September 10, 2009

Commentary
Wild hog hunting is helping

keep the  ranching tradition

alive in California

By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service

     PARKFIELD -- Roger Miller stopped the truck, slightly squinting his blue eyes at a speck far in the distance. We all glassed the spot on the parched hillside. Ten power binoculars made it clear that it was a rider on horseback moving down to a small draw where some cattle were feeding. We watched a long time. Finally, Miller said -- as much to himself as the rest of us -- “There’s a happy man.”
     He laughed a little and then spent the next 10 minutes explaining how he’d much rather be out there on his horse riding through this country, moving cattle across different pastures. But the ranching business has changed in California. Between bottomed out cattle and barley prices, drought, and skyrocketing fuel and water prices, the ranching/farming business on the Central California coast has all but dried up. Family farms have all been sold off to people and companies who’ve already made their money in other, richer fields that don’t involve getting dirt under fingernails. Their purchases are retirement gigs or land investments. Miller still owns his family property, but keeping it hasn’t been easy.
     “I found my dad’s diary from 1958 and he sold wheat and barley for more money than you can sell it today,” said Miller, pausing, letting that settle in. He wasn’t talking about dollars adjusted for inflation. “They were getting more per ton then than I can today. And that was when diesel was only eight or nine cents a gallon.”
     Miller grew up on the family ranch/farm right out of Parkfield, a small Central California town, and he went to school in the one-room school house that is still a one-room school house. Most of the nearby family ranches and farms have been sold off to hobby ranchers and corporate owners, but the area is still mostly open space, rich with wildlife and ranching tradition.
     Miller and his brother Harry realized in the late 1970s and early 1980s they needed to do something else to make money if they were going to keep the family property. That realization just happened to coincide with a burgeoning wild hog population in the valley. So they started supplementing their income by guiding wild hog hunters. For the hobby and corporate ranchers in the area, the brothers also began farming and running cattle on lands other than their own. It was all part of the way to keep the banker away from the deed on their own land.
     But watching the cowboy off in the distance, it was clear Miller missed the days when he was a kid out there on that horse without any worries in the world.
     While there have probably been feral hogs living in isolated locations in California since the first Spanish explorers arrived in the 1500s, it wasn’t until the 1920s and 30s when hogs with genetic stock from true wild hogs from Europe and Asia were first released on ranches on the Central Coast near Monterey. Once these wild pigs mixed up their genetics with the semi-domesticated hogs that were on farms and ranches in the region, did the population of wild hogs begin to explode in California. Continued relocations of these wild strains continued right into the 1960s, and there are probably more wild hogs in California today than at any time in history.
     While numbers are a little down in California right now because of drought, and even more so on the Central Coast because so few of the ranches are growing barley, there are still a lot of wild hogs and they continue to expand their range each year. Hunters report taking about 5,000 annually and most of those are taken on private property on guided hunts like those run by Miller.
     Miller was a just a kid “probably 10 years old” when the first wild hogs started being seen in the Parkfield area in the 1960s, and the numbers started to increase and by the late 1970s. When the Miller brothers first started guiding for hogs, they would only shoot from 25 to maybe 50 pigs a year. In recent years, the number has jumped to 125 to 150 as the pig population has grown. Miller recently was contracted to run the hunting program on the adjoining Jack Ranch, a 70,000-plus acre chunk of ground. That means the Millers are now hunting on around 80,000 acres in the valley, nearly all the land from Highway 58 north to Parkfield. As the pig herds recover, Miller thinks they could be shooting 300 animals a year.
     I’d missed a hog the first evening of the hunt. It was a whopper boar feeding in an irrigated field supposedly protected by a hot wire (electric) fence. It didn’t keep the pigs out and one of Miller’s guides, Rowdie Plaskell, and I stalked down a wash just outside the field to within 100 yards of so of the big hog. In trying to make sure I didn’t hit the hot wire, I shot right over the back of the pig and the whole herd ran off.
     At first light the next morning hogs were moving up out of that same irrigated pasture where they’d been feeding through the night. The hogs were moving along at that ground-eating trot wild hogs use they have a destination in mind. And that destination was a shady spot up in the oak brush and scrubby pines where they could nap away the hot day.
     We were between them and that napping ground, and we had pigs literally all around us filing past. Most were out of range, but a group on young boars moving along the base of a hillside cut right toward us. This put them just along the opposite side of a draw where we were perched. I moved into position, resting the rifle over a fallen tree limb. The hogs saw us, or more likely winded us, when they were just across the draw about 40 yards away, but it was too late. I missed the first pig, made a lucky running shot on the next boar in the line-up, and just that quickly I had a major chunk of my fall and winter meat supply on the ground. But it seemed like a lot more. Maybe, just maybe, I was helping keep a piece of California in open ground for wildlife and helping maintain some traditional activities.
     The Miller property and Jack Ranch have recently become home to herds of pronghorn antelope and tule elk, two California natives that had not been in this part of the state for a century, and the Millers and their staff were watching over them like mother hens. There are deer and coyotes. You can see stars at night. There are still cattle on the hillsides, irrigated pastures, and a few grain crops are growing in the valleys. It’s a quiet place. If it takes a wild hogs and a hunting program to keep these tracts of land undeveloped and not broken up into home sites, I am more than happy to help.
     I wonder if I could talk Roger into a horseback hunt the next time I visit Parkfield. I know he’d rather be in the saddle.

