First time Hog hunt

[dstark]

I am planning a hog hunting trip to Texas and looking for some advice. Looking at taking a group of 3-4 hunters, none of us have ever hunted hogs or spent time in Texas. I have always been a public land DIY hunter and this will be my first guided hunt.

We are looking for a great experience and high success rates more than hogzilla. Any recommendations on a good ranch/guide? What should I look for in a guide? Anything I should specifically look out for or avoid?

All of my group are experienced elk/deer/bear/varmint hunters but hogs will be a new adventure!

 

[JOHNNIE WALKER]

I recently made a post just like this and didn't really get the response I was hoping for. I was originally planning to hunt hunt antelope this fall but didn't get drawn and wasn't able to get a left over tag. The guy I was planning the trip with got a little flakey so it was probably for the best. I also wanted to hunt hogs but I had to use my vacation by mid October so I was in a time crunch. I googled several different ranches and tried to contact as many people as I could. Believe it or not, very few places seemed interested in helping me. I googled the names of individual ranches and searched hard for reveiws. I mean I spent hours doing this. I looked in Oklahoma and texas. I found horror stories of wasted time. It took about two weeks total to narrow it down. A few of the places I contacted we're not booking anything till January. A lot of the places just seemed like I would be paying to stand in line to hunt a feeder. Maybe see something, maybe not. I also did not like the idea of paying by the pound for what I shot. The amount of drive time and the price were a big factor for me. Driving 16-20hrs, paying to hunt, and not seeing anything, would not be acceptable. I am also a do it yourself hunter. I found that hog hunting is very commercialized, and most places just seemed interested in my cash, if they would even return my call or email. I did find a lot of good reveiws on Ranger Creek in texas, and Prone Outfitters in texas. I booked a hunt with Prone Outfitters. They were not the cheapest but sometimes you get what you pay for. They seemed like they were very willing to work with me, and seemed very confident about seeing hogs. They also seemed honest about how things would happen on the hunt. I didn't get the feeling they were blowing smoke. The things we talked a bout on the phone all made sense. Also, they returned my calls and my emails, and also called to let me know they received my deposit, as I requested. I guess Ill find out how it's actually going to go in mid October. The only other time I payed to hunt, it ended in disaster, so I was very critical of my choice. Hopefully this time it ends well.
Hope this helps you out. Please post where you go and how it went.

 

[dstark]

Thanks Johnnie, this is the kind of info I'm looking for. It's a 20hr drive for me as well and I'm pretty concerned about all the time and money being wasted. I was looking at Ranger creek, I'll have to check into Prone. Good luck with your october hunt and let me know how it goes!
I get a little skeptical when these ranches claim that they are killing pigs every day year round.

 

[JOHNNIE WALKER]

The one thing I noticed about Ranger Creek is that there are reviews online about the place. I found reviews on forums and YouTube. I Found reveiws and YouTube videos about prone as well. Of all the places I contacted prone returned my call and seemed willing to work with my schedule. Im really looking forward to finding out if I made the right choice. Have you started to narrow down your choices yet?

 

[dstark]

Not yet. I'm still in the early planning stages and I'm thinking of scheduling the hunt for early spring.
However, my number one priority is finding a solid ranch/guide. I was originally drawn into the idea because I had seen many ranches offering inexpensive hunts with "high success rates." Although after more searching it seems that the cheap offerings are not the way to go and you more or less get what you pay for.

If I can't find a ranch that my buddies and I are comfortable gambling on I'll just scrap the idea and look at other options. The plan is to split the travel costs by driving 4-5 guys down together and make it an economical way to hunt something none of us have tried before. We're all young guys with families and limited budgets and Texas hogs seem like a doable hunt. I'm not looking for 5 star accommodations, gourmet meals, or record hogs. We're just after a new adventure and a great experience, and hopefully a little bacon.

 

[JOHNNIE WALKER]

Feel free to send me a personal message around the 16th of October. I'll let you know how my trip went.

 

[JOHNNIE WALKER]

My first day with prone outfitters was good. Actually let me clarify. I shot a nice boar at first light. And I still have the evening to hunt, plus two more days. Things are looking good.

 

[dstark]

Nice work!
Thanks for the update, I've very interested to hear about your experience and your impression of the ranch, keep me posted!

 

[JOHNNIE WALKER]

It dosent seem like their trying to blow smoke up my butt. The guide seems like a real straight up guy. He's a ranch hand on the ranch. Says he grew up here. So far everything seems good. I'll keep you posted.

