Tioga Hunting Ranch in PA

[THHuntNY]

Anyone know anything about the Tioga hunting ranch in PA. I've been looking at it and was wondering if it's worth going to for a hunt? I've been thinking about it for a while. Any feedback would be awesome.

[Lawdwaz]

I've driven by multiple times as I hunt in the area.  I have zero interest in hunting there, now or ever. 

 

Last year I hunted a preserve in TN for boar.  It was more of a social get together than a hunt.  

 

I'd be happy to give you the remainder of my pork from the hunt.

[Cabin Fever]

I'd be happy to give you the remainder of my pork from the hunt.

Does it taste that bad or are you just that generous?? 

 

Always wondered how wild boar tasted...

[Lawdwaz]

Does it taste that bad or are you just that generous?? 

 

Always wondered how wild boar tasted...

 

I really didn't like it.  I gave some to a few friends and NOBODY asked for more.  Right now it is just in the freezer to take up dead space and help the efficiency of the motor.  (It looks way cooler than a bunch of gallon milk jugs )

 

 

 

 

[ny hunter]

My dad shot a boar there in the 70's I thought the meat was great........my dad said he would never do it again...Totally not hunting...He said you could have hit the boar over the head,,,,,they came in so close it was aweful,He went with a friend and already paid the fee so he just took an animal that matched our basement at the time.

[UpstateNomad90]

You guys must of not cooked the boar right. I got a leg from a hunt I went on in Florida and turned it into a chili of a sort and it came out awesome. I did soak mine in a brine for 24 hours, then I cooked it in the oven for a couple hours. Next drained the juices into a pot, added peppers, rice, broth, pulled the meat off the bones and added little things here and there. Came out awesome. 

[pistolp71]

I know of someone who went there years ago. Its small and high fence. It's not hunting. But if you feel like shooting your own pork, instead of going to the grocery store, then go. The meat is very very good. I have eaten many Russian boar and feral hogs. I just got one in Texas a couple months ago. Not sure what the deal is with Lawdwaz's hog.

[Zem18]

My buddy did one of these hunts with a friend up near Plattsburgh I think. He said no skill and was uneventful. The meat wasn't that great either from his boar. It was a meat hunt, not a trophy hunt btw. Not a trophy shooting inside a fence IMO. 

[THHuntNY]

Doesn't sound like much of a hunt to me. Thanks for the info. I'll be swearing clear of that place

[THHuntNY]

Steering***not swearing

[Lawdwaz]

Doesn't sound like much of a hunt to me. Thanks for the info. I'll be swearing clear of that place

 

Good move.  Save up for some other out of state hunt like a three day southern deer hunt in January. Or maybe a fair chase hog hunt in Texas??

[THHuntNY]

A mule deer hunt is at the top of my list. Hopefully in a few years I'll be able to go out west and hunt one

[Meat First]

I was there in the 90's, buddy shot a boar and we both took turkeys.  This was not hunting just killing!  Would not do that again.  Beautiful area though and you can bowhunt some of their non-fenced in property but then you probably have your own place you hunt already.  You can stay in their "logde" which is just a few rooms off the kitchen or you can rent a camper across the street.  Like I said this was 20 yrs ago so maybe things have changed.

[Paula]

I have hunted wild boar in FL. We all like the meat. I wasted a good hunk from cooking it wrong then i cooked low and slow. It was pretty good, its not the other white meat

[the blur]

I did the hog "hunt" there.   ok...ok..... it's a hog shoot, not a hunt.   Just because I felt like killing something with my new gun.  

You walk 400 acres... and eventually come across hogs, axis deer, fallow deer,  red deer,  rams, etc.     You get within 50 yards, and shoot.    They don't even scatter,   they look around...

People come from all over to shoot "trophy" deer.   Anything with antlers is big money, and many people do it.    

It's one step above going to the food store, and 1 step below hunting over bait.

I'm ok with it... as a cheap thrill, pricey thrill rather.

 

[Uncle Nicky]

I've killed quite a few wild hogs in my life, the meat is very good, but like anything, it's not for everyone. We usually cool it down first in cold water, then keep it iced up for the long ride home (usually in Georgia). Probably the ice & water for a few days leaches some of the wild taste away.

I have heard that old boars are rank, I will say they are strong, but never had to toss anything out.

[Rattler]

I have been told the sows are like pork, but any boar needs to have it's complete manhood package removed as soon as you shoot it.  That is said to keep the gamey taste tolerable on a boar.  I don't know from experience.

As far as Tioga goes, I'll pass.  It's not worth the price.  I'd rather buy a pig on a farm, shoot it in the head with a .22 Mag and butcher it myself.

