What makes a successful hunt?

[Speckmisser]

Beastslayer originally put this in the POR thread, but I thought it was worth it's own topic for discussion. So, here goes...

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I've re-read all the post-hunt postings trying to distill learnings for the question: What makes for a successful hog hunt? No, I'm not trying to make money by writing a book on hog hunting -- which is not exactly a bad idea.

So, I'll start. What makes this hunt a successful (or a failed attempt) for you?

My own observation was that Tejon was such a vast ranch and a definite hog heaven. The biggest temptation was to cover as much real estate as possible. But I realized my strength is my strong peripheral vision -- which does not seem to work well when I myself is moving. Specially so when I am inside a vehicle. With credit to Speck, I took his advice to choose an area with big potential and walk, glass, walk some more...

Powerman, I noticed, is very strong in pattern recognition. He was able to point to me the outline of a head of deer bedding and obviously just sitting there and nonchalantly watching us.[/b]

 

[beastslayer]

Speck,

I was hoping you'll start. I slammed you good in the POR thread. But the truthis that I owe my success to you. I followed 99% of your advice and came out with a 180 pounder. I say 99% because I did not glass down canyon and ridges where I may end up hauling the damn pig uphill.

 

[Arrowslinger]

For me.....anytime i learn something new is a successful hunt, but the most important thing i've learned lately is that anytime i see a hog or hogs is to glass the surrounding area. Too many times i've seen the pig i want to shoot only to get busted by another hog i never saw. I always glass everything around the hog looking for others. My last pig at Choppers was bedded w/ 6 other hogs that if i didn't glass, would have never seen'em.

 

[Lurediver]

Just the chance to watch someone else harvest a pig, I'd consider it a successful hunt! Like AS stated learning something new always makes it worth my while, also just being outside and having the opportunity to maybe kill something I consider a success.


Last, being able to come home from a hunting trip in 1 piece without serious injuries or death is always a plus in my book, I've learned this the hard way!

 

[larrysogla]

IMHO a "successful" hunt is when "I bring home the bacon". A satisfying hunt is when I get to go OUTDOORS. Of course just my 2c. 'Nuff said.

 

[rodneyshishido]

I hunt hogs in Maui, Hawaii. From the pictures you guys have posted, the terrain does not seem that much different than the area that I hunt. One difference may be that when you get into the forests here, visibilty is rarely more than 20 yards. I generally walk the fringes of the forest (I have a hard time sitting still) and find that I am hearing the pigs before I see them. A lot of times it is a just single low grunt.

Maybe your terrain is too open and your distances too far, but in my neck of the woods, it has accounted for 4 pigs this year.

Aloha

 

[wmidbrook]

Over the years my own personal success seems to count less than other things. I had a good hog year last year bagging hogs on 3 of 4 trips in various venues. I must stay that the Tejon hunt back in '04 was one of the most memorable hunts I've been on. It was good to meet up with others I had never met before.

Bob (Oneclearshot), Cory and I found a bedding area the first day of the hunt--the first annual JHO hog hunt that is...Cory snuck in there and managed to shoot a trophy boar. I took this picture of him and must say it ranked right up there if not better than taking one myself. It's a good thing to see others become interested in the sport of hunting~!

 

[THE ROMAN ARCHER]

i personally feel being succsessful is not coming home empty handed. to achieve that is by doing your homework, you have to learn everything possible about the terrain and the game animal you hunt, after all its their home they know it better than you. you have to have total confidence in yourself and your abilitys. great instinct is a must to be a true hunter and you have to be hungry for it, you must eat, sleep and dream 24/7 about the game animal you will pursue until that day and that moment comes to take your best shot, and you will only know your succesful by not coming home empty handed, the most personal satisfying reward a hunter can achieve.................tra



p.s. for east coast hunters to be succsessful (DONT PEE OUT OF YOUR TREE STAND)...........tra

 

[Speckmisser]

OK, I'll have a shot at it.

What makes a successful hunt for me is getting out of the house and away from the city. It is getting away from the traffic, the sirens, the yelling and cursing crowds of low-lifes who seem to find their way down every street in this damned megalopolis I live in. It's leaving behind the constant surveillance of every strange vehicle on my street, and inspection of every group of punks strolling past my house.

At some point on the way to every hunt, I pass a milestone or landmark that lets me know I've crossed the line. From then on, the anticipation starts to build and my heart rate changes from the rapid pounding of prey to the steady thump of a predator.

Once in the woods, a "successful" hunt begins with the opportunity to apply my woodsmanship. I've killed a lot of animals through pure luck... stepping into the right place at the right time... but that's never as satisfying as working an area, putting the puzzle together, and finally making it happen when the animal appears as if I had scripted it.

