Northern California Hog Hunt

Earlier this year, I was invited to a depredation hunt on a cattle ranch in Northern California. Leading up to the trip, temperatures were in the mid-70s. On the day we left, however, a heatwave came through, and temps soared into the 100s. We drove 8 hours through the night and arrived at the ranch around 2 a.m. We got ready, and the ranch manager had us sitting by a stock tank for sunrise. We sat for about an hour, but the mosquitoes and heat became unbearable, so we called it. As we walked to the RV to move it to our campsite, I noticed a hog in the distance. I yelled to my buddies, and we set up at a fence line to shoot. I was the first shooter and ranged it at 357 yards. I shot and missed low, and the backup shooter also missed low. The hog ran off, and I was devastated. It was the first time I'd shot at anything other than upland game, and I felt like I had just wasted a huge opportunity, especially since we planned to possibly hunt only that evening. We took the side-by-side to check for any blood but found nothing.

Back at camp, I couldn't shake the feeling of disappointment. Replaying the moment in my mind, I realized I should've moved in another 50-75 yards—the hog would've had no idea we were there. I also ran the ballistics on my phone and discovered my hold was off by a decent amount. We decided to sleep through the heat and head back out around sunset.

As evening approached, we decided to sit by the same stock tank, as the ranch manager said the hogs would come for water. The heat was intense, so two of us got into the side-by-side to patrol the area and see if we could stir anything up. As we drove off, out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of our buddies with his shirt off, waving it above his head. We turned back, and he looked at us and said, "Do you think the property owners would mind if I **** under that tree over there?" We stared at him, puzzled, wondering if he had really called us over for that. He then laughed and said, "I'm kidding! There's about 15 hogs a mile out, making their way to the water tank." The hunt was back on, and we watched the pasture, waiting to see if the hogs would come down the creek.

About 10 minutes later, they still hadn't come over the ridge where we expected them, about half a mile out. I pulled out my maps app and saw there was another stock tank between us and the hogs. That had to be the reason they hadn't continued down the draw. We jumped in the side-by-side and made our way over. About halfway there, we got out and hiked the rest of the way, playing the wind as we approached the water tank. We reached the final ridge, and I was the first to spot the hogs. I ranged them and let everyone know they were about 150 yards out. Everyone crawled over the ridge and got into shooting positions. Just as we were about to shoot, a few ducks decided to flee the water, spooking some of the hogs. The rest settled down, and the first shooter fired. Chaos erupted as pigs ran in all directions, and everyone started shooting. Shooting offhand, I hit 2 of my 3 shots, and when the dust settled, 4 hogs were down.

It's amazing how tough these animals are, even after taking rounds.

We were ecstatic—not only because we got 4 hogs but also because it meant we didn't have to hunt in the heat again the next day. Back at camp, I learned many lessons about skinning an animal. I'm a late-onset hunter, but the two older gentlemen I was with have become mentors to me, with many years and many states under their belts. They gave me the rundown on the first hog, and I skinned the next two solo. Valuable lessons were learned with each one.

When all was said and done, it was an amazing experience. After three years of backcountry hunting mule deer and bear, it felt great to finally have animals on the ground. Sausage was made, meat was shared, and memories were created. That's what it's all about.

Sounds like a great hunt! Congrats on getting 4 on the ground. They eat great too!

Sounds like a good time, all but the heat! Wait, I am in Texas where I have set in a blind for hours when the thermometer in there said 112 degrees, but I got pigs.
Thanks for sharing!

Glad you redeemed yourself after that tough miss! Great Job.

Congratulation's!

I've used all kinds of rounds on hogs over the years in every senario except helecopter hunting. I learned that smaller are the good eaters and once you get over 250 pounds they are hard to deal with. But what I did learn early on is that using heavy for the caliber hunting bullets always seemed to cause blow throughs with small exit wounds. They you have to find them because they run off and die 20-50 yards from the impact point.

So I started using pills like 125 gr. speer 30 cal TNT varmint rounds out of my 308 AR10. So explosive going over 3000 fps that they are dead DRT. Or my 270 using 110 HPBT up at 3500 fps. Or even 243 using 87 gr VMax at over 3400 fps

I was trying to think where you might live in CA to be thinking that 100 degrees is hot! LOL Must be near the cold ocean morning fog. Dress light and you can always get a soakable neck band. The hottest I saw this summer was 123 and it kind of sucks, but I drive all over W/O AC to stay aclimated.

So unless you are always trying to get two or more pigs on every shot use frangible bullets. On stands and feeders I try to get two for one when they line up side by side.