It’s been a while since I was in Texas, and I have to say that state really grows on me. Fortunately, I’m about to head back down for a week and some change. Kat and I are hitting the road tonight, and expect to be in camp by the Frio river with my brother (the [...]
Go to A Cure for the Bluebonnet BluesAuthor Archive
March 5th, 2010
Putting on my Expert Hat… or somesuch
Heading out in about an hour to meet up with Holly, the NorCal Cazadora. We’re going to take a look at some private property where the hogs have been making a nuisance of themselves (as they’re wont to do), and maybe help the landowner out by taking a couple of pests home for dinner. .. or [...]
Go to Putting on my Expert Hat… or somesuchMarch 3rd, 2010
Updates From My Friends At Bullets And Brass
A little while back I shared some info from my friend and fellow Local Field Director for the US Sportsman’s Alliance (USSA), Adam McInerny about a relatively new company, Bullets and Brass. The company was offering a series of free reloading courses around the SF Bay Area.
Well Adam dropped me another note the other day with a couple of updates. [...]
March 1st, 2010
Review – Firearms Multimedia Guide
Sitting around the Press Room at the SHOT Show, you always have the opportunity to talk to several authors, videographers, and other folks who have interesting products. I always come away with a couple of things to review, and this past show was no different.
One such product was a DVD from Impressum Media, Inc., called The [...]
February 27th, 2010
Porcine Press – Goings On Around The World
I haven’t had a chance to do this in a while, but tonight I spent some time cruising through my news feeds to see what’s happening in the world of wild hogs, boar, and pigs. There’s no way I can bring you all up to speed on all that we’ve missed, but here are a [...]
Go to Porcine Press – Goings On Around The WorldFebruary 25th, 2010
Lead Ban Chronicles – Montana Update and CA Under Fire Again
First things first… a couple of weeks back, I posted up about a proposal floated around Montana to ban lead ammunition from State Wildlife Areas. As of February 11, the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commission voted against the ban. As was reported in the Billings Gazette, it was a close vote.
HELENA — By a [...]
February 24th, 2010
An Idea And A Groundswell – Keep It Rolling
So over at Holly’s NorCal Cazadora blog this morning, she’s given us all a chance to get active in making positive change for members of the US military. It starts with a fairly simple idea… let active military hunt any state on a resident tag. Several states allow military to hunt as residents, as long [...]
Go to An Idea And A Groundswell – Keep It RollingFebruary 23rd, 2010
Tejon Part Deux – Let There Be Pork Chops!
What a difference a week makes!
After the previous weekend’s tough hunting at Tejon Ranch, with nine hunters coming away with only three hogs, I was a little concerned going into the past weekend’s hunt. However, on this last hunt, there were a number of different factors involved.
First, the weather turned cold and wet. The beautiful, [...]
Go to Tejon Part Deux – Let There Be Pork Chops!February 22nd, 2010
Lead Ban Chronicles – Three More Condors Reported Dead From Lead
Tales from Tejon will continue shortly. Just waiting on some photos right now. It was a great time, with a bunch of great guys… but details will have to wait.
In the meantime…
Just got this from the Peregrine Fund in my email this morning. Let me ask you to read it completely before you comment, just [...]
February 18th, 2010
The Hog Blog is Dragging
I know, I’m stating the obvious. A few posts a week is hardly the pace I’d like to maintain, but it just seems to be the status quo here lately. No excuses… but I do hope a couple of weekends of hunting will get me back on track.
In the meantime, here’s the best hog of [...]
February 15th, 2010
Back From Tejon… For Now
Wow.
I was told a very long time ago that there is no “sure thing”. And I get it.
Even so, when I head out to Tejon, I have a pretty high level of confidence that I can not only kill a hog myself, I can take several other hunters to hogs as well. My track record [...]
February 10th, 2010
Going Hunting… Finally!
Man! Has it been that long? It seems like forever since I’ve been hog hunting, and this trip couldn’t come at a better time.
I’m heading out tomorrow afternoon, driving south to the Tejon Ranch. I’ll be joining several friends, including Fabio (I’ve guided Fabio over at the Native Hunt ranches a time or two), and [...]
February 8th, 2010
Lead Ban Chronicles – .17 HMR Ammo Availability Update
Here’s a quickie for a Monday morning…
It’s still a little early, but for folks who enjoy shooting ground squirres, jack rabbits and such in the condor zone, it’s been a long, miserable search to find a lead-free, rimfire bullet for the .17hmr. Last year, CCI released their TNT Green line, but personally, I never even [...]
February 7th, 2010
SHOT Show Gear Reviews – Where Are They?
So I’ve received a few emails from folks I met at SHOT wondering how things are going, and hoping, “by the way”, that I found the samples of their products satisfactory. In other words, they’re wondering if or when I’m going to review their products. A couple of Hog Blog readers are wondering similar things. [...]
