Jackson does it again!

[Gr8 White Jr]

I finally got around to typing up the story about Jackson's jr javelina hunt.

 

 

 

Ever since Jackson's successful fall hunt where he took a 90 inch coues and a huge javelina boar on the same hunt, we had been very much looking forward to Jackson's spring Jr javelina hunt. The first morning of the hunt Angie, Jackson and I met up with two of my good friends and hunting partners, Regan and Ron. They came out to hunt with us for the morning in hopes of getting to see Jackson put a javelina on the ground. After packs were loaded with our gear and food for the day all five of us hiked up to my favorite javelina glassing spot. Within 15 minutes of sitting down to glass I found a herd of javelina feeding on a far ridge about ¾ of a mile away. We gathered our gear and headed off to cut the distance between us and the herd. There was a huge canyon between us and the herd so we were limited to how close we could get to the herd which was 350 yards, too far for Jackson to shoot. We sat and watched the herd for a while waiting to see what they were going to do. From years of hunting this same herd I knew they were going to do one of two things, either drop down into the canyon to drink from the creek below or feed up over the top of the ridge. I was hoping they would drop down into the canyon for a drink because that would give us the opportunity for a shot as they got closer but just as we thought they would, they ended up topping over the ridge. This was a bad thing because in all the years of hunting this herd, anytime they have topped over the ridge the disappeared never to be relocated again. It was almost noon so Regan had to leave being that he had prior commitments back in town that evening. At this point I wasn’t sure what to do being that I have never been successful in this exact situation in the past. We decided that Ron would stay put in case the herd decided to come back and Angie, Jackson and I would drop down into the canyon and circle around the ridge and hike up to another high point that would give us a view of where the herd had gone. An hour and a half later we were up on the next point trying to relocate the herd. I was able to glass up a single javelina but the herd was nowhere to be found. It was late in the day and were a few hours from the truck so we decided to start making our way out.

 

The next morning it was just Angie, Jackson and I. We were back at my favorite glassing spot hoping to find the herd from the day before. After about 3 hours of glassing with no luck I was getting a little discouraged until Angie anounced that she had glassed up a herd of javelina. They were a bout a ¾ of a mile away and we watched them move into a saddle and bed down. We discussed a game plan and decided that Angie would stay at our glassing point and keep an eye on the herd while Jackson and I went for the stalk. Jackson and I gathered our gear and set out to close the distance to the bedded herd of javelina. When we got about half way there we came up on a father his daughter that were glassing across the canyon. I asked them if they had seen the javelina and they said no. I explain to them that we had a herd bedded and that Angie was keeping and eye on them. I invited them to go along with us on the stalk and they gladly accepted the offer so the four of us crossed the canyon slowly and worked our way up a hill on the opposite side. I stayed in contact with Angie through text messages the entire time just to make sure the herd was still bedded. We set up under a juniper about 150 yards above the saddle the pigs were bedded in. The plan was to just wait them out until they stood up.

 

As we were sitting there, Jackson set up behind my rifle on the claw and the little girl with here .243 on a set of shooting sticks, I had a little talk with Jackson about who should shoot first. The little girl had never killed anything before and since Jackson had killed a javelina and a coues buck last November I asked Jackson what he thought was fair. With no influence from me what so ever, Jackson said that even though we had found the pigs he thought that the little girl should take the first shot. His exact words were “its the right thing to do and besides, I will still get a pig”. I was so proud of him! I told the father of the little girl that we wanted her to take the first shot and at first he strongly declined but after Jackson and I insisted they gladly accepted.

