While Florida gets to claim the oldest population of wild hogs in the U.S., California is the top choice for opportunities on public and private land.

Author Dave Dolbee took this boar from a well-placed blind. Look for a wallow or an oak dropping acorns, and set up a blind nearby. A little patience will be rewarded by hogs leaving cover in the early evening. Photo by Dave Dolbee.

Many landowners and biologists would like to see feral hogs eradicated completely -- and for the most part, for good reason. Hogs are devastating to local habitats and farmlands. A single boar can uproot and entire acre of alfalfa in a single night.

However, because the sows are so prolific (they can have up to three litters a year with as many as 19 piglets with a survivability rate of about 50 percent), eradication is very unlikely.

Meanwhile, hunters and guides benefit.

Unlike other big-game opportunities, hogs rein supreme when it comes to year-round access and overall affordability. Guided hunts generally run from about $600 to $1,000. But if you are willing to put in the extra effort, there are a couple of low-cost opportunities and downright free public-land choices. And with only a couple of exceptions -- such as on certain military reservations -- hogs can be hunted year 'round and with no bag or possession limits. (Continued)

HOG BASICS
Before you set out intent on bringing home some bacon, a California hunting license and pig tag are required. Gone are the good old days of picking up a book of five tags for under $8.

But you still can pick up as many tags as you like for about $15 each. That's a great bargain with fuel prices are high as they've ever been.

Much of California's prime pig habitat features semi-secluded oaks and rolling hills, with a few steep climbs thrown in to keep things interesting. Those oaks provide a primary food source for porkers in the fall, plus plenty of cover for spot-and-stalk hunting. When the acorns drop in autumns, pig sign will be evident in these areas.

As a bonus, if you also have a deer tag for the zone you're hunting, you have the opportunity to double up with venison at the same time.

During the midday hours, hunters will occasionally find a hog at a wallow. But prime hunting times come at dusk and dawn. Glass from a high vantage, then stalk to within effective rifle distance. Pay close attention to brush edges, creek beds and such agriculture areas as fields of wheat and alfalfa.

I've often heard about how bad a pig's eyesight is. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but any optically challenged swine must have gone the way of the dinosaurs years ago. All the pigs I've hunted had better than 20-20 vision.

Beyond that, they have a nose that would put a hound to shame. Hogs can smell a single acorn buried under a foot of dirt. Taking that into account, I don't feel any need to discuss the importance of scent control and complete camouflage concealment.

PIG TACTICS
Two popular tactics for hunting hogs are the following: