By Bill Cramer

February 4, 2013

I was drawn for a free unguided Tejon Ranch Pig Hunt. I had done a fair amount of bird hunting, but never big game. My friend Phillip help me buy a rifle, load the ammunition, sight it in and then guided me on the hunt. What more could I ask for? We had choosen a used Ruger M77 in 30-06 and loaded it with Hornady 150 gr GMX bullets.

Phillip and I got to the ranch about 1:00 pm and everyone was awesome. We started hunting about 2:00 pm and I shot my boar at 5:45 pm about a mile south of the power plant on the north side of the property. The guides were extremely helpful and provided information on good hunting locations.

We had drive in about 18 miles in on paved road and another three miles on dirt. Then hike in about a half mile overlooking a nice valley. Along the road in we had seen several bucks and about twenty does, but no pig. We were glassing around and I spotted the boar about 100 yards below us. I motioned to Phillip and he came over to where I was. The pig had skirted behind a little knoll and popped out the other side. Phillip had dropped down, but I didn't and he saw me and started running. I took two shots and missed and Phillip laid down with his bipod and missed with two shots. Phillip is a great shot, but through the scope he thought the pig was at 500 yards and so both shots were high. I then cranked my scope to twelve power and standing off hand fired a third shot that incredibly hit right behind the shoulder and into the heart. Trust me I am not that good a shot. The boar dropped and rolled back down the hill about 10 yards. We range the shot and it was 280 yards. The Hornady GMX was perfect! I hit just behind the shoulder and exited through the neck and did not damage and meat. WOW!

By the time we got to the pig it was getting dark. After gutting it, Phillip ended up dragging it uphill for over 300 yards, plus a couple hundred yard down the other side to the vehicle. I wasn't much help and struggled to carry the pack and gun up the hill. Yes, he's fifteen years younger, but he is incredibly! We drove back to the ranch office and weighed it out at 142 lbs, so about 200 lbs on the hoof. We skinned it out and let it hang overnight. The next morning we found out there was no meat processing plant local and decided to head home. Although we could have hunted another day and a half, Phillip decided not to as he has taken pig in the past and has another planned pig hunt coming up.

I cannot say enough good things about the entire Tejon Ranch staff that we interacted with. Very, very helpful and very courteous. My first ever big game hunt was perfect. I would not have changed a thing, except having my awesome friend having to work so hard getting the pig back to the truck, but it does make it even more special.

This DFW Share opportunity was AWESOME!

PS I was raised in Julesburg Colorado just down the road from the Grand island Hornady facility which we pass by on our way to visit family in Lincoln. Great Country!