right? And the time spent with a few good hunting buddies, makes for memories, forever! I've been out MANY times where I just took "My Gun for a Walk"! Lookin' forward to meetin' you guys at the Slam this May! Until then...keep your powder dry!

 

[Speckmisser]

Hey Brent,

Tough luck on the hogs, but sounds like a good trip (like any trip to Tejon would be).

Hopefully by May, if this weather holds, we'll be targeting springs and water holes, and the green grass will be mostly brown.

Sorry you didn't score, but hey... more for May!

 

[wmidbrook]

Sounds like a great trip in spite of not bagging game. I'm too looking forward to meeting a lot of JHO'ers in May~!

 

[underone]

Brent:
It was good to meet you at the ranch. At the time we left our pig was still the biggest for the weekend, but that was the only one we got. Sunday morning we set up at a spot we saw a lot of hogs the night before. We figured we would set up and get on thier way out. Sure enough as they started coming there were two hunters on the next ridge that took two small ones. Oh well better luck next time. We'll see you up there next time.
Chris

 

[One Track]

Chris:

Nice meeting you and your Jack-drinking buddies up there. Good to share the fire and talk about huntin'. 4am came early on Sunday morning.

OneClearShot: Yah, you called it. It was great to get out of town.

May will be awesome.

 

[sdbowyer]

Bummer, maybe it was a moon thing too. Good to stretch the legs though!

 

[rusman66]

Tough hunting huh? well if it was easy everyone would be doing it.
Glad to hear you had a good time. Too bad your bud's didn't get at least one. There is always next time.

 

[underone]

Brent:
The jack always seems like a good idea in the evening. It never feels that way in the am. See you at the next one.
Chris