The Hog Blog

So Kat just changed our cable service again. 

The last time she did this, I lost all my hunting channels (along with most anything else worth watching), but since I refuse to pay for television, I had to go with her decision.  It was with some trepidation when she told me the other day that she’d be cancelling DISH and switching to DirectTV… but really, it couldn’t be much worse than it already was.  Heck, the best thing to watch on a lazy Saturday since then has been hilariously bad movies on the Science Fiction channel.  I do occasionally get to watch Versus, but in between “Paid Programming”, shows about gold panning, and the endless loop of the same four or five episodes of “Winchester Legends”, “Beretta’s Under Wild Skies”, and “The Bucks of Tecomate,” it wasn’t much to get excited about. 

Anyway, she made the change, they installed the service on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and I started scanning the guide.  Sure enough, we were now getting the Pursuit Channel and The Sportsmen’s Channel.  (The Outdoor Channel, one of my favorites, is not available with the package she selected). 

At first, I thought I’d be like an addict falling off the wagon, but honestly, outdoor programming hasn’t really improved all that much.  While there are occasional gems in the mix, there’s still a lot of the same old thing… glorification of the kill over the experience of the hunt, bad shots disguised by quick camera and editing work, and a total emphasis on “trophy” hunting. 

Even so, it’s hunting!  So I still watch… even as I grumble and mumble and armchair quarterback.

And what goes better while sitting on the couch, watching the idiot box, than a tasty meat snack! 

Yeah, I got that segue right off of the hunting shows… sorry about that.

But seriously, I do want to mention a product I had the opportunity to sample recently.  The good folks at Pop’s Authentic Artisan Meat Snacks recently contacted a handful of bloggers with a pretty nice offer.  They’d send us a sample of their meat sticks to try and review, and also offer our readers a discount for online purchases. 

If you’re interested in what I thought… well, I’ll be honest.  I’m not a huge fan of meat sticks or commercially made jerky.  I like to make my own, largely because I know exactly what’s in it and what’s NOT in it.  Most of those factory products contain ingredients I can’t even pronounce.  I sure as heck don’t want to put that in my system.

But Pop’s are not Slim Jims.  According to their literature, they’re made from locally sourced beef and pork and spiced with real, select spices.  So I tried them. 

And they really weren’t bad at all! 

In fact, I stuck the rest of the sample supply in my food box in Petunia, and ate off of them during my recent pig hunt at the Hedgepeth Ranch.  They sent me two sticks of each flavor: Original, Peppered, and Habanero (they advertise a Bacon snack stick too, but I didn’t get any of those).  As a lover of spicy food, I jumped on the habanero flavor.  It wasn’t nearly hot enough for me, but the flavor was good.  The peppered were also good, but honestly, I think I liked the original flavor best. 

I can see munching on these things in front of the TV, or out in the field.  I think it would be awesome to see them produce some meat snacks using some wild game meats, but hey… one step at a time, right?  If you’re interested in trying them for yourself, just type the discount code OSCAR into the appropriate field when you place your order on the website.  You can get a free box of 12 meat sticks with the purchase of two boxes. 

If you do order some, let me know what you thought of them.

Here’s one from the, “Well, I can’t come up with anything on my own,” file. 

I’ve written a time or two about the massive expansion of wild/feral hogs in the States.  Folks in Texas, Florida, and California can certainly say something on that topic.  But from what I just read in the Speigel online news, the US has nothing on Europe when it comes to a wild boar invasion. 

According to the article, German hunters killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 450,000 wild boar over the last season.  In France, another 500,000 were killed, while Poland is lagging with a harvest of around 200,000 hogs.  That’s a lot of pork chops!  But more seriously, that’s a lot of crop damage.

The Spiegel article points out that the spread of the wild boar is possibly due to manmade factors, not the least of which is new agricultural practices.  Approximately 27% of Germany is under cultivation for maize, rape seed, and wheat.  Additionally, due to the recent warm winters, Europe has seen a bumper crop of acorns and chestnuts. 

It’s interesting stuff, no doubt.  I’d definitely recommend giving it a read if you have time.  What happens in Europe can’t be far from happening here too.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you folks out there!

I’d list the things I’m thankful for, but I don’t know if this page would hold it all.  One thing I will include, though, is that I’m thankful for all of you who drop by to read my ramblings, and those of you who take a moment or two from your day to participate in this exercise in modern communication. 

Enjoy your holiday, however you spend it… with family, friends, or out in the fields and streams.  And for any of you reading in places where this day is no holiday, I hope you have a moment to stop and take stock of the blessings you’ve received anyway.  It’s always worth a momentary pause just to realize how good you really have it… no matter what kinds of challenges you may be facing.  The cup may not be flowing over, but it’s never empty as long as there’s breath in your lungs. 

Be well!

In this season of giving thanks, here’s something many of us CA bowhunters can be thankful for… Chopper Snyder is re-opening his Wild Hog Adventures for bowhunters. 

Chopper’s place is set in the hills just below Hollister, and for several years he ran semi-guided archery hunts.  I was fortunate enough to hunt there several times over the years he was in business.  I can honestly say I missed more pigs there in all the times I visited than most public land hunters have ever seen. 

OK, it’s not something I’m particularly proud of, but hey… hunting hogs with a recurve on open land is no mean feat.  It may have something to do with the phenomenon called “target panic”, but that’s neither here nor there.  The point is, the hunting can be pretty danged good there.  It’s open land, and pigs can come and go from the property, but they’re generally on the place somewhere for those who are willing to put in the effort.

What started as a once-in-a-while deal evolved into a full-time, day in and day out business.  That was a little more than Chopper had bargained for, as he suddenly found himself working with hunters every weekend (and many weekdays).  Between the hunts and his regular job, he didn’t have time to spend with his family, so he finally put it to a stop… always with the idea that he might re-open later. 

My friends Steve and Kirk with a nice boar from Chopper's place

And now he has.  While he’s only planning to run a limited number of hunts, it’s a great opportunity for bowhunters who want to hunt hogs without competition from gun hunters. 

The hunts are generally for two days, beginning at 0900 on a Friday and running until noon on Sunday.  The hunt cost is $400/hunter, and included in the cost is a stay in the hunting cabin (a comfortable cabin in a beautiful spot, with room to sleep seven, a fireplace, gas stove, grill, and hot-and-cold showers, and a temperamental electric generator that may or may not provide electricity for the evening), access to a covered skinning shed, and a walk-in cooler. 

The hunt itself is totally unguided.  Chopper will do an orientation tour of the ranch when hunters arrive, and after that, the hunters are pretty much on their own.  Pay attention during the orientation, because while there are plenty of roads, they can get confusing.  You probably won’t get totally lost, because all roads either hit the fence or loop back to where they started, but it sucks to burn up good hunting time trying to find your way around.   This is the voice of experience speaking, by the way.

You’ll also need a decent 4-wheel drive with good clearance, especially during the wet, winter months.  I was able to hunt most of the place with my stock, Dodge Ram 2500, although it’s more comfortable in my Samurai as some of the roads get a little tight.  Most of the hunting will be on foot, though… if you think you’ll drive around and kill hogs, you’ve got another thing coming. 

Anyway, it’s a great hunt opportunity.  To set up a hunt, shoot Chopper an email at: chopper1709@yahoo.com or you can call at:  831.682.0468

Remember, there will be a limited number of hunts, so if you’re interested, you’ll want to get in on it quickly.

I’m not a huge fan of “reality TV” shows, but I have to admit that I occasionally enjoy watching Deadliest Catch… if only to wonder if I’d ever have had the gumption to take that job in my younger, wilder days.  It’s the same reason I watch the Professional Bull Riders tour, I think.

Anyway, according to this article in the Sacramento Bee, the folks who produced the Deadliest Catch series are now planning a series called California Game Wardens. 

I don’t know if any of you are familiar with the Game Warden books by Terry Hodges, but it sounds like the new show may take its inspiration from these great tales.  Hodges is a reasonably good writer, but the content of his stories stands pretty much on its own.  Some pretty cool stuff.

Of course, we all know the average day of a game warden isn’t anything to build a reality show on, but these men and women are in an inherently dangerous job and they’re doing it for relatively little pay.  Things can get sketchy in a hurry, and unlike CHP or city cops, things often happen far away from any kind of help.  It’s a heck of a job, and most of these folks do it well. 

I’ve got the highest respect for anyone who’s willing to wake up every morning, pin a target (badge) on their chest and go out to face the scum of the earth, but game wardens hold a special place… if only because they’re out there trying to shut down the poachers and scofflaws who are trashing our natural resources (not to mention the reputations of law-abiding hunters and fishermen). 

I expect the program will focus on the more sensational events, of course, but maybe it’ll help folks get a better perspective on the job of a game warden, especially in a state like CA, where the DFG is sadly understaffed and underfunded, even as the wardens are faced with policing one of the largest states in the US.  At latest count, there are under 200 wardens enforcing fish and game laws across the entire state! 

