Arizona Javelina Hunting

[jstone]

I have family who are moving to Arizona. Half hour NE of Scottsdale.
Has anyone hunted Javelina in Arizona?

[WAcoueshunter]

Yes, I go pretty much every year.  Apps are due on Tuesday.  What do you want to know? 

[b0bbyg]

Tagging,   as I sit in AZ right now
have never hunted them but thought about it a few times.  Saw some walking down the road just 2 nights ago.

[WAcoueshunter]

This years hunt, February.

[jstone]

I need to find out what unit that is by their house. I am thinking of going January or February. Can you just buy a license and or tag over the counter?

[jstone]

Looks like NE of Scottsdale is unit 25M
Archery only

[Skyvalhunter]

How were they taste wise?

[WAcoueshunter]

NE of Scottsdale should be pretty close to Unit 22, you might look there.  I suspect the lower parts of 22 would have plenty of javelina there, although a lot of that country just burned up this summer.  I drove through a few weeks ago and it didn't look good. 

Javelina is draw only, even for archery, which is a bit strange since you can hunt archery deer OTC down there. 

Archery tags are in January and coincide with the OTC archery deer hunts.  Fun combo hunt.  The February tags are HAM (Handgun, Archery, Muzzy) or rifle.  Javelina are made for archery hunting - they don't see well and they are pretty noisy themselves, so you really just need to find them and play the wind.  Finding them is usually the hard part. 

[WAcoueshunter]

How were they taste wise?

Meat looks and tastes like pork.  There is a scent gland on their back, you need to be careful around that bugger, like a stinky buck's tarsal gland.  But once you get rid of that, no stink. 

[Skyvalhunter]

 

[jstone]

Is it hard to draw?

[Sandberm]

Being a desert dweller, this Javelina stuff looks like fun. My bro owns a second home in AZ....hmmm...maybe someday I should make this hunt happen. Where the heck did I lay down my bucket list?

[WAcoueshunter]

Is it hard to draw?

Depends a little on the unit and tag, but for the most part no.  On the whole, there are tons of leftover tags every year, although they may not be the particular unit or tag you want.  Archery tags should be easy to draw.  The HAM tags are also pretty easy, the rifle tags a little more difficult. Eyeballing the draw results for Unit 22, looks like about 25% draw odds with no points for each hunt.  But you get two choices, so together your odds of drawing a tag with no points should be closer to 50%.  We hunt further south, away from Phoenix, and there are more tags down there so it's even easier to draw. 

BTW, I just looked at the Regs, and 25M is one of the few non-permit units (didn't know there were any).  So looks like you could archery hunt in January OTC if you can find a place to hunt. 

[jstone]

Thank you for the information

[Fletch]

I put in with another member on here and drew 25 yrs ago.  It was a fun hunt NW of Phoenix.  I hunted with rifle, hardest part was finding them... once found the rest was easy.  I agree great for archery, handgun or rifle.  I put in this year with my son for a 25 yr anniversary run if we get drawn.  He was 6 months old last time I went.    Didnt taste that great to me...