mftkoehler
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- Jun 11, 2009
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Although I'm not a frequent poster, I thought I'd update people on two recent hunts I was on because I think it highlights some of the questions you should ask before booking a guided hunt. I'm new to hog hunting and so I've gone on guided hunts exclusively to this point.
Back in October, I went hunting with Frank Morasci a second time. I'd had a pretty good experience with him the first time, and brought two friends with me this time. We spent a very long day hunting his property with very little to show for it. We began at dawn with an attempt at an ambush, but the pigs never made it to the party, so we moved on and glassed some pigs on an adjoining property, but they never headed our way. We drove some more, and then some more, and finally ended up with Frank attempting to drive pigs out of a riverbed toward the three hunters. Again, the pigs were unable to attend.
After some additional cruising around the property, we did see one pig. Unfortunately, he saw us too, and we had to pile into the truck yet again to see if we could close the range. As we pulled up to a spot overlooking where the pig would get out into the open, Frank told us to get out of the truck and open fire. By the time I got out and a round chambered, I had no kind of shot, although one of my companions did touch a round off to no good effect. The piggy shook his hindquarters at us and disappeared.
Finally, at dusk, we cruised in two separate trucks up into some brushy canyons that looked promising. I saw nothing, although my friends in the other truck got another shot at the disappearing end of a hog.
I took from this experience the lesson that if you show up with multiple hunters, there's a lot of pressure on the guides to find hogs fast. This translated in this case to an awful lot of driving around in the truck in the hopes that we'd find a bunch of pigs. This is not really what I like in a hunt; I prefer to walk through beds, trying to find something for myself. Now, I'm a newbie, and it may be that that approach is much less likely to yield a hog than driving around, but at least I would have felt like I hunted.
To be sure, Frank did not expect to be paid the full amount since no one got much of a look at a hog. We agreed on a fraction and headed home. This resulted in everyone ending the day tired and unfulfilled.
For my more recent hunt, I went out just before Christmas with a publicity-shy operation, so I won't name names, which is a shame because I had a good experience. My guide was excellent, and we hunted a nice property the old fashioned way, on foot. After working in one area in the morning having scared up only one group of pigs without getting much of a shot opportunity, we went to another property that they hunt, and I almost immediately harvested a nice hog with a clean shot behind the shoulder.
My favorite moment of the day came immediately after my shot. My guide had been next to me telling me which hog to target while another fellow was holding some dogs ready in case they were needed. The guide said, "Bring the dogs up here," but the guy misunderstood his meaning and released them. For those of you who've never seen dogs head off after pigs, it's a hell of a thing.
First, my guide screamed (and I'm approximating here), "!@^!@#$&*^!"
The problem, you see, is that my pig was dead, and so the dogs would ignore it and would chase one of the others in the area. And you never know how far they will run before bringing one to bay. Letting those little furry missiles go could have meant a long trek up into some pretty hairy country to get them away from the hog they ended up targeting. There's no other way to get them back other than physically hauling them away from the pig, and they won't give up until then.
Fortunately for all involved, it ended well. The dogs went ripping past us, easily sidestepping the flying tackle my guide attempted, and managed to bay a second pig within 30 seconds or so. They looked fairly pissed to be dragged away from an unshot pig, but were given a chance to nip at and shake around the pig I'd shot in compensation.
Again without naming names, I felt like I got a hunt experience a lot closer to what I was hoping for by asking lots of questions in advance and making it very clear what I wanted. The guides like it when you do this as well because then there aren't any nasty surprises along the way, such as the client is physically unable to do the hunt they've planned or won't shoot when the time comes. They told me several horror stories along these lines.
Anyway, I'm planning to barbecue my shoulders soon and am looking forward to a bunch of good eating in this new year.
Mike
Back in October, I went hunting with Frank Morasci a second time. I'd had a pretty good experience with him the first time, and brought two friends with me this time. We spent a very long day hunting his property with very little to show for it. We began at dawn with an attempt at an ambush, but the pigs never made it to the party, so we moved on and glassed some pigs on an adjoining property, but they never headed our way. We drove some more, and then some more, and finally ended up with Frank attempting to drive pigs out of a riverbed toward the three hunters. Again, the pigs were unable to attend.
After some additional cruising around the property, we did see one pig. Unfortunately, he saw us too, and we had to pile into the truck yet again to see if we could close the range. As we pulled up to a spot overlooking where the pig would get out into the open, Frank told us to get out of the truck and open fire. By the time I got out and a round chambered, I had no kind of shot, although one of my companions did touch a round off to no good effect. The piggy shook his hindquarters at us and disappeared.
Finally, at dusk, we cruised in two separate trucks up into some brushy canyons that looked promising. I saw nothing, although my friends in the other truck got another shot at the disappearing end of a hog.
I took from this experience the lesson that if you show up with multiple hunters, there's a lot of pressure on the guides to find hogs fast. This translated in this case to an awful lot of driving around in the truck in the hopes that we'd find a bunch of pigs. This is not really what I like in a hunt; I prefer to walk through beds, trying to find something for myself. Now, I'm a newbie, and it may be that that approach is much less likely to yield a hog than driving around, but at least I would have felt like I hunted.
To be sure, Frank did not expect to be paid the full amount since no one got much of a look at a hog. We agreed on a fraction and headed home. This resulted in everyone ending the day tired and unfulfilled.
For my more recent hunt, I went out just before Christmas with a publicity-shy operation, so I won't name names, which is a shame because I had a good experience. My guide was excellent, and we hunted a nice property the old fashioned way, on foot. After working in one area in the morning having scared up only one group of pigs without getting much of a shot opportunity, we went to another property that they hunt, and I almost immediately harvested a nice hog with a clean shot behind the shoulder.
My favorite moment of the day came immediately after my shot. My guide had been next to me telling me which hog to target while another fellow was holding some dogs ready in case they were needed. The guide said, "Bring the dogs up here," but the guy misunderstood his meaning and released them. For those of you who've never seen dogs head off after pigs, it's a hell of a thing.
First, my guide screamed (and I'm approximating here), "!@^!@#$&*^!"
The problem, you see, is that my pig was dead, and so the dogs would ignore it and would chase one of the others in the area. And you never know how far they will run before bringing one to bay. Letting those little furry missiles go could have meant a long trek up into some pretty hairy country to get them away from the hog they ended up targeting. There's no other way to get them back other than physically hauling them away from the pig, and they won't give up until then.
Fortunately for all involved, it ended well. The dogs went ripping past us, easily sidestepping the flying tackle my guide attempted, and managed to bay a second pig within 30 seconds or so. They looked fairly pissed to be dragged away from an unshot pig, but were given a chance to nip at and shake around the pig I'd shot in compensation.
Again without naming names, I felt like I got a hunt experience a lot closer to what I was hoping for by asking lots of questions in advance and making it very clear what I wanted. The guides like it when you do this as well because then there aren't any nasty surprises along the way, such as the client is physically unable to do the hunt they've planned or won't shoot when the time comes. They told me several horror stories along these lines.
Anyway, I'm planning to barbecue my shoulders soon and am looking forward to a bunch of good eating in this new year.
Mike