[helmut in the bush]

I shot feral pigs on an grass island off the coast by Savanna Georgia, it was an awesome hunt, shot 5 or 6 of them. The biggest was about 150#. The meat looked real nice, no strong game taste, just bland, even the sausage wasn't that great. They would have been a lot better if they had corn in their diet, not just the roots of the saw grass. It took a month or two before I could get the stain from that black mud off of my feet, I think I had to shed a layer of skin or two to get it off. It was fun.

[tommyc50]

7 minutes ago, Rattler said:

I have been told the sows are like pork, but any boar needs to have it's complete manhood package removed as soon as you shoot it.  That is said to keep the gamey taste tolerable on a boar.  I don't know from experience.

As far as Tioga goes, I'll pass.  It's not worth the price.  I'd rather buy a pig on a farm, shoot it in the head with a .22 Mag and butcher it myself.

keep the balls [mountain oysters] and throw away the rest, hell you cant even donate it. You cant compare it to domestic pork [nite and day].Now if you want a boar and a REAL boar hunting experience go to Poland [I would have said germany but you'll go crazy trying to bring a gun in there] My hunting buddy goes and loves it amazing!!!!See places like tioga are canned hunts its like these big catering hall you go to a wedding and its all timed like a revolving door ,im in the cocktail hour and I hear next door the bride cuts the the bride cuts the cake then the next thing we get rushed in there and and it was all timed its about get em' in and get em' out . But with a hunt and even outfitters its about the cash[hey their in business to make money]. I been on a few[very few] hunts and some chaters fishing and im like WOW don't you want me to come back? they treat you like shit and a cash cow. I went to virginia [we drove and all I got from this little punk guide /outfitter is oh you cant do that oh you cant do this oh we charge more cause you shot that deer in the trophy area. I was getting ready to quarter the deer THAT I SHOT and put him in a 120qt cooler I brought, well he says you cant do that we have our own processor. See in all the years I hunted and fished I found its trail and error you go and like you keep it .YOU go and get treated like sh*t I let everybody know and never go back

[tommyc50]

trial and error sorry

[airedale]

When I was a impressionable young fellow I subscribed to and read all the major outdoor and gun magazines and was intrigued with hunting with a handgun. Back then hunting with a handgun was pretty much a novel idea, the old firearms writer Elmer Keith was handgun hunting's biggest proponent and he surely had me on the edge of my chair reading some of his escapades. Some of those tales were pretty tall but were good reading and had me fired up to give it a try myself.

Back 50 years ago it took about a year to get approved for a permit, so during the long wait I had a S&W model 29 44 mag on layaway, bought all of my reloading components and loaded a bunch of shells and was totally ready for some action when that permit finally came through. Problem was it was approved in late winter and I was bummed out knowing I had to wait until fall to get some hunting in. 

Well a couple of hunting friends who also got into handguns the same time as myself suggested one of those PA preserves for a hog hunt. I was chomping at the bit so bad to use my new revolver on something other than paper targets I was all for it. So we booked a hunt at a preserve called The" Black Boar". We all took what they called "razorback" hogs , we also took a couple of other what were called non trophy animals, a couple of goats and a sheep. I took and used my best shooting 44 handload, a 225 gr Speer half jacket recipe that I found out of a magazine and they shot and performed as advertised with perfect mushrooms on the recovered bullets, still use that same load today. 

To sum things up, no it was not the same as what someone terms real hunting wide open space wild animals. Still  with handguns we still had to get close and take good shots and the animals did not pose for shots. With rifles it would have been a cakewalk as getting within 100 yards was fairly easy but with handguns it made things interesting. The whole point was to actually see how handguns performed on a real animal and for me I came away with some worthwhile knowledge but zero desire to ever do it again. That knowledge paid off in the following Deer seasons hunting with a handgun as I took several Deer with the lessons learned.

As a side note I took a trip to Tennessee to hunt a real so called European wild Boar with a handgun booking with an outfitter that used Dogs. It was an exciting hunt and I enjoyed it but the fact of the matter it was easier for me to take the big Russian in the so called wild than it  was the little Razorback in PA on the preserve.

Not for everybody but for a youngster, a rookie hunter or for testing out a bit more challenging weapon like a bow or handgun the preserves have their place especially off season.

Al

Edited December 23, 2018 by airedale

[tommyc50]

Well, the guys I hunt with went a few times to south Carolina and man was it  fair chase you are running behind dogs and when they corner the boar you helped hog tying it and then stab it with a knife [NOW THATS HUNTIN'] .If I can get hold of the video i'll post it