The Hog Blog

What a difference a week makes!

After the previous weekend’s tough hunting at Tejon Ranch, with nine hunters coming away with only three hogs, I was a little concerned going into the past weekend’s hunt.  However, on this last hunt, there were a number of different factors involved.  

First, the weather turned cold and wet.  The beautiful, sunny days of the previous hunt quickly became pleasant memories when the rain and fog bored into the hills.  The persistent, icy rain turned the roads into sloppy goo and worked its way right through the best gear.  Even before the rain, the cold wind on Friday night nearly drove me off of my favorite ridgetop. 

The bright side is, the changing weather got the animals moving.  We started spotting pigs by 1130, right out of camp on Friday, and when the fog allowed any visibility at all, we continued to see hogs.  During the previous hunt, hogs were moving almost completely at night, leaving a frustrating amount of sign but heading back to their beds before first light.

The other big difference was the group of hunters on this trip.  The previous trip consisted of nine guys, only two of whom (myself and Ron Gayer) had any experience on the ranch.  Few of the others had much hog hunting experience, especially not in a place like Tejon. 

The group this weekend consisted of 12 guys, mostly long-time hog hunters who have been coming to Tejon for several years.  They came with “honey holes” already picked out.  They knew how to get to the good spots, how to hunt them, and in the end, it all paid off.  The group rolled out of the gates on the last day with a total of 10 hogs for 12 hunters.  Everyone had taken at least one shot (a couple of guys took more than one shot). 

For me, a big part of the pleasure this weekend was hunting with my friend, T. Michael Riddle from Native Hunt.  I’d told him for years about how much I loved hunting the Tejon Ranch, and he said he’d always wanted to get out there.  I think Michael quickly found that everything he’d heard about the place was true.  It’s simply a phenomenal piece of land, loaded with all the bounty and beauty Nature can provide. 

After a couple of false starts, we were able to hang both our tags on a couple of fat sows.  (I’ll write a little more about those false starts over on the Native Hunt blog.) 

And then there were pork chops, and there was much rejoicing!

Wow. 

I was told a very long time ago that there is no “sure thing”.  And I get it. 

Even so, when I head out to Tejon, I have a pretty high level of confidence that I can not only kill a hog myself, I can take several other hunters to hogs as well.  My track record there is pretty danged good. 

But the real clincher was that this weekend’s success wouldn’t just depend on my fortunes… former Tejon guide, Ron Gayer came along to join the fun.  Ron knows this place like almost no one else, and he was more than willing and happy to help out.   In addition to hunting some hogs, Ron was hoping to shoot some footage for his series of educational videos, called “The Guide’s Guide To Hunting.” 

And there was even more great news… the weather, always a major gamble in February, was as close to perfect as it could ever be.  With clear nights in the mid-thirties and sunny days with temps around 60, the snow melted off of the ridges and wet roads dried out.  (Many of the ranch roads can be absolutely terrifying when wet.)  It was no problem accessing my tried-and-true spots. 

Hog sign was everywhere.  Where the snow had recently receded, the fresh ground was shredded by rooting snouts.  There were cattle trails that looked like solid mosaics of hog tracks.  Scat littered the ground.  There were even places where we could smell the danged things!

So when I rolled out with Fabio and crew this past weekend, I felt pretty sure I’d have a stack of hog photos to put up today.  But, I guess it was not to be. 

It wasn’t for lack of trying.  We covered a lot of ground, both on foot and by vehicle.  We glassed high and low.  We pushed the bedding areas.  We hiked and sneaked and drove and even crawled a little bit…

And we did see a few hogs.  A few shots were fired.  A few hogs were scared.  But when all was said and done, the nine hunters in our group were only able to connect on three hogs.   All three were really good boars, but for a group this size, and with these conditions, I expected to easily come out with about 60% success.  It was probably the toughest hunt (for finding hogs) I’ve ever had at Tejon.  Ron was a little surprised as well. 

But that’s hunting.  We did have a great time, though, and that’s what counts. 

