Tejon Turners' hunt pics from 2-24-02

[spectr17]

Here are two pics from the Turner's hog hunt held this past weekend 2/24/02

I don't have all the info yet but I believe this hog was shot by Methling Izbicki. Jim Matthews is on the left but I'm not sure who the other 2 guys are yet.

This is Jim with his hog.

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Five hunters whack hogs on Turner's Outdoorsman hunt

By Jim Matthews

       LEBEC -- In spite of a thick fog all-day Saturday that limited visibility to about 20 yards, the 10 hunters in the first of five Turner's Outdoorsman unguided hog hunts on the Tejon Ranch managed to take five hogs this past weekend, including two whopper boars that weighed over 250 pounds each.

       The biggest hog was taken early Sunday morning in a joint effort by Gary Methling and his partner Len Izbicki, both from San Marcos. In the early morning fog, the near-300-pound boar emerged in front of the two hunters and Methling actually shot the brute with his 9mm handgun. Len, just returned from hunting hogs in Hawaii where they hunt them with dogs and then stick the pigs, finished off the animal with his knife. The boar had two-inch-plus teeth.

       "Gary told me that he didn't want me to kill a pig, just to wound one so he could finish it off with his knife," said Methling. It just happened to work out that way.

       Sunday evening, Earl Wise of Palmdale used his .300 Weatherby on a big boar as the hunt was winding down. Not only did the hog weigh in the 250-pound range, but it had one tooth that was 2 1/2-inches long while the other was just under that.

       Wise was part of a group of five guys who work together -- his son Robert, Andy Probert, Ken Payne, and their boss Tim Guzzy. They wanted to take their boss on his first hog hunt, and Guzzy shot a nice meat pig Saturday evening in spite of the weather. Guzzy was also the hunter lucky in the drawing on Sunday and won a new Puma Model 92 lever action rifle chambered for the .454 Casull cartridge. The group also has some stories about missed hogs they can tell with gusto.

       Other hunters in the group included Steve Fortier of Riverside and Sean and Larry Lassley, both of Clovis. The father and son Lassley team waited until the last hour of the last day to fill their hog tags, turning down a number of small pigs before finally shooting two nice meat sows late Sunday evening. Sean captured his father shooting his hog on video, and then set the camera down long enough to bag his own pig.

       There are four more hunts scheduled in the coming months. Each of the Turner's hunts are limited to just 10 hunters who get to stay in one of the two first-class hunting lodges on the Tejon. Meals are provided, but hunters get to hunt the ranch on their own. There is also a drawing on each full hunt for a pig hunting rifle. In the past hunts, the drawings have been for Marlin .450 Model 1895 lever rifles, Howa Model 1500 bolt rifles, and now the Puma lever gun in .454. The next hunt dates are set for March 22-24, May 17-19, June 28-30, and July 26-28, and there are still open spots for all but the May hunt, which is booked up, and other hunts are filling rapidly.

       For more information on these hunts, sponsored by Turner's Outdoorsman, Mike Raahauge Shooting Enterprises, and California Hog Hunter, contact Jim Matthews at (909) 887-3444.

 

[Dakota]

Plenty ugly just the way I like them!  (the pig not jim **wink**)

 

[songdog]

I want to know who let the bozo out there that "just wanted to wound  one" with his 9mm?  It never ceases to amaze me how stupid some people can be.  At least he was smart enough to know that his 9mm would only wound a 300lb pig at 20 yards.  

I'm the last one that wants more regulations from the DF&G but when some people don't have the common sense to make their own decisions, someone else has to do it for them.  I'm beginning to think that they should mandate minimum calibers and muzzle energy requirements like in other states for big game.

If the Tejon folks knew about this before he did it, I'd be willing to bet that they'd have stepped in and stopped it right away.

(Edited by songdog at 8:49 am on Feb. 27, 2002)

 

[sdbowyer]

Songdog, you read my mind.  Is this the kind of sort that shows up at the Turner hunts?  And then its put in an article.  Make all the excuses you want but this doesn't help ANY of us that love hunting.

 

[Bill in SD]

I agree, that is pretty sad when someone sets out to "wound" an animal instead of trying to cleanly kill it in the first place.


Bill

 

[yotegetter]

I think that's really stupid. Gives all of us hunters a bad name if this gets out to the wrong people!


