The Hog Blog

I haven’t had a chance to do this in a while, but tonight I spent some time cruising through my news feeds to see what’s happening in the world of wild hogs, boar, and pigs.  There’s no way I can bring you all up to speed on all that we’ve missed, but here are a couple of tidbits that I had to share.

First, this is from ABC Rural News (ABC, in this case, is Australian Broadcasting Company), about the impact, or lack thereof, that recreational hunters are having on the overpopulation of hogs in that country.  I’ve mentioned before that hunters participating under fair chase principles simply won’t do what it takes to eradicate hogs, and that certainly seems to be the case in Australia. 

Recreational hunting is a favourite pastime of many people in regional areas, but Dr Carol Booth, from the Invasive Species Council, says unco-ordinated shooting does little to reduce feral populations.

“It’s been estimated for some areas that you need to reduce pig populations by something like 70 per cent to actually achieve a reduction in the population the following year,” he says.

It’s an interesting reality check. 

Another article from the BBC discusses the recent deaths of a couple of reintroduced wild boar in a Scottish forest.  The disease angle is interesting enough, but what really caught my attention was the rationale for reintroducing these beasts…  because they control the undergrowth and keep brush under control. 

The animals were released in a bid to aid the regeneration of ancient Caledonian woodland.

Trees for Life is keeping the surviving boar in a 30.4 acre enclosure in an area of ancient birch wood.

It hopes the animal will control the spread of bracken which shades out other wild plants.

Of course, in Scotland and Britain wild boar are, after all, native to that landscape.  It does make me wonder what the real impacts of wild hogs would be on US habitat.  Isn’t it possible that, in the big picture, they may actually offer some benefits?

That’s just a taste of what’s going on with hogs around the world.  Thought ya’ll might find it interesting.

Did the “Davids” of the blogosphere lay the print giants low, or is it just the economy? 

Several of us have heralded the coming fall of traditional print media, for good or ill, and it looks like the trend just took a big leap forward as Conde Nast is dropping several major publications… not the least of which is Gourmet magazine.  

I just saw an article about this in the SFGate, and from the sounds of things the economy is the biggest factor, which make some sense.  Conde Nast publications are known for their high-end finish, and that’s expensive to maintain in any environment.  Given that advertisers are being a lot tighter with their dollars, it’s no surprise that the big, glossy mags are feeling the bite.

What the heck does this have to do with hog hunting, or hunting in general? 

Very little, I guess.  It does concern me a bit about the future of our hook-and-bullet magazines, though.  I think I commented a while back on the layout and production changes in Field and Stream and Outdoor Life, wherein they’ve pushed the margins all the way to the edge of the page, and changed the paper quality as well… not to mention the dismissal/retirement of two classic writers, Jim Carmichel and Patrick McManus.  It’s expensive to run a quality magazine, and as cheaper, more efficient alternatives arise, we’ll probably see the old-tech fade away.

Anyway, those of us who still enjoy the look and feel of a paper-based magazine may want to pay close attention to the trend.  The economy may be starting to bounce a bit, but the long-term repercussions will be felt for quite some time.  Pretty much every major magazine has expanded into “new media” in one way or another, and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see more of them going purely digital in the next three or four years. 

As the luddites and pre-tech generations hand over the market to the Gen-Xers and their kids, there may very well come a time when you’ll need a mouse or a touchpad to flip through the pages of your favorite rag.

Please bear with me here, as something has happened to my site. Looks like everything is centered. I swear I’m not writing in poetry, it just looks that way.

Hope to have everything back to normal real soon.

UPDATE  Looks like it’s all fixed now.  Had a problem at the network level.

It’s what we do when no one is looking that really matters. 

Well, I finally got out to do a little hog hunting after a long, dry spell.  I was already jonesing to get out there anyway, but with all the stuff that’s been going on the last couple of weeks, I really needed to get  away from the city, and out into the hills.  Michael Riddle, from Native Hunts had extended a generous invitation for the coming weekend, but I couldn’t take him up on it.  Fortunately, I was able to make a last minute call to the Golden Ram offices and line up a weekday hunt at the Hedgepeth Ranch in Sonoma County.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve pretty much figured out an area of this ranch that seems to always hold hogs.  The last few trips out there put me right on them, but I couldn’t capitalize with the bow.  This time I wanted meat, so I left the bow behind and grabbed my old stand-by rifle, my Savage 30-06.  I figured if I could see them, I could kill them.  I needed success, not more frustration.

As the hunt dates got closer, the weather came in… finally.  Forecasts were calling for rain and hail, with near-freezing temperatures and a snow level descending to about 1000 feet.  I was stoked!  The newly wet ground should get the pigs rooting, and the cloud cover should obscure the nearly full moon, and keep the hogs out during the day.  I was also excited just for the possibility that I’d get to hunt in the snow.  There’s something special about that, at least for this translocated southern boy. 

