My two day guided hunt lasted 15 minutes

[cvixx]

Nice hog! I'm just outside Monterey. Ft. Hunter-Liggett used to have a lot of pig hunting down there. I also know a guy who has a lot of property near Soledad and he has some guided boar hunting setups from time to time. I haven't gone yet, but was just going to take my .44 Redhawk or Old Model Super Blackhawk with 240 grain JHP's and .444 Marlin with 300 grain Hornady's and see what I could get. I had to read about it to believe it, but evidently the plain old 5.56 / .223 Rem with 70 grainers is like hog magic, so I imagine your 120 grain 6.5CM really walloped him. Wyndham Weaponry (the old Bushmaster guys) even makes (or made) a special camo hunting AR rifle for pig hunting. Congrats on a successful hunt!

I was the director of law enforcement at Camp Roberts, a bit south. Lots of hog and deer in the 80s. Had one landowner adjacent to the boundary fence who would sneak in then hang the pig hides on the fence. Never did catch him. Early 90s coyotes over ran the base and ate all the deer. Hunting them was a no-no because the Wildlife people thought they would be mistaken for kit Fox, which were "endangered". Same with the ground squirrels because they were on the menu for the Kit Fox. Kit Fox were so scrawny that any self respecting ground squirrel could take on a Kit Fox and probably whip his butt.

 

[ETXshortrange]

Congratulations

 

[Chas1]

Very nice !!!!

 

[HRM Johnny]

Congratulations. Nice hog. I'm glad you got to fulfill your long-held desire. Thanks for posting.

 

[amyjune]

I have had this happen a couple of times with hogs. They can be anywhere at anytime...

 

[COBrad]

Great hog, great hunt! Congratulations friend!!

 

[Lenny Foffa]

Very Nice brcfo!!! I have a similar story. last year I hunted an outfitter in N Carolina. As the guide was dropping off each hunter to their stands, I was the last. It was about 5;30 AM, and pitch black. he said just walk down the trail and you will see a ladder stand about 150 yards. Climb up. I said Buddy, I am 73 years old , I had never hunted a ladder tree stand before, and I didn't want to learn how in the dark. So he said we have a elevated ground blind down this road, I ll put you in that and come back at 10 and get you out and put you in the ladder Tree stand later . Ok with me. I'm in the Elevated Box blind( the Old Man Blind ) at 5:50 AM , a very nice buck comes walking down the trail at about 6;15AM,wacthed him come towards me for well over 100 yards, and is dead on the ground before 6;30 AM . First day, Hunts over in less than one hour!!! I was so happy , I did not even wish to hunt the doe I was also allowed to hunt. I just went back to the lodge, packed up drove back to NJ . The rifle was my Weatherby Ultralight, in 270 Win. 130 Grn Ballistic tips /59.5 grns H 4831SC. Ill be back again this year.

 

[jimmybrost]

Trust me, if you gotta have a problem, thats the one you want! Congratulations.

 

[Professor Doolittle]

A little back story here, I have always been a DIY kind of guy when it comes to hunting which has definitely yielded mixed results. I starting hunting in high school with my buddy, and we would run around the public lands of central/coastal California with archery equipment and no idea what we were doing. We would see pigs but never got close to shoot anything but piglets which I chose to pass on. Years went on and I would occasionally try for pigs but stopped a few years back, though continued to buy tags each year just in case. Well this year I turned 30 and decide to go on my first guided hunt ever and figured I would opt for a pig to try and complete that long term goal. So I reach out to the guide, scheduled a two day hunt, and prepped and provisioned accordingly. Night before I drive three hours to car camp, and get up at 0400 to meet the guide, we drive about fifteen minutes to some private land and gear up. Guide says we should check out a pond really quick that was right near the farm house where we had parked. So we hoofed it for about five minutes and I shot this pig at the pond. I can't argue with my success but I was kind of looking forward to the full two day experience. Oh well. Just wanted to share my story, figured you guys might appreciate it.

