Hey guys,
Just wanted to share our hunt story on this years Arizona Javelina Rifle Hunt. Our group was drawn again this year for unit 37b in south central Arizona. We set out on Thursday, got camp set up, had a few drinks and prepared for the next morning's hunt.
On opening morning (Friday) we headed out to our "honey hole". Last year we bagged 2 pigs out of this spot. It's a great spot where you can sit up on the side of a large mountain and glass onto the flats below.
[attachment=27427:attachment]
I kid you not, within 30 minutes of getting to the side of the mountain one of the guys in our group was onto the herd of pigs. Since we had five hunters with us we decided to let the 3 guys who didn't get one last year go after the first herd. The guys creeped down the hill and Rod and I stayed on the spotting scopes and guided them in over the radios. Kenneth and Keith set out together going straight at the pigs while Raul went down a little ways to cut them off in the direction they were feeding. Kenneth and Kevin got on the pigs first. Kenneth took the first shot with his 30-30 and downed a nice sow. Kevin took a shot as soon as the pigs ran but missed. He was shooting a muzzleloader so that was his only chance. The pigs scattered in the opposite direction from Raul so he never even got a shot off. However, it was 8:00 am opening morning and we already had a pig on our ticket. We gutted the pig got it down to the truck by 9:00 am and decided to head back to camp to hang it then head out again.
On our way back to camp we spotted a herd of pigs off to the side of the dirt road. The truck in front of me stopped (I was driving the second truck) and all I could see was Rod jumping out of the passenger seat with his .357 handgun blazing. I jumped out of my truck, ran to the back, grabbed by 30-06 and loaded the magazine and began to head up the hill towards where Rod was. He was standing over his pig that he had just downed with his handgun (not quite a football but certainly not an adult). Rod pointed out that the herd had crossed over the top of the hill into the ravine on the other side. I began walking up the hill and saw just the back of a pig walking along the crest a couple hundred yards in front of me. I continued walking at a fairly regular pace and reached the top of the hill. I walked about 30 yards in the direction I saw the pig going and then BOOM! The pig bolted out from under a tree and sprinted down to the bottom of the wash. I waited until he stopped at the bottom of the wash, took aim and fired. MISS!!!! I'm usually a pretty crack shot but I have to admit I was stricken with "Buck Fever's" evil cousin "Pig Fever". The Javelina ran across the wash and then about a quarter of the way up the other side. I settled down and squeezed off another round from about 125 yards. I saw the pig shudder and then to my suprise he kind of hobbled up the other side of the wash! I couldn't have missed him again! But I knew if I had hit him square with my 30-06 he would have been down. Now I was pissed! My pig continued walking up the other side of the wash and was behind a tree. I had the tree in my scope and was waiting for him to make any move and then....BOOOM! I hear a shot from down the wash. It was my friend Raul who had just fired. I watched the tree and didn't see anything move. As I went down to cross the wash and move towards where I last saw the pig I saw my friend Raul moving in the same direction a ways down the wash. Well to make a long story short I had wounded the pig and sliced his throat with a shot to the neck. Raul shot him in the butt and took him down. Just curious. In a situation like this who do you think should have put the tag on the dead pig? Since I got a pig last year and my buddy didn't we decided that I'd take the boar and let my buddy hunt some more since we still had all weekend to hunt.
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[attachment=27425:attachment]
So it's now before noon on opening morning and we've got 3 Javelina. An awesome start to an incredible hunt! So we head back to camp, go back out that afternoon and see nothing. I don't think anyone was complaining though. The next day (Saturday) we went back to the honey hole and spotted a lone pig down on the flats. Raul and Kevin went down after the pig. Kevin got off a shot but missed and that was the only action for Saturday.
On Sunday morning we hit the honey hole one more time but there was nothing to be found. We went into town for lunch and then Raul headed back to camp to pack his stuff up (he was leaving sunday night and the rest of us stayed till monday). Big mistake on Raul's part. I was determined to help my friend Kevin get a pig and insisted we hunt the full day. There was another wash I had scouted that had a spring in it. I figured the pigs couldn't be too far from this awesome water source. Keep in mind it hadn't rained here in 120 some odd days.
As we drove up the wash one of the guys who was tagging along with us spotted a herd of pigs off in some mesquite bushes about 50 yards off the trail. We stopped the truck and Kevin took aim with his .357 handgun (all the rifles were in the back and unloaded). The pigs were trotting off in the direction of a hill but they didn't seem spooked. One lone pig stayed behind for a second giving us a second look. I told Kevin not to shoot as the handgun would be less than accurate from that range and, if he missed, all he'd do is scatter the herd. So we took our time. It was me and 2 other guys (who weren't hunting) and then the guy with the tag (Kevin). We spread out in a straight line (about 1/8 th mile apart all together) and worked our way towards the pigs. We knew if they continued in the direction they were going they'd eventually have to work their way up the other side of this giant wash and Kevin would get a shot. We also knew if they went in either direction on of our extra guys would cut them off and they'd eventually wind up going in the direction of the hill. We stalked ever so slowly and for the first time I was able to hear the "woofing" and "grunting" sounds the pigs make. They obviously weren't spooked as they didn't move very fast...just stayed out of our site (the brush was thick).