Cost of Guided Private Land Hog Hunts

     Guided hog hunts on private ranches cost from $600 to $1,000 or more on most properties in California. There really ends up being very little difference in the total cost for hunters. With the less expensive hunts, hunters must provide their own room and board.
     Miller Brothers Expeditions is a good example of how this works because they offer a bargain $600 guided hunt for sportsmen who want to camp out or stay in nearby motels and provide for their own food. And they offer a $1,000 all-inclusive hunt that includes meals and lodging at the refurbished and plush Parkfield Inn. If you want a trophy boar, it will cost $400 more because of the extra effort involved in finding a boar with two-inch teeth or longer.
     Contact information for Roger Miller: Miller Brothers Expeditions, 70502 Vineyard Canyon Rd., San Miguel, CA 93451, telephone 805-459-5883, web site www.MillerBrosExpeditions.com.

OUTDOOR CALENDAR

     SEPTEMBER 12 NORCO HUNTER SAFETY CLASS: A one-day, 10-hour certified hunter safety class will be held at Mike Raahauge's Shooting Enterprises, Norco. Classes are required for all first-time California hunters before a hunting license can be purchased. Cost is $35 per person. The remaining 2009 class dates are Oct. 3, Oct. 10, Nov. 7 and Dec. 12. Sign-ups are taken at all Turner's Outdoorsman stores. Contact Raahauge's at 951-735-7981.
     SEPTEMBER 12-13 VENTURA GUN SHOW: The McMann’s Roadrunner Gun Show will be held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, at Seaside Park, Ventura. Admission is $9. The next Ventura gun show will be Nov. 7-8. Information, directions, and $1 off coupons available at www.mcmannsroadrunner.com.
     SEPTEMBER 19 SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE COUNTY FRIENDS OF NRA: The 6th annual Southwest Riverside Friends of the NRA fundraiser will be held beginning 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19 at the DeLuz Homestead in Murrieta. The family-oriented event will feature live and silent auctions, games, shooting for the kids, and dinner. Speakers include California state senator Dennis Hollingsworth and Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff Jr. Ticket prices are just $45 for adults and $25 for kids 13 and under. Contact The Shootist at 951-698-7543 or online at www.TheShootistGuns.com.
     SEPTEMBER 19 BASS PRO SHOPS HUNTER SAFETY CLASS: Bass Pro Shops is now having hunter safety classes four days per month, the first Saturday, the first Sunday, the third Saturday and the third Sunday. The classes are all one-day, 10-hour certified hunter safety classes. Classes are required for all first-time California hunters before a hunting license can be purchased. Cost is $10 per person. Sign-ups are taken at Bass Pro and class size is limited. For information, call 909-922-5500. A pre-class study course is available at www.dfg.ca.gov/huntered/.
     SEPTEMBER 20 BASS PRO SHOPS HUNTER SAFETY CLASS: Bass Pro Shops is now having hunter safety classes four days per month, the first Saturday, the first Sunday, the third Saturday and the third Sunday. The classes are all one-day, 10-hour certified hunter safety classes. Classes are required for all first-time California hunters before a hunting license can be purchased. Cost is $10 per person. Sign-ups are taken at Bass Pro and class size is limited. For information, call 909-922-5500. A pre-class study course is available at www.dfg.ca.gov/huntered/.
     SEPTEMBER 26 INLAND EMPIRE TURKEY FEDERATION BANQUET: The Inland Empire Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will have its annual fund-rasiing banquet beginning 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept 26 at American Legion Post 442, 848 S. Lilac Dr., Rialto. Tickets are $60 per person or $90 per couple. For information or tickets, call 909-841-7006, 909-795-2735, or 909-815-5682.
     SEPTEMBER 26 UNITED ANGLERS POKER TOURNAMENT FUND-RAISER: United Anglers of Southern California is having a Poker Tournament fund-raiser Saturday, Sept. 26, at Pechanga Resort and Casino, Temecula. Buy-in is $130 and includes lunch and raffle. Contact UASC at 562-494-9900.
