Hog Blog Friends In The Field – Another Big Island Hog

Here’s another one from my friend, Bruce, over in Hawaii.  I’m sure glad to hear that someone is hunting these days.

The Big Island of Hawaii is full of surprises.  Most people picture Hawaii as being white sandy beaches, palm trees, blue water, jungle—you know the picture.  But the Big Island also has territory that looks just like the rainforest of Washington or SE Alaska, towering conifers that block out the sun and patches of fern here and there on the pine-needled ground.  I left my home at 4:00 AM and was driving down a rutted 4WD road an hour and a half later.  By 6:30, half an hour after sunrise, I was parked in the grassy rolling hills just outside Laupahoehoe Forest Reserve.  This is public hunting but I never, ever see another hunter and it’s beautiful country, starting with the pine forest along the fence line and transitioning into jungle as you hike downhill.  It’s about 6000 feet where I park and about 4800 feet where I eventually end up.  This hunt was shorter, however, much, much shorter.

I loaded my Winchester 100 with handloaded, small base .308’s [I use the special small base dies, otherwise this autoloader is notorious for jamming.  It doesn’t jam at all with the small base cartridges.]  I hiked down into the dark and gloomy pine forest and hadn’t covered more than 200 yards when a small boar trotted along about 50 yards in front of me.  I took a quick offhand shot and the pig dropped.  Nothing big, maybe 125 pounds, but a good start to a day of hunting  and succulent meat for smoking.  I boned out the best cuts and hiked back to the truck.  Once the meat was in the cooler, I hiked back into the pine forest and still-hunted for the next 3 hours.  I ran into two sows with little ones and then a pair of siblings in the 50-pound class, nothing I wanted to interfere with.

It was time for a nap, so I laid my poncho on a grassy knoll overlooking a valley.  An hour later, my nap was cut short by the sound of breaking branches.  I sat up and a grizzled boar—gray along his back and gray in the muzzle—ran down the knoll within 20 feet of me and then disappeared into the berry vines along the valley floor.  I didn’t even have time to touch my rifle.  It began to drizzle so  I started the hike back up to the truck and ran into a third sow and her little ones.  All these piglets were a good sign.  There are no predators, other than human hunters, in the Hawaiian jungle and these little pigs would grow up quickly.

I made it back to the truck and changed into dry clothes.  All the way back home I was thinking about Kalua pork, wrapped in green ti leaves and smoked ever so slowly over a glowing bed of charcoal.

Just another day of hunting on the Big Island.

Aloha for now.

Bruce

Hog Blog Friends In the Field – Hawaiian Hogs

Ya’ll heard about my friend, Bruce, a couple of weeks back when I wrote about hunting the Vancouver bulls in Hawaii.  Well, Bruce drops me a line from time to time, usually including some photos or video of his excursions there in paradise.  It gives me a chance to live a little vicariously, albeit with a strong dose of jealousy.  Hawaii is one of those places I really want to hunt, but the logistics involved have just been a little too daunting so far.  Check out his most recent story, and I think you’ll see why I’m so eager to get over to the Big Island, and join him on some of these adventures.

Phillip:

Got up at 3:45 AM yesterday and drove along the west side of Mauna Kea.  Mauna Kea, like its sister mountain Mauna Loa, is gigantic around the base and rises up to almost 14,000 feet.  Parked up on a ridge at 8000 feet and hiked down to the Parker Ranch fence line.  The terrain is grassy with small trees that might remind a Californian of large manzanita or pinon.  Classic mule deer country.  The hiking is really tough.  Every 300 yards or so is a deep ravine that must be traversed and that means grabbing rocks and branches and clawing your way up the far side, and that’s the easy part.  Going down is really hairy.  And consider that I left my house at close to sea level and 2 hours later I’m hiking at elevations between 7000 and 8000 feet with a backpack and carrying a rifle and that in 14 months I’ll be 65.  WHEW!!!

I hiked for about an hour and only saw 3 pigs but none was over 60 pounds, so I passed.  Another hour and nada.  This is very dry country, not the kind of real estate you’d associate with Hawaii but more the dry foothill terrain of Tehachapi in California or elsewhere along the East slope of the Sierras.  I hiked over to a large ravine where on a previous hunt I found a small spring that trickles down the lava and forms a pool the size of a bathroom sink.  I set up an ambush site on the hillside above and waited.  5 minutes later 3 small pigs in the 50 pound range came by and drank.  They left and 10 minutes later a sow with 3 very small piglets came by and started to drink.  They turned and looked down the canyon and took off uphill at a sprint.  I knew they hadn’t seen or winded me so the only thing I could figure was they saw a boar heading their way.  I lay prone and rested the 7mm mag rifle across my backpack and waited.

