Tejon Ham Slam II 2005 Results

[pitdog]

O.K… this is MY PIG I tell you!!! Buckeye is going to try to say he shot it… but IT”S MINE… Yah… That’s the ticket…He’s just jealous….Yah…and I killed it with a pocketknife… Yah, that’s it… and my girlfriend… Morgan Fairchild will back me… yah that’s it… she was right there filming it when the pig broke the camera… that’s the ticket!!!

 

[pitdog]

This pic was taken just before Brent hiked Mt. Everest and blew up a perfectly good 7mm:
Left to right... Mike (FForF), Brent (Onetrack) and Buckeye.

 

[pitdog]

Personally, I had a blast! The JHO crew was second to none and special thanks to Spec for all the hard work!!!

I lost 10 lbs and my left knee, but it was worth it….Word of advise to skiers; When I was young I skied as hard as I hunt (bump skier) and what you do today will bite you when you turn 40 something….. Anyway, I may have blanked, but I worked like a dog to fill my tag and feel just as well as if I had.

I can’t wait til the next one…

Something happened out there when I was on the mountain…alone… looking at all of Gods beauty below… Seriously…With all the trials and tragedy in my life lately and looking at the wonders of his creation, I felt humbled and small… I don’t know exactly what my next step is, but I think I had an epiphany up there… Perhaps Pitdog will follow his heart instead of his head for once…… Stay tuned.

 

[Suzmar1997]

Well, let me just say that I had a great time hunting with the JHO crew. I'll have to admit we had better luck last year, but I still had a great time. Speck, thanks again for putting all the time and effort in to making this thing a reallity. I was truly shocked to see only 24 of us there, but I think the turn out will be double next year if we still do it.

My group (Myself, Gnn961, Huntsndives and doeshunt) set up camp and headed to our favorite spots in the afternoon only to find a whole lot of deer and old sign. We ran into Superduty's group and decided to take a stroll down the creek bed trail near the area they were hunting. BAD idea, we spent the next 2 1/2 hours crawling through the jeep trail in my Dad's overgrown F-250, getting out every 20-50 feet to bend the branches back so his paint would survive the journey. Needless to say we didn't see a whole lot, other than the ass end of cattle who decided to stay on the trail in front of us and not step out of our way so we could pass by. We finally cleared the trail and ended up in the NW corner of the south area where Reddog5 (Who was with us) missed a nice boar who was running up the side of a hill in some thick brush. We decided to head back towards the S and glassed 2 nice hogs (1 wet sow and a big boar) at the top of the mountain, but it was a 600 yard hike straight down and straight up and the light was disappearing. We finally made it back to Tunnis and I finally knew where the hell I was (Just in time as it was getting pretty dark).

We headed back to camp and of course started seeing hogs crossing in front of our truck, but it was too late to shoot. Crawling down one of the steep trails I decided to find a rut that I couldn't see in the dark and got sucked into the side of the hill. Luckily my Dad's truck has a good sized lift and a diesel and I was able to power out of it. I got sideways for a few minutes and got a lil top heavy, but was able to correct it and straigthen out (Sorry Speck, almost took the title away from you). We made it back to camp and had a good time talking with everyone.

HuntsnDives and I glassing an area

 

[SDHNTR]

Joe, you fixin' to take a dump there?

 

[Suzmar1997]

Day 2 had us hiking up and down the Geghus and Tunnis Ridges with no luck in the early morning so we figured we'd check out some of the areas we've never hunted. While on our way we ran into a lil porker and my Dad (Gnn961) decided to take her, as we were 0% and had 4 tags to fill by Sunday. He dropped her dead in her tracks and we quickly field dressed it and brought it back to camp. Came back and took a little break while checking out the bigguns that came in from the morning hunt.

Gnn961's hog

 

[huntsndives]

Speck, thanks again for taking charge of the hunt, a job well done. I know we all appreciate the work you undertake for it. Again another successful hunt and a great time. I didn't get one this year but that is hunting. I leave the stories up to Suzmar1997, he does a great job at it. It was good meeting and hanging out with the JHO guys again, hopefully Tejon doesn't raise the prices next year so we can all go again! I'm with Scott, lets send some pig parts via UPS to those who left their stuff behind at the skinning rack. Thanks to Suzmar1997 and Gnn961 for removing all of it and dumping it at the appropriate place. I'm sure Mark will shed some light on the blue pool in one of his stories. Thanks again Speck and good seeing you again Reddog5.

