What to expect from hog hunting guide?

[chickenfried]

hey guys,

I'm thinking of using a guide with some friends for our first hunt. Leaning towards Tom Willoughby. I'm just curious what to expect. I'm not interested in just going on guided hunts for the rest of my days, just think it would be a good idea for the first few times. Getting a hands on example of proper dressing of game, taking care of the carcass so it doesn't spoil, etc..

I understand the guy's a guide not a teacher. Do they get irritated if you go there wanting a little lesson in hog hunting?

Another thing I'm curious about is wehn do you choose to shoot. How do you decide when that's the biggest hog you'll see that day, I'm going to take this one? When paying for a guided hunt what's the minimum hog size you'd take a shot at?

Thanks for the info.

 

[outdoorsman]

Chickenfried..............Tom Willoughby is a good guide. I've been 2x with him, once in 1984 and again in 2000. The only thing that changed was he had a newer truck. In 84' there were 4 of us, we all got our pigs. It was Friday pm - Sunday am. We saw about 150 pigs during that time, and missed countless opportunities. Even with all the blown opps. Tom and his guides never gave up. In 2000, there were 4 of us again. We met at the, ranch of choice, at 5am. By 11am we had our pigs. We saw about 50 -60 pigs and maybe 20 of those were shooters. By shooter I mean 100lb plus. We road hunted from the trucks, spot and stalked, and finally used a couple dogs for the last pig. Tom really knows his stuff and you should have a great time.............Erich

 

[SDHNTR]

He's a good guide and if you do a search here you will find some good reports. I'd also recommend Frank Morasci with Mustang Guide Service. You will see plenty of hogs. They should not get irritated with you wanting to learn. Ask questions but be sure to listen when they say to do something. If they tell you to stay put, stay put. If they tell you to head that way, head that way. They know their quarry and their ranches. For safety's sake, not to mention success, listen to them. Make sure you ask plenty of questions and make your desires known up front. Especially regarding the use of dogs. Some like them some don't, make your desires known up front. What we usually do is to not use the dogs (unless one is crippled) until Saturday afternoon's hunt. In other words we hunt without them until the second half of the hunt (assuming a Friday night thru Sun morning hunt). That way our we up our odds if there are still some tags to fill.

As for knowing when to shoot. Only you can decide. My advice is to take the first one that looks good to YOU. But remember that if you turn down a shooter pig within reasonable range, you now have an obligation to pay full price. The guide's job is to get you a reasonable shot on a shooter pig. If you decline it, you must now fufill your obligation by paying up. Odds are you will probably have another opportunity, but if not, cough up full price. So if the pig looks like a keeper to you, shoot it.

Safety is paramount. Imagine being in front of a loaded weapon with someone you don't know. So understand the guide's demand of safe gun usage. Do not chamber a round until the second right before you shoot or until the guide tells you to.


Lastly, know your weapon well. Use a good caliber with good bullets. I like a .270 on up with bullets designed for big game hunting. Stay away from plastic tipped bullets. Stick with good soft points or controlled expansion bullets. Be familiar with where your gun shoots out to as far as you feel comfortable shooting. Remember also that if you have a good opportunity to shoot and you miss, you owe full price. So it literally pays to be proficient with your rifle.

These are just a few pointers. There are many more on this forum if you search a bit. Good luck. You will have a blast.

 

[jawtightener]

chickenfried,
i agree being guided is a good appraoch to learn if you don't have any experience with hogs. they'll gitcha if your not careful. just kidding, you'd be fine.
i would be real candid with any guide/guide service you are going to utilize in terms of what kind of participation you would like and whether or not he/she felt their guiding service would best meet your needs. your the client. most guides (if they are proffessional) won't mind explaining what exactly is occurring at all stages of the hunt and/or game cleaning process. obviously the better guides/guiding services may be more inclined and/or adept at this, but more dinero also. you get what you pay for in most cases. i wouldn't expect a (pardon the phrase) hold your hand approach from the cheapest "guy with a dog and some dirt to hunt on" service.
when you start learning the more questions you are going to have. so i wouldn't expect these coaching sessions to answer everything. it requires time in the field to really understand and be prepared for various scenarios you may encounter. my two cents anyway.
JT
PS- shoot the one that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up...no legal minimum on size to the best of my knowledge, but i'm sure places don't enjoy see'in the 30 pounders goin' down.

 

[fremont]

Some guides are far better than others about helping out someone who's relatively new to pig hunting. In fact, that's why a lot of folks seek out their services. That being said, I think too many guides are missing a great opportunity to create a client for life by giving them a much better idea of what's going to happen out there (and how to react). For example, many new shooters have never hunted big game before (at least, successfully). They need to understand the concept of Buck Fever. Also, they haven't used Shooting Stix. Another is, with pigs, you can take a fair amount of time with a sight picture (assuming your downwind and quiet)....take your time. Finally, you need to hit a pig about 1/3 up the body, which is lower than a lot of people think. Seems like most lost pigs are hit high (missing the spine on the high side). These are just examples, but I hope they get across my point.

After one of my first guided hunts, my comment to my shooting buddy was "If it were me, I'd do a helluva lot better job prepping people than that."

 

[brknarrow]

your in good hands with tom. known him all my life he's a good man. he'll take care of you.i'd recomend him over frank morasci, even though frank is a good guy and a friend. make sure you tell us of your hunt and good luck

 

[Mel Carter]

Here's a hog I took with Tom several years ago, he's 350 pounder. He knows what he's doing, that's for sure. The size of the hog you want to shoot is up to you, but you should have that in mind before going into the field. Just let Tom know what you want, and he'll do his best to get it for you.

 

[Speckmisser]

Chickenfried,

These guys have given you a pretty good overall picture of what to expect. To that, let me add only one thing.

Ask your guide the same questions you're asking us here. He'll tell you what to expect. When the hunt begins, there should be very few surprises (something always comes up, but that's the fun of hunting).

YOU are the customer. A large part of what you get out of any hunt depends on what you put into it. When it comes to a guide, be sure to talk to your guide about any and everything that matters to you. Also, you have the right to set your own expectations, and let the guide know what YOU are expecting. If you're off-base, the guide should tell you so before you get in the field. But a good guide should be able to ensure that you'll have the experience you want (within safe and legal limits, of course), or offer you acceptable alternatives. And personally, I would fully expect a good guide to tell you if he can't meet your needs/desires. Then it's up to you to rebook, or redefine your parameters.

Don't feel ashamed if you're not an expert, the guide doesn't expect you to be. Don't feel like your questions are stupid, because the only stupid thing is not taking advantage of an opportunity to learn.

I don't want to overgeneralize, because I know there are bad guides out there. But I'd wager that 75% of bad guided hunt experiences could have been alleviated if the customer had hashed out the expectations with the guide BEFORE the hunt began.

You'll have a blast! Enjoy.

 

[chickenfried]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I might be selling off my CR sebenza to partially fund the trip. I'll probably regret it later.

 

[hatchet]

chick,
YOU WILL KILL YOUR HOG WITH TOM. CANT THINK OF ANY ONE ELSE
MORE EXPERIENCED THAN HIM &HIS BOY. BRING A GAME BAG &
SOMETHING TO TRANSPORT YOUR HOG HOME, IT'S HOT UP THERE!!

HATCHET