It had been drizzling—more a windy fog rolling through—and I hadn’t checked my scope for awhile.  Within 30 seconds, a boar came ambling up, took a few gulps, and began feeding on the grass.  I got ready to shoot but my scope was fogged.  I wiped the lenses off with my shirt and could see well enough to shoot.  At the shot, he slowly turned around, started trotting off, and dropped after 25 feet.

It wasn’t a large boar, maybe 140 pounds or so, but it was big enough.  I boned out the good cuts, dragged the carcass over behind a rock and out of the way of the spring, and headed uphill to the 4WD gravel road that belts Mauna Kea and would lead me back to my truck.  It took 45 minutes of lung-busting walking to get up to the road.  Pig tracks were everywhere and there was no sign at all that any human or vehicle had been in this area for some time.  Within 1 minute, a sow and 3 piglets ran across the road and disappeared into the fog downhill.  5 minutes later, a huge boar crossed the road and disappeared into the fog.  I trudged along for another 5 minutes and saw a small herd of good-sized pigs on the road but the wind was at my back and they took off.  I arrived at my truck 2 hours after packing up the meat and heading uphill.  I was pooped, to say the least.

As I loaded up the truck and unloaded my rifle, I looked uphill and saw hundreds of fresh sheep tracks in the dirt.  Mauna Kea is home to Mouflon sheep and apparently a herd had come this way while I was out busting my butt looking for porkers.  I was thinking how good a sheep ham would taste, slow roasted on the barbecue, crusted in peppercorns, Hawaiian salt, and garlic butter.

I began the long drive out and stopped at the base of a cinder cone to sight in my 300 Win Mag, newly loaded with Barnes TSX 165 grain bullets [your suggestion, Phillip].  Right before I shot, I noticed another herd of pigs, 6 of them, trotting up the hillside to my left, maybe 100 yards away.  They were probably siblings and were in the 70 pound range.  I watched them until they disappeared into the brush.  I returned to the task at hand and two shots later the rifle was dead on and will be my go-to rifle for future bull hunts.

Go home at 6:45 PM.  Long day, lots of meat, lots of memories.

My wife and I left SoCal 6 ½ years ago and have made our home on the Big Island.  The hunting here is superb, but it’s rough country.  I’ve long ago lost count, but this is probably pig number 40 for me here.  Add to that 12 Mouflon sheep and 6 or 7 Vancouver bulls and some Spanish goats [no more of them for me because the meat is only so-so at best] and you’ve got world class hunting, all on public property.  On the pig hunt I just described, I never saw another human or another vehicle.

I’ll go after Mouflon on Friday and maybe try for another bull the week after that.  Age is beginning to creep up on me and I want to get in as much of this wilderness hunting as I can while I’m still able to do it.

Aloha for now.

Bruce

Mahalo, Bruce!

Great story, and if that doesn’t wet someone’s chops to pack the guns and bows and head to the islands, I don’t know what will!  Sea-level to 8000 feet and back in a day, with fresh pork, mouflon sheep, vancouver bulls, and all sorts of other wild meat there for the taking.  I understand the bird hunting can be awesome there as well, with francolin, pheasant, wild turkeys, and other species.

Hog Blog Friends In The Field – Guest Post – Tom And Porky In A Weekend

This post is from my friend, David Bonini.  Thanks for sharing it, Dave!

While Phillip is travelling to and fro, I thought I would offer up some content to keep his loyal followers entertained. That is when it hit me. Who the heck am I and why would anyone want to read my stories? For it is Phillip that we faithfully tune into everyday. He is the one we really want. We all like to read his stories, engage in thoughtful debate or just live vicariously through his adventures. I started getting nervous. What could I possibly add that will keep you entertained? I am not a writer and the closest I have come to being considered one was the “Car of the Month” article I wrote for the high school newspaper in the 1980′s. How can I fill his shoes?

While I might not be able to fill Phillip’s shoes, I am going to give it my best shot. You see, I have been fishing and/or hunting most of my life and I have been accused by many of having the oratory skills to spin a yarn, to tell tales (some of them true) around a campfire, watercooler, driveway, backyard barbque, bar room or any other place where people will lend me their ear. I thought I might put some of these tales on paper and share them with you via the Hog Blog. I hope you find them entertaining but most of all, I hope they give you a reason to engage because that is what a blog is all about right? After you read, please get engaged. Please comment and share your point of view.

As I headed out to the field this weekend, I knew I would be confronted with some of the same ethical questions and circumstances that were depicted in Phillip’s blogs recently. I was to be accompanied with my youngest daughter, Serra (13), with this being only her second hunt since getting her license this year. In order to be a good mentor, I thought a lot about what would come of this weekend and the lessons that would be imparted to her.

