Another Lake Sonoma Boar Down 12/31/06

[500+grns]

Left the boat at home and decided to muddy up my friends insted.
Things have been pretty quiet in the honey holes I ussually hunt and I've been hearing some stories about the Cooley Ranch hunters working their dogs down into the public areas and shooting the place up with rifles.
I've heard em pretty close at times but never seen em.I guess DFG and ACOE really don't give a hoot.
We found a pile of fresh 243's and 30-06's on one of the fire roads,and fresh dog prints(more than one) in the creek bed.
Well,anyhow I stuck to my guns and just could not pass on my secret bowl that had nothing but hunter tracks through it.There were some fresh beds and lots of poop but no hogs and I figured it must have been busted up on Sat. I decided to take a detour up a steep finger ridge and found myself working through some more beds and finally fresh tracks and poop.I followed the tracks as they led towards a tree out crop at the top of the finger,checked wind and worked slowly up hill.I continually glassed every bit in front of me as I approached the trees and not 10 ft. in front of me I noticed the pointy black ears stand up behind a dead fall and the large black body rose quickly as I froze.He jumped and ran 10 yrds. to my right,but made the fatal mistake of stopping to try to figure me out.At this time I was at full draw with the 20 pin on his head.I had no vis on his vitals and had to guess the shot through the trees.I was fully confident my 555 grn. arrow wasn't going to have problem with that and neither did I.Quickly after the release he made the death squeel and tore down into the hell hole I just came out of.I tell ya I never get the easy ones,and thats why the Wilderness molly frame always comes w/me.I heard him crash about 80 yrds. down and looked for blood.At the point of impact things were looking pretty good,blood everywere,but no arrow.I checked in w/the others and let them know what happened and where I was,gave the beast about a half hr. and continued down the blood trail.It looked like a "for sure" hit,but I always give em the benifit of doubt.He piled up way down in a wash and I tell ya it was bitch just getting him out for pics.(I'll try to get em posted tomorrow)
I figured he went about 180-190,young boar,small teeth,short tail,but lots of fat,he was in good shape and the meat was great.Had a new years back strap stir fry last night.Pass through shot lung,heart,shoulder.Have no idea were my arrow went.80# mathews Apex 7, 555 grn.Rhino,old school Thunderhead 150.Happy new year and short blood trails to all.
500+grns

[CAhntr]

Congrats on the pig, and great story. Looking forward to the pics.

Eric

[Lurediver]

500+grns your secret spot is getting hit hard, I saw a bunch of boot tracks in there last time I was hunting!

Good-Job!

[tradman]

Nice job!

I was there a few days earlier but found no success. I was working the south-western edge of the property and almost drew on a little black and white one shuffling through the leaves heading up a ridge toward me. But it turned out to be a dog. With a hunter with a .357 carbine right behind him. I guess I was closer to the property line than I thought! After that I saw 2 more pairs of bowhunters, a few deer, and nothing else.

But I did identify another area that I'll be hitting before the season closes. It's only a matter of time 'til all this hiking pays off. I need a buddy with a boat!

Congrats. Can't wait to see the pix!

[el_vaquero]

Go figure....they get to hunt private land and they have to sneak onto public land to hunt! And isn't rifle hunting illegal there? I've never hunted there, but I thought it's archery only, right?

Congrats on the hog.

[Lurediver]

I've heard more gun shots out there this year than any other previous years combined.

[YoungBlood]

Good job on taking out another hog. I was there on Friday and Saturday and saw a lot of tracks....the only problem is they were almost all boot tracks. The place is getting hit hard. We ran into 5 hunters in 15 minutes. Still good times to be out there, but the sign looked pretty old in most spots. -YB

[in2blacktail]

Nice job-Persistance pays off.

[baboltin]

great story , cant wait to see your pics

[THE ROMAN ARCHER]

congrats on your hog bowkill 500+grns, good story and look forward to photos.................tra

[Backcountry]

Git some!

[hogwild757]

Good Job 500 Grns. I was heading out to sonoma but my right knee which I had torn the legiments on years ago started acting up and I had a difficult time descending hills let alone climbing it. My wife had the whole week after christmas off. I really wanted to go . I had the boat all ready and as I got out from the camper my leg buckled and I said oh shit that hurt. Guess I'm not going anywhere.

[SacFireJT]

pictures?

[Rancho Loco]

[in2blacktail]

Great Job 500+. The more you go the better your chances. Congrats man.. Public hunt challenge..


Nice lower 3rd hit.



Good blood...

[Mel Carter]

Not to stir the pot on this at all, but I Personally know the guide on the Cooley Ranch (Ken Whittaker), and I know for a fact that he doesn't run his dogs on Public land. He has access to 24,000 acres of prime hog and he's strickly by the book on his hunts, please trust me on this one.

His hunts are for achery and rifle, not just archery.

[dw33]

Where are the pics 500 grns.? Can't wait to see them.

[500+grns]

dw33,
Ya walked right by the blood trail (in2blacktail)
Mel,
I know it's all hear say,but like I said I've been hearing it from other hunters that I run into in this particular area and one actually said he witnessed a kill when the dogs ran a pig accross the creek bed and bayed it on public land,about a 1/4 mile below Cooley.
I didn't understand myself why they would want to jeapardize their opperation,but maybe the hog was already wounded,who knows.
As for myself,I did see the pile of fresh spent rounds about 80 yrds.below the Cooley fence.

[dw33]

I was wondering if those were your pictures. Thanks.

[kingwouldbe]

Nice hog, 500+, keep it up.
You should get a self timer so you can get in the pic.

[Shot]

Thats a nice hog, congrats on a public land hog!

[wyemjohnson]

Very Cool, way to go!

[hunt hard]

[Rangerjoel]

Looks like a nice one. Congratulations!
As far as rifle hunters go, this is the first report I got. Remember, you guys are my eyes and ears. If you see stuff like this, call Caltip or leave me a message at the park 707-433-9483. I also know that I have neighbors taking vehicles onto our property and I’m currently dealing with that.
Joel

[MikenSoCo]

Is a dog handler able to restrain his dogs from entering restricted property while the dogs are hot on the trail of a hog? Is it then OK for them to continue onto restricted property since the chase was initiated on private land? I think NOT