6-13-2010

Today I guided Tim Martin and Rich Vass of Castro Valley, California on a pig hunt. We started the morning sitting on a point over looking the wheat field. Almost immediately after arriving at the glassing point we could hear pigs snorting and squealing down in the wheat. After another 10 minutes or so we heard the pigs walking through the water in the creek that borders the wheat. At this point I told the guys to get ready as it sounded as if the pigs were on the move and would surely be coming out of the creek bottom soon. The pigs must of sensed danger because they never came out of the creek and showed themselves. Just as we were getting ready to make a move and get further up into the hills 4 nice sized pigs made a break for the hills never offering us a shot, so off we went to try and relocate them. As we neared the top of the second ridge I looked down and spotted a lone pig just feeding around in the shade of the canyon. With the wind in our favor we took off on foot to try and close the distance and get a shot. When we first spotted the pig it was a long ways off but not moving too quickly. Before we knew it we were within 200 yards, but with the wind in our face we decided to see just how close we could get. We began sneaking closer and closer eventually getting to within 68 yards of the hog before Rich put the smack down with his 7MM. The pig was quartering away and the shot was perfect entering right behind the ribs on the left and exiting in front of the right leg. The pig ran about 75 yards before crashing to it's death in the bottom of a small creek. The pig ended up being a dry sow and tipped the scales at 250 pounds. We continued to hunt after hauling the sow out of the bottom of a nasty canyon, but by that time it was getting hot and we decided to call it quits and get the hide off of the pig and get her into the cold box. These guys were both great hunters and a true pleasure to spend a day in the hills with.

Jake