I've read quite a few stories about Howard Hill.  He was once quoted in saying, There was nothing he would rather hunt than wild hogs.  His book, Hunting the Hard Way, relates this.  For a bow hunter who has successfully harvested as many animals in the world as he has, I felt there must be something awful special about hog hunting.

Wild hogs were originally introduced to the North American continent by early explorers and pioneers who brought the hogs along for meat.  They aren't native to this country.  Doug Walker, an accomplished bow hunter himself, said, "A true hog, when it escapes, turns wild faster than any critter in the world!"  He explained that a typical, true wild hog has a long snout and is narrow-hipped and does not have floppy ears.  They are also predominantly black with some shades of multi-coloring.  And so you have our modern-day wild hog. 

My friends, Cameron Hanes and Bob Ferraro, a couple of "old" hog hunters from way back, told me to contact Bob Fromme at Performance Archery because he knew the best ranches to hunt in California.  Bob has successfully harvested several record book hogs himself with archery equipment.

I contacted Bob Fromme and found him to be very knowledgeable about hog hunting and explained to him that I was interested in harvesting a large Russian boar.  He put me in touch with Don Smith at the Tejon Ranch in southern California.  We set the dates that I could hunt the ranch for June 17th through the 20th. 

I flew into L.A. and was amazed at all the concrete and steel.  I've never seen so many cars during rush hour traffic in all my life!  Just a couple hours out of town, and I found myself in the country.  From where I was now, you would have never thought that there was such a big city nearby.  The countryside was beautiful.   My eyes kept wondering off the road looking for hogs on my way to the Tejon Ranch.

I met Don at a gas station not too far from the ranch area.  We picked up my license and hog tag and headed into the hills.  After getting settled into the bunk house, Don took some time and explained to me about the toughness of the wild hogs and the thick armor plating they have on their sides.  He also took the time to go outside to the hog target and show me where to place an arrow for the best harvest results on a big boar.  He said to place the arrow in the lower third of the body behind the shoulder.  He said that quartering-away shots were better for those whose arrows don't penetrate as well as mine because of the armor plating. 

 Don is also an accomplished bow hunter who knows the right way to harvest an animal in a quick, humane way.   Much like a bear hunting guide, he wanted to make sure that his hunters know the animal and know the right shot placement to make, because tracking a wounded hog can be a very dangerous situation. 

Don had been glassing hogs for several days before I came on the hunt.  He knew exactly what kind of hog I was looking for.  He told me that late in the evenings he had been seeing several hogs with a large boar coming into the same feeding area for the last three nights.  Rick, one of Don's guides, was assisting on the hunt.  He asked me if he could video tape my hunt while we were stalking these hogs.  Rick knew the ranch like the back of his hand.

We decided to hunt high up in a canyon for the first part of the afternoon.  As we were heading up into the canyon, there was hog sign everywhere.  Tracks and up-rooted ground and rocks, and fresh droppings were all around.  The more I saw, the more excited I got.  We came over a small hill and right below us were several hogs.  One of them looked to be a very large boar.  They were moving into an open field area with short grass.  There was no cover for us whatsoever.  Rick and I went around the back side of the hill and tried to get ahead of them.  They were moving too fast -- we couldn't cut them off.  The only shot opportunity I had was at a large sow that was lagging behind.  The boar was already out of good shooting range.  Rick said we should continue up the canyon because there were several large boars up higher that had been spotted during the previous week.

We took our time and worked our way up the canyon.  We spotted a few other hogs, but the big guys must have known I was coming.  It was getting time to head over to the hogs that Don had spotted and try to get in on that big boar.  After reaching the area, we started climbing the hill above a watering hole.  We wanted to get between their bedding area and their feeding area.  It was incredibly hot out.  The temperature was 109 degrees that afternoon! 

I was using the new Carbon Blast from Robinson Laboratories on my thin, Mossy Oak cotton clothing for scent control.  Hogs have great hearing and incredible noses, but their eyesight is very poor.  I figured if they couldn't see me or smell me, that they would be at a real disadvantage.

We sat down where we could watch the whole feeding area with my 10x42 Swarovski Optics.  It didn't take long and the first hog appeared.  Within minutes, the whole area was speckled with big, black spots.  The hogs were coming up out of a nearby creek bottom.  Rick and I decided to change our position and get into a ditch that was just off the edge of the feeding area.   The hogs had no idea we were there.  As the evening went on, more and more hogs were funneling through the wooded area and creek bottom.  Finally, a large boar moved into the opening.  Rick and I moved slowly along the edge of the ditch.  Everything was starting to go our way.  As we knelt down and waited for the large boar to move in closer to us, several hogs surrounded us on both sides of the ditch as they were feeding.  It was quite an incredible feeling to be that close to so many animals and not be detected.

Finally the large boar was within 30 yards of us.  I drew my PSE Gorilla and released my Easton  tipped Thunderhead and in a blink of an eye, the arrow passed through the large boar.  He ran about 30 yards out into the feeding area, spun around in a circle and collapsed. 
That evening I had passed up several large hogs before I found the one I was looking for.

What an incredible hunt! 

I can see now why Howard Hill took such a liking to hog hunting.   I'm eagerly looking forward to next year when I return to the Tejon Ranch. I want to say thanks to Don Smith for a great hunt.  I highly recommend hunting these free-roaming hogs at the Tejon Ranch. For more information on the Tejon Ranch contact Don Smith at (805) 584-6283.

Ray Howell
Phone: (507) 894-4624 
Email:  kickingbearfish@yahoo.com
or: Jason Borchardt
Franklin Family Ranch
Phone: (210) 445-3530
Web Site: www.rayhowell.com.
email: info@huntingffrtexas.com