Hualapai Javelina Hunt

[signguy]

Really sorry you guys did not have better luck-
When I was there in the Fall they were all over the damn place! You could literally smell them.
We focused on an area about 8 miles in on Hualapai Reservation Road (I believe it is the East side of the reservation)
It was very dry. So once we found some water we were good to go!

 

[Deleted member 33033]

We hit every spot. Never even saw really fresh sign.

 

[kodiakoutdoors]

I wanted to pass this info on to anybody planning to head out to the Hualapai Reservation for javelina. I was going to take my kids this week for spring break. I just called the reservation game and fish office, no more than 20 mins ago, for some info. They informed me that javelina hunting has been closed until further notice. The person I spoke with could not tell why or when it might reopen.

I've hunted there the past couple of years and have had great luck. Sorry to this opportunity go away. Hopefully it will reopen. Just glad that I didn't have to drive all the way out there to find out. There is nothing on their website either.

 

[Mel Carter]

Here's a follow up for anyone wishing to hunt the reservation. Its back on! Just got of the phone with them, they only closed for a short period. During Oct and Sept they will only be open on their west side due to their big game hunts. Rules and regs are still the same. I may take the wife with me up there later this year.

 

[Adstaxidermyshoppe]

Here's the real deal guys. Hunted there a few times.Actually last 3 years. The javelina are in spotty locations. Not huge numbers like you would like to think and definately "trophy"class are very few and far between. $160.00 per tag no limit. Fortunately for me I know where they are. As for predators, the natives get bounty money for them. They get I think $250 per lion. So don't plan on finding one. Even coyotes are scarce, they go for $50. There are 20+ water holes on the res. the animals don't have to go far. Sorry to those who weren't successful. I put my time in as well. Saw way more animals on the HAM hunt put on by the state, and quality was better also. Choose your battle. the res has a nice lodge ($100) per night with a little cafe and very nice people. The lodge is 45 mins from kingman. But way more opportunity on the state hunt, and some good hunting is closer to bigger towns for lodging. Other facts about the res. it's illegal to pick up a shed horn and the fine per horn is huge. Also to hunt any other game besides Javi and lion, a guide is mandatory and guide fees are huge. Deer, elk and antelope quality is amazing too. Huge desert sheep there also. Im not surprised that they closed the javelina hunt down for awhile tho, they were very tough to find. My group of 4 went 2-4, 2-4 and 2-4 three years running. Fortunately, i got 4 in 3 years. Why I go is because it's a different and difficult hunt, and only 4 hrs away. Good luck if you go, and play by the rules, there's 2 wardens and they like to watch you even if it's from a mile away.

 

[Deleted member 33033]

Ahhhhh. Suspicions confirmed.

 

[Bubblehide]

Here's the real deal guys. Hunted there a few times.Actually last 3 years. The javelina are in spotty locations. Not huge numbers like you would like to think and definately "trophy"class are very few and far between. $160.00 per tag no limit. Fortunately for me I know where they are. As for predators, the natives get bounty money for them. They get I think $250 per lion. So don't plan on finding one. Even coyotes are scarce, they go for $50. There are 20+ water holes on the res. the animals don't have to go far. Sorry to those who weren't successful. I put my time in as well. Saw way more animals on the HAM hunt put on by the state, and quality was better also. Choose your battle. the res has a nice lodge ($100) per night with a little cafe and very nice people. The lodge is 45 mins from kingman. But way more opportunity on the state hunt, and some good hunting is closer to bigger towns for lodging. Other facts about the res. it's illegal to pick up a shed horn and the fine per horn is huge. Also to hunt any other game besides Javi and lion, a guide is mandatory and guide fees are huge. Deer, elk and antelope quality is amazing too. Huge desert sheep there also. Im not surprised that they closed the javelina hunt down for awhile tho, they were very tough to find. My group of 4 went 2-4, 2-4 and 2-4 three years running. Fortunately, i got 4 in 3 years. Why I go is because it's a different and difficult hunt, and only 4 hrs away. Good luck if you go, and play by the rules, there's 2 wardens and they like to watch you even if it's from a mile away.

