Spring Babies Are Growing Up
Jolon, CA - With the first day of summer and the solstice falling behind, our thoughts turned to the spring babies at the Jolon ranch.
A tour of the ranch on the quiet, Bad Boy Buggy showed us that the past season was apparently a good one, with a bumper crop of piglets, as well as plenty of Corsican and Barbados lambs. The resident bison did well also, and two calves can be seen cavorting on the hillsides... not yet straying far from their mothers' sides.
The youngsters are growing up fast and healthy, an indication of a well-managed habitat with good food and water always at hand. The boar population in particular is really growing fast, and it looks like there'll be no shortage of big tuskers to hunt over the coming seasons. From the looks of the adults in the bloodlines, all of these animals show some true, trophy potential!
Fire Season Gets an Early Start
It's been an active fire season throughout California so far this year. As of the first of July, over 1000 wildfires are burning across the northern half of the state! Typically, the fire season doesn't really get bad until late summer and early fall, so this year promises to be a rough one.
Here at the Native Hunt properties, both at the Jolon and Priest Valley locations, we've so far been spared the flames, and operations have not been impacted. There was a fairly close call when the "Indians" fire crossed the adjacent Fort Hunter Liggett and burned many of the ridges within sight of the Jolon ranch, but the flames stalled and changed direction.
We'll try to keep everyone up-to-date on the fire situation as the year goes on, but if you have a hunt scheduled, it may be wise to call a day or so before your hunt dates to verify conditions. You can also use the Internet to locate fires and information on the Cal Fire (California Department of Forestry) website at: http://www.fire.ca.gov/index_incidents.php.
New Website Goes Live
You may have seen it already, but Native Hunt is proud to present our newly redesigned website. Designed with ease of use in mind, the new site puts key functions at your fingertips. Want to book a hunt, or have someone contact you with information? There's a form right there on the front page. Quick links take you as well to descriptions of various packages, a photo gallery, and other helpful information.
Check it out at http://www.nativehunt.com.
The California summers are hot and dry, conditions that can make hunting pretty tough. Unless a property includes good food sources and water, it's unlikely to find hog in the area. Native Hunt properties offer some key summer habitat, with year-round water sources and plenty of food. This should make for great feral hog hunting on the open properties, while the exotics ranch continues to offer superb trophy hunting opportunities.
The entire exotics ranch property has now been opened up, allowing the game to roam freely over more than 1000 acres of prime central California habitat. The European boar have particularly taken advantage of the newly opened grounds, and have dispersed into the steep chaparral-covered canyons, emerging to feed in the grain fields or to hit the waterholes. These animals have quickly become wary and wild, and should present quite a challenge for the determined hunter.
The fallow deer and Corsican rams are showing great potential for the upcoming months as well. Several fine rams roam the hilltops and ridges, and
the fallow bucks slip through the wooded edges like visions from a medieval tapestry. Either species makes a unique trophy, guaranteed to bring back memories of your Native Hunt adventure weekend.