About 20 minutes into our stalk we were starting to get to the base of the hill on the side of the wash. I walked over a small berm (about 10 feet elevated) and wouldn't you know it. As I peaked the crest I realize that I'm smack dab in the middle of this herd of pigs. I've got one standing in front of me maybe 10 yards and another oblivious to my presence off to my left under a tree, enjoying the shade and kicking up dirt on himself. I'm standing face to face with the first pig I described and I can see Kevin come over the hill about 30 yards to my right. I try to wave at him to get his attention and the pig in front of me stands at attention looking straight at me trying to figure out what the hell I am. Kevin's already on to the pigs in front of me and as I look to my right I can see him raise his mini-17 (not gonna make the muzzleloader mistake again) right at the pig I'm eye to eye with. It seemed like an eternety till he got the shot off but when he did it seemed like the whole hillside lit up with sprinting pigs in every direction. He nailed the pig right in the vitals and the pig ran straight at me! What a rush! I wasn't sure it was hit so I jumped off to my left and waved my arms to try to push it, and the rest of the herd, back in Kevins direction. All of a sudden the pig fell (I at first thought it had tripped) but when it didn't get back up and I saw the blood I figured out Kevin had his first Javelina kill.
I gotta tell you guys. Being that close to a herd of pigs and watching the action from a front row seat like that was way better than my half ass kill. I won't ever forget that scene that unfolded right in front of me. It was better than any hunting video I could ever imagine. What a great time and the best part about it was that the other two guys who weren't hunting got up close and personal with charging pigs as well. When the herd scattered after the first shot the other guys had pigs running right at them and then veering off 10-20 yards from them. They're city boys and had never experienced a hunt. They'll both be putting in for next years hunt. And one of them celebrated his birthday on the 28th. I got him a resident hunt and fish license for his gift.
[attachment=27426:attachment]
Sorry my story is so long. I hope the pictures came out ok we took them with a camera phone.
All the best,
Diablo
Just wanted to share our hunt story on this years Arizona Javelina Rifle Hunt. Our group was drawn again this year for unit 37b in south central Arizona. We set out on Thursday, got camp set up, had a few drinks and prepared for the next morning's hunt.
On opening morning (Friday) we headed out to our "honey hole". Last year we bagged 2 pigs out of this spot. It's a great spot where you can sit up on the side of a large mountain and glass onto the flats below.
[attachment=27427:attachment]
I kid you not, within 30 minutes of getting to the side of the mountain one of the guys in our group was onto the herd of pigs. Since we had five hunters with us we decided to let the 3 guys who didn't get one last year go after the first herd. The guys creeped down the hill and Rod and I stayed on the spotting scopes and guided them in over the radios. Kenneth and Keith set out together going straight at the pigs while Raul went down a little ways to cut them off in the direction they were feeding. Kenneth and Kevin got on the pigs first. Kenneth took the first shot with his 30-30 and downed a nice sow. Kevin took a shot as soon as the pigs ran but missed. He was shooting a muzzleloader so that was his only chance. The pigs scattered in the opposite direction from Raul so he never even got a shot off. However, it was 8:00 am opening morning and we already had a pig on our ticket. We gutted the pig got it down to the truck by 9:00 am and decided to head back to camp to hang it then head out again.
On our way back to camp we spotted a herd of pigs off to the side of the dirt road. The truck in front of me stopped (I was driving the second truck) and all I could see was Rod jumping out of the passenger seat with his .357 handgun blazing. I jumped out of my truck, ran to the back, grabbed by 30-06 and loaded the magazine and began to head up the hill towards where Rod was. He was standing over his pig that he had just downed with his handgun (not quite a football but certainly not an adult). Rod pointed out that the herd had crossed over the top of the hill into the ravine on the other side. I began walking up the hill and saw just the back of a pig walking along the crest a couple hundred yards in front of me. I continued walking at a fairly regular pace and reached the top of the hill. I walked about 30 yards in the direction I saw the pig going and then BOOM! The pig bolted out from under a tree and sprinted down to the bottom of the wash. I waited until he stopped at the bottom of the wash, took aim and fired. MISS!!!! I'm usually a pretty crack shot but I have to admit I was stricken with "Buck Fever's" evil cousin "Pig Fever". The Javelina ran across the wash and then about a quarter of the way up the other side. I settled down and squeezed off another round from about 125 yards. I saw the pig shudder and then to my suprise he kind of hobbled up the other side of the wash! I couldn't have missed him again! But I knew if I had hit him square with my 30-06 he would have been down. Now I was pissed! My pig continued walking up the other side of the wash and was behind a tree. I had the tree in my scope and was waiting for him to make any move and then....BOOOM! I hear a shot from down the wash. It was my friend Raul who had just fired. I watched the tree and didn't see anything move. As I went down to cross the wash and move towards where I last saw the pig I saw my friend Raul moving in the same direction a ways down the wash. Well to make a long story short I had wounded the pig and sliced his throat with a shot to the neck. Raul shot him in the butt and took him down. Just curious. In a situation like this who do you think should have put the tag on the dead pig? Since I got a pig last year and my buddy didn't we decided that I'd take the boar and let my buddy hunt some more since we still had all weekend to hunt.
