Heat

Calling all javi experts! OK guys, my quest for my first javelina continues and I need help finding them. What kind of country/habitat am I looking for? What is an indicator of good javelina habitat? I know lots of prickly pear is a good sign (or at least that's what I heard). How about rocks? Is that a good or bad thing? How do other cactus or succulents fit in to their diet? Or should I be looking for grass and new forbes? How do you recommend looking for good sign? Should I be letting my glassing do the walking or do I need to hit the boot leather in some washes? I know glass, glass, glass! But what if all the hills in the area look the same, and they might only be using one...which one do I pick to glass at primetime? Should I be looking high, low, or halfway on the hill? What if I'm not glassing a hill with good sign? How should I determine where to glass? I have gotten into javelina a few times and made a few bad shots and even hit one I couldn't recover once (still hating myself for that), but I still haven't put my tag on one. I'll be honest, most of the times I found them was either luck or I heard them first. Only once or twice I saw them by just glassing. I'm tempted to go back to the area where I killed my deer cause I saw some sign, but nothing super fresh. A few days after I got my deer, my buddy who stuck around the area found 3 javelina, one boar, one sow, and one red and killed the boar. Don't think that is all that encouraging to go back to. I'll be out in 33/37B again this coming weekend trying again. I am open to any suggestions or assistance! Nick

Have we forgotten about the ban on trapping on public land or do you guys think that factor is inconsequential? In my neck of the woods there has been an increase in lions for sure (Kofa NWR). Nick

Try poking around on Bowsite.com. There was a thread on there recently where a guy got one with a bow and another guy chimed in. That might have been in Texas though. Either way you might be able to find some pointers. All I know is that that could be one of the toughest if not the toughest hunt in North America, especially if you are going to do it with your bow. Good Luck, Nick

What a great ram! Thanks for sharing your pictures and your story with us. Sounds like you guys worked your butts off and all that hard work paid off bigtime. Congratulations to you and your crew! What an excellent reward! I'm just hoping I get to live long enough and be lucky enough to draw that second coveted sheep tag here in our wonderful State of Arizona. Great Job! Nick

More thoughts: Nobody has brought up the real reason why we don't accomplish as much for wildlife as many of us would like. AZSFW might want to make you believe its because there is not enough money. I submit that it has more to do with the beaurocratic red tape that our governments have strapped us with. Maybe someone from ADBSS or AES can correct me, but I don't see the checkbook of these clubs being an issue. Heck our dinky liitle club does at least two or three catchments a year and we dont get any of the tag money like the critter groups do. I believe the bottleneck lies with Game and Fish and with the Federal government when the proposed projects lie on Public land or FS land. The nightmare of doing EAs, drainage studies, ESA compliance and all the rest is what is really holding things up. I submit that even if this giant cash cow came to fruition and they really wanted to spend the money where it counts, there is still only do much you can do and so much you can spend. These are just my thoughts and I don't have the financial records of these clubs to see what they spent on projects. I have heard unsubstantiated rumors that at times ADBSS was sitting with about 3/4 of a million bucks in their checkbook. That can build a LOT of catchments my friends. Again my point is money ain't the issue, so I don't see the need for a bill like this, even if I agreed with its premise, which I obviously don't.

Thanks for all the pointers! Amanda, I appreciate your information. That is good stuff. I also saw some of your Javelina Heaven pics on the javelinahunter site. Very Cool! I was hoping to hear from some of the guys that posted on the "Pig Logic" thread from last month. There were some very informative posts in that thread. Come on Coach, TJ, Coosefan, Bill Q. and anyone else that can shed some light! It's looking like luck and extensive knowledge of an area have a lot to do with finding javelina. Unfortunately I didn't spend near enough time scouting to really learn an area I want to hunt. Probably because the closest good hunting for javelina is 3+ hours of driving from Yuma. It's quite tough to get away between Thanksgiving and Christmas for me nowadays. There are some in the Gila River bottom near Yuma, but they are almost impossible to kill with a bow. During 95% of legal shooting light they are holed up in the thick salt cedar/arrowweed jungle in the river bottom. I tried hunting them last year with little success. I found fresh tracks of them going into and out of the thickets, and even heard them grunting and woofing in there, but no sight of hide nor hair. Because of that experience I decided to get a tag where numbers and density seem to be near the highest in the state (33/37B), and things are quite a bit more open. Nick