I’m heading back down this coming weekend for a little redemption.  T. Michael Riddle will be coming down with me, for his first visit to Tejon.  Yeah, I know, he’s got his own place with plenty of hogs, but the allure of a place like Tejon Ranch goes way beyond killing pigs.  After hearing me go on about it, he had to come out and see it for himself.

For anyone else who may want to get down to Tejon, I’ve got another hunt going in May.  This will be a much bigger group (25-50 hunters), but there is plenty of ranch to spread out.  Cost for the hunt is $450/per person (plus a $13 insurance policy), and each hunter will be allowed to take one hog.  Youth hunters (12-16) hunt for half-price.  This is an unguided hunt, but there are usually plenty of Tejon veterans willing to help out with strategy and suggestions for places to hunt. 

There is no lodging provided in this deal, but there’s a great camping area that’s suitable for everything from tents to motor homes (no hook-ups, though).  For those who don’t want to camp, there are a couple of motels a few minutes from the ranch. 

If you’re interested, and would like more details, shoot me an email.  Make sure you include the words Tejon Hunt in the subject line.

Man!  Has it been that long?  It seems like forever since I’ve been hog hunting, and this trip couldn’t come at a better time. 

I’m heading out tomorrow afternoon, driving south to the Tejon Ranch.  I’ll be joining several friends, including Fabio (I’ve guided Fabio over at the Native Hunt ranches a time or two), and we’re planning to put the serious smack-down on some hogs.  I was particularly fortunate that my friend, Ron Gayer wants to join us on the hunt.  Ron’s video series, The Guide’s Guide to hunting, is going well, and he’s hoping to shoot some new video on this trip. 

Of course, it doesn’t hurt anything that Ron was also the Head Guide for the ranch for many years.  I’m looking forward to having him along.

I wish I had cooler stuff to write about right now, but work has been pretty intense lately and it’s taken its toll on the blog.  I’m happy to be busy, but at the same time I’m really glad to be getting back into the field.

Hang tight, and I’ll be posting up stories (and if the weather holds, video) of the hunt!

The sixth annual JHO Pig-o-rama at the Tejon Ranch is now in the history books.  Twenty-nine hunters came together on Friday, May 22nd, for a couple of great days on one of the most beautiful ranches in the state, and did their best to help manage the burgeoning wild pig population. 

When all was said and done, and our last group of hunters came back to camp on the last day, our group had taken 12 hogs, ranging from approximately 225lbs to 5olbs.  It was not our best showing, but by all accounts, even the hunters who came home empty-handed had a great time.

One of the things I always enjoy about this hunt is the opportunity to spend time with new hunters, or at least new hog hunters.  I think I get as much fun out of helping them and watching their excitement as I do out of hunting and killing my own hog.  As often as possible, I try to help out with information and guidance where I can, and usually try to take one or two of the new hunters to some of my “honey holes”.  It’s hard to describe the look in the eyes of the new hunter when he or she has just shot that first wild hog.  For me to play a part in that experience is a very satisfying (and somewhat addictive) feeling. 

With this in mind, on Friday night I took to the field with a new friend, Jack.  Jack had been asking around about a guided hog hunt, and my friend (and semi-annual elk guide) Rick, recommended that Jack give me a call.  I told him I don’t really have any properties of my own to guide, but if he was interested, I’d be glad to recommend another operation, like Native Hunt or Bryson-Hesperia resort. 

As we talked a bit more on the phone, though, I learned that what he really wanted was the opportunity to go out with an experienced hunter and learn more about hog hunting.  I told him about our annual JHO hunt at Tejon, and he locked right onto it.  I offered to help him get started if he joined the fun, and he signed up right away.  Read the rest of this entry »

This is a tough one, because I just received two press releases that are equally relevant here.  Since they’re both kinda long, I’ll put a “jump” here so they don’t take up the whole page… we have a couple of great discussions going that I don’t want to lose.

So, here ya go… click the link and read on!  It’s worth the effort! Read the rest of this entry »

My friend Michael Riddle just sent me this news article from the LA Times, regarding Tejon Ranch’s development plans and the uproar they’re causing amongst environmentalists. 

