Tom whoa there, you are making a lot of assumptions with very little information. It is true this guy has been after me to come out there and hunt these hogs for 5 or 6 years. He sent a number of photo (which later proved to be old photos.) Here are a number of claims he made prior to my partner and I's arrival. "The ranch is 5000 acres and there's tons of pigs. Why don't you and your partner bring archery equipment just to put a challenge in it. You'll probably be done the first evening. You can kill as many as you want to buy tags for. I'll have it all scouted out. I will go up there a week or two ahead and stay there until you guys get here. I'm not worried about you getting pigs, but turkeys might take a day or two. I'm just a little over weight, but I can still get around just fine."
Now here is the reality of what actually happened. First off it was 1200 acres not 5000. We busted our tails to get there early enough Friday to make an evening hunt. We called and let him know how long it would be before we could meet him. We called him again 20 minutes from our meeting point. We had arranged flight schedules and time off from work just to get in this extra evening. (All this on his recommendation.) So where was he when we arrived with little time to spare? He was friggen fishing! We call his cell number and ask where the heck he is. His reply, "I'm fishing, I'll be there in 45 minutes." Did I mention we were quickly losing daylight! Sorry but when a guy travels 1500 miles, I'm damn sure going to be there to meet him, not off drowing fish eggs in some stream 45 minutes away. Remember all the stuff about scouting and being up there ahead of time. Turns out he had been up there in about a year. So for three days I got to listen to him talk about where the pigs "used" to be. He didn't have a friggen clue where they were. Oh and did I mention that after we had bought our tags prior to the hunt that he wanted us to only shoot one each. Then after we arrive he tells my partner to only shoot a small to average pig as we weren't supposed to shoot the big ones. WTF!!! On top of that, I talk to the guy that owns the ranch and he tells me that he had some dog hunters in there 3 weeks before. Had dufus been up there he would have known this and not wasted the time of 4 individuals that traveled considerable distances to be there. Now to top this all off, his idea of a little over weight and what the rest of our party consider a little over weight were quite different. Let's just say I wouldn't use the word "little" and leave it at that. After the first nights hike we couldn't get him out of the tent the next morning. Between the 4 of us hunting we never saw any fresh sign anywhere on the 1200 acres. All the turkeys in the area were on neighboring land and nowhere close to huntable. It was a bad joke. I had planned to hunt for about 5 days, but after walking the same 1200 acres for 3 days it was pointless. You bet I was pissed. It could've all been avoided had he done a fraction of what he said he would do. So instead of just walking around pissed for 5 days I bagged the hunting and went and toured the Bay Area. I got to say the last two days were great and he made a much better tour guide for the restaurants and sites of the Bay Area than he did anything related to hunting. The Bay Area including San Francisco is beautiful and I was very impressed with the architecture and landscaping in the area. As a professional artist I really appreciated all the work that has gone in to the area to make it so eye pleasing. I didn't see any openly gay couples or anything else particularly strange, but I didn't look real hard either. The food in the Bay Area has got to be some of the best I've ever experienced. California does have some seriously good restaurants. So the trip wasn't a total loss, but I sure didn't go there with the intent of playing tourist in the Bay Area. Honestly, I can't imagine ever returning to hunt when there are so many other places and options. I tried it once, and fair or not, that was enough for me. I have been to California many times and will likely end up there again a time or two, but not with the intent of hunting...fishing maybe, but not hunting.
