Norteno Report post Posted February 24, 2014 After hunting hard and not seeing anything for HAM season I got a second chance and took out a friend for his first hunt. Him with 30-06 and me with my bow. I should have expected it, but the area we went to was filled with hunters and loud quads everywhere. Gave up on spot A in about 20 minutes and went to planned day 2 spot. Luckily it was nice and quiet. Got to see a nice wide muley on the way in. Hiked, glassed, repeat, nothing. Hunted a wash back to the road and heard two shots which was promising. Ran into the hunters and turns out they just shot a rattlesnake. Since I didn't pack my target I didn't shoot my bow that day. I see a jackrabbit so I decide to practice. Snuck into 40 yds, draw, yellow pin, nailed him! Bad news I couldn't find my arrow after so now I was down to 3 broadheads. Turns out my extra pack of Wac'ems got left at home. That afternoon we moved to hunting washes going into Gila. At the end of the day we are exhausted and decide to drive home and look for promising spots for day 2. I drive past some Private/Posted land that looked really promising. Not 1/4 mile after the private land we see two piggies running a wash next to the main road. Hit brakes, grab gun and bow from back and jump into wash. We go over the first ridge and spot them at the top of the next ridge. I range them, say 175 and Bam Pig down. My buddy made a great off hand shot. With my ears ringing I say I'm headed for the second one which had gone over the ridge. The brush was thick and tore me up but I didn't care. I called with my J13 and look up and the 2nd Javi cam back over ridge, looked at his friend and just stood there. 40 yds but he was skylined so I couldn't take shot. I give one more squeal and he starts walking towards me! There is now a bush between me and him. I range the bush next to him at 20yds. I peak around the left, he peaks around the left, I peak around the right, he peaks around the right. It was pretty funny. I figure he is going to make a move so I draw back. Sure enough he moves quickly to the left and I let it fly. He was moving so I hit him far back. The thwack and squeal was awesome though! He is dragging himself downhill so I fling another arrow-miss over his back! Luckily he drags himself under a bush and stops. I watch him for a few seconds, range him at 40 and put my last arrow in him for good measure and nail him in the vitals - no meat wasted. He expires, arrow sticking out his side. After a couple high fives and trek back to truck and it was pitch dark. Although I marked my pig with an orange safety vest it took us forever to find him. Finally 3 hrs later we had two field dressed skinned pigs in the cooler. Dropped them off this morning at Miller's SW. A couple of observations from my Javi success: **The strangest thing was these Javelina didn't smell at all! Even when I opened them up it wasn't bad. I've had deer that were way worse. **Although the Havelon was nice and sharp it took 3 blades for 2 pigs. I also used my regular knife for the tougher parts. I also stabbed my self twice. **After seeing these fresh Javi tracks it was easy to distinguish. None of the track we had seen prior was fresh at all. **Someone needs to make Kevlar faced pants. This AZ desert hurts! 1st pic - Javi shot by 30-06 2nd pic - pitch dark when we found mine again 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PatrickJr Report post Posted February 24, 2014 you shot 2 pigs in the same hour??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Norteno Report post Posted February 24, 2014 2 pigs in 10 minutes. My buddy shot his with rifle, mine with bow Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PatrickJr Report post Posted February 24, 2014 congrats, I thought you shot 2 pigs in the same day, same hunt, that would be somewhat illegal! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Kid Report post Posted February 24, 2014 Congrats. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Couestracker Report post Posted February 24, 2014 Big congrats to you both-nice double! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bbd1234 Report post Posted February 24, 2014 Nice piggy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjhunt2 Report post Posted February 24, 2014 Congratulations on both of your pigs. Sounded pretty exciting. Thanks for sharing. TJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
randyolson Report post Posted February 24, 2014 Congrats to you both on your Javelina! Sounded like a lot of fun!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kidso Report post Posted February 25, 2014 It is always sweet to get a pig! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
QCwtAddict Report post Posted February 25, 2014 Congrats on the pigs! I was one of the hunters you ran into in the wash Saturday. We hunted in there again Sunday morning but never could get it done. Seemed like that area has got a lot more pressure this year than past years. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Norteno Report post Posted February 25, 2014 Congrats on the pigs! I was one of the hunters you ran into in the wash Saturday. We hunted in there again Sunday morning but never could get it done. Seemed like that area has got a lot more pressure this year than past years. Thanks for the offer of cold drinks. The area north of where I saw you was a lot worse and even more packed with people. Where we got the pigs was no where near there. PM me if you still plan on going out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mocha1545 Report post Posted February 25, 2014 Congrats to you both on the double! Nice write up. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2LuckyHunters Report post Posted March 6, 2014 Congrats to both of you. Pretty exciting when you get in close with a bow. We love hunting them with a bow too! You're right about them not smelling bad. Ours have never been bad either and the chorizo we have made is fantastic. Great story. ~ Jess 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZBearhunter Report post Posted April 3, 2014 Archery pig hunting is alway a fun experience, and it helps get the jitters and trigger happy finger out during bow season Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
