The Best Time(s) ever!!…read more I've been hunting with Chad ever since he first started his business. He is the very best Guide/Person to ever spend time with out in the field! He does his very best to put you onto a very high quality animal and you will not be disappointed! My son has shot three deer over the years with Chad along with a number of wild boar. Every hunt is a great time! Chad and his guides are super patient with not only adults but with children. He was very patient with my son on all his hunts, even though he missed several real times. I can not say enough good things about Oakstone Outfitters! Very professional and personable. I have stayed at his Ranch House and it is comfortable and very homey! The food is fabulous as well! My family and I will always be back to hunt with Chad and his team! Please message me for any questions, I'll be happy to respond!

I have been hunting pigs in Paso Robles for over 15 years. In 2019, my brother and I discovered…read moreOakstone Outfitters and have booked hunts annually every since. This year we are doing the boar and Turkey combo. The fact that you can get picked up and dropped off at the houses on their property is a luxury rather than driving back and forth into town. It's an experience that keeps us coming back.

The best compliment to any business is repeat business. My son and I just wrapped up our second…read morehunt with Sarah and Rocky. Sarah is very easy to work with making the reservation, meeting us at the hunting house and ensuring we are settled and ready for the next day hunting. Rocky was our guide both trips and I can't say enough about how great he is. Very professional, experienced, knowledgeable, and most importantly focused on our safety. Rocky had us on pigs at first light and by 8am we had everything we needed. He took the time to show us how to gut a hog and explained their life cycle, and surprisingly wasn't annoyed with all of my questions. After our hunt, Rocky took us around the land to show us the sites and track other pigs for future hunts. Back at the house, Rocky prepped our pigs for the long drive home. The hunting cabin is very cozy, comfortable, clean, and the beds are comfortable. Schmidt Guides has a client for life!

I spent a considerable amount of time researching California pig hunting outfitters before deciding…read moreto book with Schmidt Guide Service, and I'm glad I did. For the price, nearly everything is included except food, making it an excellent value. Our group of four booked approximately six months in advance. I highly recommend reviewing their website beforehand, as it answers most common questions and provides a clear understanding of what to expect. About a week before our hunt, Sarah reached out to confirm our arrival and finalize details. Hunters can check into the lodge by noon the day before their scheduled hunt. Due to scheduling constraints within our group, the guides arranged for us to head out the same day we arrived at 2 PM. Upon arrival, Sarah was there waiting for us, handled check-in efficiently, completed paperwork, and provided our lodge key. The hunting lodge itself is a nostalgic home built in 1936 on roughly half an acre. You can feel the history the moment you walk in, reinforced by decades of photos displayed throughout the house. The lodge includes everything needed for a comfortable stay: a full kitchen stocked with cookware, plates, silverware, and essentials; a dining room; living room; four bedrooms; and 1 1/2 bathrooms. The bedrooms comfortably accommodate up to eight hunters. Outside, there's a fire pit, horseshoe pit, and seating area to unwind after a day in the field. Off to the side of the property sits an old-school saloon, butcher area, and walk-in meat locker, all adding to the unique experience. Now for the best part: our guides, Luke and his son Josh. From the start, both were friendly, professional, and welcoming. The ranch we hunted was about 25 minutes from the lodge. I was paired with Luke in his UTV, and his experience was immediately obvious. Having guided with Schmidt for 32 years, his skill and knowledge are impressive. His ability to spot hogs without binoculars or spotting equipment was unbelievable. We encountered our first group of hogs around 4 PM, and two members of our party successfully harvested by 4:20 PM. Luke quickly field dressed the hogs, and we were back hunting in no time. Later that day, Luke located another group, allowing our third hunter to harvest before the end of day one. The following morning, Luke and Josh were ready to go by 5 AM sharp. Not long into the hunt, Luke spotted a sizable boar, and our fourth hunter successfully harvested him just after 8 AM. After returning to the lodge, Luke and Josh immediately got to work skinning and preparing the hogs for processing. Their efficiency and expertise were impressive. By 11 AM, everything was packed on ice and our group was ready to head home. Our experience with Schmidt Guide Service was outstanding from start to finish. Luke and Josh are tremendous assets to the operation and truly made the trip memorable for our group. If you're considering a guided pig hunt in California, I would absolutely book with them again.