I hit the road up to the ranch at about 0300 yesterday (Monday).  It wasn’t snowing, and the two and a half hour drive was punctuated by periods of rain and crystal clear skies.  Temps hovered in the 40s until I started climbing into the hills around Lake Sonoma.  By the time I reached the ranch and drove in to my hunting spot, temps were in the mid-30s, but the rain was breaking up.  I geared up and headed down the trail as the sun came out into a clear, blue sky. 

Because of the cool, wet day, I’d geared up in my Rivers West Stalker jacket and pants.  This stuff is really excellent for rough weather because it sheds water like a traditional rainsuit, but it’s quiet.  The thing is, though, I can’t use it very often here in CA, because most of my hunts take place in the warmer parts of the state and I do a LOT of walking.  The Rivers West gear is made for colder weather.  I figured the day would be perfect for it.

About halfway up the second ridge, I realized I was over-dressed.  I stopped and peeled off the jacket.  As I cooled off and got comfortable, a chilly breeze suddenly came up.   In a matter of seconds, the blue sky went slate grey and it started raining.  Off went my pack and on went the coat.  Like magic, a few moments late the rain stopped and the sun came out.  This would be the pattern all day. 

But you’re not here to read about the weather.  What about the hunting?

The hillsides were ripped to shreds by rooting.  I picked up the trail of a large group of hogs.  Fresh tracks, scat, and rooting marked their path across the hillside.  From the freshness of the sign, I was pretty sure the hogs were close, but I also know how much ground these animals can cover.      From the top of the ridge where I picked them up, the sign led across the steep hillside, dropping in elevation steadily until I’d reached the bottom of the canyon, some 500 feet down from where I’d started.  And then, of course, the trail started to climb the other side.

To folks accustomed to the high country, 500 feet of elevation change may not sound like a lot.  And on an easy, rolling slope, it’s really not much of a climb at all.  But in these hills, the climb is not far from vertical, and it takes some effort… especially when the most exercise I’d had over the last several weeks was dragging and dropping files on the computer. 

Point being… I looked up this next hill with a mild dread.  I knew where these hogs were going, and unless I got really lucky, this was going to be one heck of a tough hunt.  I adjusted my pack, slung the rifle, and started climbing.

I finally topped out the climb and knew I was close.  I could see where the herd had stopped to root under some oaks in the saddle,  just over the ridgeline.  From the looks of the ground all around, they were staying pretty busy up here.  There was sign, literally, everywhere!  I picked the freshest tracks I could identify, and started back on the trail which led, predictably, down the other side of the ridge.  I knew that the property line was in the bottom of this next canyon, but that the thick oaks and manzanita provided shelter.  If things worked out, the hogs would hold up in the bedding areas instead of crossing the property line where I wouldn’t be able to get to them.

I eased down the track, moving slowly and listening for the telltale patter of hog feet.  The rain dripping off of the trees made it pretty tough to hear anything, so I had to rely mostly on my eyes.  But then my nose told me what my eyes and ears missed… I could smell hogs.  I dropped my pace to a near crawl as the trail led down a steep finger ridge into the bottom of the canyon.  The wet clay ground was slick as grease, making the descent a little tricky, but I knew this is where I’d find my pig.

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As someone (Arthur?) mentioned previously, I’m not necessarily someone you’d expect to find reviewing video games. I know some folks who work in that industry, and they’re pretty serious about their stuff… way more intense than I’ll ever be.  But hey, I spend so much time on this computer working and socializing, why not play here too?  So honestly, I’m not a big-time video gamer, but I do enjoy messing around with a couple of the games. 

One that I used to have fun with was the original Deer Hunter.  In this game you started every hunt with a shopping trip.  You had a budget that you had to contend with, and you also had to consider things like weight.  The more gear you carry, the slower your character moves.  The artificial intelligence (AI) in the game calculated things like how far you could go before you needed a break, and the character’s health status was impacted by having too much stuff, or by not having enough of the right gear for weather conditions.  You even had to choose your clothing based on the season and geographical location, or you’d freeze on winter hunts or overheat in warm climates.  Don’t pay attention to these things, and your hunter can actually kick the bucket.  You even had to plan to carry food, or you would have to return to camp from time to time in order to replenish.  It added an element of semi-reality to the game experience that I’d never seen before. 

Anyway, this was my previous experience with Deer Hunter, so when I was contacted by the marketing company for Atari, I was excited at the chance to give this new version, Deer Hunter Tournament, a try.  When the package arrived, I tore into it like a kid at Christmas.  I’ve spent several evenings in the game now, and here’s what I think.

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Here’s the second part…  hope ya’ll enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed being there! 