 

We sat there for about a half hour waiting for the pigs to stand up from there beds when suddenly several of the pigs jumped up and started running away from us. They only ran about 20 yards or so and then held up in some trees. They were obviously alert and a couple of them were walking around in the brush. The next few minutes were very tense as the father of the little girl tried over and over again to get her on a pig while Jackson waited patiently the entire time with his cross hairs locked on several other pigs. After several failed attempts the father of the little girl insisted that Jackson just take a shot if had it. We told him no and that we would wait until the little girl shot first. I think this was adding more pressure to the two of them knowing that we were ready and waiting on them. We could still see four or five pigs moving around in the brush and they acted like they were going to bust out of there any second. I was getting really nervous and started to think that neither of the kids were going to get a shot before the pigs took off out of there. The father of the little girl continued desperately to get her on a pig but it was just too hard for her to find one in the scope and get settled in. After several more failed attempts the father of the little girl again insisted that Jackson just shoot before the pigs took off. Thinking that this opportunity was about to be blown, I asked Jackson if he had a pig in his scope. He said yes so I told him to take the shot when he felt comfortable. BOOM! Miss! Jackson had shot high. Now all the pigs were scattering in all directions. One pig had stopped and was standing frozen under a big juniper. I told the father and the little girl to get on the pig under the juniper. I hear her say “got him” and then her father say “shoot him”, BOOM! I see her pig drop like a sack of potatoes right in its tracks. WOOOHOOO!!! Pig Down! I immediately was back to helping Jackson get back on another pig. After the little girl shot it spooked some of the pigs toward us. There were five pigs moving single file and I told Jackson that if one stops to shoot. As soon as I said that the last pig in line stopped. “Drop him!” BOOM! I see the pig start spinning like a dog chasing his tail. He spun and spun, the whole time moving down hill taking out every bush and cactus in it path. The pig disappeared into a thicket of brush and we never saw it come out the other side. I really thought it was good as dead and that it died down in the thicket.

 

We all were very excited and went down to recover the pigs. We worked our way down to the saddle and immediately found the little girl's pig right where she had shot it. I was so happy and so glad to have been there to experience her first big game animal kill with her and her father. It was a great moment with a lot of smiles. As the little girl and her father took care of her pig Jackson and I went down the hill to recover his pig. When we got to where the pig was when Jackson had shot all I found was a sliver of meat about 1/8 of an inch thick and an inch long. Not far from there I found a pin drop of blood. We followed the tracks down into the creek below where we met up with Angie. Angie and I continued tracking the pig for a quarter mile or so over the next four hours until the track went up hill and disappeared in the higher rocky ground. In all this time and distance I only found two more pin drops of blood so I was confident that the hit was just a graze and not a fatal wound. Jackson was pretty upset about wounding an animal. I had to explain to him that unfortunately it happens sometimes but the important thing is that we exhausted our efforts to recover the animal. A hard lesson to learn for a 10 year old.

 

It was getting late and we had a long hike out so we started our way back to the truck. We stopped several times to glass in the direction that we thought the wounded pig went but we were unsuccessful in finding him. We made it back to the truck just before dark and headed home physically and emotionally exhausted.

 

The next morning we were back at our glassing point at first light. After about ten minutes of glassing I found two pigs feeding on a hill side and in perfect position for us to make a stalk. I wasted no time at all and told Angie and Jackson that we need to get moving and to gather their gear. In a matter of minutes we were on our way to cut the distance between us and the feeding javelina. As we got closer I could see that there were more than just the two pigs that I had originally spotted, there was a small herd of about eight in total. They were feeding on the side of a cut coming off of a big canyon. I knew if we could get to the opposite side of the cut then we would have about a 150 shot. Before we dropped down into the big canyon I made mental notes of which finger we needed to climb up once we got down into the bottom. We headed down into the steep canyon and walked the bottom for a few hundred yards until we reached the finger that I thought we needed to climb up. After sneaking up the finger I stopped and started glasing trying to locate the herd. I looked all over where I thought the herd would be and for the life of me I could not find them. I started to second guess myself thinking that we went up the wrong finger. I dropped my pack and told Angie and Jackson to stay there while I ran back up the opposite side of the canyon to where we had come from. I knew once I got up there I would be able to see where the herd was so off I went. After getting up there I looked back across the canyon and could see the pigs still feeding but about 100 yards higher up the finger that I thought. The herd was less than 200 yards from where Angie and Jackson were.