 

[Suzmar1997]

Saturday evening had us perplexed as to where we were going to hunt. We decided to hunt an area where we saw a fair amount of fresh sign and was near the area where we saw numerous pigs the nigt b4 in the darkness. We took a high spot where we could watch numerous ridges and waited to no avail. Kenny and I (Huntsndives) decided to hike to another area where we saw a hog the night before in hopes, of catching them crossing from one ridge to another. We came up empty and decided to make the long hike back to the truck. We were calling it quites in an attempt to get back to camp to late and took Tunnis back to Geghus. Prior to getting to the fork where Tunnis meets with Geghus we had 10 hogs cross in front of our truck about 100 yards ahead of us, but by the time we hit the edge of the ridge they were long gone. It's amazing how fast these guys can run. Made it back to camp with the stress of 3 guys empty handed and only 1 morning hunt left.

Sunday morning we decided to give the F250 a rest and took Doeshunt's (Rich) vehicle (Expedition). We got to the top of Geghus when we noticed the windows not working and numerous gauges failing. We decided to head back to camp and switch vehicles. Halfway back, Rich decided to turn the car off and back on again. Only problem the car never started again and we were dead in the water. My Dad decided to head back to camp for the 250, while I decided to glass off the top of Geghus towards Bear Trap Canyon. I found some nice bedding areas with fresh sign and began getting excited. I was in the tall grass and heard the grass explode about 6 feet behind me and I turned figuring I was going to have a hog in a full sprint behind me, but was suprised to see a really young fawn. Momma came bounding up the hill from below and just about landed in my lap before making a hasty exit. I was snooping and pooping around when I figured it was time to get rid of lastnights dinner.

While I was offloading I look up to see Kenny checking me out through the binoculars. I'm flipping him off and wondering why the hell he's still looking at me in the binos when I hear him scream, "pigs, pigs behind you." I immediately spin with my ass hanging out trying to find these pigs. I see Kenny sliding down in my direction and he finally points the hogs out. There was approximately 15-20 hogs (all good size, no piglets) crossing along the top of a ridgeline down to our left. The pigs were about 600 yards as the crow flies, but it was a hellacious climb down and up a few ridges. The wind was in our favor as we crested the peak where we last saw them and were already planning on how we were going to drag them down to Bear Trap. As we got to the top the wind changed and we never saw the group . We saw tons of steaming sign, trails, bedding areas, etc. but no hogs. They either scented us or kept walking in the direction we initially saw them and crossed to the S side of Bear Trap. We decided to check a few more ridges over and saw a few cow elk, but nothing else and walked back to camp from Bear Trap. (Thanx for the ride Tom (Henrikson).

We heard that Rich's truck was being towed and Speck gave Kenny and I a ride up Geghus to meet up with my Dad. It was about 0815 and we were trying to decide whether we were going to go back to camp and pack-up or hunt a little more. We decided to hunt and headed up Geghus. We checked a ridge that leads from a flat on top of Geghus when I hear the tall grass crumbling off to my right. I look and saw the nose of a hog who must have scented me and was now on the run. I led the pig and pulled the trigger and nothing happened. I realized I still had the safety on and corrected the problem and now the pig was at a pretty decent trot. I led the pig again as it was quartering away from me and fired. The hog continued running and disappeared into a finger ridge. I couldn't believe I could have missed, but started headed towards the direction he was last seen and Kenny noticed some blood on the high grass. We followed a blood trail for about 30 yards and saw her lying under some trees. We field dressed her and dragged her up to the truck. We tried to fill Kenny's tag but struck out and headed back to camp.

Suzmar1997's hog

 

[Suzmar1997]

For those who are wondering about the Nemo swimming pool, we'd figure we'd give it a go as we destroyed the wood in my dad's truck bed with pigs blood last year. The tarp leaked and the pigs flopped back and forth in the back of the truck when 4x4ing up and down the roads. The pool was $7 and can hold 2 medium sized hogs and kept the blood and the hog in the pool while driving the roads. It came in very handy when we made a run to off load my hog and those that SOME people left behind. Rinses right out and can hold quite a bit of weight. Just watch Speck, you laughed at it, but I'll see you pulling one of them out of your truck next year.

Pig pool in action:

 

[Speckmisser]

I didn't hear the part about being caught with your britches down, Mark! That certainly adds an element to that story!

As for the pool... well, that's the reason I have the hitch hauler. It's all outside the truck... no muss, no fuss.

The pool's a good idea, though.

