Wild pigs

kamagong

kamagong

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I guess a bit of background info is needed here. I have never hunted. It was not something my family participated in. Truth be told, I don't even know if any of my relatives have ever hunted, and I come from a huge family. For some reason though, I want to shoot for blood. I can't explain it, other than I find the prospect incredibly exciting and think it'll be an adventure to remember.

Because I have never hunted, I do not want to travel far. I want to stay within driving distance because there is always the chance that hunting is not for me. After all, what's the point of going to the trouble and expense of safari if you don't have the makings of a hunter.

In my state we can hunt duck, deer, wild pig, elk, antelope, bighorn sheep, and bobcat. I've ruled out bobcat because I don't know if you can eat bobcat, and I don't want to hunt just to kill something. I've also ruled out elk, antelope, and bighorn sheep because the tags are pretty expensive and more than I want to spend as a first time hunter. In addition, you also have to enter a drawing for the tags. That leaves duck, dear, and wild pig. I guess I can rule out duck and deer as well because I don't like the taste of the meat. That leaves the wild pig. Everybody likes bacon, ham, and baby back ribs right? There are guided wild pig hunts on private ranches nearby, and I think that'll be a good introduction to the sport.

My biggest problem is that at this point I don't have any gear (i.e., I don't have a hunting rifle). I have a couple of ARs, but most of what I read indicates that 5.56 does not have adequate power to maximize your chances of a quick, clean kill. The first order of business then is for me to choose a rifle and kit it out. I've settled on a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in .30-06 (it's gorgeous). At 6 lb. 12 oz. this gun should be a good weight for carrying. I'm choosing the .30-06 because my research indicates that it's a versatile caliber that will take down any animal in North America. I'm going to top it off with a fixed Leupold FX-11 4x33 scope. While I want the versatility of the .30-06, I want simplicity and ruggedness for my optic.

I know that there's more to hunting than getting a gun and hunting license. My Rod & Gun club offers Hunter's Education classes and I'm going to sign up for one. I'm also going to sign up for Appleseed so as to improve my marksmanship skills. I'm giving myself a couple of years to do all this, I want to do my first hunt by 2014 at the latest. You might be wondering why I'm giving myself a firm date, it's because I think it'll make me less likely to put it off.

I've been thinking of this for a while, but I'd appreciate it if you guys could share your thoughts. What do you think about my choice of rifle? What about going after wild pig for my first animal? What other things do I need to consider?

Thanks for the input.
 
Why wait that long? Hunters safety, last I checked was an 8 hour class you do in two nights. Its basic common sense safety items, very little about the art of hunting. The shots you'll be taking on pigs won't be that far out 30 yds would be the average I would guess. Do you have any friends who hunt? Most food banks or shelters will take any of the meat off your hands, and deer hunting is a little easier in terms of gear and time.
 
zackfraser said:
Why wait that long? Hunters safety, last I checked was an 8 hour class you do in two nights. Its basic common sense safety items, very little about the art of hunting. The shots you'll be taking on pigs won't be that far out 30 yds would be the average I would guess. Do you have any friends who hunt? Most food banks or shelters will take any of the meat off your hands, and deer hunting is a little easier in terms of gear and time.
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A few reasons actually. The first is time. My daughter is only 1 right now, and I don't want to spend that much time away from her, not at this moment. The second is money. The rifle, scope, and rings will cost $13-1400. I know I could spend less, but I've set my sights on that get up and would rather get the gun I want than settle. Add in the cost of a couple of days of a guided hunt, and it's a pretty good chunk of change. I'd rather spread out that cost over time. The third is that frankly, I don't think I'm a good enough shot yet to go hunting. I can shoot fine off a bench, but I still have to learn to shoot in the field. I need to learn to use a sling. I want to go to Appleseed and maybe participate in some of the shooting matches at my club. Basically I'm not ready yet.
 
a good idea is to spend some time at a public shooting range . one hundred yds. is good range to make you familiar with your rifle. in 30-06 for a 1st time cat & even for hogs try 150 or 165 gr. bullets. winchester, federal, & hornaday make decent ammo. feral hogs if males need to be castrated at about a year of age to taste good, this is not a problem with sows. you can eat almost anything but the uncastrated boars are lots of trouble to make palatable. paramount to any hunting is being accustomed to your rifle . some people although they are not sissies just ca'nt handle noise & recoil. when target shooting always wear hearing protection, hunting situations make ear p[rotection clumsy.when you are actually shooting at an animal you wo'nt notice recoil or noise.--dennis
 
Sounds like a good choice of gear. You'll also want to have decent binoculars, depending upon the area you hunt. When I hunted hogs in CA, ranges could be substantial and we did a lot of glassing.