Well, I’m into my third week here.  It’s a beautiful place, and I sure don’t miss the craziness that is the urban Bay Area.  But, I do miss my family.  I even, a little bit, miss the Internet… especially the Hog Blog.  (TV?  You can keep it.)

Yesterday, Tuesday the 11^th, marked the conclusion of our second guided hunt with clients T. Michael Riddle and Jeff Sheldon. It was a quick one, but pretty danged exciting.

It started on Saturday the 8^th, a day earlier than I had planned.  I suppose that in the hectic days before the hunt got underway, Dave Allen, Coon Camp Springs President, inadvertently told Michael and Jeff that they could come on up on Saturday instead of Sunday the 9^th.  Fortunately, the first week clients were done and gone, but I had run back to the Bay Area on a marathon drive to take Dolly (my horse) back to the Bay Area.  Dave got them settled in, and after doing two weeks’ worth of laundry and a quick nap, I turned around and drove the 400 miles back up to Coon Camp Springs by early morning Sunday.

On my way out of camp on Saturday, I decided to take one more look up in the front corner where we’ve been seeing so much deer activity, including a large herd of does, and where our client, Bruce Einck, had taken a real nice four-point the previous week.  Sure enough, as I rounded a bend, there were the does… only this time, they were accompanied by yet another nice four-pointer!  Sure didn’t take him long to replace the previous monarch!  He wasn’t as big, but neither of my hunters were trophy hunting.  Michael had never shot a mule deer at all, and Jeff said he’d be happy with a forkie.  This 4×4 would definitely make either of them happy.

This reconnaissance, coupled with the consistency with which these deer had been using that same area set my plan for the first hunts of the week.  On Sunday, after spending a little time at the range to zero rifles, I took the guys up on top of the ridge to one of my favorite glassing spots.  On the way in, we saw a ton of fresh sign, but it looked to me like it had all been made earlier in the day… probably during the morning. I found it a little odd, since the spot had been an evening hotspot for the past two weeks.  All of my scouting had produced sightings in the afternoon and evening, and Bruce had taken his buck right at last light.  

I don’t know what it was, specifically, that changed the pattern from evening to morning.  Maybe the weather which had finally cleared up and turned cold, or; it could be the rut which was obviously getting into full swing, or; maybe it was the moon, waxing hard past half and heading for full.  Anyway, I decided we’d come in and set up from the other side of the canyon in the early hours after sunrise on Monday, and we headed back to camp for some social time around the fire.  I’d slow-cooked a wild boar ham all day, and it was calling to my empty stomach.  14 hours of driving over the past 24 had me pretty worn down, too.

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Well, I’m back.

Here’s Part 1 of the Coon Camp Springs deer hunts!  Part 2 is coming right up.

After a great inaugural year in 2007, the Coon Camp Springs PLM hunting program got underway in August as our Antelope tag holder set off on his self-guided hunt.  Despite spotting a buck early in the week, the hunter was unable to close the distance on that one.  The rest of the week was a fruitless search for another buck.  With so much water still available across the highway in Grasshopper Valley (unusual for August), the speed goats just weren’t interested in the springs and ponds we had restored over on our place.

That’s the bad news.

The good news begins with the first of two weeks of fully-guided mule deer hunts, 11/02-11/09 and 11/09-11/16.  I would be guiding two hunters each week.  Armed with pre-season sightings and scouting reports from Coon Camp Springs President, Dave Allen and the foresters working on an adjacent property, I was able to spend the week prior to the first hunt scouring the property for sign of activity, trails, and actual deer. 

I located one good buck right away.  After watching a large group of does and young deer on a corner of the property, I rounded the end of a ridge and practically walked right into a good 4×4 buck.  A quick, rough estimation suggested the deer would be in the 22-24” range… pretty good for a CA muley. 

The deer seemed only slightly fazed by my appearance, and jogged off to a distance of 154 yards where it stopped and stared back for quite a while… long enough, in fact, for me to unpack a camera and snap a couple of photos.  The next day, while working from horseback, I spotted the buck again in the same general area.  This was definitely a spot to watch when the hunters arrived.

The area in which the buck had been feeding was also being heavily used by a group of about eight does and a couple of yearlings.  It’s a south-facing corner of the property that is covered in bitterbrush, with good cover on the surrounding ridges.  This spot has consistently held deer, and the forage and cover seem to be doing particularly well since the removal of the juniper from much of the surrounding hillsides and flats has allowed the native plants to get more of the precious water during the dry, summer season.  There’s been a resurgence in the number of cottontail rabbits and quail in this area as well… welcome sights on a ranch that has so much potential to become a real haven for wildlife. 

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A week or so ago, I got a kind of strange email.  OK, it wasn’t really “strange”, in the sense that it was wierd or anything.  It was just kinda out of the blue and totally unexpected.

