I was recently drawn for the spring 2012 general javelina hunt in unit 37a. I will be using a .50 inline blackpowder rifle. It will be my first javelina hunt as well as my first blackpowder hunt. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for either? I am very experienced hunting small game and birds, but it has been many years since I've been out for anything larger than squirrel or rabbit. Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the Campfire!

H.A.M. hunt huh? They have a good sense of smell and can hear quite well, however they have poor eyesight. Go to your local sporting goods store and buy a pair of bears feet (slip on fuzzy slipper that go over your boots) if you want to stalk in close (which is what I consider to be a fun part of the hunt). From my experience they don't get up early. I glass under the palo verde and mesquite bushes to find them early while they are in a "pig pile" sleeping and then plan a stalk. Good binoculars are your friend when hunting javelina.

Thanks. No, got drawn for general not H.A.M., so they will have already had some pressure from the archery and HAM seasons. I will check out the boot covers..saw some others called Carlton's that looked promising as well. Great Idea for stalking as I wont be taking any 200 yd shots my first time hunting with a smokepole.

You shouldn't have to wear any special boots. Most of our hunt units run cattle so if you are reasonably quiet you'll do fine.

The real issue is finding them. Best way is to get up high and glass with a tripod. Sometimes you can hear them squabbling over food and find them.

What I hate the most is seeing a hillside of shin daggers (agave lechuguilla) dug up but no animals in the area.


I have also had a few come to a varmint call. I use a jackrabbit or cottontail call. Try to make it sound like a baby javelina in distress. Best place to try calling is in very thick brushy drainages. Be prepared to shoot, things can happen fast. you might even call in a coyote, fox or even a mt lion.

Another way to use a varmint call is to push them out of the thick stuff. A few nasty hard blows will sometimes shock them out the brush in a hurry.

If you spot some pay attention to the wind and make a slow stalk.

Good luck. I can still remember my first javelina 30 yrs ago.

Thank you Azshooter. I picked up a J-13 to try out, and was planning on scouting the catchments at the base of Newman Peak. I also heard that the game biologist for the area is pretty helpful. I will definitely take your advice on glassing the slopes.

I have killed a couple of them in 37A and it changes from year to year. You need good binoculars and getting to 100 yards is pretty easy. Getting to 20 yards is tougher. I drew an area up by Prescott. Gonna hunt in a neighborhood and get some domesticated piggies!

Start off Hwy 79 and scout that stuff. It is hit or miss, but there are pigs in there.


Kique

MEAT - I am familiar with many areas in az. 37a i have never hunted. you choose than unit because of it and has a lot of javs AND high hunt success?? i have killed a bunch with a .357 revolver. javs are hard to spot . pretty easy to stalk. most of the units i hunt you hunt them simiar to coues- with a good pair of binos.

Not sure about success rates, but I've heard that there is allot of pigs there, and the game biologist for that unit specializes in javelina. I plan on scouting the area with binos and a spotting scope on a tripod.

I have the stats for last year in front of me. That unit had 880 tags issued (same as this year). The 880 hunters issued tags killed 134 javelina -- success rate of 18%.

As AZ Shooter says, the hard part is finding them. Most of the guys I know scout for an area showing sign of recent activity, find a spot with enough elevation, glass for them down on the flats, then get in front of them and work on an upwind or crosswind stalk. That has worked for me, as has spotting them up on the sunny side of ridges in the morning as well as getting into the brush along washes where they will bed during the day. I took last year's javelina with a .357mag at about 20 yards in thick brush in late afternoon. Year before it was a .204 Ruger (45 grain PSP) at about 60 yards, shooting into a shady wash from a completely exposed position on the nearby ridge after a long slow approach. Javelina spotted me at that distance and stood up to make a run. My hunting buddy got his at 200 yards across an open flat with a .223... lots of variability in where you find them.

Javelina scat looks like dog scat but will contain lots of plant fibre and large seed. Fresh, the scat will be green. Black or grey scat is too old... look elsewhere. They leave large (4" - 12") divots in the ground where they feed and will dig up and leave exposed the roots of cactus. You can guesstimate the freshness of the dig by the dryness of the soil in the divot.