IA Born Report post Posted January 29, 2017 Friday was a cold, but great day! After five unfilled javelina tags for various reasons (overlapping soccer games, soccer injuries, illnesses, pheasant hunt, disappearing pigs, no pigs), our daughter was finally able to get it done at 1205 on opening day! About three weeks ago, she asked me if she could use my AR to hunt javelina instead of her 7-08. Who was I to tell her no? Our original plans started to fall apart, but a chance encounter on her deer hunt in October paid of big dividends and is leading to a lifelong friendship. Brittany Passmore, from the Mountain Project, offered to take Sydney and me out in 19A to a spot she knew held pigs. We met up, drove out to the spot, started glassing, and started freezing our butts off! It was so cold and windy, that I ended up bouncing back and forth from my binos to my truck with some Jet Boil-made coffee (thanks to Sydney for digging out the coffees and the idea!). I did glass up a nice 4x4 or 4x3 (too far to be sure), but chose not to go after him because Syd was my priority. She tried hard to convince me to go get it since we weren't seeing anything, but I reminded her she was my top priority. After about 3 hours of seeing nothing, Brittany suggested we head farther up the canyon to get a different vantage point on where she'd seen the herd Thursday afternoon. We were there about 15-20 minutes when Brittany decided to head up to a nearby ridge to look down into where the pigs were Thursday. About that time, Syd told me she was hungry, so I fired up the Jet Boil to get her spaghetti ready. I did a quick look up to the hillside to the north and saw nothing but a cow that was perfectly deer colored. The water was about ready for lunch when I looked back up the hillside. PIGS!!! I let Syd know there were two javelina on the hillside. We'd have to eat later. She started gearing up and I called Brittany to let her know what was going on. "Look to the left of the deer-cow." I scrambled to get the AR ready while she got her tag and license and we took off. The plan was to get to the ridge opposite and reassess. Brittany sent me a text letting me know she had eyes on them for us. As we were going, I realized I left my call and my binos in my truck, but was thankful I had my rangefinder. I'd have to use that to spot and glass. As we got closer, I realized we may be looking at a 150+ yard shot, so I adjusted the scope (Nikon p223 3x32) two inches up (I'd sighted it in dead on at 100 yds). We got to the opposite ridge, saw three pigs milling about, and set up. Syd picked a pig that finally stood broadside long enough and I called out a range of 153 yards. Unfortunately, she missed, but the pigs didn't scatter like I thought they would. They ran about 20 yards to the right, passed the deer-cow, and regrouped with a "WTH was that" attitude about them. They weren't overly spooked, but they weren't exactly calm, either. Syd was able to regroup, get on another pig, make a course correction and fire a second shot. This all happened in about 90 seconds from the first shot. I watched two pigs take off in a dead sprint and a third one kind of jogged off in that direction. That pig ended up going about ten yards, turned around, and dropped within five yards of where Syd shot it. I was so proud of her for maintaining her composure and making a great follow up shot. While I was policing up gear and unloading the AR, Syd had a great phone call with Brittany, who saw it all happen through her binos. We hiked across the canyon, recovered her pig (a big sow), took some photos, and started the field dressing. Syd made a perfect double lung shot. Those Barnes VOR-TX 55gr TSX did an amazing job! I was able to figure out that her follow-up shot was 160-170 yards. Brittany helped me do the gutless method and, while we were doing that, Sydney hiked back to my truck to drive it up to us. This was, by far, my favorite hunt with her, although I'm not sure I'm getting my AR back! A huge thanks to Brittany Passmore and her husband Kevin, as well as my buddy for letting us crash in his camper Thursday night! Also thanks to The Mountain Project for making Syd's day even more special! I'm still enjoying my proud dad moment today! Using my extra coat and the door as a wind block to glass After the shot celebration Trophy Pics 18 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gonhunting247 Report post Posted January 29, 2017 Very cool, great pics! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjhunt2 Report post Posted January 29, 2017 Thanks for sharing your daughter's success with us. Great write-up and pictures. TJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Rabbit Report post Posted January 29, 2017 Syd sure looks happy. Congrats to her. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle mountain ranch Report post Posted January 29, 2017 That's awesome congrats Syd way to get it done. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Will K Report post Posted January 30, 2017 That's cool. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vbraley Report post Posted January 30, 2017 Cool pics! Congrats!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
duarte64 Report post Posted January 30, 2017 Awesome Congrats. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cramerhunts Report post Posted February 1, 2017 Saw this on Instagram. Very cool and huge congratulations to all! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TRKHNTR Report post Posted February 1, 2017 Way to go Syd. Try hunting them with a shovel. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IA Born Report post Posted February 2, 2017 Saw this on Instagram. Very cool and huge congratulations to all! The folks at The Mountain Project who helped us took really good care of Syd and made her feel very special. It was great! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted February 10, 2017 That's awesome work dad! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