Like any nomadic animal, they will move into a good area, one that provides them with their needs (all of them), and they will stick around, until those needs are not being met. They obviously utilize the reservation, but that does not mean that they will always be there. So one week a person could go there and see them everywhere, the next week, they might be lucky to see even one. Sometimes, timing can be everything.

 

[JustGuy]

Sometimes, timing can be everything.

It is always timing is everything, right time, right place, the name is Mr. Luck, but some call it Experience and some call it Hard work.

 

[Deleted member 33033]

Or it's just a sh*t herd that's been overhunted. Were you there?

 

[JustGuy]

Yep

 

[Adstaxidermyshoppe]

Or it's just a sh*t herd that's been overhunted. Were you there?

It's hard to explain why the numbers aren't there. I talked to the natives and they don't bother them. The warden actually told me that they don't waste their time or ammo on them because they taste horrible. They say they don't even make soup out of them. Because I saw their booth at the hunt expo, and they travel to many expos booking, I think it's more of a money thing. Because they don't utilize them for more than tag money, I think they overbook and possibly over hunt. They prize their other species. Even charge for prairie dogs.
Justguy, we're you successful? Share you story!
Like I said, my first trip, took two days to find a herd. I had two tags and got lucky with two bullets. Both descent boars. We hiked our asses off and I got lucky after splitting up from my brother. He never saw a pig that trip. My dad sat on water holes for both days, and didn't see one either. The next year, we returned to the same canyon I got mine in. Bingo, my brothers wife got one after a stalk, which didn't provide my brother with a shot at the rest. The herd came running by and my dad missed at 20 feet with a scoped 22-250. Might as well had a shotgun. I reached into my pocket and pulled my Javi call and started wailing on it. The herd turned back and I got a big sow with a .44 lever Winchester at 4 yards right in the chest. Next day we checked numerous waterholes for tracks, talked to 5 guys from Utah that were there camping, who hadn't seen any, and drove almost to the grand canyon glassing, calling and checking for sign. Nada.
Third year, a few miles in on the main road, a herd crossed the road in front of us, my dad pulled one down as they zig zagged up the hill toward a canyon. We left him with his boar and took up the trail only to find them a mile away in a small creek bed that led to the same damn canyon as the previous two years. We headed back and helped my dad with his pig. ( a really big cooler with 20 pounds of dry ice is handy there.) we parked and walked into the same access point used previously into the canyon and glassed. I saw one pig bedded at 120 yards under a tree, and my brother for the life of him couldn't spot it. One round from my 22-250 later, and I had #4 in 3 years. No other pigs were with this one, and we couldn't find them the next day. My poor brother was skunked again.
It goes to show that luck plays a part, experience is key, but it's all hard work in the end, successful or not. I've been all over that reservation, and for some reason the same herd is in the same place. There's a waterhole within a half mile, and food everywhere for them. I've talked to many people who were frustrated, and only saw two other pigs shot there. In fact the game wardens got a chest freezer for the office, and the two Javis I saw besides the ones we got were in there and the hunters left them behind, so he gave them to my brother.lol.
I'll probably go back, maybe this year in September to see if the "rut" makes a difference and to try my luck again. Maybe with a bow this time.

 

[signguy]

We actually had some javelina visit our production plant last week.
One of my guys was in the parking lot when 5 of them ran right behind him.
Not being a hunter he was reporting chupacabra...

 

[Adstaxidermyshoppe]

Lol. Assuming your handle, signguy, a production plant for billboards? Where is your plant located? I thought chupacabra lived in Mexico...must be migrating north.

 

[Adstaxidermyshoppe]

Never mind your location, i failed to look to the right at your profile info. Duh! Another question though, in your experience with javelina, how to you like the meat?