Beastslayer mentioned using your strengths, and that's a part of it too. Probably my most productive attribute is patience. It's born of years in treestands back east, and it allows me to hunt a small area and resist that desire to try to cover the whole bloody state in one day. I know there are lots of productive spots, for example at Tejon Ranch, but I'm happy to find one and work it thoroughly... rather than using the run and gun approach that works for other hunters.

Like a lot of other folks have mentioned, success doesn't always mean meat on the hook. For me, it's a big win just to be out there doing my thing.

I have also found that it's rewarding as all get out to help someone else... to give them some ideas, direction, or just share a plan, and see them pull it off. Maybe it's all ego, but it sure tickles me to hear someone come back with a hog or deer on the meat pole, and say, "I did what you told me and there it was, just like you said!"

 

[BigDog]

There are lots of things that can make a hunt a successful one. I have had many hunts that I considered successful even though I did not bring game home. The last JHO Tejon POR is a great example. I really put my skills to work on the first couple days and they worked. I got to within 15 yards of pigs several times and did not shoot only by choice. I was looking for a bigger pig. But I did take pictures and that was just as good.
As Speck pointed out, a hunt can be made successful by helping out another hunter. I have taken many people with me to Golden Ram ranches. Some have scored, some have not. But, helping someone get out there and try is always a great feeling for me.
And of course, it is just great to get away from the madness of "civilization" and relax. Sometimes, that is the hunt for me. Just to hunt out that solitude and enjoy it when I find it. One of those hunts will stay with me till I die. When the attacks occured on Sept. 11th, I was like so many and stayed glued to tv for the rest of the week. The following weekend was the B zone opener. I so needed to get out of town. I packed up the trailer, threw the wife and the dogs into the truck and headed out. I spent most of Saturday just sitting in the woods. Not hunting, just sitting. I saw two deer that I could have shot but didn't. When I got home, the world still sucked but I now had more energy to deal with it.

You never know what can make it a successful hunt.

 

[beastslayer]

Very well said and written, BigDog and Speck.

How much "reading the terrain" and outthinking the quarry takes place in your hunt, if I may ask? I must be reading too many magazines, but the authors seem to be one in saying this is THE ELEMENT of success. Example: If it's full moon, hogs will be nocturnal so hunt very early morning or near evening. If food and water are plentiful, hogs will be spread out -- so cover more ground. If the day is extraordinarily hot, hogs will be in the wallow and water sources, etc., etc.

 

[BigDog]

When I am really "on the hunt", reading the terrain is a big part of finding the game. Since I started hunting deer in Ca. in 1987, I have tracked quite a few deer to their bedding area and shot them either still in the bed or just as they stood up. I have scoured trails to determine if they were being used in the morning or the evening, going to bed or going to food and have been waiting on the trails for the deer. The hunter who brings home meat consistently has to know his prey and think like they do.

 

[SDHNTR]

My own idea of success has morphed into now finding greater happiness watching someone I care about harvest game. Especially if it is a yougster or someone taking their first animal.

 

[Franklin3]

Getting out and away from the daily grind is always the start of good things. getting in tune with the primal instincts and realizing my place as a part of the natural world and getting back in tune with the natural order of things. That is my goal. Money and influence buys nothing in the wild yet everything still has it's price and every price will be paid. I cant' explain it or translate it but my father helped me understand it and I'm now enjoying it with my son.

When I think about it, I never have had a hunt that I didn't consider a success in some way and I dont beleive I ever will.

Filling the freezer is just icing on the cake.

 

[forkehornreggie]

I second what SDHNTR said -----watching/helping someone who has never experienced game up close and possibly having a shot. I never had anyone show me squat so I love to show people what I've learned. I also love the getting out and hanging with friends, drinking some brewski's aroung the fire, etc.

 

[SOUTH_TX_TIGERSTRIPES]

THE BEST THING TO DO (IF U HAVE UR OWN PLACE) DURING WINTER GET UR SELF A LITTLE POND OUT BACK COVER THE BOTTOM WITH BLACK TARP OR CLAY (DOWN HERE IN TX THERE'S PLENTY OF CLAY)
FILL IT WITH WATER WAIT TILL SUMMER COMES AROUND AND AND IT'LL BE HALF FULL, HOGS WILL BE THERE MOST OF THE DAY RIGHT BEFORE WINTER FILL IT AND ULL NOT ONLY SEE PIG BUT DEER.
THIS TECHNIQUE WILL NOT FAIL AS IT HAS NOT FOR ME.

PUTTING A FEEDER IS A GREAT BONOUS!!!!

 

[beastslayer]

I bet half of the hog hunters here in Kalifornia would like to move to Texas with that kind of set up.

 

[Speckmisser]

I've hunted over feeders, and I'll probably do it again... but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. I sure as HECK wouldn't move to Texas for the opportunity.

 

[Rancho Loco]

Me neither...

To many texans there.

 

[beastslayer]

And they can say the same to us Kalifornicators.

But seriously Rancho, share us some hog hunting success pointers.