If you are going to shoot a larger male hog, use a sturdy bullet. In my 338 Win Mag I like the 225 gr Trophy Bonded Bearclaw (there ought to be a Bearclaw in 165-180 gr available for an '06). I once shot about a 300 pound male with regular Remington 225 gr Core-Lokts and they did not hold together well. Probably OK for deer or smaller sows but large males are a different story.

Although a guide will probably field dress your kill, it's not a bad idea to have a pair of gauntlet length rubber dishwashing gloves and a bunch of handi wipes. It's somewhat safer to handle raw wild pork with gloves and a lot less messy (and you can clean & re-use decent kitchen gloves).

DancesWithKnives

[Oh, and I like the wood you've used as a screen name. I spent seven years at a Filipino Martial Arts academy and it's some hard, strong stuff.]
 
Just practice your marksmanship and you'll be good to go also the the winchester model 70 is an outstanding rifle and an american classic.
 
I've been hog hunting for about 20 years and love every trip I've gone on. They are fun to hunt, smart, have keen senses, and are tough critters. If you tell us what state you're in, we can recommend some public areas or guides to go with. They are usually the less expensive hunts, on a good ranch/area, you should see a decent number of them to get your blood pumping, and by the way, did I say they taste great. Young sows and boar are great all around, big boars make can great sausage. My default hog gun is a .30-06, but I've shot them with my .270, .300 win mag, and compound bow. Your choice of rifle is excellent for pigs. Like others said, use a well constructed bullet, like the TB bear claw, nosler bonded, swifts, etc. If you're ok with the killing part, you'll be addicted to it. Best way, in my opinion, to get started on big game hunting. Go sooner rather than later, too.
 
Planetcat said:
I've been hog hunting for about 20 years and love every trip I've gone on. They are fun to hunt, smart, have keen senses, and are tough critters. If you tell us what state you're in, we can recommend some public areas or guides to go with. They are usually the less expensive hunts, on a good ranch/area, you should see a decent number of them to get your blood pumping, and by the way, did I say they taste great. Young sows and boar are great all around, big boars make can great sausage. My default hog gun is a .30-06, but I've shot them with my .270, .300 win mag, and compound bow. Your choice of rifle is excellent for pigs. Like others said, use a well constructed bullet, like the TB bear claw, nosler bonded, swifts, etc. If you're ok with the killing part, you'll be addicted to it. Best way, in my opinion, to get started on big game hunting. Go sooner rather than later, too.
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I'm glad you asked. I'm in California, in Contra Costa County. I'd really appreciate it if you can give me some good recommendations.
 
I'm a hunting guide in CA, but had to get a less fun day job due to the slow guiding economy. So no guiding for a while, but I will post tomorrow a whole slew of public lands to hunt and reputable guides that will take you on a quality hunt on quality land. The public land hunts are fun, but the pigs are far and few. The guided hunts range from $500 to over $1000, depending on how much pampering you want. These are my best recommendation for a first time hunt, as the experience will be super positive if the guide is good. The ranch I take clients on for pigs is in Sonoma. It's closed for hunting until deer opens in July, and I might resume guiding then for deer, then pigs after the deer hunting simmers down. In the meantime, I'll post some good guides for you too. It's an all year sport, so have at it.
 
I have been mainly self-guided but one time I took my 85 year old geezer buddy hunting with Tom Willoughby, out of the Paso Robles area. He has leases on a HUGE amount of land and an extremely high success rate. Tom and his son got the old boy on a really delicious pig, which he shot. I was likewise successful.

If you Google Tom's name, you should find good references.

DancesWithKnives
 
califoprnia to my knowledge was one of 1st areas to really start using lots of guides & advertising stressed on hogs. we have many hogs in texas & only last 10 years have really gotten into the sporting process of hogs. i have taken them since the 90s but it seems hogs in tex. are looked at as more a terrible nusience than a sporting project. i do'nt know what the attitude in florida happens to be except they seem to be really hated.the most successful hunt with hogs is using dogs but probably the most expensive. lots of knife work--close encounter thing going on here.if you have never killed a larger animal before you may initially experience some emotional stress at first. as i have gotten older i tapered off on the deer but have no trepidation of blasting a ugly hog.---dennis
 
I think that if landowners want the pig population seriously reduced, they may need to permit more free/low cost access for hunters. A few guided hunts probably won't knock the numbers down a lot, since hogs reproduce at a ferocious rate.

DancesWithKnives
 
Wow .Your first hunt is for wild pig and your first gun is a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in .30-06 . Nothing wrong with that, just that most people start hunting for small game with a .22 or a shotgun.


Take some pictures . Ive always wanted to hunt pigs.
 