Go to SHOT Show Gear Reviews – Where Are They?February 4th, 2010
Why didn’t I know about this? Pigman, the Series
So, I’m doing some work from home this afternoon, and put the idiot box on to let the hunting shows play while I put PowerPoint slides together. It’s pretty much the usual stuff on The Sportsman’s Channel, and I’m not paying much attention… it’s more like white noise (to me, quacking ducks, gobbling turkeys, and gunfire are [...]
Go to Why didn’t I know about this? Pigman, the SeriesFebruary 3rd, 2010
Porcine Press And What Else Is Going On?
I realize that even though the Ethics Roundtable is going pretty well, I haven’t been posting all that much the last couple of weeks. I really need to go hunting.
There’s a lot going on out there in the world of hogs and hunting, so how about we take a quick look around to see who’s [...]
February 1st, 2010
Ethics Roundtable Discussion Continues
Well, the ethics discussion has certainly taken on a life of its own… or rather, regained the life it previously had. There’s nothing particularly new about this conversation, but there is much to learn, and often the learning isn’t so much in the words folks are writing, but in how we think about them and [...]
Go to Ethics Roundtable Discussion ContinuesJanuary 28th, 2010
Lead Ban Chronicles – More On Montana
The other day I posted up a short bit on Montana’s “test balloon” proposal to ban lead shot for upland and migratory birds on all state-owned wildlife management areas. The idea went over with the MT hunting community, appropriately enough, like a lead balloon.
Anthony Canales, who some of you may recognize from past lead ammo [...]
January 25th, 2010
Ethics Blog Roundtable Continues
Some great stuff seems to be coming out of the running ethics discussions, as well as the spin-offs (intentional or not) from the two posts by Thinking Hunter, Galen Geer, in which he first describes the ethics problem and considers holding a “symposium” for discussion, and then goes into some thoughts about an approach to the [...]
Go to Ethics Blog Roundtable ContinuesJanuary 23rd, 2010
De Hog Shootinest Gent’man Strikes Again, Lead Ban Chronicles, and More…
From the While I Was Out files… stuff that slipped through the cracks while I was here at the 2010 SHOT Show.
First of all, got this great photo in an email from my friend Matt, who some of you may recognize as De Hog Shootinest Gent’man. I don’t think Matt ever stops hunting or killing [...]
January 22nd, 2010
2010 SHOT Show – Big Night Out
I can’t remember if it was my first or second visit to the SHOT Show when someone from a little, cable network called “The Outdoor Channel” handed me a couple of passes to a special event, honoring the top hunting and outdoors television programs. The network was still pretty fresh in a new, but rapidly [...]
Go to 2010 SHOT Show – Big Night OutJanuary 21st, 2010
2010 SHOT Show – Back On The Floor For A Second Day
I know it’s late folks, and I apologize. I was simply brain dead by the time I got back to my room this evening. It took a little dinner, a tasty beverage or two, and a little roulette (I lost…duh) to get my head back in the game. So here I am…
Despite the fact that [...]
January 19th, 2010
2010 SHOT Show First Day On The Floor
Let me start this off with a short, relatively pointless rant.
For the first time, the Las Vegas SHOT Show is not at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Instead, they’re running it at the Sands Convention Center. No biggie, right? The Sands knows how to put on a big show. They can handle this.
But lord have [...]
January 18th, 2010
All SHOT up… Day One of the 2010 SHOT Show
But was it the weather or the economy?
If there was a question ringing in my head at the media shoots today, it wasn’t about the number of AR-styled hunting rifles, or the relative dearth of proprietary cartridges and calibers. It was about the perceived lack of exhibitors.
Now, granted, the weather was fairly abysmal today. A [...]
January 18th, 2010
SHOT Show Kick-off
Well, here we are! It’s 0545 in lovely Las Vegas, and I’m gearing up for the first event of the 2010 SHOT (Shooting Hunting, and Outdoor Trades) Show.
That’s right… 0545! It’s not all fun and games in Las Vegas, and from some of the folks I was watching last night, it’s gonna be even less [...]
January 16th, 2010
Hunting Ethics Discussions – Starting a Blog Roundtable?
I dunno how this is going to work, especially since I haven’t even bounced the idea off of anyone involved… but here goes. Galen, over at The Thinking Hunter has truly lived up to the spirit of his site and started some conversations that have several hunters thinking. The topic revolves around two things… first, [...]
Go to Hunting Ethics Discussions – Starting a Blog Roundtable?January 15th, 2010
Reloading Class for SF Bay Area Hunters
My friend and fellow US Sportsmen’s Alliance Field Director, Adam McInerny, has been working on developing his home business, Bullets and Brass, LLC. Here’s how he describes it:
Our focus to help provide hunters, skeet shooters, target shooters, and competition shooter discover the alternative to buying factory loaded ammo and start saving money by reloading. A [...]
January 11th, 2010
SHOT Show Is Right Around The Corner
Woohoo! Here it comes!
One week from today, at about this time, I’ll be waking up in my hotel room, and getting ready for the first event of the 2010 Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trades (SHOT) Show in lovely Las Vegas! At 0800, I’ll board a bus with a pack of other outdoors writers, photographers, and [...]