8-2-11

Today I guided Bill Brown on a pig hunt. I met him in Colusa at 4:30 AM and we headed up the hill to try and fill his tag. We checked the wind and decided to go check out the north wheat field, however, today we accessed it from the west side. We parked the ranger at 5:00 AM and took off walking to try and get into position before the pigs started to leave the wheat field. About 10 minutes before legal shooting light we watched as 2 different boars walked past us and up into the hills. We sat tight with our eyes glued to the wheat field when I noticed a big boar working his way towards us. I checked the clock and it was legal shooting light so Bill got on the sticks and ready to shoot.The boar was coming closer and looked as if he was going to use the trail right below us to get through the creek and then bring him right below us. We lost sight of the pig and figured he would be right in front of us in minutes, however, we watched in dismay as he came back out of the creek and headed the other direction. We tried to get a shot but the boar had other plans so Bill and I took off after him. We had gone about 100 yards when I looked out into the wheat and saw another group of pigs headed straight for us. I got Bill set up on the sticks again and he tried to pick out a pig that he wanted. There were 3 nice sized pigs in the group so Bill got on the back one and took a shot. The bullet sailed over the pigs back and off they went. The biggest of the group ran out to about 200 yards and stopped broadside giving Bill another shot but this one went high as well. The pig then turned and went into the creek and we set off to see if we could catch it. We spotted the pig again but this time he was out in the wheat and running south. We took off in that direction to see if maybe he would slow down but he never did. As we were walking back towards the ranger we spotted another group of pigs about 500 yards in front of us but we just couldn't close the gap and had to watch as the pigs headed up the hill and into the brush. We finally got back to the ranger and loaded up and headed to see if there was anything still out in the south field.  As we got high enough to see the field I spotted a lone boar making his way up into the hills on the East side of the field and knew there was no hope of catching him so we headed up into the hills to see what else we could find. We had gone about 5 miles when we came over a ridge and spotted a lone pig feeding in the flats. I stopped the ranger and within seconds Bill had the pig in the cross hairs and put the smack down. The shot was true and we were soon standing over a 80 pounder that will be great for the BBQ. Bill had wanted to get a good boar for the wall but we just did not have a chance at one today so he booked another trip in October to see if we can find one then. It was another great hunt and I am already looking forward to the next one.  

Casey