I hired a guide for this hunt, Ernie Sanders and his son Mike Sanders from Middletown, CA. Ernie owns and operates D and E Guide Service. He hunts several thousand acres of private ranch land that spans across a good chunk of Lake County. The properties are loaded with wildlife. Our targets this weekend were wild hogs and turkeys. This was my third hunt with Ernie and it was my daughter’s first guided hunt in her short career. With one black tailed doe and one mountain quail on her resume, she was eager to get out there and bag her tom turkey. Heck this hunt was guided. We would just roll up to a blind, the turkeys would show up and we would shoot them. Well not really.

Upon our arrival at the ranch we found ourselves going over gun safety and the use of the 12 gauge shotgun that Ernie lent her. His gun would give her a little more range than her 20 gauge and his had electronic sights on it. The sights force you to keep your head in the proper position and there is a red or green dot that helps you aim.

On Saturday morning, Ernie and Serra headed out in the stormy weather while I went with his son Mike.The night before Mike had put me on a large group of hogs that had five large boars in the group. I am disabled and Mike had to help me through a barbed wire fence and over two small ridges on our quarter mile stalk. He put me within 200 yards of the hogs. He wanted me to get closer and the wind was in our favor so we definitely could have done it but that  put me in a tough spot. From our location, I could take a seated position with my back to an oak tree and my rifle on my bipod. This is where I was faced with a tough decision. Could I make this shot and make an ethical kill? I know that I can do it from 100 yards but what about 200? I have killed an elk at almost 300 yards and I have the confidence to do it but I can’t tell you why I feel so confident. I mean, all of my range time has been on a flat range at 100 yards or less. I had to weigh the option of going out into the open and taking a standing shot at 100 yards or staying put and taking the shot from a seated position. Mike offered to bring a chair out with us but I told him not to. Foolish pride I guess. I was comfortable sitting against a tree and using my bipod so I made the decision against the guide’s wishes to get closer. So there I was with a broadside hog shooting at a downhill angle. I have never personally shot at this angle and boy did I flub it. I put the 200 yard dot on its vitals and squeezed off the round. I put that bullet right over the top of the hog. Needless to say all the hogs escaped. Mike kept his cool and used this as a learning opportunity. He probably wanted to say, “I told you so” but instead he spoke to me about what went right and what went wrong. He talked to me about not repeating the same mistakes and that if given another opportunity, we are bringing the chair, getting closer and taking more time to make sure we can make the shot. In other words, he gave me my chance, now it is time for me to listen to the professional. Read more

Wet Sows And Sport Hunting Vs. Depredation

I’m always tickled when one of my friends tells me about a successful hunting trip, even if it  makes me a little jealous right now because I haven’t had time to do any hunting on my own.  So when I saw that my friend, Hank (blogger at The HunterAnglerGardenerCook… and author of Hunt Gather Cook, Finding The Forgotten Feast) had made the trip down near Paso Robles and brought home the bacon, I had to beat back the green-eyed monster and be happy for his success.  Of course, for Hank that success was way overdue… it’s been something like three years since he last shot a hog.  I’d be a basket case if I went that long without a good hog hunt!

Hank’s hunt sounds like a good one, as he was out on about 12,000 acres with RJ Waldron of Northwind Outfitters, a little north of Paso Robles, CA.  Success has reportedly been good there, and they did spot multiple hogs before Hank took the one he dubbed, “Matilda.”  You can read his story yourself, but in short, Matilda was a perfect meat pig…  a sow about 100 lbs and probably unbred (a gilt… which also makes her an ideal candidate for culling if you’re trying to manage the populations).

But in the hunt leading up to the kill, he was faced with an interesting and fairly common quandary.  Fairly early in the day, he had his crosshairs dead-on a big sow as she fed completely oblivious to the impending doom.  His guide held him up a second, and sure enough, the sow was “wet” (still nursing piglets).  Killing a wet sow isn’t the end of the world, but it usually means the death of the dependent piglets as well.  That’s a pretty hard thing to do on purpose, especially when the reason for the hunt is to fill the table, not to eradicate a pest animal.  I’ve witnessed it more than once, and there’s simply no way to maintain a detachment from the resulting, heart-rending scene.  We’re all human, despite what some folks would have you believe.

It reminds me of the significant divide between sport hunting and eradication/extermination.  I’ve often maintained the argument that sport hunters will never be effective at serious population reduction or elimination because they’re generally not willing to take the harsh measures it requires.  Most of them won’t (and some can’t) shoot the little, striped piglets.  Most of them won’t orphan a littler of piglets by shooting the wet sow… especially if they actually see the babies suckling.  Many of them won’t even kill more than they can process and eat.

But when it comes to an invasive, non-native species like the wild pig, those extreme measures are sometimes very necessary.  Hence, it justifies things like aerial shooting and corral traps… even when the meat is sometimes buried, left to rot, or sent to the tallow factory.  It’s hard to think of something as large, warm-blooded, and intelligent as a pig in the same way you’d think of ants or cockroaches, but to the depredation hunter that’s what they are.  It requires pragmatism and a somewhat, hardened heart.

