Steve Hibel, Dad, and I arrived Friday night at one of Wilderness Unlimited’s ranches in central California. We met two groups of turkey hunters who had been hunting for a couple of days and had not seen any turkeys or pigs. They told us the ranch was no good. Since Saturday was opening day of the club’s pig season, we had high hopes. Now we were not so sure. One guy told us to hunt a draw right out of camp. He said it was the only place on the ranch that had fresh pig sign.

We woke early the next morning and hunted the draw outside of camp. As it turned out, it was right along the county road and in the open. There was some fresh pig rooting, obviously done at night. Depressed, we went back and got in the truck to drive to another spot. I had studied the ranch on topozone.com and had found a wooded canyon that looked like prime habitat. Most of the ranch was brushy and much of that had recently burned. The wooded area looked like it had the best habitat for pigs.

When we got to the bottom of that canyon, we parked by a creek and got out to look around. I was amazed at the quantity of pig sign – it was everywhere and much of it was very, very fresh! Wanting to get far from the road, I went straight up the side of the canyon into the forest.

Everywhere I went there was fresh sign. It appeared as if the canyon was infested with wild boar! Now, of course, my spirits were soaring. I got high enough up the canyon side and started to walk side-hill. Each time I crested a finger ridge, I’d stop and survey the next ridge ahead. At one point, I crested a ridge and could see two ridges over. The next ridge was really just a small knoll, but the following one was much higher. It was about 200 yards away and I immediately spied a pig rooting around near the top of it. My first inclination was to shoot, but I could not get a steady rest. There was high brush just in front of me, so I could not see if I sat down. No trees were located where I could use them for a rest. Rather than shoot offhand, I decided to sneak to the next ridge for a shot. This turned out to be a mistake, because there was so much brush that the going was rough and noisy. When I did eventually get to a good vantage point, the pig was nowhere to be seen.

Bummed, I continued on. I crested the ridge where the pig had been and dropped into the canyon beyond. As I started up the opposite side, all hell broke loose! I heard a deep grunt, followed by a wailing squeal. Then it sounded as if the brush just up the canyon from me was coming alive! It appeared as if I’d spooked a herd of pigs that was bedded in the brush, so I ran up the hill to get a better look, hoping that they would cross the canyon and I’d get a chance for a shot.

I stopped and waited, but saw nothing. The noise, however, continued. As I waited, I slowly realized that the noise was coming from the same spot. The pigs weren’t going anywhere, but were noisily feeding in the brush a mere twenty yards below me! I sneaked through the brush, trying to find an opening to see through. When I got within ten yards of them, I could see movement in the brush, but could not make out any shapes. The noise continued. There were so many pigs rooting in the dry leaves that it sounded like a small waterfall. Occasionally a pig would grunt, squeal or clack its tusks. I was so excited that I could hardly contain my thrashing heart!

I crept along, just above the herd, until I found a narrow path leading down. A pig was in the path and saw me. It squealed and ran down the hill, alerting a few others, which ran with it. The alarmed animals stopped in a small clearing at the bottom of the hill only thirty yards from where I stood. I put the cross hairs of my wife, Janice’s, .25-06 on the nearest one, a small, reddish sow, and squeezed the trigger. It dropped in its tracks and the sound of the shot alarmed the rest of the herd. Pigs dashed out of the brush, alarmed and confused. Not knowing where the danger was, they stopped and looked around. There were about thirty pigs in the herd and I could see about ten of them at any given time. One was an enormous, tusked, black wild boar. If there were no limit, I would have shot several more pigs. But with my limit of one already down, I was content to just watch them trot off up the hill.

As I started dragging my prize down the hill toward the dirt road, I heard two shots ring out from further up the canyon in the direction the pigs had gone. I yelled for Steve or my dad, hoping it was one of them who had shot, but got no answer. So I continued down the hill. The wash I was in was heavily choked with poison oak, which I had to crash through for a few hundred yards. Fortunately, I’m not very prone to catch poison oak!

When I got to the road, my dad was there, waiting. He had heard my shot and my yells. We walked back up the road to get his truck. Along the way, I suggested he go up the hill and hunt for another hour or two while I dressed and loaded my pig. He agreed, and I took care of the pig.

After cleaning and loading the pig into the truck, I drove back to the rendezvous spot and ate lunch. A few minutes went by and I heard a shot just up the hill from me. I yelled out and my dad replied that he’d shot a pig! It was a black sow, around 120 pounds, that he’d stalked in heavy brush and shot at thirty yards.

Steve met us while we were cleaning the second pig. He was above me when I shot my pig and was rushed by a huge, black boar. At twenty yards, he centered the cross hairs of his .30-06 between its eyes and fired. He could clearly see a pink star open on its forehead and the pig flipped over backwards! Even as it fell, it twisted to right itself and took off running down the hill! Steve cranked in another round and fired as it disappeared in the brush. He spent the next two hours searching for it and found only one small drop of blood. Apparently the bullet was deflected by the brute’s bony, sloped skull!

We took the two pigs back to camp, where we skinned and bagged them. Then Dad and I drove home and Steve went back out. He hunted the rest of the weekend, but saw no more pigs. I enjoyed some of the best pork ever for dinner that night!