One comment concerning the WInchester Featherweight + a heavy grain 30-06 is the recoil will be pretty hefty. Very good deadly combo however. Dipbait made a great point that maybe you should hunt some small game with a .22 as preparation. The appleseed shoots will also benefit you greatly.
 
dipbait said:
Wow .Your first hunt is for wild pig and your first gun is a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in .30-06 . Nothing wrong with that, just that most people start hunting for small game with a .22 or a shotgun.
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The Winchester Featherweight won't be my first gun. I already have a CZ 452, a couple of ARs, and a few pistols. It'll be my hunting rifle because I want to use something more powerful than 5.56.

Although I've never hunted, a person could argue that I have shot for blood before. When I was a young teenager I used my BB gun to pick off lizards in my parents' backyard. I even took a couple of pigeons that were nesting in the awning rafters of the patio area because my Dad wanted them gone. I know it's not the same as stalking an animal, but looking back I didn't really feel anything at the time. This is why I want to go after wild pig. I want to feel the excitement of the hunt, I want to get my heart pumping. I don't know if I'm making any sense, but it's something I want to experience.
 
Number one, I have to commend you on waiting to do this untill you are comfortable enough with your shooting capabilities. A hunter should always strive for a fast clean kill.
Second, your set up is fine. I have used that caliber and many others to take hogs. Most of the ones I have taken have been with shotguns. Slugs seem to put them down every time. In a .30-06 I would recommend a 165 gr bonded bullet.
I think you will like hunting. Hogs are fun to hunt and taste great. Be careful tho. They can be pretty mean at times. I scattered a group of them one time and was run down by one that weighed about 200#. He turned around to come back at me and was shot only a few feet from me. It hurt me and he took one to the head from my Glock. Good luck and enjoy the sport.


mlrs
 
As promised, here are some suggestions for both public and private land hunts in CA:

Public:
- Go to DFG website and look up the pig hunting program. There are a series of special hunts on dfg wildlife areas that are draw hunts. I've drawn a few and have had at least one hog in the group taken every time.
- My buddy shot a huge boar at Cottonwood Wildlife area near Los Banos. Long, uphill hiking in nice country. The other wildlife areas are in heavy pig country, so they're worth a try too.
- Camp Roberts over Fort Hunter Liggett. Camp Roberts you just check in and drive/hike around the base. Laid back, nice country. Seen pigs there but never killed one (my mistake). Liggett is ok and very large base, but the checking in/out of the areas is time consuming and annoying.

Private:
- I've heard from a reliable source that Tejon Ranch has lots of pigs and is a great ranch. You can find info on their website.
- Tim Lockwood has a nice ranch in Sonoma. I killed a nice boar there. He's very flexible with hunting styles and needs. We went the bare bones hunt route (i.e. hiked our butts off), and all three of us killed nice hogs over a weekend.
- Mike Soares of Golden West Guide service near Fresno is an Ok guide, but well priced and has nice ranches. He's a bit lazy though. My buddy and I shot a couple of young sows on his ranch. It's blazing hot there in the summer.
- As mentioned, I've heard Tom Willoughby (sp?) has a good setup. Google around for others. Most of them are pretty decent guys that want to get you on hogs.
 
Great observations and recommendations. The only one about which I have a couple reservations is Tejon Ranch. Two of my pals have hunted there several times. I personally think that the unguided Tejon hunts are overpriced, but with a lot of rich LA hunters wanting a nearby location to pig hunt, what can you expect? The success rates observed by my friends at Tejon were not nearly as impressive as Willoughby's, and he'll guide you for close to the same price.

If you hunt Tejon you will need to find lead-free ammo that your rifle likes. Of course, that requirement may spread to Willoughby's area too.

DancesWithKnives
 
DWK2 said:
Great observations and recommendations. The only one about which I have a couple reservations is Tejon Ranch. Two of my pals have hunted there several times. I personally think that the unguided Tejon hunts are overpriced, but with a lot of rich LA hunters wanting a nearby location to pig hunt, what can you expect? The success rates observed by my friends at Tejon were not nearly as impressive as Willoughby's, and he'll guide you for close to the same price.

If you hunt Tejon you will need to find lead-free ammo that your rifle likes. Of course, that requirement may spread to Willoughby's area too.

DancesWithKnives
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Interesting feedback on Tejon. I agree with you on the price for an unguided hunt there. Way too much for land access and still have to contend with other hunters. It is a nice chunk of property though.
 
Agreed. I can't really blame them for pricing to the high-end of the market because they are the only decent pig hunting reasonably close to LA and SD. Many more affluent folks are willing to trade money for reduced driving time.

My friends observed about a 20-25% success rate. But if the OP wants to go to the Jesse's Hunting forum, there are scores of threads on how to hunt Tejon.

DancesWithKnives
 
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