Does anyone know of any good hog hunting spots in WA state? I've been told that there are a few outfitters in this state, but I can't seem to come up with any names.

My understanding is that feral hogs have populated the southern part of the Olympic Penn. I dn't know anyone who has hunted them, though. Try contacting the WA DFG.

I think the whole feral hog thing was a BS story planted by a Montesano sporting goods store. I was fool enough to chase after them a bunch of times one summer. Funny thing is, if you ask any of the locals about the "little wild black pigs" people who have spent there whole lives ther have never seen 'em. They are supposed to be around the Wynoochie river up near the dam....who knows?

IV

Really! Y'know, some years back there was a complete hoax of a story in G&A about feral goats in California. The guy claimed that not only were they infesting Catalina Island (which was true at the time but isn't now) but that there were flocks of them throughout the California forests doing fearsome damage to the native vegetation. I contacted the Calif Dept of Forestry about this and the chief forester laughed. Maybe some goats occasionally get out and go life in the woods, quoth he, but any young that might be born would be immediate coyote bait. Eventually the old ones die and that's the end of that. Y'gotta watch what you read, I guess, is the moral of the story. And confirm what you want to believe.

I saw an article on feral hogs in Washington in Fish & Game news so I called the biologists at the F&G office in Montesano. They sent me to the Deckerville Swamp, where I saw a lot of deer tracks in the snow (maybe bog tracks?) but no hogs.

If they're out there, I think any hunting pressure gets them moving. About all they need is water, and there's plenty of that on the Peninsuala. On the bright side, the season is open on them all year long, with no bag limit and you don't even need a license. That's a ready-made excuse to be in the woods with a rifle, and that's good enough for me.


Okie John