BFRO #5463: Dusk sighting by hunter on Fort Hunter Liggett

📍 Location

📝 Description

This report describes a sighting of a large biped primate at Fort Hunter Liggett on the evening of Saturday, February 16, 2002. I left my home in Manhattan Beach, California about 8:00 AM on the morning of February 16th after one last unsuccessful attempt to persuade my son to join me for a long weekend of wild pig hunting. Monday was President�s Day, my son was off school, and the Fort was open for hunting. But 16-year old boys have other interests. I arrived at the Fort about 12:30 PM alone, checked into Training Area 10/13 to hunt, and stopped at the Hacienda for lunch and to claim my room for the weekend. After changing to camouflage clothing and hunting boots I headed up Sulfur Springs Road to where Training Area 10/13 begins.About 4:30 PM I stopped to look at a creek that crosses under Sulfur Spring Road near Lyons Pond in Area 7 as I drove Northeast. I learned of the creek that is often used as a wallowing spot, on a guided hunt in 1999. From the road I could see much recent activity. It appeared as though quite a few pigs had been wallowing in the small creek the night before. I drove on about 150 yards and parked my Bronco along Sulfur Spring Road. I climbed down the 20-foot high embankment to the creek to check the area more carefully. There were very fresh wallows all along the creek with many fresh droppings in addition. I walked on to Lyons Pond, which was dry, and returned to Sulfur Springs Road. All of the fresh sign was in Area 7 at the edge of the road, but I was registered to hunt in Area 10/13�on the other side of the road. This is an important distinction at Hunter Liggett. If you are caught with a loaded gun in an Area you are not registered to hunt, you are banned from the Fort�forever.I solved this conflict by noticing that the pigs appeared to be using a large culvert to cross under the road from Area 10/13 to Area 7. I decided that I would wait for their return on the 10/13 side of the road. I positioned myself about 10 yards off, and 20 feet below the road. My hope was that the pigs would be traveling up the creek through Area 10/13 to Area 7 just after the sun set. It was about 5:00 PM when I took my position with determination to not move until 30 minutes after sunset. The first hour of waiting was pretty boring. Nothing was moving and the forest was eerily quite. About an hour before sunset the woods began to show signs of life. A few Blue Jays and Woodpeckers flew by and a few frog croaks resonated from the small creek I was watching. Closer to sunset I noticed two does moving through the woods and squirrels scampering about. I knew that if the pigs returned to the creek it would be in those magical 30 minutes after sunset and that time was just arriving! Much to my disappointment, a blue Ford Ranger also arrived as the sunset. Two hunters climbed out, grabbed their rifles and walked down a small, grassy road that entered the woods about 75 feet from where I was sitting. I watched them pass and disappear on the road that was slightly above my hidden sitting position. My hopes of a pig encounter of the close kind were dashed. I was certain these hunters would either intercept my prey or scare them away with their movement and noise. I was heartened a few minutes latter as I saw both hunters returning along the road to their truck. I watched them carefully with my new Swarovski binocular. It was about 10 minutes after sunset and without the binocular they appeared as shadows in the darkening forest. With my Swarovski binocular I could see details of the weaving in the plaid hunting jacket one was wearing and the rifles they were carrying. They climbed into their truck and drove off�leaving me with 15 more minutes of wild pig hope.These minutes passed slowly as I glassed the forest in search of movement. The frogs in the creek began a loud chorus that added to the excitement. There was lots of movement but no signs of pigs. Chipmunks and squirrels were scampering about and I saw a coyote moving in the distance. Drizzle started to fall, along with my hopes, as the last few minutes of hunting time expired. I resolved to return to the same spot in the morning as I put the lens covers on my binocular and gather up my backpack and rifle.But before I could stand up I saw a flash of light color a few 100 yards back into the forest. I had no idea what I had seen out of the corner of my eye. The color was white or silver-gray, not a color that I would expect to see on a wild pig. I looked off into that direction for a few seconds before seeing another brief flash of the same light colored object. Both confused and intrigued I watched as repeated flashes of white or silver-gray coloring appeared in the forest. Whatever it was appeared to be moving and after about 20 seconds of watching I realized that it was moving in my direction along the same road the two hunters had walked earlier.I believed I watched this creature move through the forest for about two or three minutes before I finally

🔍 Circumstances

I was hunting alone and no other witness were present

🌤️ Weather Conditions

Forty minutes after sunset on February 16, 2002

ℹ️ Additional Details

Forty minutes after sunset on February 16, 2002

🔗 Sources (1)

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