It looks like Chad Love, over at the Field and Stream blogs has posted about the show as well, and it’s spurred some interesting discussion.  A handful of folks there are concerned that this show will give off a negative impression of hunters, since it’ll be focused on poachers and lawbreakers.  They think people are going to see that activity, and get the idea that all hunters are involved in that kind of thing. 

I can see how this may be a concern, but personally, I’d like to give the general public a little more credit than that.  Anti-hunters are going to cast us in stereotypes anyway, but most non-hunters recognize the difference between the guys who slaughter a dozen deer and bears for the international market and those of us who hunt according to the laws and some general ethical standards.  My guess is that the cases demonstrated in the program are not going to walk any tightlines between legal and illegal, or ethical and unethical.  It’s gonna be pretty cut and dried.   

If you’ve got a notion, head over and check out what the folks are saying. 

Anyway, the show looks like interesting stuff… maybe even good stuff.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

… some of my friends were actually killing hogs. 

At least that’s the case as evidenced by this email I got from my friend, Scott.  He and our buddy Chris went down to Camp Roberts for the weekend, and it sounds like they had a great time!  Here’s Scott’s short, but exciting email:

It was a good trip, we were in the hogs most of the time we were in the field. I got this one Sunday morning and should have shot another that was with it, but I’ve been hunting Tejon so long, I forgot you can shoot two hogs. By the time I remembered, it was too late.

Boy, that’s probably the dumbest topic title I’ve done in a while.  Oh well, it rang in my mind and now I’ve shared it… 

Anyway, true to form, after walking several miles and several thousand feet of elevation gain and loss, I’m sitting here getting ready for another work week.  The ice chest won’t need to be cleaned this afternoon, and my butchering tools will stay in the drawer.  Porky evaded me once again. 

The world is full of “what-ifs”, and such was this trip.  IF I had been using a rifle instead of the Mathews, I could have killed several pigs.  I practically ran one down in the road yesterday morning, but there’s no way I could have leapt from Petunia, unlimbered the bow, nocked an arrow, and got a clean shot at him as he boogied up the ridge.  IF it were gun season on the ranch (it opens next weekend) I would have had the .44 on hand, and would have had no problem taking that boar.  Likewise, the group of 15 that fed down across canyon from me.  At 200 yards, they remained oblivious to me as they fed on an open shelf, in the wide open at 1100 hrs.  I could have plopped down with the rifle and a rest and taken my pick.  With the bow, I have to get a little closer than that.  Unfortunately, at about 150 yards, I practically stepped on a group of deer who proceeded to bolt right through the feeding hogs.  At last glance, the hogs were just shy of Mach 1, and disappearing back over the high ridge and headed toward the safety of the property line.

Not that it was a bad trip, because there’s seldom a bad hunting trip… it was really nice.  It was my first solo hunt in quite a while, and as much as I enjoy guiding and taking people hunting, sometimes it’s really good just to get out there and not have to think about anyone else’s experience.  It was relaxing just to walk and hunt, and enjoy all the things you see on a beautiful, cold November morning.  There were grouse, band-tailed pigeons, quail, eagles, coyotes, tons of deer, and lots of smaller critters.  The salamanders were on the move, an annual event I’ve been told, and there were times when it was hard to walk without stepping on one. 

And there was pig sign… oh brother, was there pig sign!  The recent rain had softened the ground, and the hogs were taking full advantage of it.  Hilltops were rototilled, and tracks and scat littered the ground.  The only problem was, for the most part, I was consistently where they were, instead of where they are.  Tracks are great and all, but they’re best when they still have pig feet in them.

Anyway, it doesn’t really matter if I killed a pig.  I still have two freezers loaded with meat.  I was actually hoping for a turkey, for Thanksgiving, but they were pretty scarce up there this weekend.  I thought I heard some once, but never could locate the danged things.  I don’t think I tried all that hard anyway.  It was just good to go, to be out there.  I need that sometimes.  I think we all do.

Well, I’m outta here for the weekend.  Gonna head back to the Hedgepeth Ranch (Golden Ram) in Sonoma County for another go at the hogs and maybe a turkey with my bow.  The weather is kinda messy right now, but it should blow out tonight, and tomorrow could be a really happening day. 

Well, wanna make God laugh?  Tell him your plans, right?  We’ll have to see.

Until Monday…

Just saw this from the American Sportfishing Association.  I know, it’s not hunting or ammunition, but it’s really all the same bloody thing, isn’t it? 

In the name of honest disclosure, I’ve done no research on this issue and really don’t have a position right now.  My knee-jerk response, of course, is that this is no different from the lead ammo ban and the proposed ban is little more than an over-reaction to a nominal risk… but that’s the problem with knee-jerk reactions. 