     OCTOBER 3 NORCO HUNTER SAFETY CLASS: A one-day, 10-hour certified hunter safety class will be held at Mike Raahauge's Shooting Enterprises, Norco. Classes are required for all first-time California hunters before a hunting license can be purchased. Cost is $35 per person. The remaining 2009 class dates are Oct. 10, Nov. 7 and Dec. 12. Sign-ups are taken at all Turner's Outdoorsman stores. Contact Raahauge's at 951-735-7981.
     OCTOBER 3 BASS PRO SHOPS HUNTER SAFETY CLASS: Bass Pro Shops is now having hunter safety classes four days per month, the first Saturday, the first Sunday, the third Saturday and the third Sunday. The classes are all one-day, 10-hour certified hunter safety classes. Classes are required for all first-time California hunters before a hunting license can be purchased. Cost is $10 per person. Sign-ups are taken at Bass Pro and class size is limited. For information, call 909-922-5500. A pre-class study course is available at www.dfg.ca.gov/huntered/.
     OCTOBER 3-4 DEL MAR GUN SHOW: The Crossroads of the West Del Mar Gun Show will be held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, at the Del Mar Fair Grounds, Del Mar. Admission is $10. The next Del Mar gun show will tentatively be Dec. 12-13. Information, directions, and $1 off coupons available at www.crossroadsgunshows.com.
     OCTOBER 4 BASS PRO SHOPS HUNTER SAFETY CLASS: Bass Pro Shops is now having hunter safety classes four days per month, the first Saturday, the first Sunday, the third Saturday and the third Sunday. The classes are all one-day, 10-hour certified hunter safety classes. Classes are required for all first-time California hunters before a hunting license can be purchased. Cost is $10 per person. Sign-ups are taken at Bass Pro and class size is limited. For information, call 909-922-5500. A pre-class study course is available at www.dfg.ca.gov/huntered/.
     OCTOBER 10 PUBLIC LAND QUAIL AND CHUKAR SEMINAR: Jim Matthews, publisher of the Western Birds wingshooting newsletter, will give a two-hour quail and chukar hunting seminar from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, October 10, at Bass Pro Shops, Rancho Cucamonga. The seminar will focus on public land hunting. Cost is $40 per person and includes a trail two-issue subscription to Western Birds and a package of public land hunting information. For information or to register, call Matthews’ office at 909-887-3444 or go to www.OutdoorNewsService.com.
     OCTOBER 10 NORCO HUNTER SAFETY CLASS: A one-day, 10-hour certified hunter safety class will be held at Mike Raahauge's Shooting Enterprises, Norco. Classes are required for all first-time California hunters before a hunting license can be purchased. Cost is $35 per person. The remaining 2009 class dates are Nov. 7 and Dec. 12. Sign-ups are taken at all Turner's Outdoorsman stores. Contact Raahauge's at 951-735-7981.
     OCTOBER 17 CAPEING AND SKINNING SEMINAR: A free big game capeing and skinning seminar will be held beginning 9 a.m. Saturday at Al’s Taxidermy Wildlife Art Studio, Apple Valley. Hunters going out-of-state can no-longer bring unskinned big game heads back to California because of Chronic Wasting Disease. This seminar will teach hunters how to properly remove capes in the field. Classes will also be held Oct. 24 and 31. Space is limited, call 760-961-2434 for reservations.
     OCTOBER 24-25 ONTARIO GUN SHOW: The Crossroads of the West Ontario Gun Show will be held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, at the Ontario Convention Center, Ontario. Admission is $10. The 2019 slate of shows in Ontario has not be set yet. Information, directions, and $1 off coupons available at www.crossroadsgunshows.com.
     OCTOBER 25 UNITED ANGLERS ANNUAL FUND-RAISING DINNER: United Anglers of Southern California will have its annual fund-raising dinner beginning 3:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 25, at the Balboa Bay Club and Resort, Newport Beach. The dinner will honor Beverly Ray. Dinner tickets are $100 per person. For information or reservations, call UASC at 562-494-9900.