Terrible experience going to this campground. I booked this site a month in advance. I ended up…read morechanging my camp site to a site deeper into the loop which I was charged additionally for. Upon arriving (after 5 hours and 300 miles of travel) I discover my campground is closed off. All surrounding campgrounds are either closed off due to "hazardous tree" or "reserved". So I was at a loss, no reception, no one there, no note left behind for my reservation that is unavailable. So I set up shop at site 14 and hope whoever shows up will share the campsite. Now I'm setting up my tent and I'm literally being swarmed by black gnats. Idk what they are because my citronella candle and dousing of mosquito spray is not working, not at all. After 3 hours of sitting like a duck and not seeing a single other person arrive to this campsite, I figured I couldn't stay alone in this abandoned campground. Over 22 sites here and only myself and a couple in site 1 which is upfront of the entrance were there. However their site shows most of the sites reserved. Unsure why people would choose to visit this campground besides its remoteness. Personally I can't say I recommend this place especially if you're traveling from some ways away. This is why I wrote Thai review. Unfortunately I couldn't in their website and I did not want someone else to have the experience I had.

I absolutely love Ponderosa Campground. There are no running water facilities, meaning no showers…read moreand just pit toilets. We got any water we needed that we did not carry with us from the spigots placed throughout the campground. One of my friends and I came here as part of a California Road Trip in mid-July 2018 (we were living in East Bay at the time - both of us in Albany) and this was our last campground before returning to the Bay Area. We had found most campgrounds were full up, but managed to find Ponderosa Campground with open spots online before making our way here by car. The drive in from the Southeast was through heathland with areas that had experienced burns/fires in the not too distant past. We also drove through Fort Hunter-Liggett, which we did not learn until driving through was in active use by the military. I even had to pull my tiny 2010 Toyota Corolla off to the side of the road to let the military vehicles, including tanks, drive past going the other direction. Careful to not pull off too far or get out of one's car and walk around if you need to pass through there, there were explosives in the ground... literally... We returned to the Fort area briefly after checking in to our campsite to contact our family/friends and let them know we were safe. At the campground itself we did not have cell phone reception and there were zero campground lights. Perfect for if you want to watch the stars at night. Just be careful and don't spook those mountain lions (also called cougars or pumas) into following you when you go to use the pit toilets at night. I found them to be quite friendly if treated kindly and not provoked. The campsite we used had a picnic table, parking space, and a fire pit which we couldn't use due to fire danger. Our site was flat, which was perfect for setting up the tent and playing a board game (Trivial Pursuit) by lantern light at night. The trees were tall and magical, as was the heathland outside of the campground on our drive in. Other campers were respectful and not too noisy, we tried to be quiet as well. All around a great stay I would say.

Was there this past weekend. Thanks to guides: Preston, Joe, and Mathew. It is the second time I…read morehave hunted with Joe and we had a great time. No one works harder at getting you a shot than these boys. Would recommend HW for anyone who wants to get away, stay in a cabin in the woods, and hunt lots of great country.

Awesome place! This place is a blast. Whether you are a beginner or an expert Hunter. This mountain…read moreterrain, ranch is beautiful. I would recommend this to New Hunters because it is semi guided in a point you in the right direction. And experienced Hunter's because they will let you go on your own and do your thing. Really a great time here.

A beautiful CA national park. We did 2 short hikes in one day…read more The pinnacle rocks and the caves are SO cool! Parking was really easy for the trails we wanted to access. National Park pass is required.

On our road trip up north, we wanted to stop into Pinnacles National Park in hopes of spotting the…read moreCalifornia condors (no luck). On our way in, we passed Chalone Vineyard (random!), which was closed, but looks like a fun place for wine tasting after a day of hiking. We entered the park's West entrance and be warned that the drive up there frequently merges the 2 lane road into one lane. Luckily there weren't very many cars coming and going so we didn't have any problems. We arrived to the visitors center and did the wheelchair accessible hike on Prewett Point Trail. It's not super long but gave us a good view of the pinnacles. We then made our way to the end of the road to try the North Wilderness Trail. My wheelchair bound son only made it so far until the little bridge by the big rocks, so he turned around, while my middle son and I continued on to explore more of the trail and to look for caves. Would love to see the park from the east entrance next time for a different perspective of the park!

