Richard Thomas Memories

 HUNTING TRIPS

The following are some of my hunting trips later in life when we lived in California from 1979 through 1997 when we retired and returned to Michigan.

WILD BOAR HUNT

My friend Ron Kohagura and Harmie called and said they were going to schedule a hunting trip for sheep and wild bore and wanted to know if I wanted to go with them. Of course I said yes, where and when? They said to Santa Cruz Island and as soon as we can get reservations. 

We were to fly from the Camarillo airport and were only allowed 50 lbs. of luggage each which included guns, beer or liquor. Both Ron and Harmie were beer drinkers so this was a problem. I on the other hand only drink the hard stuff so I took a fifth of vodka and Mr. T's bloody Mary mix, so I had no weight problem. 

The trip over to the island was short but beautiful. You could see the whole island which is 3 ½ miles wide and 13 mile long. Our plane landed on a grass runway in a valley. We arrived early afternoon and got unpacked and went directly to the rifle range to check our rifles to be sure nothing had happened to them on the way over. Now that everything was ready for the next day's hunt we were ready for dinner and a drink. To my surprise both Ron and Harmie wanted a bloody Mary before supper, so by the time we all had two drinks my bloody Mary mix was gone, so that was my last drink. 

The next morning came early with coffee and rolls. The first half of our hunt was for the wild boar. We all loaded into two jeeps-4 hunters and 2 guides. Our first area to hunt these tuskers was a small valley with rolling hills on each side. The guides told us that we should go up on the side hills and wait while they made a drive of the valley toward the hunters. However because some of the hunters were hung over they did not choose to climb the hills. I was not hung-over so I did what the guides suggested. Soon after the drive started a large sow came running down the valley and the shooting began. With hunters on both sides of the valley it was a wonder no one got shot. However the last hunter did have a clear shot and got the sow. 

From my position on the hill I could see the entire valley. Soon I saw a pig in the brush just in front of the guides but was too close to the guides to shoot, so I waved at the guides pointing at the brush in front of them so they stopped and began to throw rocks to keep the pig moving down the valley. I could tell by the way the pig was going that it was following a trail and would soon be at a small opening in the brush and that would be my best chance to shoot, so I put my scope on the opening to get a shot when it walked through the open area. To my surprise it stopped in the opening to look around. I fired and it dropped on the spot. To my pleasure it was a nice boar. I was glad I did what the guide told me to.