| WESTERN EXPEDITION ADVENTURE | GEAR | WEAPONRY |
Arizona Javelina Hunt
It is the first weekend in February and I’m forgoing the final few days of Arizona’s quail season in order to hunt the fragrant
little javelina. On a last minute whim my brother and I had requested leftover permits and now we are headed down to the
southern part of the state where we will connect with my friend Keith Hubbard. Keith is the owner of Arizona Hunting
Adventures and has guided me on numerous successful hunts in the past.
If you are not familiar with javelina they are a very curious creature. Javelina look like a very hairy small pig but are really part
of the obscure peccary family of animals. In Arizona the “collard peccary”, aka javelina, is classified as big-game although a
mature boar only tips the scales at a dainty 50 - 60 pounds. A large boar will also only stand 20 inches at the shoulder. A
social animal, javelina tend to live in herds of 10 or fewer animals and generally have a small home range of around 4 square
miles. They are also interesting because their species is expanding north into the western deserts of the United States. As a
game animal they are not particularly difficult to hunt due to relatively poor vision. But they do have a keen sense of smell
and pretty good hearing so some skill is required. And they can be difficult to find. Common tactics for locating them include
sitting for hours behind high powered binoculars to then pursue spot and stalk opportunities or still hunting through low
brushy areas with the hopes of running into one.
Keith is a fan of using big optics so on this hunt we are perched behind 15X binocular scouring the hillsides for our furry little
friends. I’m actually quite pleased by this decision since my busy work schedule has not allowed for much gym time. And
Keith, who is also an amateur mountain bike racer, has taken “the goat” as his nickname on this trip because of his superior
lung capacity and ability to leap small mountains in a single bound. The binocular weigh quite a bit and the most effective
glassing is done with the use of a tripod and a smooth head for panning in a grid pattern. You may be thinking that this
method must be really boring. And it is sometimes. But the only other alternative in this wide open country is to wear out your
boot leather. And we are in luck as the Coues deer native to this area are still in rut and we are seeing a lot of animals. Even
though we don’t have Coues tags they are still exciting to watch. Known as the “grey ghost” a Coues deer can simply up and
disappear into nothingness right before your eyes. And we are doubly lucky because we are seeing bucks and I love antler of
all shapes and sizes. One buck stands out with a body noticeably larger than the others. He has a uniform typical 4x4 rack
reaching far beyond his ears. I hope to find him another day when there is a tag in my pocket.
But let me get back to javelina. We have been seeing a few animals and watched a nearby hunter put an unsuccessful stalk
on a very portly lone boar. He must have been living pretty well because through our binoculars we could see his fat sides
jiggle as he ran. A little later we glass up a different boar grazing on a hillside with another smaller javelina. We watch them
for a bit before deciding on a route to put on a stalk. And it goes nearly perfect as we slowly creep up behind a large rock
outcropping that we have been using for cover. The pair is only about 70 yards out. My brother drew rights to the first shot
and I watch as he gets the rifle set up. The javelina are not much higher than the tall grass and he has to wait for the larger
animal to walk into a small clearing before touching off a shot. But no shot comes. I’m watching from a little lower down the
hill and can’t really see what is happening but it is obvious that something is not right. After a few more minutes the javelina
seem to sense that something is not right and trot over the top of the hill. My brother’s rifle had some kind of mechanical
problem and wouldn’t fire. Keith wants us to get up on the hill top to see if we can pick up the javelina again and we work to
get the mechanical problem ironed out. Although we are very high in elevation now, and can see for miles from our vantage
point, the javelina don’t reappear until several hours later. Sadly they are far out of reach by that time. We have literally
baked in the sun for several days now. My brother and I joke and competitively compare the severity of our sunburns. As
nightfall approaches we opt to begin our hike out early since we have worked ourselves several miles from where the truck is
parked. Since we are headed out early our hike is pretty easy. We stop frequently and glass with our lower powered
binoculars to see if there are any javelina ahead. We chuckle a bit at a US Immigration helicopter that has been hovering
over our pick-up for several minutes. We are only a few miles from the Mexican border and the area is dense with foot trails
of job seekers and drug traffickers.
At last light Keith glasses up a herd of at least 6 – 8 javelina on a nearby hillside. With the light fading fast we decide to make
an aggressive strait line approach and try to get into them before losing shooting light. I felt really bad for my brother about
the earlier mechanical situation so he still has rights to first shot. He and Keith rush ahead while I fall back and watch things
play out. They manage to get right up on the herd as the animals are skylined on the top of a hill. But there is no shot due to
the tall grass and thorny cat’s claw bushes. I watch as my brother sets up several times for a shot only to then drop the barrel
and try to sneak up higher on the hillside. To my surprise both he and Keith quickly jerk their heads to the left. The rifle
roars and a long squeal rips through the dusk. Several unseen javelina had been working their way on a perpendicular path
towards Keith and my brother. The shot was only 30-yards and it absolutely flattened the boar on the spot. I run ahead
hoping to catch up with the rest of the herd but they are long gone. After photos we field dress and haul out the boar. Back
at camp we skin and butcher the smelly javelina before putting the meat on ice.