Just this morning I asked the ranch owner where I shoot who used to be a pro guide what happens if your target animal walks up right when the hunt is just starting. He said he has seen multi-day guided hunts bag their game in the first half hour of the hunt. I think its a strange position to be in. I think I would feel like a fool if that happened to me. I don't really understand the concept of the guided hunt. I could see a guide for learning to hunt an animal you haven't hunted before, such as your case. But for me I don't want the guide so much as assistance with the hard labor, the butchering, hauling, packing, etc. I don't know which hunting elements can be removed and still leave a great experience of hunting. The core ideas, besides the obvious pursuit of meat on the table, are 1)competence in hurling a projectile accurately, 2)competence in dealing death, 3) competence in the outdoors, 4)competence in stalking. Everything about hunting is a display of competence. Women love competence in a man. I knew a couple where the man was less competent than his girlfriend and you never saw a more unhappy woman in your life, snatching the screwdriver out of his hand to do it herself. It was quite hilarious.

 

[spladi]

A little back story here, I have always been a DIY kind of guy when it comes to hunting which has definitely yielded mixed results. I starting hunting in high school with my buddy, and we would run around the public lands of central/coastal California with archery equipment and no idea what we were doing. We would see pigs but never got close to shoot anything but piglets which I chose to pass on. Years went on and I would occasionally try for pigs but stopped a few years back, though continued to buy tags each year just in case. Well this year I turned 30 and decide to go on my first guided hunt ever and figured I would opt for a pig to try and complete that long term goal. So I reach out to the guide, scheduled a two day hunt, and prepped and provisioned accordingly. Night before I drive three hours to car camp, and get up at 0400 to meet the guide, we drive about fifteen minutes to some private land and gear up. Guide says we should check out a pond really quick that was right near the farm house where we had parked. So we hoofed it for about five minutes and I shot this pig at the pond. I can't argue with my success but I was kind of looking forward to the full two day experience. Oh well. Just wanted to share my story, figured you guys might appreciate it.

Rifle is a Bighorn Origin that I built with a Proof barrel in a Manners EH1 and topped with a Meopta Optika6 3-18x56. Ammo was the factory Barnes Vor-TX 6.5CM load shooting 120gr TTSX. Pig was a little over 200lbs.

No sneaking up needed with that nice equipment !

 

[Swinehunt74]

Great hog. Been killing swine in so Texas last 25yrs. Have never had to pay yet, with over 2500 kills in that time. Good sized pig in the wild. They just can't get enough calories to get much bigger than that. If u ever get the chance to hunt them at night, don't pass on it.

 

[mnoland30]

That is a nice hog. I've only shot game on opening day a few times. I sort of feel guilty, like I haven't worked hard enough to have earned it. Then I think about all of the hunts where I hunted hard for days and came home empty handed, and feel better. At least on public land, you can stay a few days and enjoy the camping. On a javelina hunt, we were on the way to camp and a herd crossed the road in front of us. Done in 5 minutes.

I've never shot wild hogs, but everything I've heard is that the younger ones taste much better, but who could resist?

 

[WYO300RUM]

Very Nice brcfo!!! I have a similar story. last year I hunted an outfitter in N Carolina. As the guide was dropping off each hunter to their stands, I was the last. It was about 5;30 AM, and pitch black. he said just walk down the trail and you will see a ladder stand about 150 yards. Climb up. I said Buddy, I am 73 years old , I had never hunted a ladder tree stand before, and I didn't want to learn how in the dark. So he said we have a elevated ground blind down this road, I ll put you in that and come back at 10 and get you out and put you in the ladder Tree stand later . Ok with me. I'm in the Elevated Box blind( the Old Man Blind ) at 5:50 AM , a very nice buck comes walking down the trail at about 6;15AM,wacthed him come towards me for well over 100 yards, and is dead on the ground before 6;30 AM . First day, Hunts over in less than one hour!!! I was so happy , I did not even wish to hunt the doe I was also allowed to hunt. I just went back to the lodge, packed up drove back to NJ . The rifle was my Weatherby Ultralight, in 270 Win. 130 Grn Ballistic tips /59.5 grns H 4831SC. Ill be back again this year.

That's the way to do it ! XLNT buck !

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

Beautiful hog!