Why don't you join us? We are getting a group discount and are staying there from Wednesday afternoon to Sunday morning.
See the first post of this thread for more info. Four other members of the Fire have hunted hogs their and they expressed their opinion of Wilderness.
Steve
Steve, thanks I can't make this trip but maybe next time. Being from Texas, I don't get to excited about hunting hogs, but the great thing about this place is that you can hunt quite a few different species and you can hunt as hard as you want. I was there on a four day hunt in 2008 and shot my ram the first morning. I was sorely tempted to take a fallow or axis deer as well.
Allen, the owner, is a good fellow and his wife is a good looking lady and sassy too. One of his brothers conveniently operates a taxidermy business for those that want to get their mounts done local and he does good work. I have a black hawaiian ram he did for me staring at me as I type this. Another brother is a guide and is by far the fastest with a knife that I've seen.
I read some of the comments from magnumdood/hunter1960 philosophizing about charging folks to shoot a hog. I'll tell you in most instances, hunters don't even put a dent in the wild hog population so ranchers might as well charge those of us that enjoy the sport of it. At Wilderness Lodge I'm not sure how many of the hogs are even born there on the property and how many are shipped in. The hilltop hunting area is high fenced and is not a huge piece of land...I think I remember 800 acres? Given the number of hunters they host each year, I suspect that some outside replenishment of the hog population is needed. I may be wrong though. But I do know that they import all the sheep/goat species as all the animals were male.
If you are only there to shoot one animal, my advice is to be patient. You will see plenty of animals and the 4-day hunt is more than long enough to look over a fair amount of the local wildlife. It's likely that some guys will end up taking more animals than initially planned because of the length of the hunt, and density and variety of animals. So if you are on a budget, be patient. And if you're not on a budget, you can get plenty of trigger time!
I look forward to hearing reports back and viewing photos from you all once the hunt is over!
