Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Going javelina hunting next week. Need some tips.

Spot and stalk is the funnest way to hunt them IMO. Can't imagine much satisfaction from shooting them over bait, at least with the good glassing terrain we have here in Arizona. Handguns,(not "handrifles") or bows are a blast.

They were basically varmints where we were. Not scared of people and we only shot them to get rid of them. I have actually had them get kind of aggressive with me before. Spot and stalk would not be much harder than baiting where I have hunted.

What do they taste like?

Gotcha, If they became too accustomed to people I can see where there could be problems...

nasty

I have had my last several (Arizona) made completely into italian sausage or chorizo and they were quite good.

Just got back tonight from helping a rancher friend over in Arizona today. If you want to hunt like the natives, drive the ranch roads, leave all the gates open that were shut when you found them, refuse to shoot anything that you can't shoot out the window of the truck and then go back to your camp which is anywhere except where the rancher told you it was OK to camp. When you leave in the morning, leave your campfire smoldering (or better yet, burning).

This is what I saw all day long.

Well, actually I am an Arizona native. Don't hunt (or camp) like that though...

Don't let them bite you...

Natives huh? musta been New Mexicans coming over to hunt.

Drive the ranch roads? is this vast private property or a typical 20/40 acre ranch property with a grazing lease on public land for the rest? If it's private he should post it and lock gates. Most likely public land and he doesn't own the roads.

Leaving gates down after opening them is a huge no no to Az natives, especially 4th generation natives that come from a ranching, farming, mining background as I do. These are also just issues you have to deal with grazing on public land no matter how upsetting it is. I will put a gate back up if it's just laying there and won't if it's pulled back or tied back along the fence as if the rancher meant it to stay open.

Shooting out of a vehicle is poaching and I hope you called the G&F hotline every time you witnessed it. Sounds like you helped catch a lot of poachers.

If it was your friends property why didn't he kick them off, if it was public, they can camp wherever they want as long as it's no closer than 1/4 mile to the only water source.

As long as there is a camp there I don't stress over a campfire, could be someone still in the tent or trailer. If camp is packed and gone with a fire left, ya that's bad.

I definitely don't like slob hunters, I also don't like ranchers that assume I'm one and try to read me their law on public land. I worked on my cousin's ranches most summers in high school, I know both sides.

Having a little fun with ya and being a little serious at the same time.

Kent

That's funny! When I saw this thread, my imediate reaction was "DONT HUNT JAVALINAS!"

I've never had any desire to mess with them filthy creatures.

Although a buddy of mine tricked me into eating ribs from a small one once. Twern't bad.

i was known to eat one in my younger days but after a case of beer almost anything tastes good

"Natives huh? musta been New Mexicans coming over to hunt. "

The only out of state plate I saw (other than mine) was on a motor home parked at a AZ DGF sign along the road--everybody else had AZ plates

"Drive the ranch roads? is this vast private property or a typical 20/40 acre ranch property with a grazing lease on public land for the rest? If it's private he should post it and lock gates. Most likely public land and he doesn't own the roads."

His ranch is about 1/3 private, 2/3 public. About 1/3 is a USFS winter allotment in the Peloncillo Mountains, and the rest is a mix of private and AZ State Trust Land in the valley. In the valley where all the hunters were, the roads (two-tracks) are mostly on the private, as that is where the water developments and other infrastructure are.

"Leaving gates down after opening them is a huge no no to Az natives, especially 4th generation natives that come from a ranching, farming, mining background as I do. These are also just issues you have to deal with grazing on public land no matter how upsetting it is. I will put a gate back up if it's just laying there and won't if it's pulled back or tied back along the fence as if the rancher meant it to stay open."

When I see someone working cattle in a pasture behind a closed gate, I assume that they want the gate shut.

"Shooting out of a vehicle is poaching and I hope you called the G&F hotline every time you witnessed it. Sounds like you helped catch a lot of poachers."

No cell phone service and we were too busy to run get a license number every time a gun went off. I have spent a lot of time patrolling during the hunting seasons when I was gainfully employed--now that I am retired, I avoid it like the plague.