 

[Suzmar1997]

Yeah we were hoping Reddog was gonna weld one for us but he dropped the ball. J/K. Yeah I'll probably get one of those eventually, just thought the hog would be a big dirt clod by the time we get back to camp. BBQ'd the tenderloins Monday night and think that was the best tasting meat I've had in a long time. Hoping the sausage turns out just as good.

Here's another pic from the trip

 

[Speckmisser]

Great photo! The place is beautiful this year... with all this moisture!

 

[FForF]

Okay Guys. Here are the three pictures I took. Had a great time!

Thanks Speck!!

Maybe next time I'll tag out. It sure was a interesting end of hunt with One Track.

 

[huntsndives]

Hey guys the breakfast at the J was a great idea, however the food left something to be desired. Maybe next year the people coming from the south can go south another 15 minutes to Castiac and we can all meet at Tommys. The food is really good there, myself, Mark (Suzmar1997) and Carl (Gnn961) have eaten there several times and have always been satisfied.

 

[sdbowyer]

Well done boys! Wow, the ranch is looking good right now. Sigh...

 

[reddog5]

Well i had a great time even though ffej and i didnt score. I missed a shot on fri night and never got close enough to any other hogs to get another. We hiked all over the ranch and saw loads of wildlife, deer , bobcats, squirels and a few hogs. Sun morning we came across Carl and Rich and Rich was having vehicle problems. We had to put a tow strap on and pull him up the to the gate. I didnt think my little truck would pull that excursion but with the rear locker i think it helped.Sorry didnt get to say goodbye to all. Thanks to Spec for putting this all together, i had a blast. Oh yeah Swallowpig ... The homemade beer was awesome!

One track, glad you are all right

Carl, Mark, Kenny, and Rich thanks for lettin us hang out with you guys we had a great time. Ill up date my Email and maybe meet up for some huntin sometime.

 

[gnn961]

: <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

Oh yeah Swallowpig ... The homemade beer was awesome![/b]

The question is what was in it????????????

 

[Speckmisser]

OK, hope guys are ready. This is the long version... I'll be adding it to my website tomorrow with pix. A short version/article is posted on the JHO Journal as well.
_______________________________________________________

The lone boar meandered down from the opposite ridge, heading into a steep ravine. At the bottom a couple of oak trees offered shade and feed, so I figured he'd hang up there and eat a bit. That would give me time to stalk to the edge of the ravine and set up for a fairly simple shot. As I eased toward the edge, I spotted a rock pile that would provide a great rest. Just as I reached the rocks, though, the hog's head poked up over the edge of the hill less than 20 yards away from where I stood flatfooted!

I leveled the rifle, steadying as best I could from an offhand, standing position. I put the crosshairs between the beady eyes, and started to squeeze. At that moment, the hog realized something was wrong and turned his head. I had a beautiful shot at the base of his skull, centered the sights behind his ear and squeezed off the round.

The shot was clean, and for a change my hog fell on flat ground at the top of a hill! All I needed to do was walk up, put in a finishing shot if necessary, and sled my pig 3/4 of a mile back to the truck.

But of course, it never happens that way, does it?

As I walked up to the huge boar, .44 in one hand and rifle in the other, I had no doubt he was dead. The shot took him behind the ear and dropped him like a flyswatter on a mosquito. I could see the entry wound from 20 yards away. I didn't think the revolver would be necessary, but I've learned to never take a down animal for granted.

Suddenly, the hog began to thrash, and, as if to spite me, the dead animal managed to flip himself over the edge of the steep ridge and tumble like a furry black football all the way to the bottom. Fate, not content with that simple joke, then offered another shove and the hog turned 90 degrees and tumbled further down into the ravine.

And there I was, in another Tejon Ranch "Hell Hole" with the biggest hog I've ever shot.

It was Saturday morning of the 2nd annual Jesse's Hunting and Outdoors (JHO) Ham Slam at the Tejon Ranch. I'd organized the first hunt in 2004 with great success, and brought over 50 JHO members and friends to this beautiful place to hunt. Many of us had hunted here before, during the "Pig-o-rama" events the ranch holds monthly through the winter and spring. This was my fourth visit, and my fourth Tejon hog.

The 2005 JHO hunt drew only about half the crowd, with 24 hunters attending. That gave us a lot of territory to cover, and the group made the best of it, starting on Friday afternoon.

Friday afternoon found me getting everyone squared away and then setting up my own camp. By the time I'd finished making camp and having a sandwich, there was no one in the campground except myself, and my great friends Scott Plunkett and Chris Mascola. We'd decided to hunt together, using my 4wd to access the higher ridges.