In short, I got an email from a reader named Rita, from Texas, who apparently had a BIG boar hog eating up her fields.  By her estimate, this sucker was over 400 pounds.  In the email, Rita told me she wanted to kill him, and she had two choices of weapon, a .270 or a .300 Weatherby Magnum.  She figured the situation would be a 50 yard shot, tops, and she wanted to make sure he went down clean and fast because, as she wrote:

Me 120 pounds – Him 420 pounds or up..

I have to win or he eats ME!!!

I got a kick out of that, but I could see where she might be coming from. A big boar can be pretty intimidating, especially if you read or listen to much of the outdoors media… or some old timers.  They make a hog sound as dangerous as a cape buffalo or something. 

So anyway, I offered the advice she asked for, recommending that she shoot the rifle that suits her best, as both offer plenty of “oomph” for the job.  I also recommended a neck shot, if she felt confident, as it would offer a quick kill… I think I said it would, “flip him over like a turtle.”

I also told her that a boar’s reputation for aggression is a little over-rated, especially when you just shot him with a high-powered rifle at close range.  “Relax and make a good shot,” I wrote, “and you won’t have to worry about getting eaten.” 

I sent the reply, and pretty much forgot about it.  But to my surprise, when I returned from my weekend of hunting on Sunday, I had several emails from Rita.  Here’s the text from the first one:

Phillip:

Last night was the most exciting hunt….

The Boar didn’t come out at 4:30..he came out just a dark!

I’ll send you some pic’s.

Well! I got him…

300 Weatherby, 9mm, backhoe, tractor, we finally brought him in.

Weight 376.

Thanks for your help.

I tried to get a neck shot… but he just kept running close to the fence. When he turned to gore the fence I took a heart shot! Rolled him over like a Turtle. Like ya said. Then he got up and Ran in the thicket.

Milton, the Farm owner, ran out 1st. He and I went after him while my sister Trish filmed. The brush was just to thick. We all got on the backhoe and found him.

He was Down but huffing & puffing. I gave him some 9mm.. He Really wasn’t happy then!

You can see the picture.

I wanted to say Thanks for helping me calm myself and make a great decision. The 270 just wasn’t the rifle for me last night.

Thanks,

Rita

Here are a couple of pix!  You can click them to see bigger versions.

Holy cow, Rita…that was a BIG hog!  Congrats on taking him out clean, and glad t hear it was an exciting hunt. 

I gotta say, they raise ‘em up right in the Lone Star State!  Rita got it done!  I guess that hog didn’t pay attention when they told him, “Don’t mess with Texas!” 

Coming soon, to a theater near you… or, maybe not so soon.  Maybe not ever.  But hey, it’s a movie called, “Pig Hunt”, so it can’t be all bad, can it?  I know the HogBlog movie reviewer (me) is waiting eagerly to screen this flick!

Here’s a short synopsis from the Internet Movie Database (IMDB):

When John takes his San Francisco friends to his deceased uncle’s remote ranch to hunt wild pigs, it seems like a typical guys weekend with guns – despite the presence of John’s sexy girlfriend Brooks. But as John and his crew trek deeper into the forest, they begin tracking the awful truth about his uncle’s demise and the legend of The Ripper — a murderous three-thousand-pound black boar! Their pursuit leads them through fields of marijuana and into the muddy landscape of Big Wallow, involving high-powered weaponry, the violent and unpredictable Tibbs Brothers, massacred emus, a machete-toting Hippie Stranger, vengeful rednecks, and throat-slitting Cult Girls who grow dope by day and worship a Giant Killer Pig by night. By the time the pig hunt is done, no one is innocent – or unscathed. Not for the faint of heart, PIG HUNT is a darkly comic horror film that combines the best of DELIVERANCE, JAWS, and DINER, but remains uniquely Nor-Cal in its tone and scope. It is cinematic punkabilly – fresh, shocking, unforgettable!

Oh yeah, this one definitely seems ready for Sunday afternoon runs on the SciFi Channel!  And no, while it definitely sounds like something cooked up by my friend, Rex over at the Deer Camp blog, it’s a for-real movie!  Hopefully, it’s as bad as it sounds… sure to be a classic on the lines of Halloween and Friday the 13th! 

If anybody’s beat me to it and already seen this one, I’d love to hear what you thought. 

Twas the night before father’s day
or really the morning
when I sat at the computer
Composing and yawning

I need some coffee
was the first thing I thought
A nice steaming cup
All black, strong and hot

But what about gifts
for the upcoming day
Presents for a dad
For work or for play?

Something to show him
how much we care
how much we appreciate
the fact that he’s there

“Boy this is stupid.”
I thought to myself
But now that I’ve started
It’s off of the shelf

So on with my doggerel
my ridiculous rhyme
my brief flight of fancy
my complete waste of time Read the rest of this entry »