Tejon Archery Hogs – JHO hunters whack ‘em and stack ‘em!
No, unfortunately it wasn’t my hunt, as I don’t head out until next weekend, but a bunch of my friends from JHO (Jesse’s Hunting and Outdoors) headed down to the Tejon Ranch over the past weekend to chase wild hogs with sticks and strings (and yeah, they all use training wheels on their bows … but I’ll let them slide for that).
Well, I had little doubt before the weekend that these boys are hard-core hunters, but their success in the snow and mud up there speaks volumes for their skill and willingness to work hard for the game. Due to the recent bad weather, many roads on the high ridges were pretty much inaccessible, so the fellas put the boot leather to the rocks and did it the hard way. Now walking around in that steep country can be a challenge, even if you’re only carrying a bow and a few arrows. But coming back out of those hellholes with a dead boar in tow… that’s rough work. It takes some gumption to head out on foot in that stuff, knowing you may be bringing back a critter that weighs as much or more than you!
If I got the count right, I believe there were eight hunters up there. Five of them tagged out, which is pretty darned good odds for archery hunters… especially considering that the average archery hunt at Tejon yields about 30% success.
In the photo to the left is Kirk Edgerton, JHO ProStaffer and long-time bowhunter with a really nice boar. Look at the fat on this sucker! This was one of the larger boars taken by the group. At 243lbs, field dressed, this may have been the biggest boar of the weekend. A conservative estimate is that field dressing removes approximately 1/3 of the body weight, making this a pretty big boar indeed. Another hoss of a boar was brought in late Sunday night that may have been even larger, but most of the group had already rolled out by then, taking the scale with them.
My friend Brent Hill also weighed in with a hefty boar that came in to the scales field-dressed at around 184lbs. Considering he took this animal inside of 10 yards with nothing but a bow and arrow… pretty good stuff, man! That’s hunting!
A couple more nice boars were taken, as well as a few “meat pigs.” The next photo is Nate Treadwell and his kill, showing a great view of the snowy countryside. I’m hoping some of that snow is still there when I make my trip next weekend!
Tejon archery hunts are one of the best deals going in the CA market right now. For $450, you get a full weekend (Friday noon through Sunday night) of hunting, a cabin to stay in, a ranch representative (usually one of the guides) to offer suggestions and directions, and all meals…cooked up by the ranch rep. Pretty much all you have to do is show up and hunt.
For more information on these hunts, contact the Tejon Ranch offices in Lebec, CA and ask about the wild pig management hunts.
That is some sweet hunting right there. I wish I lived a little closer so that I could get in on the action.
February 11th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
With hogs like that on the hoof who needs a supermarket, those are some really nice hogsand great photos showing terrain and weather conditions in the background. You’ve been added to another of my websites thats just been started.
February 11th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
That just looks so dang fun! I checked out the prices at Tejon, and while I don’t doubt that the land is primo, I can’t really tell my wife I spent $900 on a guided pig hunt and expect to live through the night. So I need someone with some serious experience to volunteer to teach a decent deer hunter how to find and kill hogs on one of those unguided jobs. Any suggestions?
February 11th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Aw, come on Arthur. My brother flies out from NC every year or so to hunt with me. It’s do-able!
Deerslayer, thanks! I’ll have a look at your new site and see about getting a link added here.
And Great White… shoot me a line if you’re really interested. My next available hunt at Tejon is Memorial Day weekend. $450, and I’ll guide you myself (unofficially, as I don’t work for Tejon). Not that it takes a lot of guiding there. It’s prime habitat, and with a few pointers most decent deer hunters can lower the crosshairs on a nice hog… most of the time. It’s still 100% fair chase, so there’s definitely a possibility of getting skunked, but if you’re willing to work for it, the odds are quite good.
February 11th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Phillip,
I’ll have to put it on my to-do list. It would be awesome to head out west and knock one of those pigs down:)
February 12th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Dang, those are big pigs. Mmmmmmm … sausage….
What are they eating down there? What I mean is, what do they taste like?
February 12th, 2008 at 8:20 am
hope you have a great hunt, too bad they killed them all
February 12th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Thanks, Rex… if they killed them all, I’m heading to Mississippi.
Holly, with the exception of one, all of the hogs I’ve killed at Tejon have been very tasty… even the 300lb boar I shot there two years ago. The habitat there is varied with everything from agricultural crops to acorns and wild oats and barley, so there’s no shortage of food. In the late winter and through the spring, the hogs are usually fat and sweet.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:55 am
I don’t think it would ever be possible to kill all the hogs off that ranch. There are plenty left. Phil, the final tally was 7 kills for 11 hunters. Cool story. You guys should have plenty of hogs to chase around next weekend. Hopefully drier roads too. I can’t wait to get back!
February 13th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Welcome to the Hog Blog and thanks for the update, Nate!
Yeah, I doubt anyone will ever put a significant dent in those hogs at Tejon. They’re pretty well established and in great numbers.
I hope the roads are a bit more manageable next weekend, although I think I could have reached most of my favorite spots anyway. As always, I have LOTS of rope.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
[...] and Young measurer along on the trip. He had been successful in previous years. You may have read his adventures over at Phillip’s Hog [...]
May 17th, 2009 at 11:02 pm