Last year, at the first JHO hunt, we'd found some success by having Scott and Chris park Chris's truck at the road, where a canyon wash emptied out, then taking them to the top of the canyon and letting them work back to the truck. I'd stay on the high ridges, and glass the surrounding hillsides.

The adventure started early on, as I headed along the top of the ridge. The grass was extremely high, due to late spring rains, and the ground under it was dotted with ground squirrel burrows. I was thinking to myself that this would be an ideal place to step on a rattlesnake when the grass under my feet suddenly parted and the telltale buzzing went off. It seemed as loud as fire klaxon, and I could see the edge of a thick body just in front of my right foot. Almost simultaneous to the rattling, the snake struck. Fortunately, the strike was short… possibly as a result of the thick grass.

I jumped back and drew the .44. Normally I wouldn't bother a snake, but I'd been looking for a good-sized rattler for a hatband. I thought he was a good size to make a nice fricassee for the evening meal as well, so I slowly stalked back up to the buzzing snake. His head hovered, menacingly above his coiled body, so I lowered the pistol and took my best shot. He drew back his head, so I wasn't sure if I'd hit him. However, he stayed coiled and rattling, so I looked for his head and fired again, hitting him in the fat midsection. He whipped his head back through the grass again, and I fired once more, completely decapitating the snake.

Turns out that I'd hit him all three times, effectively destroying both the meat and the skin. Disappointedly, I snipped off the rattle and dropped it in my pocket. At the same time, my focus widened back out and I realized that all the shooting must have drawn the attention of my partners. Sure enough, the radio crackled as they both asked me if I "got him". They thought I'd jumped a hog, but I explained what happened, and we went on with the hunt. I walked much more carefully after that.

About an hour later, Chris and Scott had dropped into the wash to begin the long stalk down. I glassed the hillsides as the sun began to slouch toward the higher mountaintops. Across a steep ravine, I spotted what looked like a very fresh trail through the lush grass. My binoculars followed the trail uphill until I spotted a lone hog moving up, making the trail has it went along. I watched until the hog reached a little draw, and bedded under a pine tree.

I'd crossed that ravine before, and knew it was pretty rugged. At the same time, the thought of tagging out on the first night tempted me, and I decided to try the stalk. I had no high hopes that the pig would still be there when I finally crossed, but two hours later as I topped the last hill, I spotted the black ears jutting out of a patch of grass, about 150 yards uphill.

I crept closer, wanting to be close enough to verify that it wasn't a wet sow. At 75 yards, she stood up and walked into an opening. I glassed carefully, and saw no youngsters around the pig's feet. I could see hanging teats, but as I watched I didn't see any sign of little ones. I slipped the rifle from my shoulder, and tried to get my sights on the pig. As I finally got the sight picture I wanted and started to squeeze the trigger, she stepped behind the pine tree. Standing and shooting offhand is the least accurate way for any hunter to shoot, but that was my only option. I decided to thread the needle, placing my shot between a fork in the tree. At my shot, pine bark exploded, and the hog ran about ten steps and looked back at me, then bolted away up the hill and out of sight.

It was pretty obviously a miss, but I wanted to double-check for blood anyway. When I arrived at the bed, a half-dozen squirming piglets huddled under an overhang. I'd never seen them! Relief flooded through me when I checked the pine tree and found the bullet entrance, but no exit. The tree might not survive, but the sow would be back to her brood soon after I disappeared. I made my exit quickly, hoping to speed the reunion.

I decided, since I was already over here, to sidehill around the end of this ridge and watch the wash for activity. There was still an hour or more of shooting light, and it looked like the hogs were just starting to move. I worked my way around the ridge, glassing constantly. There were fresh trails and scat all over the place, and I hoped all the shooting hadn't sent the hogs into hiding.

As the daylight faded toward dusk, I didn't see any more hogs, but I did find a nice elk shed. Using the shed as a walking stick on the steep ground, I began to work my way back uphill and toward the truck.

With the summer solstice still three weeks away, the days were long. It was almost 9:00pm when darkness lowered over the ridges, and it was 9:30 by the time I reached my truck. At 10:00, I rolled back into camp to find that two hunters had scored and were skinning hogs. I fixed a quick dinner, then went to check in with everyone. Most hunters had seen hogs, and the few who hadn't had found good sign. Hopes were high for Saturday.

