My weekly schedule called for some research on the timing of mast drop in California. It should start right around now – if I remember correctly.
Before checking on the facts, I took my Boxer to the local park to teach him the finer art of stalking squirrels. I know, Boxers are not generally known as hunting dogs though they are the descendants of pretty feisty, tenacious dogs used in the olden days to find and drive wild European bison in the forests of Germany towards hunting parties.
Mine must somehow hearken back to times long past. He locates prey, stalks it and – points. Could it be that he is a little confused about his ancestry? A pointing Boxer? Anyway, he does.
But I am digressing from the topic of hunting wild pigs.
Following my dog that was busy treeing squirrels I noticed some small green things under the trees because he hesitated whenever he stepped on one by accident. Closer examination of the green pellets revealed this:
Those things look suspiciously like some kind of acorn. They are all missing the small brown cup at the wider end of the nut, yet the lineage is quite obvious.
Except for one that still has some remnant of a cup on it. You cannot see it in the picture because a spot of sunlight overpowers the the few brown pieces that remain on it. The piece with the cap is on the extreme left side of the picture.
I tried another shot but it also did not show the cap well enough. Here it is:
Not much better. But you get the idea. Here is a stock photo of acorns and an oak leaf.
At least this picture shows the little caps quite clearly. It is green in the picture, but they turn brown at a later stage.
I found he ground literally covered with oak mast in my local park. My discovery of the day also demonstrates clearly that oak nuts are dropping in the oak lands of California. Judging by the quantity of mast on the ground under park trees we expect the overall mast drop throughout most of California to be good to excellent. For boar hunters that has one important consequence:
Look for oak groves, forests and even free standing oak in open fields. And look for your wild pigs right under the trees. As long as mast is dropping wild pigs will consume as much as possible of it. Oak mast and nuts from other trees is one of the favorite foods of boar. They use it to fatten up for the winter.
An excellent oak mast drop will result in well fed wild pigs. Well nourished sows are happy sows. Fat and contended sows excel in making more wild pigs. Many, many more wild boar.
That is good news for hunters and bad news for ranchers and farmers.
But, hey, think of it this way: As long as wild pigs can find mast on the ground they will stay out of agricultural fields and people's front yards.
Happy hunting.
PJJ
