6-11-12

Today I guided Trevor Carr for pigs. We hit the ranch at first light and started looking over the lower brush country with no luck, so we moved on. I had seen a nice group of pigs up in a brushy canyon on a scouting trip last week, so we went in search of them as I thought I knew where they were living. We parked the ranger and started walking up an old road that paralleled a dry creek bed with lots of brush in it. As we neared the top of the draw we had yet to see anything so I told Trevor we would hike up the ridge and get on the other side of the creek bed with hopes that the slight North breeze would blow our scent into the brush and get the pigs moving. We had only gone 100 yards up the ridge when all of the sudden we could hear pigs grunting above us. Trevor caught his breath and we headed up the hill to try and locate the pigs. As we went over the next rise we could hear them plain as day and knew that we were right on top of them. Our view was obstructed by some manzanita so we stepped to the left and finally got into the clear and got a good look at the pigs. There were 4 sows in the group as well as a bunch of piglets so we sat patiently and looked for a dry sow. Within seconds of spotting a dry sow the pigs turned and headed straight for us, they were now 25 yards and closing! Trevor took a rest on a tree and as the dry sow came into the opening a mere 5 yards away he smoked her! At the shot she dropped stone dead and then came rolling right past us towards the bottom of the hill. We stood still and watched as the other pigs walked right by us at less than 3 yards and then made their escape into the brush. After a quick recap of the hunt we walked back out to go and get the ranger. As we rounded the last corner before we got to the ranger we looked over and spotted another group of 8-10 pigs working their way up into the same drainage. It was a great hunt and having pigs that close to you always makes for an exciting one!

Casey