Bedtime came late, and the blue light of morning found me just waking in the camper. I sprang up, aggravated at myself for oversleeping. There was no time for coffee, so I opened a can of Red Bull, grabbed a second can and a granola bar, and ran for the truck. As I drove over to pick up Scott and Chris, I saw one of the other hunters heading up the road where we were planning to hunt.

Although they'd also slept in, Scott and Chris were ready quickly and we loaded up and headed up the ridge. Just as we topped the knoll, we saw Shawn Hicks, one of our other hunters trotting across the hill and waving us down. My heart skipped, as I was afraid someone had wrecked a truck on the steep terrain, but that wasn't the case after all. "Hey," Shawn called. "We have a big hog down, and need some help getting him in the truck!"

I knew there were three strong guys in his group, and wondered how big that hog must be! Turns out that Dave Newman, Shawn's brother-in-law, had killed a nice boar that weighed in whole at 275 pounds. The killer (to me) was that he'd killed it right there on the hilltop, right by the road. If I'd gone out on time, that hog could have been mine!

We loaded the hog into Dave's truck, and went on to our spot. I'd killed a small hog in this area last year, and on the drag out, we found the area to be loaded with sign and bedding areas. We had agreed then that we definitely needed to hunt the area again. I parked the truck, and we split up across the ridges.

…And this is pretty much where we came in.

With the help of Scott and Chris, I skinned my hog and cut him into pieces. We backpacked him up to the truck, and after several hours of sweating and blowing, the hardest work was done. Nothing left but to have a beer and butcher my pig… then have a nap before going back out to set Chris and Scott on their hogs.

The afternoon came and went, and by the time my hog was butchered and on ice, it was time to go back out. I drove Chris and Scott back up the ridge, in hopes of setting out into a new, but promising area. Unfortunately, either due to my exhaustion or simply bad navigation, I couldn't find the road I was looking for, and we ended up back in the area where I'd just killed my hog. Since there were only a couple of hours of shoot time left, the hunters decided to head out from here. I opted to stay in the truck and have a nap.

It was nearly sunset when I woke up to see Chris walking back up the road toward the truck. He was a little aggravated, because a truckload of yahoos had driven through near his area playing loud music and doing drive-bys on ground squirrels with a .22 pistol. He was about to climb back into the truck, but after some brief discussion, decided to stroll on down the road and finish the evening.

Less than a half-hour after he walked away, I heard a single shot. A moment later, there was one more from the same area. I recognized the sequence… one shot to knock it down, and one to finish. I silently cheered, grabbed my radio and binoculars, and jumped out to walk in the direction of the shots. As I moved up the road, Chris's voice came over the air, confirming what I already knew.
Inside, I was dreading another tough drag, but as I got closer, Chris waved to me from a hilltop. "Where's the pig," I called?

"It's right here!"

It turned out to be a smallish sow, less than 150lbs, and she'd fallen just at the top of the ridge. At the bottom of the ridge, conveniently enough, was a road. In two minutes, and with a minimum of sweat, we had her dragged down and Chris started dressing her as I went to get Scott and the truck.

Saturday night, for the first time since I started coming to Tejon Ranch, I had the opportunity to socialize (read: have several drinks) around the campfire into the wee hours, without worrying about getting up early to hunt the next day. I slept in Sunday morning, and rose to prepare a fine breakfast while those who hadn't already tagged out were in the field. It felt good.

During the course of the day, most of the group began to drift in and break camp. Although the hunt technically went until dark on Sunday, the majority of folks had hunted their fill, and was ready to head for home. By 4:00 in the afternoon, the only folks still in camp were Scott, Russ Mantel, and a new hog hunter, Joe Ramos.

I'd promised to take Joe to one of my favorite spots, and recommended that Scott and Russ work their way down "Speckmisser Ridge". Both areas have always been very productive, and I thought that with all the other hunters out of the woods, it should be a very good evening hunt.

The prediction was proved true less than an hour after hitting the field, when I heard a rifle shot from Speckmisser Ridge. A moment later, Russ came on the radio reporting that he'd had a shot, but the pig ran off. He looked for blood or sign, but couldn't find any indication of a hit.

Meanwhile, Joe and I had worked our way down our ridge. Joe was glassing to the west, and I took a position on the east, overlooking the ravine I'd crossed on Friday night. As I scanned, I caught movement that became a nice-sized hog moving sidehill on the opposite ridge. I called Joe over as the hog disappeared into a thicket.

As we glassed for the hog to reappear, I saw something moving from the other end of the same hillside. A large group of pigs was feeding across, moving from the open into thickets, then back into the open. I estimated the range at 250 yards. It was a long shot, but after some discussion with Joe, he was pretty confident he could make the shot.

Before he could shoot, I thought it best to advise him that the recovery would be pretty tough. After confirming that he was up for the job, I selected a red hog and suggested that it would be a good one to shoot… not too large to recover, and unique enough to keep up with if a second shot was required.

At the shot, the hogs scattered. However, they all ran into an isolated thicket, which meant that we'd have another chance at them if they came out. Neither of us was sure of the effect of the shot, and I steeled myself to make the long trek over to look for blood sign. Joe would stay put and spot for me when I got across. He would also be in position to take another shot if the hogs came out.

Just as I started to head down into the ravine, the hogs came back out of the thicket. They'd calmed down, but were still bunched together. Through the binoculars, I could see that the red pig was unscathed. The shot had missed. But now Joe had a second chance.

I kept the glasses focussed on the red pig as Joe steadied himself on his shooting sticks. After a moment, his rifle cracked and I watched in horror as a black hog squealed and tumbled down the hill. It looked huge, and the smaller red hog ran off with the herd. Unbeknownst to me, Joe had shifted targets since the black pig offered a better shot. However, my biggest concern was that he'd just dropped a big hog into one of the ugliest hellholes on the ranch. There was no question we'd be in for a heck of a drag, as I listened to the hog tumbling and crashing through the trees on the way down the hill.

I left Joe to spot for me again, and set off down into the ravine. The last 100 yards or so, I basically skidded downhill on my backside. I was glad I'd brought my walking stick, especially when I started the climb up the far side. Somehow, by use of toe and finger holds, I clambered up the opposite side and reached a clearing. Joe directed me to the north, and I found the thicket where we'd last seen the pig. A deeply rutted trail went straight up the mountainside, and there, in the middle of it, lay his hog.

I breathed a deep sigh of relief when I saw that it was not as big as I'd thought, then radioed Joe that I had his pig. I then dragged it down the trail to a creek that ran through the bottom of the ravine. There was a nice, flat spot for field dressing, and running water to clean the blood off of my hands and knives. At least that part of the task was made simpler.

The climb down was a little more than Joe had anticipated, and by the time he reached the bottom I'd already field dressed and beheaded his pig to make it easier to carry out. After some travail, Joe was finally able to reach the spot where I waited. I lashed the pigs feet together, and slipped my walking stick through them so we could each have a handhold. The rugged terrain made tandem carrying impossible though, since one or the other of us was letting go of the hog to keep our balance. Joe was also a little exhausted from the climb down, so I opted to make the pig into a backpack and pack it out the rest of the way on my back.

By this time the sun was long gone. The bottom of the ravine, dark even in daytime, was pitch black. Joe had forgotten his flashlight, so as we hiked up the creek bed the process consisted of taking ten steps, then turning back to shine the light for Joe. The trek was slow, and occasionally painful, but I kept reminding myself that this is hog hunting.

In the meantime, shortly after Joe shot his hog, I heard another shot from Speckmisser Ridge. Scott's voice came over the radio announcing his kill. I cheered for him, and cheered again when he said it was a small hog and close to the road. He'd get his hog to the truck, then he and Russ would drive around and try to help us out.

For a long time, we were out of radio contact. Finally, though, the radio crackled and I could receive partial messages. They weren't sure which draw we were in, so they didn't want to try to hike in and help us. We would be on our own. We bucked up, and kept on grinding. Every once in a while, I'd ask Russ to honk the horn on his truck. When we were finally close enough to hear it, that horn became a beacon, leading us to salvation.

Several hours later, my headlight fell across a welcome sight… a dirt road. I dumped the pig off of my numbed shoulders and radioed Scott and Russ to come down and get us.

The 2005 Tejon Ham Slam was effectively over, with 12 hogs taken for 24 hunters. Not a bad way to spend a weekend!

 

[swallowpig]

Originally posted by gnn961@Jun 9 2005, 01:13 PM
The question is what was in it????????????

Malted Wheat, Malted barley, Yeast (White Labs Hefeweizen), Hops, and good ol' (filtered) Carlsbad tap water. in accordance with the German purity laws. Maybe I need to change my handle to "Biermiester"

 

[joe90605]

Yah Speck, hearing Scott honk that horn sure kept me going too! You can be sure I'm never going to go out on an evening hunt without a light again.

Thanks again for hauling that hog out, I had a great time and a great hunt. I'm getting you a bottle of the finest, smoothest tequila I can find for when we meet again at next year's Ham Slam!