(Edited by yotegetter at 3:48 pm on Mar. 1, 2002)

 

[Bishop]

Well I got my Western Outdoor News today with the same report and photos.  Great P.R. for Turners, Tejon, and hunters in general.  I guess killing a boar with a knife (illegal in Calif) is a macho trip for some.  But at least be sporting about it.  Having your friend wound it so you can kill it with a knife?  Sort of like fighting Evander Holifield but first your friend breaks Evander's arms with a baseball bat.

 

[Speckmisser]

I just wonder if wounding it first with the 9mm made it legal to finish with the knife?  Technicality?

Not to back this yahoo up, though.  I can't believe anyone (over 10) would go out planning to wound anything intentionally, rather than drop it quick and clean..no matter what his ulterior motives may have been.  

 

[songdog]

It was a Jim Matthew's article, wasn't it?  Someone should send him a quick email telling him that we should expect a higher standard from him.  Heck, give me his email and I'll tell him.

 

[Bishop]

Songdog:  It's (Jim's Email) :  odwriter@aol.com

 

[m57jager]

Man, what is going through some of these numb nuts heads?  I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous.  This is the perfect example of why each year hunting and gun rights are being cracked down on.  If your going to shoot something do it will a clean kill and cook it up.  Glad to hear there are quite a few of us ethical hunters at this forum.  

 

[grtwythunter]

Following Songdog's footsteps, I think I'll shoot Matthews an e-mail, as we all should. While I'm at it, I think I'll send one DFG's way. I doubt they'll do much about it, but maybe they'll look a little closer at what goes on at Tejon in the future. This kind of crap getting tossed out in public is what is going to get hunting lost for good.             Scott

 

[Kernhuntr]

gtwythunter,
To be fair to Tejon, these I believe are un-guided hunts. If I'm wrong please correct me. I know some of the guides there and there is no way they would allow some nuckle head to "wound" an animal for the thrill of sticking it with a blade. On the hunts I've been on, you are on your'e own, left to your'e own ethics, and hunting practices.
See my post in the varmit section under squrrials started by Dazco to see what fish and game already does there.
Kernhuntr

 

[grtwythunter]

Kernhuntr- I re-read my post, and that didn't come out right. I wasn't bashing Tejon, for the fact that I doubt they want some yo-yo going around wounding hogs and getting them bad press. I look at the southern slope of Tejon daily and drool, waiting for the day that I've saved enough pennies to go.
  It should have been more to the effect of DFG needs to look into things like this no matter where they happen. I hear too many stories about people reporting things to DFG and getting little or no response.
  Too bad that the Barney Fife of a warden you guys have out there didn't get ahold of them...but he sounds like a dog chasing a car...wouldn't know what to do when he caught it.    
  I did get an email back from Matthews. He basically said that too many hunters worry about the way others hunt and the guy was joking about wanting to wound a pig. Then he went on to say that the guy shot the pig 3 times with the 9mm and that "sticking" a pig is legal in the south and in Hawaii, so who's to say it's unethical. Gee Jim...I thought the fact that it's illegal in CA is what made it unethical.            Scott

 

[rusman66]

Sounds more like Bullfighting, than Hunting?
Here I have been practicing with my bow for nothing. I guess I will just let one fly, hopeing I can wound em then just run up a stick em with a knife.

(Edited by rusman66 at 6:39 am on Mar. 1, 2002)

 

[james marquess]

Idiots!!!!!!

 

[MAC]

I have no problem hunting pigs with dogs and a knife as long as the hunter knows how to dispatch the hog quickly, but in that situation, wouldn't it have been just about as easy do it another way?

Also, what we all say when we are pumped up over an experience (whether it is because we are excited or ashamed, or both) is sometimes not the most well thought out remark. I'm not saying what happened was o.k., but i do have to say that maybe that quote re: wanting to wound the pig shouldn't have been the one used.

 

[Megadeth]

Its a big slap across the face of all ethical hunters. Nice way to end hunting as we know it!

 

[Kernhuntr]

Mac,
I agree, and have friends that have hunted hogs with a speer. The dog thing is personal preferance.

But, although what we say in the heat of the moment is sometimes not what we want to convey, the writer of this article is a well seasoned author and should have known better than to publish somthing like that in an article that would be seen by the masses, both hunters and anti's (PETA members comes to mind, that's all they need). It's this kind of assine behevior that fuels the end of our passion, hunting. Particularly in California.
Kernhuntr

 

[songdog]

Kernhuntr hit the nail on the head.  It's bad enough that these guys did what they did.  Even if legit, someone will always take it out of context... you just figure that would be someone writing for the associated press, not our own Jim Matthews.