Having just read about the one done in Cali for $850 for a single day. (According to the website from the ranch) That seems a little excessive. Since I have no experience with guided hunts of that type, I don't know that it really is excessive. Is it?
One nights lodging, meals, one on one guide, meat care.

I'd only be in it for the pork. Don't care about the trophy.

If only in it for the pork why not just buy a farm pig? $850 for a 1 day hunt is pretty steep IMO.

If you just want meat, then forget about hunting. Go to Costco instead.

$850 may seem steep, but compared to the cost of guided hunts for elk, bear, moose, or big deer, pig hunting is downright cheap.

I had three goals for this hunt. The first was to get away with my kid for a few days. The second was to hunt in a different part of the country and learn how they do things there. The third was to hunt during a time when there aren't a lot of other folks in the woods pushing game around.

My problem is that I live in a place that has no feral hogs. If I lived in Texas or the deep South, then I’d go self-guided, especially if I just wanted meat. Unfortunately, I have to travel to hunt hogs. Northern California has the closest huntable population and I can drive there, which means no airfare, rental vehicles, or the shipping/extra baggage charges that go with commercial air travel. I also couldn’t take several days off work for this hunt, so I wanted to keep it close to home. And that worked out--we did this one in three days total, including 1,200 miles of driving. Meat handling is also an issue with hogs—unlike venison, you need to butcher and freeze pork within a few days of the kill, and I didn’t want to risk having an airline lose my ice chests and leave them sitting on blazing hot tarmac for 2-3 days.

I believed that $850 was a fair price for what we got, and the guide/ranch/hunt more than met our expectations. I'll definitely hunt with them again.


Okie John

I'll bet you could find someone that will let you help eradicate the pests for free.

They might even pay you. But you still have to get there, stay there, and handle the meat...


Okie John

As long as the hunt met your expectations, I guess that's what matters.

There are much better hunt deals in Texas. I have no idea what the options in California are, but I've had no problem finding hunts in Texas on the order of $150 per night for bunkhouse accommodations, guide and tip plus $1/lb for retrieval and processing for any number of hogs of any size (you really would rather have more smaller hogs if you plan to eat them). Not necessarily 1:1 guide, but there are so many hogs the guides are basically unnecessary other than to show you the layout of the property.

You can get lean hogs for less than $1/lb, so you have to place some value on the hunting or it's not worth it. But it is cheap, fun hunting.

I understand. I'm seriously considering moving to Texas for a number of reasons, and the hog population is icing in a pretty big cake.


Okie John

No doubt. Probably the hardest hunt of my life was going after public land hogs in Colorado. It took 2 of us 12 days and about 20,000 feet of off-trail elevation each to get 2 hogs. In Texas I could have done it in 10 minutes with a cold beer waiting for me.

Okie John,
I hope you weren't offended by me mentioning your post. I didn't mean to. You booked a trip, took it, and were happy with it, and I've got nothing but respect for that. I was just trying to find out if the price quoted on the website of the outfit you used was "normal". It's just not what I'm prepared to pay at this point.

Yes, it would be cheaper to go buy a hog or just go to the grocery and get pork, but there is value in shooting it myself; even if it's not a true hunt like you and your son experienced.

Thanks for all the responses.

Larry

Larry----I would try to get a spot on the "Campfire Hog Hunt". It's in March. 25 members of the forum due a hog hunt in TX. I've been on the last 2---it's a good time.

Absolutely not!

The Dash Ranch prices are on the high side for hog hunts in general, but lower than average for far northern California. I was willing to pay a little extra to avoid having to buy plane tickets. Places with more hogs and more pressure to get rid of them will have lower prices, so the cheapest hunts are probably in Texas or the deep South.

Speaking of Texas, my father has a place there, and he attends the briefings that state agencies hold for ranchers. The ranchers and the state want the hogs eradicated, but hunters want to manage them like a resource so they can keep hunting. The problem is that the hunters don’t kill enough hogs to manage them that way, and now some ranchers will only let people hunt deer IF they shoot a certain number of hogs before deer season starts.

Re-reading that sentence makes me realize just how much I need to move back to Texas.


Okie John

There is a pig under every bush in Texas.

Must

resist

urge

to make

bad

jokes.


Okie John

Like a regular hunt?

I could live with that.

Why should people in Colorado flush each time?
Texas needs the water.






(Apologies to Texans in advance. Texas is kind of my second or third home and may someday be the first.)