This isn’t to imply a shortcoming on the part of the sport hunter, or vice versa.  Some of us are both, so the dichotomy isn’t even exclusive.  When I’m hunting for myself, I won’t shoot a wet sow.  It tears me up to think of the implications.   I’ve heard those little ones calling, and watched them climb over the carcass of a recently deceased mother, and even now I can feel the pangs of sorrow and regret… even though I’m not the one who killed her.  To inflict that for the sake of recreation and a freezer full of meat is simply beyond me.

But there’s another side.  When I’ve been asked to help with depredation, I’ve had to put those misgivings aside.  There are bigger considerations… the health of the habitat, or the success of a crop.  The idea is to eradicate, and in this light the animals are simply destructive vermin.  The reason for being there is different, so the justifications are different as well.  It isn’t always easy, or at least not for me (and I don’t think for anyone with a conscience).  You do it because it has to be done.

Anyway… just something I’ve been thinking about.

“Do I contradict myself?

Very well, then I contradict myself.

I am large.

I contain multitudes.”

Walt Whitman

 

CA SHARE Program Again Offering Free Spring Hog Hunts

Just saw this in my inbox yesterday.  It’s a sign of spring, I suppose, when the CA DFG announces the SHARE program hog hunting opportunities.  The SHARE program opens private land to a limited number of hunters.

The Bobcat Ranch in Yolo County has been participating in the program for a few years now, and this year they’ll be hosting hog hunters once again.  Here’s the info about the hunts directly from DFG:

Bobcat Ranch is located in Yolo County’s Vaca Mountain foothills, west of Winters. The property is 4,000 acres of rolling oak woodland with a couple of steep canyons. Some hunters consider the Bobcat Ranch to be a challenging property to hunt.

Two-day wild pig hunt permits will be issued to hunters by a random draw.

• Applications will be accepted for parties of up to two licensed hunters.
• Hunters may apply for more than one hunt period per application but can only be drawn for one period.
• Only one application will be accepted per party or individual.
• Individual hunters may be accompanied by no more than one non-hunter.
• Hunt parties may consist of two licensed hunters, non-hunters will not be allowed in a party.
• Apprentice hunters may only apply as an individual and must be accompanied by an adult.

Apprentice hunt applications must be received by 3 p.m. February 22, 2012.

General and archery hunt applications must be received by 3 p.m. February 29, 2012.

No more than six hunters will be allowed to hunt per period. No dogs may be used. Only certified non-lead ammunition for big game may be used during this hunt. Archery equipment may be used during the general hunt periods. A pre-hunt orientation is required on the first day of each hunt, and all hunters are required to check in and out of the hunt area. DFG personnel will be onsite during the hunts. For this SHARE opportunity there will be no application fee.

The hunts are limited entry and by permit-only, available to all holders of a valid California hunting license and a wild pig tag, which are available at license providers throughout the state. Applicants must indicate the periods for which they wish to be considered. Hunters may apply for the two-day wild pig hunts by submitting an application to DFG. Incomplete applications will not be accepted. Address and fax number are provided on the applications. Successful applicants will be mailed entry permits with maps and additional information.

DFG or AUDUBON CALIFORNIA RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CANCEL THIS HUNT AND CLOSE THE AREA TO ALL PUBLIC USERS WITHOUT PRIOR NOTIFOCATION DUE TO UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES OR EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.

Unfortunately, at least for some of you Hog Blog readers, I received this a little late.  The deadline for apprentice hunters to apply for the hunts has already passed.  Gun and archery hunters have until February 29 to get their applications in.

The SHARE program is a great opportunity for hunters in CA, and it’s very deserving of support.  Check out the website for more info about the program, as well as the hog and other special hunts.

 

Guided Hog Hunts In CA With The Williams Family

One of the most common questions I think I get on this blog is, “can you recommend a good place to go hog hunting in California?”

I can.

Actually, I can recommend a bunch of good places.  Unfortunately for some folks, these good places aren’t open to the public.  You either have to know someone really well, or you have to pay.  That’s just the way it is these days.  There are some public lands you can hunt on, and some even have relatively good opportunities… the key word is “relative.”  But if you want good odds of success in this state, you’re going to have to go on private ground, and this usually means going with a guide.

My friend Colby Williams and his dad, Mark, have been guiding in the Central Coast area for several years. In fact, Mark is pretty well known in the area and has been guiding for hogs since they first became a viable game animal.  I’ve recommended them to hunters for quite some time, but every time, I had to dig around on the web to find a phone number.

Well, that’s no longer an issue.  I just got a note from Colby, letting me know that Hog Wild now has a website:  http://www.williamshuntingservice.com/.  Take a look, and if you’re after a good guided hunt opportunity, you’ll find all the information you need.