I heard about Amanda Moors, and this hunt from a fellow member at an Arizona Predator Caller meeting. We talked about my experience which was none, and she recommended I attend. I went home that night and signed up. Over the months I prepared myself with the intention of using a handgun. I practiced shooting 40-50 yards and felt confident. My interest in hunting started with my boyfriend who hunts several animals and has experience. One of the animals he hasn't got is a Javelina. He was excited for me to participate in the camp. He also knew that if this went well it might really spark my interest so I would continue hunting, and it would be something we could do together.
We packed up and headed to Arivaca on Valentine's day. We celebrated by eating a sub sandwich on our way. We arrived around 9 pm to a crowd of people around a fire. We checked in with Amanda and were offered dinner. We passed on dinner and headed out to set-up camp. We had an early morning, and a long day ahead of us. We woke up at 6 am on Friday and headed to camp to eat breakfast. At breakfast is where I met my first mentor Michelle. We chatted a bit and came up with a game plan. We jumped in the truck and headed to unit 36A. We drove into some hills stopping and glassing along the way. We didn't see any Javelina, but we saw a lot of deer. We proceeded to drive further in got out hiked around. We still didn't see any Javelina. By this time it was lunch so we drove back to camp to eat and set-up a new game plan. We weren't in camp five minutes and here comes Bridget Kelley with the first pig. My adrenaline started pumping. I wanted a pig! I was so happy and proud of Bridget. She got a good one. Michelle decided to talk to Jerry and Mark who were Bridget's mentors to see where they got it. We were asked to go back out with them in the afternoon. We headed out and ended up in a canyon with Mark. Mark offered me his 44 handgun to use and I said “oh yeah”! It was awesome and had a red dot. I hadn't seen a handgun like this before. I said I'm getting me a pig with this gun. We glassed for awhile before Mark found some pigs. We saw where they were and took off hiking. We followed them for awhile never getting as close as I needed to shoot with a handgun before we pushed them over the mountain. By this time it was late so we headed back to camp empty handed. We got back to camp and I watched the other pigs come in and the only thing going through my head was I want one.
Woke up early Saturday morning and I was paired up with Tracy and Angie to head out to a different area. I was pumped and excited. Tracey, Angie, Michelle, Chris and myself all headed out. Angie and I both had tags. She said since you have never got one when we find pigs your up first. I was very thankful for her kindness. We got to our destination and started hiking to glass. We hiked and glassed for awhile. Along the way chatting and getting to know each other. We found out that Tracy is known as the "Javelina Whisperer". When I heard this I was even more excited and knew it was my day. Tracy found pigs around 2:00 pm. He gave us the game plan and it was decided I would use his muzzleloader. He would take me up first and then once I got a pig he would take Angie. We started the stalking process. I never shot a muzzleloader or held one and had to use it very soon. We started up the mountain and Tracy briefed me in many procedures which helped a lot especially being in an unknown situation. As we were walking Tracy spotted the Javelina 30 yards away and we stopped immediately. He handed me the gun. The Javelina stopped when he woofed. It started to move again behind a bush. I repositioned the gun. The Javelina came out and he woofed again. I had the pig in my cross hairs. He started running and I shot! Boom it sounded like a cannon. Pig kept running and I told Tracy I got him. He said “I know you did”, and down it went. We waited a few minutes and then danced and hi-fived. We went over and it was dead. I shot a Javelina at 30 yards with a 50 cal muzzleloader. My adrenaline was pumping and I couldn't control my excitement. Our journey wasn't over. By the time we gutted the pig it was dark, and we had along way to get back to our vehicles but we did it. I earned this pig for sure.
This weekend was an experience I will never forget. I met a lot of people I will be friends with for along time. A special thank you to Tracy, Angie & Michelle. You made my experience once in a lifetime and I couldn't have asked for better mentors.
Thank you to Amanda for putting together an awesome camp. I look forward to next year! This definitely sparked my interest and I will continue to hunt. Next on my list Coues Whitetail.
Kori Moseley
First time hunter