As you will see when you read the piece, the environmentalist community is at definite odds over the apparent willingness of several key organizations to sell out to Tejon Ranch’s program.  Under the terms of the agreement, Tejon will develop a small percentage of their properties, and will guarantee the remainder (almost 90%) will stay undeveloped.  How this will all impact the hunting programs (wild hogs, antelope, deer, elk, etc.) remains to be seen. 

Under the accord unveiled in May after two years of confidential negotiations, Tejon Ranch Co. will preserve 90% of its holdings in the Tehachapi Mountains, about 60 miles north of Los Angeles.

In exchange, a coalition of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Audubon California and Natural Resources Defense Council, will not challenge massive development projects on the remaining 10% of the Tejon property.

Of course, this isnt’ enough for some of the more strident “protectors” of the natural habitat.  Nothing short of 100% preservation would suit them, and even that wouldn’t be enough for many.  Never mind the fact that this is, after all, Tejon Ranch’s property.  Forget the idea of property rights and ownership, and the common sense argument that, really, the Ranch shouldn’t have to do any damned thing at all to appease any special interest group. 

No, these folks are rallying around the condor to advance their preservationist (not to be confused with conservationist) agendas.  They could care less who the land belongs to.  And that’s unacceptable. 

True, Tejon Ranch has a large piece of property which encompasses an awful lot of wildlife habitat.  To lose this would be devastating to many species, possibly including the condor.  Under their acclaimed “stewardship” of this land, it would behoove the Ranch to take care of it and preserve as much as possible. 

But on the other hand, this is a business we’re talking about, and for a business to survive, it has to turn a profit.  Raw land isn’t very profitable unless you’re selling it.  They have to do something, and Joe Public has nothing to say about that. 

Tejon has climbed into bed with some strange and conflicting bedfellows to do this development project and make it as palatable as possible.  Of course it’s all about appeasing the most powerful of the environmental organizations, but as I’ve wondered before… can you really appease these people?  Or will it turn out, as things progress, that the more these organizations get, the more they will want? 

It doesn’t bode well, unfortunately.  We’ll see where it goes. 

Yeah, I know… it’s been so long now it’s hardly relevant.  And honestly, the footage isn’t all that great.  But I promised, and I need to start finishing these video series (unlike the last Colorado elk hunt video).  So here goes.  If you’ve already forgotten part 1, you can see it here.

Now for part 2. 

This is just getting out of hand, but here’s what I’ve been able to gather so far.

First of all, despite the fact that there’s no real good evidence or rationale for it, Tejon Ranch will close to ALL firearm hunting from June 9 through July 9 (at least).  In fact, no one will be permitted to even bring guns onto the ranch, whether members, guests, or guided hunters during this period.

The Ranch is also taking some pretty extraordinary steps to appease the environmentalists as well as the US Fish and WIldlife Service.  Despite the fact that the ranch voluntarily banned all lead ammo at the beginning of the year, that doesn’t seem to have been good enough for the pro-condor folks.  During the hunt last week (Memorial Day weekend), we were requested to bury the carcasses and gut piles of our hogs, even though we were hunting with non-lead ammunition.  That seemed pretty extreme, since we were hunting with lead-free ammunition (inspected at check-in). 

Since the news broke yesterday, the ranch has taken even more measures that seem to be little more than window-dressing and reconciliation.  

What the heck is going on?  Why the focus on Tejon Ranch, and why is Tejon Ranch going to such extremes to placate their accusers? 

The whole situation, the responses to it, and the total lack of logic or rational thought behind various reactions simply leave me no alternative but to suspect dirty pool.  The thing is, I can’t figure out what the heck the stakes are in the game. 

The first suspect would be money, but what is the financial reward for sliming the reputation of the Tejon Ranch? 

Is someone trying to upset the development plans?  That’s doubtful, since no one has pointed fingers at development as a culprit here. 

Is someone trying to put a stop to hunting on the Ranch?  That’s possible, I suppose, but really, there’s hunting all around Tejon Ranch.  What would shutting down the Ranch’s hunting program achieve beyond costing a handful of jobs (all good people, but relatively small potatoes in the big picture of Tejon Ranch Corporation)?  It sure wouldn’t protect the condors, as they don’t recognize property lines or boundaries. 