I did an overnight motorcycle ride with a buddy, from the SF Bay Area to Prewitt Ridge and WOW! The…read moreride south along Hwy 1 heading there is spectacular, but the views from the ridge are next level! The 5+ miles of silty, rough dirt road heading up to the ridge was a little challenging on street bikes, but we managed just fine. The views from the ridge are breathtaking in every direction, and it was very pleasant to see very little trash laying about. Clearly, this is a campground area that is mainly used by seasoned, "Pack Your Trash" campers, which is awesome. Hope it stays that way. We went in mid Fall during a very brief heat wave, and the small flies were annoying, but they don't bite. We just covered our faces with buffs and slept under netting. That was literally the only drawback. PROS: Awesome Panoramic Views FREE to camp! Many flat camping areas to choose from No Trash lying around Weather is usually comfortable Many trees to find shade under CONS: Some seasons have annoying, small flies. They don't bite though TIPS: If you're heading there from the North and you need provisions, stop at the Big Sur Lodge Store. They have EVERYTHING you may need Dirt road leading up to the ridge is not maintained (much) and may be tough to navigate for novice drivers. If muddy, may need 4WD and off road tires Bring a mosquito net No water access, so you have to bring your own No bathrooms - Bury your #2! *No open campfires allowed during the warm months (but you won't need it for warmth anyway) Jet boils and contained flame are OK PACK YOUR TRASH!

Wow, wow wow! Amazing spot! We went there during 4th of…read moreJuly this year and I have to say, it was packed! I am glad that we arrived early and found a spot. It is an amazing spot to watch the sunset, however, it is tough to get up there. Once off the paved road its another 20-30 min to get to where all those pictures are taken Whoever said 15 min was either not in a Prius (unlike us) or was speeding quite fast. It's a one-way road with a lot of potholes and curves where you can not see any other car coming around the corner which makes it very hard to drive safely. When we first got there, there were not too many people there but once we got out of the car, bees were flying around, bugging us quite a bit so we went back to find a better spot away from the bees and in the shade. Unfortunately, there is no shade on the top of the ridge. Throughout the mid afternoon we decided to go back to the bees since the other spot was covered in gnats which were 5x more annoying than the bees were. We brought mosquito repellant and a candle, but nothing worked :/ In the end, I was glad we went back to the highest spot right by the cliff/ridge. Directions: 1. Its hard to see but take a sharp right (coming from Los Angeles) onto Nacimiento-Fergusson Road ( over a rain gutter) and just continue going up the hill for about 20-30 min depending on speed and other people coming down the hill. 2. Once you see a sign and a road going downhill TURN RIGHT! We almost missed it since you don't pay attention to your right. It states "Prewitt ridge road" 5. Take it and be cautious of other cars coming your way! I recommend NOT to drive it at night, but it's up to you. 3. There is a little intersection where you have to take a sharp right to get where you want to get, there is no sign, but you can see that the road splits. 4. From there on, you will see multiple spots where you can camp if you want to. Continue going straight and then up to the main spot. You made it. We have seen any variety of cars going up. We were in a Prius and made it :) Tips: There are no bathrooms but plenty of bushes where you can go. There are firepits but I am not sure if they are allowed. You need a permit for a portable stove ( according to signs along the way). Bring games, guitars, food, beer etc to keep you entertained up there. But make sure to take back home what you bring up and don't leave anything up there. Anyways, enjoy!

I had an amazing first hunt with my buddy, and Clay had us on the boars in a short while. after…read moredriving us over and through the golden Central coast hills in his awesome 4x4 side by side!! I took my first shot ever through a small break of brush up hill at 245 yards when a herd of running boar were passing on the trail and dropped it in the spot. We raced up and found my quarry and I quickly dispatched him. Clay took care of the meat in his refrigerator and had it ready for me to deliver to my butcher the next morning!!! Clay showed us great spot to set camp under a line of White oaks and had time to set up in my trailer and being able to shoot at range and do a final sight in from camp is fantastic! can't wait to go again and maybe get the turkey hog combo. I highly recomend Clay's guide service.

The minute we got to the ranch on Friday, both our guides were waiting for us. We split into two…read moregroups and our guide (Jim) took us up into the hills. Within an hour, all four of us had our pigs. Once the pigs were gutted and stripped, we went over for dinner with Jeremy and his family. Fantastic food for all, cooked by Jeremy and his family. Then into the bar for drinks and pool. A fantastic experience with everybody. The cabin was clean and well kept, everything you needed. Jim took us to ponchos ranch Saturday morning and we got to see some fantastic views and wildlife. I strongly suggest you try this place. Great people, great food and Fantastic hunting. We will without doubt be going back to the Hogs Wild ranch. Thank you all for an amazing experience. Andy H

Great time here as always. This is a great place to hunt and…read morehas the most beautiful landscape. We have always had a blast and been successful hunting here every time with several members of the group. I would try it for sure. If your new to hunting you will appreciate the guides and all of thier advice.