unit 33 javelina

[kidso]

Opening day of the 2013 Arizona archery javelina season started off with a nice surprise as I glassed up a nice whitetail buck that was pushing along 3 or 4 does along the top of a ridge about an hour after sunrise. I had my buddy cross a small bowl in front of us with the intent of getting behind the deer and gently herding them toward me. Well, that didn't work, as the deer just turned around and slipped over the ridgetop behind them. My buddy had seen some javelina sign on his side of the bowl, so we decided to follow the ridgtop to the back of the bowl and sneak over into the next valley to glass for javelina. About two steps later on the ridgetop....WOOF!! WOOF!! Javelina were dancing all around us. I pulled back and shot the third pig that stepped between a gap in some brush about 10 yards in front of me. I quickly called my buddy forward into my position, as none of the javelina were exiting in his direction. Unfortunately, no other pigs presented themselves to my buddy, who was on his first ever javelina hunt.

I was sure I had a good hit, but an hour and half later, with no other blood trail to follow, we headed down the backside of a steep ridge where we had last identified his wobbly tracks. All of a sudden, a javelina busted out about 20 yards beneath us and ran sideways into the brush. I figured we had jumped up the wounded pig so we gave him another 20 minutes and began heading his direction. After quietly manuvering through the desert fauna, I perched myself on top of a boulder to scan the valley beneath me and actually spotted "the lone" pig standing by some vegetation with his head tilted towards my buddy's direction, as he was still navigating through the vegetation. I yelled out for him to stop and told him that I had a broadside shot that I was about to take. At this point, the pig could care less about our vocal conversation and I clicked my rangfinder which immediately responded back with a distance of 33.8 yards. I swiftly drew back my bow, placed my 30 yard pin on the pig's chest, held my breath for what seemed to be an eternity, and surgicaly squeezed my release. WHACK!! It was a good hit. The javelina raced off, veering directly towards my youth companion, who slung an arrow at it from about 5 yards, which just sailed over its back.

The pig only went another 20 yards and vanished near a gigantic boulder surrounded by thick brush. After giving a full 20 minutes before pursuing our wounded quarry, we methodically trailed him directly into a hidden cave that ran a full 15 foot distance underneath the great natural monolith. Fighting back the terror of snakes, spiders, and scorpions, I wriggled my body into the claustrophobic crawl space and pulled the expired javelina out by his mouth. A quick examination revealed that this was not the original wounded pig that we initially had been trailing, but a new javelina altogether. In light of this finding, as I was physically tagging my beloved crown roast, I was also mentally tagging the "lost pig" with my second javelina tag that was going to be used in the same unit during the upcoming HAM hunt. What an awesome adventure!

[sniper]

Awesome!

[Pine Donkey]

Nice start to the new year, congratulations.

[firstcoueswas80]

Looks like a good size pig.

 

This is killing me! I have to wait until this weekend!

[loco4coues]

nice! thanks for sharing

[bonecollector]

Looks like a big pig, congrats. I dont like going into caves myself.

[kidso]

Looks like a big pig, congrats. I dont like going into caves myself.

I thought for sure I was going to find a den of rattlesnakes in that cave, but fortunately, I didn't. I kept Lance in mind when he went into a mine shaft after his archery bear last spring and thought that this couldn't be any worse! Killed a black widow when I was up to my waist in the "squeeze hole."

[azbowhunter88]

So you never found the first one you shot?