 

[idaho elk hunter]

I am taking off to Texas the second week in January to hunt with Rustic River Ranch. It came down to two outfitters, Prone and Rustic River. Please keep me posted on the good the bad and the ugly on Texas Boar hunting and your experiences.

I hunted Florida two years ago with a Guide by the Name of Jim Arnold. We saw him one time and that was when the was getting paid by us. The rest of the time he was catering to his new female companion. Needles to say one 80 lb pig was shot. Half the feeders did not have feed in them! I do not want any thing like that again. Be aware if Jim Arnold out of Colorado.

 

[JOHNNIE WALKER]

Shot another one this evening. A bigger boar. I'm shooting a 140gr SST out of my 260rem. The one I shot this morning was a nice quartering on shot and it dropped right in its tracks. About a 100 yd shoot. Bullet went all the way through and did a good job. The pig squeeled once and that was it. The one this evening was 110yds. Broad side shot. I pulled the trigger and herd the bullet do its job. Then the pig flinched and took off. Ran about 90yds and then went down. I grabbed my 44mag out of my pack and went looking for it. When I found it it wasn't dead so it took one to the head. That SST destroyed its insides the lungs were gone. Everything was mush. And it still went 90yds. The exit hole was fist sized. One thing I will tell you, they don't sit still. Always moving. And they really are tough.

 

[snox801]

Good to hear sounds like a good time. Ive been sticking to Florida cause I've had fantastic luck but would love to try Texas and ran into what you did. I will be touching base with prone now for sure. Thanks for the updates.

 

[JOHNNIE WALKER]

Day 2 of my hunt with Prone Outfitters did not end with a dead hog. I didn't see a pig in the morning. But I did see 5 coyotes and 2 deer. Texas Coyotes are so tame. I got to see a Western diamond back on the evening hunt. And again I saw a group of coyotes. Just before sunset one hog came out into the field and started running across the field. For having stubby legs they can sure move pretty quick. The thing got half way to the feeder, froze in its tracks, and just as I started to squeeze it bolted back into the brush. I didn't want to just throw a round at it, I was hoping more would come out but they didn't. Five coons came in later, but that's all I saw. As of right now, after two days of hunting here, I really like being here. The guide is really nice, easy going, informative, and willing to help. He's not kissing my butt and he's being honest with me. That means a lot to me. After the heavy rain I can see pig tracks everywhere so I know their here. I'm getting ready to head out for my final day of hunting here. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[JOHNNIE WALKER]

I made it back home yesterday. The third day of my hunt was interesting. Nothing in the morning. The guide seemed really disappointed that I didn't see anything. But that evening I saw 7 or 8 and shot 1. So that's 3 pigs on a 3 day hunt. I don't think that's to bad. I've spent 2 weeks running through the mountains hoping to find just one elk before so I think the hunt was a success. I really wish it wasn't so far of a drive. The vitals a hogs seem to be a little further forward than other game so don't be afraid to shoot the shoulder. The one I shot through the shoulder died in its tracks, the others I instictivly shot directly behind the shoulder and did not get the results I wanted. They are really tough critters. Abilene, Tx is most deffenently NOT "the prettiest town I've ever seen." But there's a place there called Joe Allens that had the best ribs I have ever had. Ziegen Bock beer is a Texas thing and is really good. The guide bought me a six pack to try. Texas Mosquitos are like rabid hummingbirds so bring bug spray. I stayed at the Deluxe Inn which was actually kind of nice for a hole in wall hotel. It was clean. It's all one level so I just backed my truck up almost to the door and tailgated most of my meals. All in all, I had a great time. I hunted with guide Landon. He was a really nice guy. Honest, family man, hard worker, and wasn't constantly trying to feed me a line of crap. The ranch is a working cattle ranch, so he had a lot going on, but he took great care of me. I would really like to go back. If I did I would talk to him about dove hunting during the day. I saw a lot of doves. I was really expecting this to turn out to be a bad deal but it really wasn't. I hope I get to go back and would recommend Prone Outfitters to anyone. The outfitters name is Clay. I never got to meet him. But most every business is made up of contractors and subcontractors, so "whatever"on that. I liked knowing exactly how much I was going to spend going in, and being able to shoot more than one without extra charges was great. I hope you have as much fun as I did on your hunt. And let me know how it goes.