Anyway, take a look.  I can promise you, as with the lead ammo, this will not be limited to the state of Washington.  Remember, the National Park Service is working toward the same ends in all National Parks. 

Read up, learn, and act appropriately.

November 17, 2009

American Sportfishing Association Policy Alert

Washington State Anglers Face a Ban on Lead Fishing Tackle

For more information, contact Gordon Robertson, vice president and Government Affairs lead, 703.519.9691, x237 or Mike Leonard, Policy Fellow, x230.

Without evidence that lead fishing tackle is posing a threat to loon populations, a proposed ban in Washington State is completely unwarranted!

Please send a letter to the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Commission demanding that they reject a proposed rule that would ban the use of lead fishing tackle. The proposal is based on the assumptions that lead fishing tackle poses a threat to loon populations and that many alternatives to lead are widely available for approximately the same price – neither of which is true. The deadline for comment is December 1, 2009.

No evidence exists that concludes that lead fishing tackle is threatening loon populations. A study of common loons by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife found “no evidence of a declining population or a substantial change in distribution” in the state, and loon populations are stable or increasing throughout their range.  Advocates for the proposed ban are using as evidence a finding that says over the past 13 years, nine loons are found to have died from ingesting lead fishing tackle. 

Additionally, fishing tackle made from alternatives to lead can be much more expensive, in limited supply and not perform as well.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington isthe fifteenth largest state in terms of annual sportfishing expenditures. Washington’s 736,000 anglers spent $1.04 billion in 2006, generating $210 million in state and local tax revenue. Washington’s anglers support 15,000 jobs with $513 million in salaries and wages. If Washington’s anglers stopped fishing and did not spend their money elsewhere in state, the state’s economy would shrink by $1.66 billion. In addition, non-residents comprise 13 percent of Washington’s anglers who have a significant impact on the state’s economy.

Please take action now to ensure that the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Commission rejects the proposed ban by sending your letter by December 1, 2009.

I just realized how long it’s been since I did an edition of the Porcine Press!  Well, let’s remedy that right now!

First of all, according to this piece in the Ohio Farmer online,  it looks like a group of researchers have managed to map out the genome for the domestic pig.  Sure, that may not sound like much to some folks, but this opens the doors to a lot of great research, not only into pigs and their spread throughout the world, but also into medical and environmental science!  

The draft sequence, which is about 98% complete, will allow researchers to pinpoint genes that are useful to pork production or are involved in immunity or other important physiological processes in the pig. It will enhance breeding practices, offer insight into diseases that afflict pigs (and, sometimes, also humans) and will assist in efforts to preserve the global heritage of rare, endangered and wild pigs. It also will be important for the study of human health because pigs are very similar to humans in their physiology, behavior and nutritional needs.

A scan of headlines related to wild boar shows several recent attacks on humans, from Krakow, Poland, to China and Korea. 

In Korea, according to the JoonAng Daily, the Environment Ministry has responded by authorizing an increase in the hunting quota from a little over 8,000 to 20,000 animals!   According to the article, there are over 40,000 boar in the region, and there has been a significant increase in reported sightings and  attacks. 

“If we increase the quota of permissible hunting and capture more, roaming loose, wild boar living in the neighboring areas will move to other regions, easing the dense population,” said Choi Jong-won, an official at the ministry’s nature resources division.

Good luck with that! 

Meanwhile, parts of Texas are making the best of their feral hog infestation with at least a couple of big celebrations coming down the pike. 

In Tyler, TX:

Hog chases, a Fall feral hog follies pageant, and the crowning of Miss Hog Queen 2009. It was all just a snapshot of the events that made this year’s Feral Hog Festival in Ben Wheeler unique. The festival is found only in East Texas.

And then in Fannin County, TX:

Residents of Fannin County, the outdoor playground for the Metroplex, welcome feral hog hunters to Fannin County November 13-15 for the inaugural Wild Hog Hunt.

The first annual Wild Hog Roundup for Fannin County will be held Friday, November 13 through Sunday, November 15, 2009. 

This is a hunting tournament for feral hogs only.  Cash prizes will be awarded Sunday afternoon for the biggest and most caught/killed by a single hunter or team.

Early registration/entry fee of $200 – $250 after November 10, 2009. Saturday evening dinner and Sunday awards-dinner included.

All hunters must be licensed. Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

For event details and rules, go to texas-re.tripod.com or contact Mike Michaud at 903-640-0888 or mmichaud@fanninfun.com

 Man, I wish I were in TX… or even better, if this blog paid for me to visit events like these!  Ahh.. if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.

Anyway, that’s enough for now.