Leaving in a week ... will be on a ranch outside Santa Barbara. Not a lot of particulars since a friend out there set it up.

Any tips or tales for a beginner? Clothing, equipment, miscellaneous gear? I'll be shooting a Mark X .30-06 with 200-gr. Partitions because that's what it shoots well.

Shot placement advice, dangerous situations and how to avoid them, etc.?

What to look for in a good pig besides the smell and the makings of lots of spare ribs and pepperoni?

John

That bullet & caliber will handle the biggest pig from any angle, just look to land it in the chest area, and I am sure if there running directly away that 200 gr partition would give complete penetration from the Kaiver pass through to the chest.

A pigs vitals lie farther forward than a deer or any other animal. A shot in the shoulder (or neck, if possible) is best. If you aim behind the shoulder, you will just clip the back of their lungs.

They are pretty tough. A hog hit well will die fairly quickly.

A lot has been said and written about the ferocity of a pig. I have shot a bunch and still have not encountered an un-wounded aggressive one. It is possible, but not as likely as some make it out to be.

Do not take a wounded one for granted. He WILL slice you up if he gets the chance. Do not corner a wounded one or approach a downed pig without caution. Sound advice for any game animal for that matter.

Their size is deceiving. They are not as big as they look. A 200 lb pig is a whole lot of pig and a super good trophy. My biggest is an honest 300 lbs. They do get bigger but not very often. If you shoot one 150 lbs, that's a real good Pig.

They are blind. Make like a cow if you need to stalk one in the open. Bend over, extend your arms downward and take the shape of a cow ... you will look real stupid, but it does work.

Have fun.

John-
I've only had the opportunity to hunt pigs 3 times (with Kyler Hamann, who is quite an authority and runs a superb guiding service, found at Boaring.com). The 200 grn bullets you are using will be fine, but they need to be placed just right or the things will run and run and run! A medium sized sow, not nursing, makes for the best meat pig. I shot a big boar 3 years ago. It's head on the wall is impressive, but the meat reminded one dinner guest of "loin of werewolf." I seem to feel that you have to choose between trophy and table fare. Enjoy the hunt!

If you encounter one head on do not shoot between the eyes, the bullet will go under the brain. Shoot between the ears. I grew up on a hog farm, learned the hard way.

Forgot to add, hogs are very clean animals, you will not likely smell one. They do smell very bad when confined though and that is where they got their reputation, not their fault, the owners.

[ 10-04-2002, 06:34: Message edited by: Roger Rothschild ]

Roger, I do not know where you hunt hogs but every one I have shot are stinky!

As a matter of fact, on one hunt I smelled him before I saw him! It was at night using a spotlight (legal in Texas). We were stalking a small group in a maize field. Could hear them, just couldn't see them. Then I smelled him, actually her ... got into the same row as her, shined the light and my buddy took care of her!

Our hogs here stink!

On second thoughts for pigs with the 30/06 165 gr ballistic tips work as well as anything, kill them like lightening.

Hogs stink, captivity or not....all of them stink to high heaven...

A 30-06 is fine...They seldom charge and if they do you shoot them, simple as that, and that is all you can do, unless you want to climb a tree and spend the night.

I won't touch the hog hunting part of your question because I haven't yet. I will address the clothing portion. A light jacket of fleece jacket should be all you need. It does not get very cold even on the coast near Santa Barbara. Long sleeve shirts and pants will be the daily wearables and I'll bet there are times you can go in a t-shirt. I'd even consider bringing a pair of shorts just in cse it's a warm day or for wearing around after the hunt. I am not one to chilleasy so take my recommendation accordingly. I would figure your temps to range from the mid 50's at night to mid 70's during the day. Also call the guide and ask what typs of items you may need other than personal comfort/necessity items. I am assuming the guide will be field dressing? Good hunting to you.

I have shot several Hogs a bit further North, Near Los Banos, and none of them stunk. HOWEVER... My hunting partner shot a big one that smelled so bad we couldn't stand to be near it.

I've shot all of two hogs, also with Kyler (www.boaring.com) the first a 230 pound boar and the second a 140 pound sow. I was surprised how clean they both were. They certainly didn't stink! -Sean

They especially stink after a 300 gr sierra .45/70 bullet has opened up there guts, and worms !! looks like a Japanese noodle factory in there

John,
I've been pig hunting a couple of times outside of Paso Robles with pretty good sucess. Hunted the "Works Ranch" and part of the "Hearst Ranch" with Burt???. Right now the early AM's might get a little chillier than you'd think, but the days can warm right up to toasty-plus. Shorts are okay if you're not concerned about ticks, poison oak and the like. Your 30-06 is darned appropriate for the pigs up there. I've seen them taken with .243's to 45-70's. (I've been using my 375 H&H, but they're not any deader then with the .243 or 30-30.)Good luck and have a great time.

Have a great time... You'll find stalking them to be very challenging, as pigs are the smartest critter in the woods... and they CAN see... but not a very high angle.

Sows wont stink much, but then again, you won't get alot of tusk from one either. You can eat the whole sow.

