8-24-2010

We were resting the ranch from Mid-August through Mid-September, so we had a little free time to do some hunting for ourselves. A group of our family and friends headed up to B-zone for the archery deer opener and we had a blast. Out of the 5 hunters we were able to take 3 nice bucks and blew a few chances at others. All in all it was a great time and in all reality we should have taken 5 bucks. I will try and find all of the photo's and attach them as soon as possible.

Casey

8-13-2010

Today I guided Jack Hodges on a pig hunt. As soon as it got light enough to see we spotted some pigs down in the wheat and headed their direction. Before we could get to them they left the wheat field and headed into the hills. I thought I knew where they would go so we headed into the hills to try and get in front of them. We got into a ravine and began watching a couple of trails that I thought they would be coming down. Sure enough they crested the ridge and began coming towards us when all at once they must have smelled us and off they went. We jumped on the ranger and went to the head of the next canyon hoping to catch them crossing it. Again they came down towards us and this time they made a fatal mistake, stopping in front of dead eye Jack. With one well placed shot Jack was standing over a 80-100 pound sow, that will be great for the BBQ. We had a great time on this hunt, however, I forgot my camera so we were not able to get any photo's. Sorry Guys!

Andy

8-7-10

Today I had the pleasure of guiding Jon Paslaqua and William Millagen on a pig hunt. The pigs have been hitting the wheat field hard so we headed to the point overlooking the wheat to see what was out there. As the sky began to lighten I noticed some black dots on the North end of the field so we checked the wind and began our stalk. We closed the distance quickly and got set up waiting for legal shooting light. As soon as the clock struck shoot time William smoked a nice sized sow. She dropped in her tracks and the others made a mad dash for the hills leaving Jon without a shot. We knew Williams pig was down for the count so we decided to walk across the wheat field and see what was on the back side of a small group of ridges that run through the wheat field. As we came over the top of the first ridge we spotted a loan boar feeding on the edge of the wheat and Jon smoked him, another 1 shot kill. When it was all said and done we had 2 pigs down and in the truck headed for the skinning shack within an hour of legal shooting light. Both of these guys made great shots and we had alot of laughs while in the field.

Jake

8-2-2010

Today I had the pleasure of guiding Jerry Pryde from Granite Bay, California. We decided to switch things up a bit this morning so we headed up into the hills to try and catch the pigs as they left the wheat field and made their way to bed. At 6:00 AM we caught a glimpse of 8 nice sized hogs making their way towards us but at the last minute they turned and went up another draw that headed North of where we were set up. We knew where they were going so we hot footed it in their direction hoping to catch them crossing the road in front of us as they made their way up hill. As luck would have it they crossed the road and made it into the thick brush before we could get there. We then headed back to our original vantage point and within minutes saw another group of 10-12 pigs headed right for us. We were set up and watching the trail that they always come out on when I looked up and saw them sneaking out another trail on the top of the draw. Again we headed towards them but by the time we caught up to them all we couls see were a couple 40-50 pounders so we let them go. At this point we had been fooled twice but I knew that it would not happen a third time. We hopped on the ranger and headed deeper into the ranch checking a few of the likely spots with no success, so we pushed on. As we made our decent from the top of the ridge down into the valley movement in the creek bottom caught my eye, it was pigs and a bunch of them! The group of pigs were on the move and heading up a brushy draw so we headed up the hill to try and catch them when they came out the top. As we got to the top of the hill almost immediately we could hear the crashing of brush and knew that the pigs were about to make a fatal mistake. I ranged the trail coming out of the brush at 150 yards and Jerry got ready to shoot. The first couple pigs to come out were 125-150 pounds and as Jerry got ready to shoot I noticed a huge boar bringing up the rear. I told Jerry to look at the back of the group and within seconds Jerry dropped the big boar. After dragging the boar to an area that we could get the ranger to we took some photo's, gutted the pig, and headed to the barn to get the hide off. The boar weighed 265 pounds field dressed and 185 pounds after skinning. That is a toatl of 80 pounds of just hide and head. Jerry is taking the head to the taxidermist and once completed will hang it in J & G Gunsmithing out of Granite Bay. Jerry owns this shop and I would recommend him to any one in need of gun repair or custom work to any type of firearm. Another great hunt with another great client.

Jake

7-29-2010

Today we had Western Outdoor News editor Bill Karr in the field doing an On-The-Spot pig hunt. The hunt went as we figured it would and Bill was soon standing over a nice sized meat pig. Due to the South breeze we decided to walk into the wheat field this morning following the East border with hopes that the pigs would be out in the middle of the field and would not wind us. We waited until legal shooting light and began our treck across the wheat field. Almost immediately we had a group of 8 pigs walk within 10 yards of us but they were only 40-50 pounders so we let them go. We saw roughly 20 small pigs as we made our way up onto a point in the wheat field where we would be able to gain enough elevation to see what else was out feeding. As we crested the ridge we saw 2 groups of pigs, with 3-4 big pigs in each group and a bunch of piglets. We picked out the group that had a boar in it and made our way down towards them. At 200 yards we sat down and Bill got set to shoot. The pigs began walking towards us and at 175 yards turned broadside and Bill smoked the boar with a spine shot. Another very quick but successful hunt. You will be able to read the whole story in the 8-13-10 issue of Western Outdoor News.

Jake