It’s hard to think the condors are anything more than pawns in some kind of power play.  The whole thing is hard to make any sense of. 

I’ll share info as I get it.  In the meantime, ask your own questions, and if you get answers that I don’t have, please share them. 

It just never stops! 

I didn’t want to post another Lead Ban Chronicle so soon, but this article just about slipped by me from yesterday’s paper…  it’s definitely worth a read to anyone concerned about the condor issue or the lead ammo ban.  I’d also urge you to use the comment form following the article to post your comments and add your voices to calls for reason and responsibility in reporting this issue (you’ll see mine as Elwing1). 

Looks like seven condors have turned up with lead poisoning, and the press (along with some condor/environmental groups) seems eager to blame hunters… particularly hunters at Tejon Ranch.  Look at the way this paragraph is phrased!

While officials won’t know the source of the contamination until next week, Grantham said the birds were likely poisoned by eating tainted carcasses at Bitter Creek, Lake Piru or on Tejon Ranch. Of the three areas, only Tejon Ranch currently allows hunting.

So, really, what they’re suggesting is that Tejon is the ONLY place this could have happened, and therefore Tejon hunters MUST be the culprits? 

Now I don’t know the science here, but how long would it take for the birds to show the effects of eating lead-tainted carrion?  Tejon Ranch banned the use of lead for any hunting, beginning the first of January, so no lead ammo has legally been used there for almost six months.  I also know that there’s not a lot of big game hunting at Tejon in December, so there wouldn’t have been a lot of carcasses lying around the place then… at least not carcasses killed by hunters. 

It sounds to me like someone has Tejon Ranch bent over a barrel and is now taking advantage of the position.  Remember, Tejon has taken a lot of pressure over plans to develop a large section of the property.  They’re also one of the largest and best-known hunting programs in the country, which makes them an easy target for organizations with an anti-hunting agenda.  Finally, they’re one of the largest privately-owned properties in the current California condor range.  To say the Ranch sports a big bullseye for special-interest groups is an understatement.

I’m also interested in knowing how the Fish and Wildlife Service will have conclusive information over the source of the contamination in just a week.  Are they relying on the controversial “isotope” testing process?  How will they determine the geographic location of the lead source, even if they can determine that the lead is from bullets? 

What more, beyond banning lead ammo, does anyone expect hunters to do to protect the condor?  Keep in mind that this very public statement is being made less than one month before the “Condor Preservation Act” comes into effect, with the lead ban becoming effective throughout the condor zone on July 1. 

And here’s a really big question… if the contamination is determined to have nothing to do with hunters, bullets, or Tejon Ranch, will any public announcement be made?  The accusation made in the AP article sure makes hunters and Tejon look like the bad guys here… scars on our reputation that we definitely don’t need right now. 

There are many more questions than answers here, and it’s hard to trust our sources when the media runs headlines based on pure speculation and poorly-researched information (the first paragraph states that the lead ban is statewide, as opposed to limited to the “historic condor range”). 

There’s too much political bullshit going on here, and too many agendas being advanced.  The public deserves better, even if hunters don’t. 

Well, looks like I didn’t get a chance to post anything at all yesterday, and for that I apologize… a little bit.  Got back from my visit to NC and hit the ground running Monday.  Getting back into the work mode has been a little challenging, although it’s nice to be working again.  There’s only so much sitting around a person can do.

Anyway, while I’m still putting together the second part of my Tejon hunt video, I thought ya’ll might enjoy these two bits put together by Jesse, from Jesse’s Hunting and Outdoors.  He came out just to video the festivities, as it were, and was able to get some pretty nice stuff. 

Check out part 2, where about six of us have a ringside seat to watch my friend, Scott Plunkett, make the move on a nice hog across the canyon.  I don’t know if he realized he had a peanut gallery along on his hunt, but he made good!

And yeah, the HogBlog guy makes an appearance.  I’m such a ham!

Before I do any more stupid puns, here’s the video.  Enjoy!