Travis Southerly

An illustrated field guide to hog hunting public land in California

Hunting Pigs on California Public Land

Finding, stalking, and butchering hogs on public ground.

Most people who try to kill a wild hog on California public land give up before they ever succeed. You probably will, too. But reading this book will increase your chances.

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Cover of Hunting Pigs on California Public Land by Travis Southerly: a hunter glassing a canyon through binoculars while a wild hog feeds on the hillside below.

The book

It is hard. This is how you get good at it.

Most people go out two or three times, walk some pretty country, find nothing, and decide the hogs must not be there. They are there. You walked past them, downwind, at ten in the morning, while they lay bedded in brush you wouldn't crawl into on a bet.

On public ground, wild hogs live where people won't go: steep, brush-choked, water-scarce country that punishes you for entering it. They are almost entirely nocturnal wherever they're hunted. Their noses will beat you every time you get lazy about the wind.

This book is the method for beating all of that. What's legal in California and what will get you cited. What to carry and what to leave home. How to read a map before you burn a tank of gas. How to tell yesterday's sign from last spring's. How to make the shot, trail the hog, get it out, break it down, and cook it so it was worth the trip.

It is not a list of my spots. Nobody who's any good gives those up. You get the whole method for finding your own.

If you want someone to tell you it's easy, this isn't that book. If you want to get good at it, start here.

Is it for you?

Read it if

  • You want a wild hog on California public land and have not gotten one yet.
  • You are willing to walk steep, brushy country, mostly alone, to find them.
  • You want to do it legally and cleanly, and use all of the meat.

Skip it if

  • You want someone's secret spots. This book gives you the method for finding your own.
  • You plan to hunt private land or book a guide. It is still useful, but you do not need it.
  • You want advanced technique for its own sake. This is a practical field guide.

189 pages. 23 chapters. 6 appendices. 46 illustrations.

  1. Part one

    Before you go

    Licenses, what is not legal here, methods of take, gear, navigation, and staying alive in rough country.

    Chapters 1 to 6

  2. Part two

    Finding hogs

    How hogs live, how to read their sign, where they bed and feed, public land access, e-scouting, and scouting on foot.

    Chapters 7 to 14

  3. Part three

    The hunt

    Ambush, spot and stalk, still hunting, your first hunt start to finish, shot placement, and hunting with dogs.

    Chapters 15 to 20

  4. Part four

    After the shot

    Reading the hit, trailing, field dressing, butchery, meat care, and cooking wild hog.

    Chapters 21 to 23

Six appendices close the book: ballistics, sighting in, a pre-hunt gear checklist, a quick reference to California wild pig regulations, a glossary, and a resource directory.

A look inside

Plates from the book

Diagrams and drawings help explain what you'll see, before you've seen it for yourself.

Three ink drawings of a hunter: sitting against a tree for an ambush, glassing from a rock to spot and stalk, and walking slowly through brush to still hunt.
Chapter 15 Ambush, spot and stalk, still hunting. The three ways to hunt a hog.
Ink drawing of a wild hog in profile with the lungs, heart, and front leg labeled.
Chapter 19 Where the heart and lungs sit on a broadside hog. A diagram, not an aiming point.
Four ink drawings of hog sign: rooted ground, a mud wallow, a rub on a tree trunk, and a flattened bed in brush.
Chapter 8 Rooting, wallow, rub, and bed. What hog sign looks like on the ground.
Ink drawing of a California canyon with oak trees, brush, and a pool of water, labeled cover, food, and water.
Chapter 9 Cover, food, and water. Hogs live where all three meet.
Side-by-side diagram of a hog track with blunt toes and a deer track with pointed toes.
Chapter 8 Hog and deer tracks. Blunt toes against pointed ones.
Top-down diagram of four shot angles on a hog: broadside, slightly quartering away, quartering toward, and head-on.
Chapter 19 Shot angles from above, and what each one asks of you.

Table of contents

What to expect from the book

Part one: Before you go

  1. What You Need to Hunt Hogs in California
  2. What Is Not Legal Here
  3. Methods of Take
  4. Gear
  5. Navigation and Maps
  6. Staying Alive Out There

Part two: Finding hogs

  1. Know the Animal
  2. Reading Hog Sign
  3. Where to Find Hogs
  4. The Hog Year
  5. Hunting Public Land
  6. Where You Can Actually Hunt: A Directory
  7. E-Scouting
  8. Scouting: Boots on the Ground

Part three: The hunt

  1. How to Hunt Them
  2. Your First Hunt, Start to Finish
  3. Making the Shot in the Field
  4. Which Hog Should You Shoot?
  5. The Vital Zone
  6. Hunting Hogs With Dogs

Part four: After the shot

  1. Reading the Hit and Trailing Blood
  2. Field Dressing, Butchery, and Meat Care
  3. Cooking Wild Hog

Appendices

  1. Ballistics 101
  2. Sighting In Your Weapon
  3. Pre-Hunt Gear Checklist
  4. California Wild Pig Regulations, Quick Reference
  5. Glossary
  6. Resource Directory
Travis Southerly in a camouflage cap and pack straps, standing in front of evergreens at dusk.
Travis Southerly

The author

Written by someone who has done it the hard way

I've spent years hunting wild hogs on public land across Northern California. Mostly alone, on foot, and in country most people won't walk into.

I wrote this book blunt on purpose. California is not Texas, and almost everything you've seen on a hog hunting show will get you cited here. Regulations change often, so the book tells you where to check.

The standard I hold myself to, and the one the book holds you to: kill it cleanly, get it out, and eat all of it.

Travis Southerly on Amazon

Questions

Before you buy

Is this book only for California?

It is written for California. The legal chapters, the public land directory, and the terrain are all specific to this state. The scouting, shot placement, field dressing, and cooking chapters apply wherever hogs live.

Does it tell me where to hunt?

It does not hand out personal honey holes. Chapter 12 is a directory of public areas where hunting is possible, and chapters 13 and 14 teach you to scout your own, first on a screen and then on foot.

Is it for beginners?

Yes, if you are willing to work. Chapter 16 walks through a first hunt from start to finish. It will not tell you the hunting is easy, because it isn't.

Does it cover butchering and cooking?

Chapter 22 covers field dressing, butchery, and meat care. Chapter 23 covers cooking wild hog, from carnitas to a slow-smoked shoulder.

Does it cover hunting with dogs?

Yes. Chapter 20 covers hunting hogs with dogs, including the gear and the commitment that comes with it.

Are the regulations in the book current?

California changes its hunting rules often. The book explains the legal framework, includes a quick-reference appendix, and tells you where to check current rules before you go. Always confirm with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Which format should I get?

Get the paperback and toss it in with your gear as a field reference. Get the hardcover to keep on your bookshelf. The Kindle edition makes for an easy read on the go.

Get the book

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