That night brings heavy rains and they run into the next day. Our last day of hunting is spent in rain gear and a terribly
muddy camp. But the lingering musky smell of yesterday’s game still fills camp and we four wheel our way out of the desert
back towards the paved road with no regrets.
little javelina. On a last minute whim my brother and I had requested leftover permits and now we are headed down to the
southern part of the state where we will connect with my friend Keith Hubbard. Keith is the owner of Arizona Hunting
Adventures and has guided me on numerous successful hunts in the past.
If you are not familiar with javelina they are a very curious creature. Javelina look like a very hairy small pig but are really part
of the obscure peccary family of animals. In Arizona the “collard peccary”, aka javelina, is classified as big-game although a
mature boar only tips the scales at a dainty 50 - 60 pounds. A large boar will also only stand 20 inches at the shoulder. A
social animal, javelina tend to live in herds of 10 or fewer animals and generally have a small home range of around 4 square
miles. They are also interesting because their species is expanding north into the western deserts of the United States. As a
game animal they are not particularly difficult to hunt due to relatively poor vision. But they do have a keen sense of smell
and pretty good hearing so some skill is required. And they can be difficult to find. Common tactics for locating them include
sitting for hours behind high powered binoculars to then pursue spot and stalk opportunities or still hunting through low
brushy areas with the hopes of running into one.
Keith is a fan of using big optics so on this hunt we are perched behind 15X binocular scouring the hillsides for our furry little
friends. I’m actually quite pleased by this decision since my busy work schedule has not allowed for much gym time. And
Keith, who is also an amateur mountain bike racer, has taken “the goat” as his nickname on this trip because of his superior
lung capacity and ability to leap small mountains in a single bound. The binocular weigh quite a bit and the most effective
glassing is done with the use of a tripod and a smooth head for panning in a grid pattern. You may be thinking that this
method must be really boring. And it is sometimes. But the only other alternative in this wide open country is to wear out your
boot leather. And we are in luck as the Coues deer native to this area are still in rut and we are seeing a lot of animals. Even
though we don’t have Coues tags they are still exciting to watch. Known as the “grey ghost” a Coues deer can simply up and
disappear into nothingness right before your eyes. And we are doubly lucky because we are seeing bucks and I love antler of
all shapes and sizes. One buck stands out with a body noticeably larger than the others. He has a uniform typical 4x4 rack
reaching far beyond his ears. I hope to find him another day when there is a tag in my pocket.
But let me get back to javelina. We have been seeing a few animals and watched a nearby hunter put an unsuccessful stalk
on a very portly lone boar. He must have been living pretty well because through our binoculars we could see his fat sides
jiggle as he ran. A little later we glass up a different boar grazing on a hillside with another smaller javelina. We watch them
for a bit before deciding on a route to put on a stalk. And it goes nearly perfect as we slowly creep up behind a large rock
outcropping that we have been using for cover. The pair is only about 70 yards out. My brother drew rights to the first shot
and I watch as he gets the rifle set up. The javelina are not much higher than the tall grass and he has to wait for the larger
animal to walk into a small clearing before touching off a shot. But no shot comes. I’m watching from a little lower down the
hill and can’t really see what is happening but it is obvious that something is not right. After a few more minutes the javelina
seem to sense that something is not right and trot over the top of the hill. My brother’s rifle had some kind of mechanical
problem and wouldn’t fire. Keith wants us to get up on the hill top to see if we can pick up the javelina again and we work to
get the mechanical problem ironed out. Although we are very high in elevation now, and can see for miles from our vantage
point, the javelina don’t reappear until several hours later. Sadly they are far out of reach by that time. We have literally
baked in the sun for several days now. My brother and I joke and competitively compare the severity of our sunburns. As
nightfall approaches we opt to begin our hike out early since we have worked ourselves several miles from where the truck is
parked. Since we are headed out early our hike is pretty easy. We stop frequently and glass with our lower powered
binoculars to see if there are any javelina ahead. We chuckle a bit at a US Immigration helicopter that has been hovering
over our pick-up for several minutes. We are only a few miles from the Mexican border and the area is dense with foot trails
of job seekers and drug traffickers.
At last light Keith glasses up a herd of at least 6 – 8 javelina on a nearby hillside. With the light fading fast we decide to make
an aggressive strait line approach and try to get into them before losing shooting light. I felt really bad for my brother about
the earlier mechanical situation so he still has rights to first shot. He and Keith rush ahead while I fall back and watch things
play out. They manage to get right up on the herd as the animals are skylined on the top of a hill. But there is no shot due to
the tall grass and thorny cat’s claw bushes. I watch as my brother sets up several times for a shot only to then drop the barrel
and try to sneak up higher on the hillside. To my surprise both he and Keith quickly jerk their heads to the left. The rifle
roars and a long squeal rips through the dusk. Several unseen javelina had been working their way on a perpendicular path
towards Keith and my brother. The shot was only 30-yards and it absolutely flattened the boar on the spot. I run ahead
hoping to catch up with the rest of the herd but they are long gone. After photos we field dress and haul out the boar. Back
at camp we skin and butcher the smelly javelina before putting the meat on ice.
That night brings heavy rains and they run into the next day. Our last day of hunting is spent in rain gear and a terribly
muddy camp. But the lingering musky smell of yesterday’s game still fills camp and we four wheel our way out of the desert
back towards the paved road with no regrets.
| Contact Eric Call 480-522-6150 |