[attachment=27424:attachment]
[attachment=27425:attachment]
So it's now before noon on opening morning and we've got 3 Javelina. An awesome start to an incredible hunt! So we head back to camp, go back out that afternoon and see nothing. I don't think anyone was complaining though. The next day (Saturday) we went back to the honey hole and spotted a lone pig down on the flats. Raul and Kevin went down after the pig. Kevin got off a shot but missed and that was the only action for Saturday.
On Sunday morning we hit the honey hole one more time but there was nothing to be found. We went into town for lunch and then Raul headed back to camp to pack his stuff up (he was leaving sunday night and the rest of us stayed till monday). Big mistake on Raul's part. I was determined to help my friend Kevin get a pig and insisted we hunt the full day. There was another wash I had scouted that had a spring in it. I figured the pigs couldn't be too far from this awesome water source. Keep in mind it hadn't rained here in 120 some odd days.
As we drove up the wash one of the guys who was tagging along with us spotted a herd of pigs off in some mesquite bushes about 50 yards off the trail. We stopped the truck and Kevin took aim with his .357 handgun (all the rifles were in the back and unloaded). The pigs were trotting off in the direction of a hill but they didn't seem spooked. One lone pig stayed behind for a second giving us a second look. I told Kevin not to shoot as the handgun would be less than accurate from that range and, if he missed, all he'd do is scatter the herd. So we took our time. It was me and 2 other guys (who weren't hunting) and then the guy with the tag (Kevin). We spread out in a straight line (about 1/8 th mile apart all together) and worked our way towards the pigs. We knew if they continued in the direction they were going they'd eventually have to work their way up the other side of this giant wash and Kevin would get a shot. We also knew if they went in either direction on of our extra guys would cut them off and they'd eventually wind up going in the direction of the hill. We stalked ever so slowly and for the first time I was able to hear the "woofing" and "grunting" sounds the pigs make. They obviously weren't spooked as they didn't move very fast...just stayed out of our site (the brush was thick).
About 20 minutes into our stalk we were starting to get to the base of the hill on the side of the wash. I walked over a small berm (about 10 feet elevated) and wouldn't you know it. As I peaked the crest I realize that I'm smack dab in the middle of this herd of pigs. I've got one standing in front of me maybe 10 yards and another oblivious to my presence off to my left under a tree, enjoying the shade and kicking up dirt on himself. I'm standing face to face with the first pig I described and I can see Kevin come over the hill about 30 yards to my right. I try to wave at him to get his attention and the pig in front of me stands at attention looking straight at me trying to figure out what the hell I am. Kevin's already on to the pigs in front of me and as I look to my right I can see him raise his mini-17 (not gonna make the muzzleloader mistake again) right at the pig I'm eye to eye with. It seemed like an eternety till he got the shot off but when he did it seemed like the whole hillside lit up with sprinting pigs in every direction. He nailed the pig right in the vitals and the pig ran straight at me! What a rush! I wasn't sure it was hit so I jumped off to my left and waved my arms to try to push it, and the rest of the herd, back in Kevins direction. All of a sudden the pig fell (I at first thought it had tripped) but when it didn't get back up and I saw the blood I figured out Kevin had his first Javelina kill.
I gotta tell you guys. Being that close to a herd of pigs and watching the action from a front row seat like that was way better than my half ass kill. I won't ever forget that scene that unfolded right in front of me. It was better than any hunting video I could ever imagine. What a great time and the best part about it was that the other two guys who weren't hunting got up close and personal with charging pigs as well. When the herd scattered after the first shot the other guys had pigs running right at them and then veering off 10-20 yards from them. They're city boys and had never experienced a hunt. They'll both be putting in for next years hunt. And one of them celebrated his birthday on the 28th. I got him a resident hunt and fish license for his gift.
[attachment=27426:attachment]
Sorry my story is so long. I hope the pictures came out ok we took them with a camera phone.
All the best,
Diablo
