switch
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- Aug 31, 2004
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My buddies and I have been doing the Tejon hunt for the last several years and I almost didn't sign up for this one; but I'm glad I did.
Friday: We checked in and headed back into the center of the property to set up camp. Tejon Ranch sets a 12:00 PM shooting tome to give all the hunters a chance to check in and get back to their camps. Eric, Jeff, Ray and myself pile into the truck and head out at about 11:45. We drive a few familiar roads and decide to park and split up and hike out. We also decided to stay in pairs seeing as the last six pigs this group has taken have all been shot with other pigs around.
Jeff and I head out and start hiking and glassing. We know from the temperature, the full moon and the time of day that it is very likely the pigs are bedded down. About a half hour out we are hiking a steep canyon overlooking some great pig country. We each start glassing and I see what looks like the reflection off the bottom of a soda can in the center of some thick brush. I take a closer look. Hmm, that soda can has two big holes in the bottom...nope, no soda can, it's a large boar sunning himself in the center of the thick brush. I see nothing but his nose, forehead, ears and chest. He's laying down. The rest of him is laying in a wallow. It actually just looked like a pigs head and part of a carcus and infact that's what I thought it might be.
I call Jeff over and we are now both convince it is a pig. We drop our gear and I start getting ready for the shot. I range the pig at 210-yards. I put the rifle on my pack and lay down for a prone shot. It takes me a few minutes to settle down and put the crosshair right under his chin. The head is laying sideways with very little available as a target. As I get him in the cross hairs I see what looks like another pigs leg laying next to him. I thought about telling Jeff to get ready, but decided to concentrate on the shot.
I settle down and slowly squeeze the trigger...and promptly send a round right over his head. The whole drainage erupts in pig movement and they aren't really sure where the sound came from...unitl Jeff starts yelling, "shoot him, shoot him!" I rack another one in and the boar has now stood up broadside and has tripled in size. I come up off the log and offhand a shot right behind the shoulder. I hear the sweetest 'Thwap' and see the pig buckle and hear it squeal. I then watch as instead of it dropping, it turns and heads straight down into thick brush...not good!
Meanwhile the 20-30 pigs that cleared the brush have now exited over the hill and out of sight. Jeff should have had his rifle ready. We gathered up our stuff and gave the pig about 5-minutes to die/escape/build weapons, whatever. We concluded that a wounded animal would be more likely to charge you downhill, than up, so coming in from the top was the plan.
We hiked over to the area and came in from above. We found the area the pig was laying and found no blood. We tracked fresh tracks down into the overgrown drainage. We came to a spot where the tracks faded and the path forked. Jeff went right, I went left. I took the safety off and crouch down into the overgrowth. Not 10-feet in I see a pair of angry yellow eyes, two bright, white tusks and huge, gray forehead looking right at me 25-feet away. The boars head was moving back and forth in a threatening manner and I think if I had been below him and downhill, he would have come at me. Instead he turned towards his left, trying to escape downhill. Just before I lost sight of him, I put one right through his heart and hear him fall. I glance at my watch, 12:35.
The boar weighed 275-pounds on the hoof and 198-pounds field dressed. It is the largest pig I've shot. The chompers were each 2 3/4 inches in length and his big, fat head is headed for the beetles.
Saturday after a pigless morning hunt, we found some thick drainages and kicked a dozen pigs out and two were dropped by two members of the party. Jeff's pig was a huge sow that weighed 163-pounds dressed. Eric knocked down a golden haired female that weighed 70-pounds field dressed.
On Sunday, with time running out, we returned to the thick drainages where Eric and Jeff had had success the day before and placed Ray in a good postion to get a shot at moving animals. The three of us headed up an opposite ridge to do some driving. After a few minutes of coordination we ended up pushing a handful of pigs towards Ray and he dropped the final pig of the trip. It was a 85-pound field dressed female, his first big game animal ever and man was he happy! We had to convince him to hunt that last morning, as work commitments had him thinking of leaving the night before.
On the south side of the ranch, seventy hunters checked in to hunt the weekend. At last weigh in, 22 pigs had been checked in and our group acounted for 4 of those. A great trip, with some great hunters and good friends.
