Epic SE AZ javelina hunt!

[Tbob]

Hey guys,
    So last year a buddies dad invited me on an AZ javelina hunt. We had such a great time and I was invited back for this years hunt. We all put in for the H.A.M hunt in the unit these two gentleman have hunted for the last 30 yrs.. The H.A.M hunt is a Hangun, Archery, or Muzzleloader hunt. last year I got a real nice boar with my bow so this year I decided to give it another go with my bow so I left my pistol home. The other two guys hunting were both packing pistols for the hunt..
   Thursday morning 2/9 I left my house (currently in San Diego) at 6:15 am and was on my way across the boarder. Google said I had an 8 HR drive ahead of me.. I made great time and made it to camp by 3:00pm. My hosts were already in camp and set up.. I took about 30 min and set my camp up and got everything settled... The rest of Thursday we just caught up and BS'd about hunting while enjoying a great bottle bourbon( Jeffersons Ocean if there's any bourbon fans here)
    We got up Friday morning (opening day) at about 6:00 am and made some coffee and breakfast.. We hit the hill shortly after 6:30 or so.. We hiked to a hill they like to glass from and along the way we saw a heard of mule deer does. There was about 15 of them just out feeding in the open sunlight that just came over the hill. We decided to sit and watch them for a few minutes and glass around.. I sat down, threw up my nockers and started to glass around.. About 30 seconds later I heard something in the grass running. Then it started getting louder... I looked around and here comes a coyote at a dead run straight up the hill right towards me.. By the time I figured out what was going on it was running right past me at about 5 ft on a dead run! It never stopped and never looked at me and just kept on cruising by. It was pretty crazy!
    So we decided to get up to the top and spread out to glass all the canyons and hillsides. We make it to the top and the 3 of us spread out a bit to all glass different areas. I put my nockers on my tripod and started looking around.. There were heards of mule deer all over the place.. 5 here, 12 over there and so on.. About 15 minutes in I hear in a loud whisper, "I've got pigs"! So we all head over there and start looking.. Across a large canyon, at the very top there's a small group of Javelina milling around and a few have bedded down under a huge prickly pear cactus plant. So with the wind we decided I was going to go down the canyon, to the bottom and go around the Mt they are on and come up the backside and get on them....
     I start on my way down the canyon, around the backside and work my way to the top. Once I'm at the top i head for the yucca tree we decided I'd use as a landmark.. As I'm getting close, I nock an arrow and start sneaking in.. Coming in from the top I noticed the grass was really tall. As I get close to where they should be, I start ranging a few cactus's just to get an idea of distance (it looks way different in the open desert for some reason). So now I'm creeping around and Boom, there goes one right from in front of me. I never saw it because of the grass. A few more steps and two of them, about 15 yrds in front of me pop up and start to go... All I can see are the very tops of there backs and the tops of there heads so no way I can shoot. I kept creeping down and 4 more bust out. Again all I can see are the tops of there backs. Then I see about 7 of them about 100 yrds in front of me running straight down the canyon and before I know it they are already up the other side and gone! Damn, I blew that one! Not my fault though, the grass was way too tall for an archery shot.. By now it's noon and about 82 degrees.. I hike back to the other side of the canyon, grab my pack, my 2 hunting partners and back to camp we go.
    About 3:00pm me and one of the old guys decide to go back to the glassing spot and look around. My buddies dad decided to stay in camp and get a fire going and get dinner goin. Sounds perfect to me.. Me and the one guy head up start looking around and there's not much going on as it's still pretty hot out.. As the shadows start to appear so do the deer. A few here and then a few more over there. I hop up to ask my partner if he's seeing anything and he said, "nope". I showed him the deer and then all of a sudden two javelina go running by us about 100 yrds below us. They're heading straight away from us on a fast trot. We watch them as they disappeared into the bottom of a thick wash.. It started to get dark so we headed back for camp. We had a great dinner and off to bed early.
   We get up again around 6:00am Saturday morning for coffee and breakfast. After we're done we all head out the opposite way we went the day before. We hike about a mile and find a great big Mt for glassing all the hills around in all directions. Along the way the heards of deer are starting to appear. We finally see a small 3pt buck with one of the groups of does. We watch him for a few and then keep moving to the top.. Once we get there we all sit looking on opposite directions and start glassing as the sun comes up. No pigs yet, but I found another group of about 18 does. Off to the side of them about 40 yrds is a giant buck! So of course now I'm watching him and my search for pigs stalls!
    About 15 min later one of the guys says, "grab your stuff and come over, I've got some pigs spotted". I grab my pack, bow and tripod with my nockers attached.. We all start looking and about 1 mile away on the side of a sunny hillside there's about 12-15 pigs all along the top of the ridge. They're spread out by about 200 yrds across the top. 2 there, 4 there, 3 there and so on.. A few are already starting to top out and go over the backside.. So we decided if we're going to do this we best get going. My 2 hunting partners are a little older than me ( one is 70 with two new knees and a new hip, the other guy is 68 and a little out of shape) so it took us a while to cover the mile up and over about 3 ridges..
    So the plan is, one guy is going left and to the top, I'm going to the right and work my way up and he 3rd guy was hot and tired so he decided to stay where he was and just watch it all go down.. Off we go!
    Took me about 20 mins to sneak up my side and there's a barbed wire fence going up the same way I was. As I got closer I could see a few of them about to go under the fence and keep working to the right. So I get on the other side of the fence and keep sneaking up (almost no cover either btw). So as I get closer, maybe 65 yrds now I look around and those one by the fence decided not to go under it, but are hanging close by. Then I see a BIG one over about 50 yrds to the left of them. That's the one! So I carefully go back over the barbed wire fence and just concentrated on that big guy.. I was able to position myself behind an old mesquite tree and used it between me and the big javelina for a little bit of cover. This tree was about 3 ft tall and dead, but the branches were so thick it gave me a little cover at least. So I'm now 30 yrds from the tree and then I range the pig and it's about 22 yrds past the tree. So my plan is to sneak up to the tree and then shoot him! So verrrrrrry slowly I made my way to the tree and there he is.. He's just eating and doin his thing.. I range him and he's 25yrds away. Now I start getting the shakes.. I get ready to draw and had to actually tell myself to calm down and just make the shot! I slowly stand up behind the tree, already drawn, I can see the pig broadside. I settle on him and pull the trigger. Slap! Arrow goes right through him! He jumped a few feet and puffed all his hair up and looked like a crazy monster! So he's just standing there so I nock another arrow and shoot again. 20 yrds and this time he goes down hard ! At that point I see another one about 5 yrds behind him and it now takes off up and over the hill.. The other ones by the fense are still there just milling around. So I drop my bow and start making my way back down the hill to go get my buddies dad to come shoot one with his pistol.
   I get to him, grab his pack and tell him what's going on... We both sneek back up together and they're still flippin there! We get to about 40 yrds and he gets a nice rest with a fence post.. BOOM! He shoots and down goes another Javelina! That's two!!
   Worked out great!! So we shake hands, talk about what happend for a few minutes and then we see our other guy coming over the top towards us.. We show him how things went down and we tell him the story. So we take a few pictures and then I told them, I can handle my pig and why don't they go do the other. I took a few more pix and took my time quartering mine out. They did his quickly and asked if I need any help? I was just about done so I told them, why don't they go look for the other pigs that ran down the hill after all the shooting.. So they take off and about 20 minutes later I'm putting my pig on my pack frame. I throw my pack on and i hear about 4 shots down the hill.. A few minutes later I hear from about 500yrds away "got one"! By the time i get down there these guys are half way done breaking down the 3rd pig of the day! We finish his up, stuff it in my pack and back to camp we go! 3 pigs down and it's about noon and 80 degrees.. We get back to camp, put the pigs in the cooler and that PBR tall boy never tasted so good!
   We spent the rest of the day talking about what an epic hunt it was and had a nice fire, some good bourbon, a few cigars and some awesome memories !
    I shot my big boar with a RAD Ti-con 100. Worked like a charm! Two shots and both were lethal! Big thanks to RAD for some awesome broadheads!