 

I ran all the way back to Angie and Jackson and immediately got Jackson set up behind the rifle. I pointed the pigs out and we waited for one to clear for a shot. One pig in particular stood out from the rest as being very big so I had Jackson follow that one in the scope until it stopped and turned broadside. I knew this was our chance so I told jackson to “drop him”. BOOM! The shot went high right over the pig's back. I immediately reached over and chambered another round in the rifle. At first the pigs were heading away and were about to top over the ridge but they then turned and started to head back toward us. I could tell that the pigs were confused and didn't know where the shot had come from. The big pig that Jackson had missed was now walking down the finger in our direction. While Jackson was trying to find it in the scope I noticed that he was really stretching to see through the scope so I decided that we would move to get him more comfortable for the shot. We moved about 10 yards forward and got set up for the shot again. I asked Jackson if he was comfortable, if he felt better about shooting now. He replied, “way better!” The big pig was now at 139 yards and standing perfectly broadside under a juniper. Jackson said he had him in the scope so again I told him to drop him. BOOM! The pig dropped instantly at the shot. WOOOHOOO!!!! Pig Down! Angie was so happy to see her bow get something on the ground since she missed out on all his success last fall. We took a few pics right there from where the shot was made from before we gathered out gear and headed over to retrieve Jackson's javelina.

 

As I walked up to Jackson's pig I knew it was a beast. I have ground checked quite a few javelina over the years and this was definitely one of the biggest I have seen. He was definitely the dominant boar in that herd. We took pictures before dressing the big javelina and then started the hike out back to the truck. There were a lot of smiles on our faces on the hike out. Another successful hunt to add to the memory bank.

 

Jackson is off to a great start! He turned 10 at the end of September so after only four months into his hunting career he already has two big boar javelina and a 90 inch coues under his belt. I can't wait see what kind of great experiences next year brings!

 

Thanks to Ron and Regan for coming out with us on openning day! I wish you guys could have stayed longer and been there when it all finally came together. Thanks to everybody who stuck with me on another one of my LONG stories and as always a HUGE thanks to Amands for such a great site where we can share our stories and experiences with each other!

 

 

-Tracy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Angie and Jackson.

 

 

 

 

Jackson and I.

 

 

 

 

Jackson making the shot.

 

 

 

 

Over the shoulder view of the shot. The pigs were where the red arrow is.

 

 

 

 

Jackson with his trophy.

 

 

 

 

Angie and Jackson with his trophy.

 

 

 

 

The three of us. Notice we're wearing our lucky CWT shirts.

 

 

 

 

Jackson showing off his CWT shirt.

 

[Chef]

You guys ROCK!!!!

Great pics and Congratulations again Jackson!

[gotcoues]

About time!

 

Woo Hoo Jackson! Nice job buddy

 

Love the pictures you guys, great job on everything!

[Couzer]

Big congrats!

[Jimmyc]

Tracy, what a story! What a hunt! Great pics too and congrats to ur young man.

[Kaffer62]

Congrats Jackson!!! Quite the start indeed!! Hopefully you will continue to drop the hammer....Good Job!

[bonecollector]

Great story of a great hunt. That is very awesome of you guys helping the little girl get her first animal. Congrats to Jackson.

[trophyhnter]

Great writeup and a huge congrats to the younger hunter on his pig and giving the other hunter first chance. He was rewarded for his consideration!Seven years and ten months and counting for me and my first son to enjoy his first hunt! I can wait because there will be a lot of good stuff before then but still,I cann't wait!

[ibowhuntaz]

As usual great story Tracy. Wish I could have been there the 2nd day and seen Jackson do his thing. That is a monster pig congrats to the young hunter, may there be many more.

 

 

Ron