Arizona republican., 1900-11-27
SHOT HOGS FROM TREE TOPS
Strange Method of Hunting the
 Peccary in Northern California.

"The stories in the eastern papers western Arizona and northwestern Mexico. reminded me of a story told me by old Henry Be'lers, a pioneer of. '49, remarked Dick Fletcher, of the Pal ace, a few days ago. Bellers declares that wild hogs al one time were com monly found in northern California. and I'll tell you the story as he told it to me.
 'iE.arly in the fifties l was camping with a party of prospectors near Kla- math lake, in northern Siskiyou coun- ty, California. Our camp was located on gold creek, a stream which in dry seasons dwindled to a mere brook, but during the spring rhaw frequently rose over thirty feet and swept down great quantity of timber and debris from the hills For two miles up creek from our camp was an impenetrable jungle, in which great numbers of wild hogs roamed about. rarely v5nturing out of the protection Of the rank growth, where they were safe from She hunter and where the dogs were afraid to m ct the fierce boars. formidable in the open. and particularly so in the low runways through the brush. Ear ly in April after a warm spell and heavy rains ali the streams had been on the rampage for a week. the game had all gone to the higher hills and We ran short of meat. The situation be- came serious. until Ponce. our half breed cook. came to the rescue. Me
  said he. Me show you moocha pig. Ponco knew the country and it's ways like a book. and five of us, with our guns. followed him. Leading us up the creek to where the dense under brush lay. he showed us a kind of sport which can probably be found no place else in the world the shooting of wild pigs out of tree tops.
 "The prolonged rise in the creek had kept the water at a point about thirty five feet high the crest of the flood GOV ering the top of the brush and small willow and cottonwood trees. The tops had served to stop great quantities of broken timber and tree trunks and limbs. interlaced over an area extend ing for nearly two miles in length and nearly a mile wide. and grass roots
 
 had made a new layer of earth. kind of second story. about thirty-five feet above the bed of the stream. The hot sun had soon dried the great mass and it formed a solid footing for hundreds of hogs, which. from an elevation a quarter mile away, we could see feed ing among the debris. the underbrush below having been filed up to such an !, ,l,I fr,. hn pigs. l tell you it was an odd sight to watch pigs feeding in tree tops and lodging in and out among the trunks which rose above their feeding ground. But we didn't wait long to merely watch them. Dividing our par ty. We crept up on a bench near the edge of the brush and managed to get up on the top of a ledge near by before they saw US Cur first shots brought down three of them and the balance hurried away. stumbling and falling over the uncertain footing. We scram- bled up the side of the mass and hur- ried as best We could after the fleeing pigs. Harris. a young and active fei- low. was ahead of us. and We saw him raise his gun and fire. and then a big boar charged him from out of a bunch or tree tops near Dy. HdITlS couldH run-the footing was too rough-so he clubbed his gun. and as the boar reached him. caught it a crack on the jaw. Both went down. and with a crash disappeared. We hurried up. and from away down in the dark and damp depths Harris Justify called for help. I've got the pig. now get me out Tying long pole to the end of anoth- CT. We lowered it and then pulled Har- ris up. the dead pig with him. As he fell Harris had pulled his knife. and as the struggling pair broke and fell through the crust he had cut the throat of his assaiiant. already wounded, with bullet in his shoulder. The next day we attacked the pigs from the other side of the brush and got five, giving us plenty of meat for a month after.
 "Old hunters afterward told us that every year the great crust of earth was formed and always afforded sport with the pigs, which were able to climb the steep sides. Several years ago a stor- age reservoir was built higher up the creek, the heavy jungle burned out and the land underneath used for agricul- tural purposes"