Tejon Pig Hunt Feb 3rd-5th

[switch]

I'm booked to hunt with three friends on the south side of Tejon ranch the first weekend of Feb. Anyone else going?

 

[ironworker]

Greetings, I will be there along with my son and younger brother.

I am trying to get a spot on the South side of the ranch however it looks like its booked according to the recording on tejons hotline.

sending in my application in tomorrow however I am hoping there is still room left in the JHO party.

this site is great!

Rich

 

[switch]

Hi Rich, Yeah get that application in ASAP. We've hunted the south side before and it is a nice piece of land.

Me and my group will be tent camping on ay flat piece of land on the south side camping area. We'll be driving a red and white dodge, a maroon Toyate 4-runner and a green SUV. If you get a reservation and see us, stop on by. We'll be the ones freezing our arses off.

Tim

 

[ironworker]

I will definitely do that

, It's been hell at work for the past few months and i have been looking forward to this hunt since October.

I will driving a Silver 06 F250 4x4 quad cab and most likely a green Jeep.

Are you sleeping in a tent?, we have a 30ft motor home but I don't feel like driving it 500+ miles towing a jeep.
I figure it's either a cold ass tent or a motel in Lebec either way is fine by me.

I take it you have hunted there before?

Rich

 

[switch]

Yeah, we'll be tenting it. I have a huge three room tent, you can't miss it.

Our group hunted Tejon in Dec. 2004. We ended up bagging a nice 240-pound boar and we saw many others. From the reports I've seen for this year, the pigs are abundant, so we're looking forward to it.

I'll keep an eye out for your rigs.

Tim

 

[ironworker]

looking at the weather report this morning 27 degrees is cold as hell to be sleeping on the ground

. I think a motel might be in order for this trip.
What are the road conditions on the ranch and do you think a normal truck with four wheel drive is enough or should I bring my jeep for the real rugged terrain in case it's needed. what do you recommend?


Rich

 

[switch]

27 degrees at tejon! Geez, well we'll see how it goes.

The main road throught eh property is essentially a paved two-laned highway. Some of the fire roads that are accessable are 4X4 friendly, but a short wheel based jeep might be the deal to get back to where no one else hunts.

Dang, 27 Degrees! I'm wondering if we can tent it now.

 

[Speckmisser]

BRING THE JEEP!

A full-sized truck on those roads, this time of year... it can get a little hairy. Trust me on this one.

The Jeep does have to be street legal, registered, and insured, though.

 

[ironworker]

I already reserved a motel in Lebec for two nights but if it sounds like it will be far drive to and from the motel or problems getting back in the ranch once I leave then I will make arrangements to stay on the ranch.

I just cringe at the thought of driving a motor home and turning a 5 hour trip into 10 hours.


If you think a jeep would come in handy to access the hard to get to places then I will bring it along.I plan on towing it because it's a bouncy son of a gun and you would need kidney replacements by the time you got there.

Damn I got the fever for this hunt! I can bearly concentrate on work.


Rich

 

[ironworker]

Well now we have another problem, it looks like the south area is sold out so it's the north side for me.
I see so many JHO posts regarding the hogs at tejon but all these are on the south side. Need some help finding an area to hunt now.
I will stop by and still say hello either on my way in or out for the night. if you have any insight on places to hunt in the north area please send me an email or post it here.

Rich

 

[switch]

Rich, that's a bummer about the south side. I've only hunted that side once and it was 20-plus years ago. Sorry, I can't help with any spots. I don't remember enough about the area.

Yeah, the jeep will be a plus for you. Especially if you need to drag something out.

Good luck and if you getover to the south side, stop on by. I'LL BE THE ONE GUTTING A HUGE PIG

 

[ironworker]

Just talked to Barbara and everything is a go for the North side of the property.
Barbara told me that there are just as many pigs on the North side as the South but it seems that return hunters seem to flock towards the south end of the property.
I am cool either way, I just want a chance to hunt the grand Tejon ranch once and for all.

Like I said if anyone here knows the North area and is willing to point a finger I would appreciate anything I can get. I figure I can ask some of the guys once I get there and hope for a good area.

I have researched finding sign and area where pigs bed and I feel confident I can track one down. Good luck with your hunt Switch, if I get close to your area I promise to stop by and say hello.



Rich

 

[switch]

Same to you, Rich. Look for sign, check the ravines and do some glassing. All the pigs, with the exception of one, we spotted by glassing and made stalks on. Some were less than 100-yards away, others were over 1,000-yards away. The one exception was a 100-pound boar I heard before I saw. He walked out of a draiange right towards me. I put the crosshairs on him at about 40-yards, and then decided to hold out for a larger pig. After all it was the first day. That was the last live pig I would see on that trip.

Glass, glass, glass.

Good luck and if we don't touch base on the hunt, let the forum know how you did.

Tim

 

[spectr17]

ironworker, you may want to get a hotel at the bottom of the grapevine instead of in Lebec. It's a long drive back up that hill at the end of the day to Lebec. The north gate is on the north end of the ranch at the bottom of the Grapevine. There is a Best Western I used when I was turkey hunting up there and another cheaper motel I can't remember the name of. Iron Skillet restaurant there has good breakfast too.

It will save you maybe 15-20 mins drive time. There is also a good flat camp area on the north side where you could pull your trailer.

Just an FYI, I've heard some hog hunters got their trucks broken in to at LEbec a few times while parked at the hotels. Make sure and bring all your high dollar stuff into your room. Lots of dirtbags hanging around that truckstop there. It sounded like they knew who was hunting and they were targeting those trucks.

 

[ironworker]

I just so happen to have a room at the Best Western reserved for the weekend but it's the one in Lebec. I sent Barbara an email and she recommended the Ramada Inn on the west end on the I-5 Grapevine exit. I will go ahead and cancel the hotel I have and exchange it for a closer one for sure, possibly the other best western.

I appreciate the heads up on the thieves in the area. I will keep all my stuff in the hotel locked up for sure.

Thanks for the tips guys I really appreciate them.


Rich

 

[ironworker]

Any ideas what the weather will be like at Tejon? I know it will be cold but what about snow? I know it snows there but I don't know if it's a rare occasion or if snow is there all the time.


Thanks in advance.


Rich

 

[switch]

Rich, when we were there in December 2004, we hunted the first day in partial snow, but that was at the higher elevations. I believe most of the oak areas and rolling hills stay relatively free of snow. As far as I could tell from the weather forcast, there isn't any bad weather predicted in the near future.

Here's a picture of the terrain we hunted the first day.

 

[switch]

Sorry, still haven't figured out how to post multiple pictures.
Here's one of where we camped on the south side. And yes, we froze our arse's off. We also had a pretty strong rain shower come in the last day and collapse the tent, snapping one of the poles.

 

[switch]

And the reward. This is my buddy Eric's pig which tipped the scales at around 245-pounds. As mentioned, we all had opportunites. Lots of animals were seen. Eric caught this one sunning itself at the bottom of a ravine. He shot it with a .270 at a little less than 100-yards. It took us 3-hours to haul it out of the canyon. Looking forward to adding a few pictures to the wall after this next trip.

 

[ironworker]

Great pictures! that 3 hour match with the canyon doesn't sound fun but it looks like it was well worth it.

Rich