Another thing I have to add is that I have a lot of respect for BPJ to stand in here and take the shots he's been taking. He could made things a lot easier for himself by just remaining silent. He chose to defend something that he believes in, and that in itself is an admirable trait. I do have to pick on a couple of points he made though. AZSFW is not the only Club that knows how to work with the Legislature. I think they took a cue from some other orgs. AZSFW has not accomplished way more than other clubs. Seriously, there is no way AZSFW has accomplished as much for wildlife as the ADBSS has. I also know that in the YVRGC's 75 year history, we've done our fair share. AZSFW is not the only show in town. If you examine the Commission's history we've had very strong representation. That is not by accident. Nick

This I can tell you, when the deal was first conceived, people were "hand picked" so to speak. How those names were arrived at, I have no idea, but I think it had to do with prominent players at the time. I know I was not their first choice. Some of you may know of Jonny Fugate. He was originally picked but asked me to serve in his place as he had too much going at the time and I believe he was on the outs on Wildlife stuff. Our Club approved that. I can also tell you that occasionally someone would resign and another name would come up. How those names were arrived at, I don't know that either but as a Board we voted those folks in. In theory those names were supposed to come from County Affiliates. Let me see if I can dig up a version of the bylaws. Nick

I stand by my statement. Here's what you wrote. "I see from their site that you have to donate $1000/year to even be eligible to be a Board member "For an individual who wants to make a special commitment to the AZSFW Mission and who may be eligible to serve on the Board of Directors."" Key word here is "individual". Myself and most other people on this site can read and understand English. Are you now trying to say that you weren't implying that me, and every other guy on the Board did not shell out $1000 to be on their board? Come on Bruce! Where in this statement does it talk about organizations? I was serving on the Board way before the Club became a member organization. I payed a $50 membership fee. Our Club paid approximately the same amount for each member of our Club as dues for AZSFW, but was not right away. I believe it was at least a couple of years before our Club paid. Again, careful relying on a website that was last published a year and a half ago. "Don't believe everything you see on TV!"

I think I paid a $50 membership fee per year. I never paid $1000 to be a Board Member so I consider that information bunk! This thing got set up with 6 Regular Joes and 6 of the Money guys. You can guess where I fit in. Someone from our Club was asked to serve and I volunteered. AZSFW has done a lot of good things, however I have real problems with the whole premise of this bill. Nick

Very nice deer, story and pics! Thanks for sharing! Nick

Fantastic buck! Way to go! Nick

Roger that!

Great job! Any deer with a bow is a real trophy! Congratulations! Nick

That's what I was afraid of. After getting a sheep and a goat last year, plus an archery deer this year already I think my luck should be about worn out!

Silly question...How do I find a good bedding area? What am I looking for?

Congratulations! Great story and awesome photos! Nick

Way to go Cliff! Very cool story there. Nick

Congratulations on your javi TJ! Your stories and your passion for the animal are a true inspiration. Nick

Way to go! Still trying for my first javi. Great job! Nick

Right on! Can't be easy with a longbow! Nick

I am not a board member of the AZSFW, but I will be requesting that information at next Tuesday's meeting. The financial records would probably surprise even you Lance...That group has never taken a dime from sportsmen for all the work they have done in 5 years. they are NOT paid, they were required to pay enormous sums of money to get the AZSFW off the ground. I know that other than Capitol Consulting (our lobbyist)no one else takes any money. The board member names will be addressed shortly, but most were correct, except for Nick. Sorry, gotta run to my dance lessons... What about Trent? I could have sworn he resigned as well and moved to another state?

Great job! I will always remember my first archery kill! Anything with a bow is a trophy. Way to get it done! Nick

My name was listed on this thread. I WAS on the AZSFW Board for a number of years. AZSFW has been a big part of a lot of good things for wildlife. Was on the Yuma Valley Rod and Gun Club (YVRGC) Board for quite a while too. I don't serve on any Board now and haven't in well over a year. I am a Life Member of the YVRGC and a Member of the ADBSS. That's it. I totally oppose HB 2072 as written. I don't speak for anyone but myself. The only reason I am writing here on this thread, other than to state what I said in the line above, is to make absolutely clear that I don't have a thing to do with the Bill talked about here. The first I heard of this is when Steve Clark called me on Saturday (1/7) to let me know what was happening and to see what I knew anything. Sorry to hijack the thread. Nick

Keep after it! Sounds like you are doing the right things, just circumstances are getting in the way. You keep having opportunities like that, and something good is bound to happen. The balance of patience and agression is a fine one. Good Luck and let us know how the rest of your season goes! Nick