CALENDAR RESOURCES

     For a complete list of HUNTER SAFETY CLASSES held throughout the state, including times, dates, and locations, go to the Department of Fish and Game’s web site at this address: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/huntered/classes.aspx.
     For the rules and regulations on GRUNION RUNS, along with a complete schedule and the expected times of the runs, go to this web site address: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/gruschd.asp

CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS

     The following is a list of hunting, shooting, and fishing clubs and organizations in Southern California with contact information and regular meeting dates:
     976-TUNA ROD AND REEL CLUB: The 976-Tuna Rod and Reel Club meets 7 p.m. the first Thursday of each month at Bass Pro Shops, Rancho Cucamonga. At the December meeting a free trip to Palmas de Cortez in Baja will be given away. Contact Phil Friedman at 310-328-8426.
     CALIFORNIA STATE VARMINT CALLERS ASSOCIATION: The California State Varmint Callers Association meets 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month at the Denny's just north of the 210 freeway at Irwindale Ave., Irwindale. Contact Steven Childs at 626-407-8826 or steve@sdchilds.com. Web site: www.csvca.com.
     CANYON OAKS SPORTSMAN’S CLUB: The Canyon Oaks Sportsman’s Club meets the first Tuesday of every month at it’s clubhouse in Lakeview Terrace-Sylmar. The club has regular trap, skeet, smallbore, big bore, handgun, and Cowboy Action shooting events. Contact Gary White at 818-998-7240, Mike Totta at 818-362-2181 or Mike Nickoloff via e-mail at idpamike@yahoo.com.
     CERRITOS ROD & GUN CLUB: The Cerritos Rod & Gun Club meets the second Wednesday of each month at Heritage Park in Cerritos. Contact Charles Sharp at 714-317-8290 or fish_90605@yahoo.com.
     CLUB FISH: Club Fish, a 20-year-old fishing club, meets 7:30 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month at the Izaak Walton League Clubhouse, Santa Ana. The clubhouse is located at the entrance to Riverview Gold Course. Contact Mike Cross at 949-854-5258 or m_r_cross@yahoo.com.
     DEEP CREEK FLY-FISHERS: Deep Creek Fly-Fishers meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month at the Izaak Walton League clubhouse in Fairmont Park, in Riverside. Go to www.deepcreekflyfishers.org to download a map to the club house. Contact Brett Browning at 909-793-8912.
     HIGH DESERT FLY-FISHERS: The High Desert Fly-Fishers holds its monthly meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at The Apple Valley Fire Conference Center, 19235 Yucca Loma, Apple Valley. Contact John Rose at 760-247-5966.
     HIGHLAND PARK SPORTSMEN'S CLUB: The Highland Park Sportsmen's Club meets at 8 p.m. the first and third Wednesday of each month at 2035 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles. Contact Mauro Garcia at 323-254-0763 or incareal@juno.com.
     NATIONAL VARMINT HUNTERS: The National Varmint Hunters meets 7:30 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month at the Veterans of Foreign Wars club located on Grand Avenue, just west of 17th Street, Santa Ana. Contact Mark Harris at 714-655-6954 or mhitis1@yahoo.com or Terry Mathers at 714-299-9938 or coyote@jps.net.
     NATIONAL WILD TURKEY FEDERATION (INLAND EMPIRE CHAPTER): The Inland Empire Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation meets 6:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month at Bass Pro Shops, 7777 Victoria Gardens Lane, Rancho Cucamonga. Contact David Halbrook at 760-694-1191 or nrajrc@msn.com.
     NATIONAL WILD TURKEY FEDERATION (ORANGE COUNTY CHAPTER): The Orange County Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation meets 6 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at The Firing Line, 17921 Jamestown Lane, Huntington Beach. Contact Pat Ryan at 714-373-3688 or Casey Rasmussen at 714-377-5859.