But,
A boar will STINK dady STINK.. you can't get away from it, you can't get around it, and if the evil bastards you are hunting with want you to MILK him, just make sure it lands on THEM.

Honestly, the pig has the best sense of smell of just about anything. The french use them to find truffles.

it can hear like you can't believe.. those huge ears serve 3 purposes... 1: to radiate heat, 2: to hear, and 3 and my favorite... they raise up and twitch in their sleep. Sleeping is likely how you'll find any pig you stalk, unless it's running.

Man, we've had stalks where we put pressure on them, settled in behind a tree to wait a minute or 5, and they turn right back into where they were sleeping. BOOM!!!

I'll try the make like a cow thing. Sounds pretty darn funny.

Try to shoot 1/2 up the shoulder or FORWARD. Behind, and you've got a gutshot pissed off porker, who won't bleed worth a damn, will "dry up" after 200 yards.. (and then "dump") and will hide and wait for you, if pressed.

Also, do not (from the side) try a behind the ear shot with a heavy weight bullet. I've recovered several that had a HUGE triangle missing on the top of their necks. And I've seen one get up from it. They go down... and get up.. and live.

Remember, this are tough bastards, with a pretty primative nervous system, so "shock" won't kill him like it does a deer or a big cat.

The headshot advice is good, but I tend to aim between ear and eye. If you have a rest, the BASE of the ear, with your heavy SD bullets, will land you pork in the larder.

The sows are great eating, the boars can be rather strong. And past 150lbs, they are good for donation... I've seen 450#ers that you can't get close to without something over your mouth... but this was on a FARM (not game farm) and had been killing animals and the farmers dog. 2 416 softs, 1 577 soft... and a solid, but he was in the dirt already. East Texas Grizzly.

Okay, rambled enough, have fun
jeffe

PC,
If you ever get to shoot them up north in QLD off a pinapple or mango farm they're great. No worms and the meat is delicious. The pigs don't eat carrion and so are much cleaner and fatter.

That sounds good hunter. The ones around Bourke this July were terrible specimens, but it's pretty drought ravaged there. The meat on those mango eaters would be sweet.

When I was younger we used to shoot the sow and catch the little ones and bring them back in an old wool pack to Vic. We would fatten them up and clean them out and then turn them in to "Ribs on the Run"

Thanks to all for all the advice -- I guess I owe you a report, though (cutting to the chase) I must admit the embarassment of being one of the few pig hunters to leave California empty-handed.

The problem on our hunt was that we kept seeing pigs, but never for long.

The first morning, we glassed a while, then our guide drove a canyon for us. Tom (my partner) saw about 15-20 pigs but they were moving, at a bad angle, at 200 yds -- farther than he was comfortable with. I heard the pigs, but they went over the finger I was on just below where I could have seen them.

Late afternoon we were riding in the jeep along a ridgetop and saw 5 or 6, 80-200 lbs. (either of us would have been happy with a meat pig) rooting for acorns. Tom got ready to shoot at maybe 50 yds. but I stopped him because he didn't have a good backstop -- this ridge was right above US 101 so restraint was in order. We tried to move around the side, which would take us slightly uphill shooting down into a bowl, but the pigs must have seen/heard/smelled us and all spooked simultaneously like a flock of birds.

Second morning we saw 4-5 pigs moving through a clearing in a canyon below the road. Tom was going to watch while I went out on the opposite finger; again, he and the guide saw them disappear quickly over the end of the finger I was on, too fast to shoot or for me to get there.

Midday we saw another half-dozen descending to the bottom of a very steep canyon. They looked damn far away and the angle was downward. We went down a switchback trail and tried to still-hunt the canyon floor -- turned out to be a big, nasty, recently used wallow but no sign of the pigs. On the way back up we started estimating the range across the canyon (by putting scope
reticles on average-size trees and comparing to targets we shoot regularly) and realized it was probably only 150-200 yards and we could have shot from prone with a good rest. But the angle was still bad and I would be concerned about only getting one lung.

While we were BSing about this, a single medium-size pig suddenly ran across the road and totally disappeared into the brush. Argh.

End of the 2nd day we were driving up a hellacious 4WD trail and as we came up on a thicket of reedy vegetation, I saw a couple pigs flush from it. I was in the back of the truck and by the time the guide heard me banging on
the roof and stopped, another 6 flushed to the right, then 2 huge ones to the left. By the time we got out and loaded up, they were scattering pretty well -- Tom got off one shot at a 120-pounder and missed.

I guess the bright side of this is that I learned some things (e.g., need to work on range estimation skills), I didn't have to pay for butchering or meat shipment, and with no closed season, my tag is good until the end of next June!

John

Keep plugging away John, you'll get you a hog. My last hunt was porkless but it was a hoot chasing them oinkers around.

If anybody is looking for Ca. hog hunting info, I have a webpage with info and maps on public land, guided hunts and the military land hunts.

There is a list of guides, butchers and other helpful info.

http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com/calhog.html

Happy Hoggin