Friday: We checked in and headed back into the center of the property to set up camp. Tejon Ranch sets a 12:00 PM shooting tome to give all the hunters a chance to check in and get back to their camps. Eric, Jeff, Ray and myself pile into the truck and head out at about 11:45. We drive a few familiar roads and decide to park and split up and hike out. We also decided to stay in pairs seeing as the last six pigs this group has taken have all been shot with other pigs around.
Jeff and I head out and start hiking and glassing. We know from the temperature, the full moon and the time of day that it is very likely the pigs are bedded down. About a half hour out we are hiking a steep canyon overlooking some great pig country. We each start glassing and I see what looks like the reflection off the bottom of a soda can in the center of some thick brush. I take a closer look. Hmm, that soda can has two big holes in the bottom...nope, no soda can, it's a large boar sunning himself in the center of the thick brush. I see nothing but his nose, forehead, ears and chest. He's laying down. The rest of him is laying in a wallow. It actually just looked like a pigs head and part of a carcus and infact that's what I thought it might be.
I call Jeff over and we are now both convince it is a pig. We drop our gear and I start getting ready for the shot. I range the pig at 210-yards. I put the rifle on my pack and lay down for a prone shot. It takes me a few minutes to settle down and put the crosshair right under his chin. The head is laying sideways with very little available as a target. As I get him in the cross hairs I see what looks like another pigs leg laying next to him. I thought about telling Jeff to get ready, but decided to concentrate on the shot.
I settle down and slowly squeeze the trigger...and promptly send a round right over his head. The whole drainage erupts in pig movement and they aren't really sure where the sound came from...unitl Jeff starts yelling, "shoot him, shoot him!" I rack another one in and the boar has now stood up broadside and has tripled in size. I come up off the log and offhand a shot right behind the shoulder. I hear the sweetest 'Thwap' and see the pig buckle and hear it squeal. I then watch as instead of it dropping, it turns and heads straight down into thick brush...not good!
Meanwhile the 20-30 pigs that cleared the brush have now exited over the hill and out of sight. Jeff should have had his rifle ready. We gathered up our stuff and gave the pig about 5-minutes to die/escape/build weapons, whatever. We concluded that a wounded animal would be more likely to charge you downhill, than up, so coming in from the top was the plan.
We hiked over to the area and came in from above. We found the area the pig was laying and found no blood. We tracked fresh tracks down into the overgrown drainage. We came to a spot where the tracks faded and the path forked. Jeff went right, I went left. I took the safety off and crouch down into the overgrowth. Not 10-feet in I see a pair of angry yellow eyes, two bright, white tusks and huge, gray forehead looking right at me 25-feet away. The boars head was moving back and forth in a threatening manner and I think if I had been below him and downhill, he would have come at me. Instead he turned towards his left, trying to escape downhill. Just before I lost sight of him, I put one right through his heart and hear him fall. I glance at my watch, 12:35.
The boar weighed 275-pounds on the hoof and 198-pounds field dressed. It is the largest pig I've shot. The chompers were each 2 3/4 inches in length and his big, fat head is headed for the beetles.
Saturday after a pigless morning hunt, we found some thick drainages and kicked a dozen pigs out and two were dropped by two members of the party. Jeff's pig was a huge sow that weighed 163-pounds dressed. Eric knocked down a golden haired female that weighed 70-pounds field dressed.
On Sunday, with time running out, we returned to the thick drainages where Eric and Jeff had had success the day before and placed Ray in a good postion to get a shot at moving animals. The three of us headed up an opposite ridge to do some driving. After a few minutes of coordination we ended up pushing a handful of pigs towards Ray and he dropped the final pig of the trip. It was a 85-pound field dressed female, his first big game animal ever and man was he happy! We had to convince him to hunt that last morning, as work commitments had him thinking of leaving the night before.
On the south side of the ranch, seventy hunters checked in to hunt the weekend. At last weigh in, 22 pigs had been checked in and our group acounted for 4 of those. A great trip, with some great hunters and good friends.