     ORANCO BOWMEN: The ORANCO Bowmen meet the second Tuesday of each month at the club range, 17504 Pomona Rincon Rd., Chino (Euclid Avenue one block north of the 71 freeway). The range is open to the public on Sundays 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call 909-597-7582. Web site: www.oranco.org.
     ORANGE COUNTY BASS CLUB: The Orange County Bass Club meets 7 p.m. the third Monday of each month at the Garden Grove Elk's Lodge. Contact Steve Pendergast at 949-651-8172 or prendergasts@netzero.com.
     PLUNGE CREEK COWBOYS: The Plunge Creek Cowboys, a new Cowboy Action Shooting club in the Inland Empire, has shoots the third Saturday of each month at the Inland Fish and Game range on Orange Street in East Highlands. Authentic or replica firearms and garb required. Information: www.plungecreekcowboys.com.
     PREDATOR CALLERS OF ORANGE COUNTY: The Predator Callers of Orange County meet 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month at the Denny's restaurant, 7490 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach. Contact Rickey Macy via e-mail at rickmacey@juno.com.
     QUAIL UNLIMITED (HIGH DESERT CHAPTER): The High Desert Chapter of Quail Unlimited meets 6 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at the Apple Valley Gun Club. Contact Cruz Garcia at 760-949-6334 or fathercruz@verizon.net.
     QUAIL UNLIMITED (ORANGE COUNTY CHAPTER): The Orange County Chapter of Quail Unlimited meets 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month at the Izaak Walton League Clubhouse (located at the entrance to Riverview Golf Course) in Santa Ana. Contact Craig Riedel at 714-282-1194 or criedel@mflex.com.
     QUAIL UNLIMITED (RIVERSIDE CHAPTER): The Riverside Chapter of Quail Unlimited meets 7 p.m. the second Thursday of each month at Prado Olympic Shooting Park, 17501 Pomona Rincon Road, Chino (one block west of Euclid, just off the 71 freeway). Contact Ron Gibbons at 909-902-9814 or gibbent@gte.net. Web site: www.quriverside.com.
     QUAIL UNLIMITED (SAN DIEGO CHAPTER): The San Diego Chapter of Quail Unlimited meets 6:30 p.m. the third Thursday of each month at DFG Headquarters at 4949 Viewridge Rd., San Diego. Contact David Preddy at davidpreddy@cox.net or visit www.sdqu.org.
     QUAIL UNLIMITED (SAN GABRIEL VALLEY CHAPTER): The San Gabriel Valley Chapter of Quail Unlimited meets 6 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month at Triple B Clays in El Monte. Contact Tim Bovard at 866-206-9070, ext. 6715 or sgvqu@onebox.com.
     REDONDO ROD & GUN CLUB: The Redondo Rod & Gun Club meets 8 p.m. every Thursday of every month at its own clubhouse. The club has promoted hunting, fishing, sport shooting and the outdoors since 1948. The clubhouse is located at 2023 Vanderbilt Lane, Redondo Beach. Contact 310-379-7772.
     RIVERSIDE VARMINT CALLERS: The Riverside Varmint Callers meet 7 p.m. the last Saturday of each month at Flo's Country Kitchen, Riverside. Contact Lance Cochrane at 909-919-4309 or Ray Gauthier at 951-785-4986. Web site:www.californiavarmintcallers.com/chapters.html/.
     SAN DIEGO SPORTING DOG CLUB: The San Diego Sporting Dog Club meets 7 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month at the Animal Medical Center, 600 Broadway, El Cajon. Contact Steve Sarmiento at 619-659-9393 or sssarmi@sbcglobal.net.
     SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA VARMINT CALLERS ASSOCIATION: The Southern California Varmint Callers Association meets 8 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month at the Denny's Restaurant at Pioneer Blvd and Imperial Highway in Norwalk. Contact Granville Crow at 310-548-6221 or crowshot1@cox.net or Skip Gildner at 562-900-9020 or mtnhigh5@excite.com.
     TEMPLE CITY SPORTSMEN: The Temple City Sportsmen meet the first Thursday of each month at the Temple City Civic Center in Temple City. Contact Jim White at 626-201-7782 or TCSPresident2006@yahoo.com. The club’s web site is www.tcsportsmen.org.
     TURNER'S OUTDOORSMAN ROD AND REEL CLUB: The Turner's Outdoorsman Rod and Reel Club meets 7 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month at Marie Calendar’s Restaurant, 2300 Foothill, Pasadena. Contact Richard Crowe at 626-960-9610.