I just got back from hog hunting for a couple days in California and thought I would share a few pictures and stories...
This spring I went on a grizzly hunt in BC, and shared a cabin with another guy in camp from Fresno, California....we became friends over the course of the week and he invited me down to do some free range wild hog hunting in California. After checking the hunting budget, I decided I could make it down for a couple days and the hunt was on! He said we would be going out with me and him, as well as his uncle and cousin.
I arrived on Friday morning and we headed directly from the airport to get tags, then to the hunting area about 2.5 hrs south of Fresno (didnt want to waste any time, as I only had Friday evening, all day saturday and Sunday morning to hunt)....I couldnt believe the country that these hogs lived in, it seemed like the hunting was going to be more physical than I had thought it was going to be (and, as it turns out, that was an understatment). There were really steep hillsides, and my friend said we would be covering 3 to 6 thousand feet of elevation a day looking for the pigs....seeming how it was about 40 degrees, I was hoping for some low hogs, lol.
This is the kind of country we were hunting....
We went out the first night and saw some pigs, but none that we were able to close the distance on. I couldnt believe how high these pigs were living, and how spooky they were. It reminded me of spot and stalking whitetails in elk country. We did make a play on 2 different groups of hogs, but both spooked before we could get close enough for a shot. Once the pigs spook, they dont stop running until they get into the thickest, steepest draws they can find, so once their gone, the play on that group is done. I was amazed at how fast the pigs moved on the slopes. We did get very close to a juvenile California condor though, so that was really cool...
The second morning started out fast, with a group of pigs spotted right at first light. Fortunately, these pigs werent too far up and we were able to easily close the distance and after waiting until the pigs were on a bench, my first hog was down. This was just a small sow, as there were no boars with the group.
After tagging, dressing nd loading the hog, we were back searching for more. We spotted a large spotted boar quite high, but he was exactly the kind of pig we were looking for so decided it was worth the hike ahead. It took about 1.5hrs to close the distance to him, but my second pig (and first/best boar of the trip was down). The recovery of this hog took the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, but it was well worth it. I am doing a lifesize mount of this hog.
That evening, we found another nice boar, and after a good stalk, my friend anchored him on a small saddle. At the shot, a sow broke out of the cover, which I also dropped right at the edge of the same saddle. It would have been about 2,000ft of recovery had it not dropped on the saddle, lol. We had forgot the camera when we set out on the stalk, so the only photos we have is after getting the hogs skidded out to the truck.
Once we arrived back at camp, we found out that his cousin had shot a great boar that evening as well....
We headed out for a quick hunt on Sunday morning before I had to leave for the airport, and at first light we spotted 2 hogs feeding abot 100yds apart. They were on a very steep slope, but heading towards a large saddle, so we kept our distance and let them feed onto the saddle (which, fiortunately had a road about 500yds off it, which would make for the kind of quick recovery we needed so i could make my flight). Once both hogs were in place, my friend shot the better of the boars, and I took the other one on the run. These were our last 2 hogs of the trip.
After getting these hogs back to camp, the hard work of skinning and cutting all the meat began. It took a few hours to process the pigs from the evening before and the morning (fortuntaley we had processed and wrapped each sow after getting it to camp as well as my spotted boar, but the others had all been left overnight to cool). Once we were done, it was time to head back to town and catch my flight.
This was actually an incredibly fun hunt, and much more challenging than I expected. As I mentioned, these were all free range wild hogs. The hogs not easy to get close to, and we passed on quite a few because of diffculty getting to them and/or recovering them. they are spooky, fast and smart, making for a very fun hunt. Besides hogs, we saw some great elk, a black bear, bobcat, and grey fox (i had never seen a bobcat or grey before, so that was pretty cool). I think next trip i will time it for bobcat season so i can get one of those for the wall!
Anyway, this defintely got me fired up for Sept 1st here!
California Hog Hunting
Pests in most places. 
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