[Tbob]

This is a pic of the entrance wound with the RAD Ti-Con 100. Thought it was kinda cool looking.

[carpsniperg2]

Congrats that is a nice musk hog right there

[WAcoueshunter]

Nice, that's a good pig right there!   

I'm headed down on Thursday, toting the M of the H.A.M. Taking my 8 y.o. with me for his first desert hunt.  Hopefully our group can find a cooperative herd like you did!

[bearpaw]

great story and photos

[YoungFowler]

Awesome!


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[Tbob]

So I just did one of the rear hams in the slow cooker and It came out de-lish! Tasted like some of the best pulled pork I've had yet! It's funny that some people say these don't taste good, but damn! I also did one of the loins in the cast iron with some brown butter and sage. Again, UH-MAZE-ING! Don't let anyone say these don't taste good!

[Jpmiller]

How much meat do you get off one of those? Sounds like a fun hunt.

[pianoman9701]

Thanks for sharing.

[Tbob]

Hey dude,
    Sorry for the delay... I'd say I was lucky to have maybe 25-30 lbs of meat off a big one. They're mostly hide and head! They sure make for a super cool euro mount though!

[bowhunterforever]

Awesome

[youngbull]

If someone in your party somehow  backs
Out i got a set of fresh legs and sharp broadheads.

[Tbob]

Sounds good dude!