January 20, 2025 by Shawn Chittim
At SC2 Outdoors, we are truly blessed to be part of any hunting experience, whether it's guiding a seasoned hunter or introducing someone brand new to the sport who wants to learn and embrace what we are so passionate about. When Ray reached out to us as a completely inexperienced hunter looking to begin his journey with a wild pig hunt, we were thrilled to be his choice.
The forecast for his hunt, were for challenging conditions: a high-pressure front combined with a waning moon still at 86% full. The weather over the next two days was going to be beautiful for us, but the hogs had little reason to be active during daylight hours. The weather was perfectly setup for them to stay bedded and rest through the day.
Ray arrived on Saturday morning to cold, clear skies and afternoons warming to the 60's. It took us a few hours to locate our first group of hogs. We must of gotten some hogs on the move after we left our first glassing location, causing them to be on the move. Among the group were several good boars, but as we attempted to make our move, the thermals and terrain worked against us. As always, there’s no beating a pig’s nose—we got busted before we could get into a comfortable shooting range. The rest of the day was spent finding plenty of pig sign but no other hogs.
Sunday greeted us with a frosty 29 degrees at the ranch gate. At our first glassing spot, we spent over an hour but couldn’t turn up any pigs. At the second location, I spotted what I believed to be a bedded hog on a long bench at 1,094 yards. We needed a closer look, so we climbed to a pre-determined vantage point. From 458 yards, we confirmed it was indeed a lone hog. The question now was whether it was a boar or a big sow pulled off with piglets.
We had two stalking options. The first would allow us to get within 80 yards, but due to the wind direction and land contours, we wouldn’t have a clear view of the hog until we were up close—and even then, we’d need to confirm whether it was a boar or a sow. The second option would leave us with a clear shot at about 300 yards but allow us to positively identify the hog once it stood. We chose the longer shot for several reasons.
Ray and I set up at 322 yards, with the shot distance calculated at 328 yards. All we needed now was for the hog to stand. We went over the plan and execution multiple times while waiting—nearly 2 ½ hours. Finally, at 11:50, the hog stood, clearly a huge boar and presented a broadside shot. We rushed the shot slightly, however, I was certain I heard the unmistakable “whop”.
We gathered our gear and made our way over to investigate. The boar had only gone about 80 yards before bedding again. In tall grass on the downhill side of the bench, we kicked him up at close range—just 15 yards. Ray made an excellent second shot, and with that, he successfully harvested a massive boar on his first-ever big game hunt.
We hope Ray’s experience inspires him to continue hunt. This was no easy wild pig hunt in Northern California, while there are no guarantees in hunting free range wild animals, even on a guided hunt, the hunt is where the lessons are learned and the memories are made. While harvesting an animal is the ultimate goal, it does not define success. However if you endure the grind, have an opportunity and you execute, you have earned it. That is exactly way Ray did on this hunt.
Posted in: Wild Hog Hunting - California
