Low-cost Wild Pig Hunting On Private Land In Santa Barbara County?

Regular readers of my articles know that I have been fond of hunting in Santa Barbara County for many years. However, my hunting venture were mostly confined to the occasional visit to Vandenberg Air Force Base in the company of active military personnel. Rarely have I seen signs of boar outside of the base proper. The few I found were concentrated at the border between the base and an adjacent private ranch. During my first visit of that area I found the most promising sign of them all: The skin and head of a wild pig draped over a fence post.

That is about as close as I came in years to the elusive wild pigs of Santa Barbara County.

Though I talked to several hunters about the boar in the Los Padres Forest close to Lake Cachuma I never saw any signs of the 'lake boar' with my own eyes.

A few weeks ago one of our readers and a budding hunter tipped me off to a secret boar hunting location mostly locals know about. And they do their best to keep the secret among themselves.

This hunter was looking for someone to teach him the fine art of spot and stalk hunting. During one of his business trips to Santa Barbara he came to know of a large private cattle ranch near Santa Barbara. This ranch has a thriving population of wild pigs. Because of favorable habitat conditions during the past two years and much improved food resources, boar on the ranch reproduced so successfully that they became more and more of a nuisance factor. Pastures reserved for cattle grazing were torn up, horses harassed for the feed left out for them. The wild pigs eventually became so emboldened that even the presence of ranch workers did not deter them from their activities. Horse wranglers had to fend off the boar with sticks and chase them away forcefully.

“They know our trucks and just ignore us”, explained Marco, guide at the ranch.

“They also recognize us when we are on foot”, he added during our conversation. “There were so many boar in close proximity to ranch buildings and corrals that I could leave the house to look for pigs and harvest one in less than ten minutes. Guaranteed.”

To remedy a rapidly deteriorating situation, ranch managers decided to step up wild pig hunting in order to thin out the boar population a little. It was a great success. Many more wild pigs were taken. Then the boar withdrew from the vicinity of human habitations and ranch operations and simply moved one canyon over. As expected they relocated to a much steeper, less accessible canyon with heavy brush and lots of cover.

“We know where they are and still can hunt them successfully”, remarks Marco the guide. “But now we can no longer go out shortly before dinner to get the pork chops in a few minutes. Now it is hard work, real hunting. Real spot and stalk work that requires much attention to terrain, wind and cover in order to be successful”, he states.

“We are out there every day and therefore know where they like to hang out. But the boar do not ignore us any longer. They learned to eye us with caution instead of trusting us as 'friendly' beings that share the habitat with them. But we still get our wild pig 100 percent of the time, Marco proudly pronounces.”

The conclusion of this article will show you just where he works and what he does to be so successful. I will also show you what it takes to bag your very own wild pig at this 'secret' ranch.
To be continued.

PJJ