Awesome Juniors Mule Deer/Javelina Hunt!

[Capt. Don Martin]

I want to share with you the experiences of a 16-year-old young lady from Maryland who had an awesome combination mule deer/javelina hunt in Unit 18B last month!

 

Allison Kilroy is a bubbly young lady who lives on the East coast and as such doesn't get to hunt there, but she has become very partial to hunting in Arizona.

 

Her father, Ron Kilroy lives in Las Vegas, and he fully supports his daughter's desire to hunt deer and javelina in the Grtand Canyon state.

 

Even though Allison is a junior, she is still limited to not more than 10% of the tags for deer/javelina, she has been lucky in the past.

 

On her first big game hunt, she was paired up with Mike Cobb of Arizona Wildlife Outfitters and depsite some ugly weather, she bagged her very first big game animal on the first day she was out with Mike.

 

A couple of years later, she drew both a deer and javelina tag, and while she got herself a big javelina, she never got the chance to squeeze the trigger on an Arizona mule deer.

 

Undaunted, she kept applying and this year hit the jackpot drawing both a deer and a javelina tag.

 

Her guide for this hunt would be AWO's own Tad Levandowski.

 

This mountain of a man knows this unit very well, and has in the past assisted a number of young hunters take mule deer and javelina there.

 

There was a twist to Allison's hunt.

 

Due to Allison's school schedule, she would miss the first week of the hunt and would actually fly into Las Vegas the night before Thanksgiving Day. She would have just four days to hunt.

 

Allison and her dad would drive to Kingman and meet up with Levandowski and head into the sticks on Thanksgiving Day. Turkey dinner would just have to wait!

 

As it turned out the timing was great!

 

On her first morning just after daylight, Levandowski saw a big mature buck feeding by himself near a thicket of turbinella oak.

 

As Tad and Allison moved in, Ron stayed back about 300 yards to try and keep and eye on the big buck.

 

However before Tad and Allison made it to where the buck had last been seen, he seemingly disappeared.

 

But Tad knew the buck had to be there, somewhere.

 

He started glassing and soon picked up just the antler tip of the big buck's rack.

 

He got Allison to within 80 yards of the unsuspecting buck and got her set up.

 

Their patience was rewarded when the big buck stood up and started to stretch.

 

"You on em Allison?" Tad whispered.

 

"Yes" was the soft reply and the young hunter slipped off the safety of her trusty 243 rifle and took deliberate aim.

 

At the shot, the mighty buck literally dropped in his tracks! He never knew he had been in the sights of a now very happy young lady!

 

Tad said it wasn't until they reached the buck that he realized what she had just taken.

 

"The buck was HUGE!" Tad said.

 

"He had to weigh over 200 pounds (live weight) and his rack was heavy with points all over it!"

 

He was right. The buck sported a rack that was just under 26 inches wide!

 

Plus there were eight scoreable points on one side and seven on the other!

 

Later on Levandowski would learn that the buck green scored (gross) just over 200 inches!

 

How many of us have ever taken a buck like that? Not many...

 

But the young ladies hunt wasn't over.

 

She still had an unfilled javelina tag.

 

On the last morning she could hunt Levandowski relocated a herd of pigs they had previously seen, and Allison took her javelina at 50 yards!

 

It had been a perfect hunt and I wondered what she was going to do for an encore.

 

Then her dad called me, "Allison wants to go elk hunting," he said.

 

Don Martin

Arizona Wildlife Outfitters

[Couestracker]

Holy smokes that's a monster! How great for Her, big congrats to all.

[cramerhunts]

Congratulations to her on a huge buck and nice javi! Looking forward to seeing her elk hunt, let's hope she draws the tag!

[cvw789]

What a stud and nice stinker. Congrats guys

[hoghntr]

Holy smokes! congrats to that young lady and her guide.