"If it was your friends property why didn't he kick them off, if it was public, they can camp wherever they want as long as it's no closer than 1/4 mile to the only water source."

As I left just before dark, he was headed out to wait for their return.

"As long as there is a camp there I don't stress over a campfire, could be someone still in the tent or trailer. If camp is packed and gone with a fire left, ya that's bad.

I definitely don't like slob hunters, I also don't like ranchers that assume I'm one and try to read me their law on public land. I worked on my cousin's ranches most summers in high school, I know both sides."

My friend encourages hunters to camp in areas where they won't have problems with illegals or unforeseen weather, and where they won't get in the way of his work. As you noted, anyone can camp anywhere on public land and he knows this. He welcomes deer and quail hunters, but for some reason, javelina hunters seem to be heavily weighted toward road hunters, probably because they really don't know how to find the little critters.

"Having a little fun with ya and being a little serious at the same time."

I understand that, but what I saw yesterday makes me ill. I have worked on and managed ranches up and down the great plains and the southern Rockies, most with a mix of public and private land and am well aware of the complexities of land ownership and responsibility. I was probably a little harsh, as I am not used to spending long days in the saddle any more, so you can chalk that up to fatigue.

sounds like fun!!!

I understand saddlesore for shore. I don't hunt pigs, nasty, as was pointed out elsewhere is why. I hate the issues you bring up and hunt wilderness for Coues/lion just for that reason. Residents instead of natives would be a better word but doesn't matter really. I remember when Phx was 200,000 and the whole state was 1/2 mil, now it's over 5 million. Alot of transplanted Aholes is right.

I see the downed gate issue as paramount, I've chased guys down that have left them open without knowing who the rancher is. Unless he has his property posted legally there's not much he can do with the other issues. If he does have it posted he needs to lock gates and get the Sheriff out there to take care of it. Otherwise stupid people have the same rights to land use as us considerate ones though it chaps our hide.

Take care, Kent

Just got back from my Javelina hunt. IT SICKED!!! Well the hunting did anyway. It was cold and wet but great to get out of the city.

We saw a lot of sign (scat, prints, stomped catus) just no Javelina. And you know, I knew exactly where they were, just couldn't hunt them that close to someones home. There was a lot of water around so they didn't have to go to the tanks. We did see tracks at the tanks just not a lot.

I did a major knuckle head move. While my cousin was checking out a soft wash with fresh tracks, I was eyeballing a large tree surrounded by Yucca plants. Perfect hide for Jave. You know when you get that feeling that something's in there? So after glassing for a while, I started to toss rocks into the tree. I didn't want to walk up there. Thinking that if a Javelina was there it would start to pop and growl. Well something was there but it wasn't a Javelina and I wasn't ready with my rifle. By the time I got my cross hairs fixed on that Bob Cat, he had run about 75 yards and just behind him was someones Nissan Xtera. Dang it!!!

All in all it wasn't that bad. We did see 4 deer, 1 Bob, and several hawks.

Maybe next year.

HaYen

FWIW, javelina don't have insulating fur nor do they have subcutaneous fat for insulation. When it gets cold, they have to turn up the thermostat (i.e., increase their metabolic rate) to stay warm. Exposed to the cold and wet, they will succumb to hypothermia surprisingly fast. So, they tend to go to cover, especially cover that has trapped some heat and releases it slowly in inclement weather. It's not unusual to find them clustered together in caves or in the back of small rock overhangs. They will also bunch together in thickets which prevent heat loss to the sky. During extremes of cold weather I have seen them piled up in small caves, where they died literally piled on top of one another, trying to keep warm. They are basically tropical animals that reach the northern extent of their range in the southwestern US.

Javelina are best to eat if you turn the meat into chorizo or pit bbq . Any other way is a gamble.

I ended up not hunting 32, but going south to 36C. Was done by 1030 opening day.
Glassing and a jack rabbit in distress call made to sound like pigs fighting was the trick to getting him to come in to shooting range. Shot was 122 yards.

Here's a few pics.

Enrique, nice job.

Kent

Enrique,

Nice pics! I need to get back down there for a hunt again. Nice way for a Wyoming boy to spend a few days in February. We always put in for the HAM hunt.

Keith