Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Trophy Hog --Blondie, the Wild Boar

I went down to Red Bluff, CA last Friday with a buddy to do a little hog hunting.

We stayed in a little ranch cabin:



We met with the guide and began glassing at about 4 PM Friday.

We glassed valleys like this:



and This:


we spotted a group of pigs grazing in a wheat field north of us. The Wheat had just sprouted seed heads and was "tasty". The field was adjacent to a small pond that the pigs had been wallowing in.

The pond is the blue spot among the trees directly above the pigs butt (photo from an old hunt). There is a small line of greenery in the plowed fields in the photo. We will get back to this.



Wind was from the North, so we had to swing South of the pigs, and come in from the West side of them.

we drove the 4 wheeler (a polaris ranger) around, dismounted and began the stalk from about 400 yards.

The Upper field in the photo was still brown and planted in Safflower. The Lower field has greened up and had wheat that the pigs were eating was about a foot high. We crossed the Safflower feild and were about 100 yards West (crosswind) and 150 yards North. Then we began the serious part of the stalk. My Buddy had never Hog Hunted before so I gave him the first try at the pig.

The guide led us down the "green strip" between the fields (its just a small drainage canal/creek, and into the Wheat.

The pigs were gone!

The guide led us a little forward and we found them, 45 yards farther North (feeding into the wind) and in a little depression. The Giude picked out a boar, gave my buddy the OK to shoot when it turned sideways. My Buddy stared at hog balls through his scope for a minute or so, then the boar turned and the shot went off.

DROPPED it like a sack of manure! My buddy lost sight of the boar because it dropped so fast that it was gone from his view instantly!

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A few fist bumps later, this photo was taken.

The hunt started at 4. By 5:40 the hog was dressed and in the cooler.

A hopeful beginning!

More to come

BMT

The hog weighed 155 field dressed.

We aged him about 18 months.



the 7mm Mag 160 partition did its job. Lung/Spine/Lung shot.

Autopsy photo.



It was now my turn.

We went out again and saw nothing the rest of the night.

But the giude began telling us about "Blondie" a Blond Boar that had shown up and began injuring the local boars, and harrassing the girls. It was a wily one that had been living in the hills and coming in at night to chase piggy tail. There were several blonde piglets around to testify to his success.

The ranch we hunted is FREE RANGE. The guides require us to shoot boys only. The females are left as brood stock. They are NOT fed or fenced. But the females have learned the rules. Boars, have also learned the rules and stay away from humans.

we will come back to this point.

The sun goes down Friday. One shot, One pig.

More to come,

BMT

Saturday at the crack of dawn we head out for the back of the ranch to see what we can see. About a mile from the lodge, the guide sees a flash of a Coyote in a dry creek bed. he slows down the 4 wheeler and says "what is that". Then

HOLY CRAP ITS BLONDIE.

I jump out and rack a round into the chamber. Blondie hits high gear. I get a clean chance to shoot at 200 yards. I pass.

From this point on, the guide is quoting Clint eastwood Movies:



he is fixated on Blondie.

we hunt the rest of the monring-NOTHING.

We decide to get lunch and lay off until 3 PM.

More to come.

BMT

The Kentucky derby is on TV and we eat and sit around.

About 2:30 I see hogs get up and start moving. Time to "Kit Up."

We see hogs go into the same wheat field. But wind is from the South. We undertake the same stalk from the other direction. But the pigs are staying among the same wheat and not giving the giude a good look at whether they are Sows or boars. We stay tight to them for 20 minutes and slowly "push" them to get a view of a pig with testicle. NO LUCK. They finally scattered.

The success rate of the guide was plunging. Nothing to shoot at.

We finally set up for the last hour of daylight near the gorge that Blondie ran into.

no luck.

We eat dinner at 10 Pm, got to bed and vow to get out to where Blondie was before sun up.

We are out the door to hunt early. The 4 wheeler won't start. the guide is pissed. but we quickly pile into his truck and get out after Blondie.

As we left, we took a quick look a the sows sleeping near the house. All of them were snoozing away.

We go out to get Blondie one more time, stay on stand for 40 minutes. The guide decides to try another place--OH CRAP the keys to the gates are on the key ring for the 4 wheeler. back to ranch house we go.

As we pass the sows, we notice that the are up and all milling about in a small cattle pen.

The guide looks them over, notices a blond one, a blond one with big teeth--OMG ITS BLONDIE!!

The Horny pig has his nose stuck up the backside of a young sow who clearly was in heat.

The guide screams--SHOOT THAT PIG!

I jump out and chamber a round. The guide screams: WAIT! DON'T HIT THE OTHER PIGS. 2 seconds go by, the pigs clear away from Blondie, I shoot!

A quartering away shot, into the lung, the 150 grain TSX smashed into one lung, and lodged in the spine above the shoulder.

Blondie's reign was over.

Moral of the story--Chasing girls can get your killed.



These tusks will be mounted:



Overall a good hunt, with a strange ending.

BMT

Good story and nice pigs. Congrats and thanks.

Nice Boar!

Does indeed sound like a good time!

I enjoyed the story and photos. Congrats on a fine pig!

Guy

That kind of hut is on my bucket list. Thanks for sharing.

Congrats on the great hunt and nice write up. Those hogs should eat well. Looks like nice country also. What guide did you end up hunting with?

Cool. Congrats.

I seriously question anyone that won't let sows get shot though... evidently they do not know what can happen when pigs overpopulate.... at least in TX it gets bad.

Rost - It's different in many parts of California. Pig numbers fluctuate a great deal in response to precip levels. Precip and food production are the primary limiting factors on their numbers because they aren't sustained by feeders as so many are in Texas. On ranches where they need to conserve to maintain huntable numbers, some declare sows off limits. Some don't. Varies from ranch to ranch.

Hunting is different, too, due to terrain. It's mostly a spot and stalk game and long shots are common, although some do hunt behind dogs.

True. The ranch had lower hog number this year because of a very good acorn crop. They wander away and into the Coast range.

The numbers are expected to get worse as the rainfall is so poor this year.

Next year, the ranch is booked up already. Not from demand, but from the landowners decision to reduce hunting in response to the dry weather.

BMT

It's been that way for as long as I can remember -- boom and bust with the rains -- and I hunted hogs in Calif. for over 30 years. Here's a hint for anyone else looking to hunt hogs in Calif.: Ask if the ranch has barley. The stuff is like crack for hogs... assuming you time it right. Probably not much barley now with the drought.

VERY cool my bro-tha!!! Glad you had a good time, and now you have a well stocked freezer. That's some pretty country up there. Further up North is where I used to deer and bear hunt, in the Trinity Alps.

Different, yeah. If you heard somebody in most areas of Texas talk about "glassing" for hogs, they might be talking about trying to tarp them in slow curing epoxy resin, but not looking at them through binos. My average shot is less than 50 yards.

Same here in NW Florida Mike , we get 50 yard shots IF it been bush hogged.

Great story and pictures thanks.
Mike

Got the mounted pig back a few weeks ago:



The TSX that did the dirty work is mounted on that Plaque.

BMT

I like that!

FC

BMT,

Nice trophy! I really enjoyed your write-up too. Add a bit more flourish and polish and it is magazine-worthy. A truly enjoyable read! You have skill with story-telling, and hog hunting apparently!

Great story about the hunt and a very good looking mount! Congrats!

I like the mount with the recovered bullet! Congrats and thanks for the write-up!

Excellent storytelling BMT; thanks.

Looks like a great time!

Cool beans Brian!