Where
do I start?
Javelina
Here is information that I hope will give some of you first timers the ability to find your own little honey holes for Javelina. There is a famous saying, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for the rest of his life.” I could tell of you where to go to find your Javelina but my intention here is to give you the knowledge needed to make your hunt be your own.
I know most of you understand that there are three basic needs to sustain life; food, water and shelter. The first need is food. The Javelina has a very broad diet. The staple of their diet is prickly pear cactus. They eat the tender new leaves and the ends of the roots. They also eat that new grass that will grow up under the cactus and mesquite if the rainfall is sufficient. Look for places that these little mess makers eat. Cactus, specifically prickly pear will be shredded at about 8 to 10 inches off the ground. You will be able to tell where they have been digging up roots from where the dirt has been turned over by their snouts. It is not uncommon to find a relatively large area where Javelina have been feeding.
Now to figure out where they live. Start by checking out the south and southwest sides of the bigger ridges, where there might be a steep canyon or draw. That gets us to the next necessity of life, shelter. Javelinas do not have fur. They have very coarse hair. It does not protect them from the elements. They require an area that will get them out of the wind and cold. Canyon bottoms will usually provide them with a relatively large tree, depression, cave or rock pile where they can huddle up together for warmth.
These canyons or deep draws will sometimes provide a spring for the third necessity, water. An important thing to remember about Javelina is they have to water either in a stock tank, creek or spring. Those steel cattle troughs are just too high for them to drink from, the little stinking guy is only about 20 inches high at the shoulder when his hair is standing on end. Javelinas also love to wallow in the mud. When the temperature rises you will find them rolling around in the mud to cool off.
Now that you have an idea of where to look for your Javelina, understand that if they have all three of these necessities close by, then they won’t travel all that far. So get up on a ridge and break out your optics, you should not have too much trouble finding them moving around- going from one necessity to another.
When you start scouting for Javelina go to the water sources looking for track and wallows. Javelinas are very social, they will usually congregate in one spot to drink and make a big mess. A Javelina Party. You should be able to see their tracks fairly well around the water source. Wipe all the tracks clean, then the next time that you are out, you will have an idea when they were there last.
More times than not Javelina will follow a wash or creek bottom until they get to where they want to climb up to forage for food. When you see one of these areas determine which way the wind is blowing and get to a high spot adjacent to where you think they might have gone. Remember get that wind in your face. This is for two reasons: one- they have an excellent smeller, two- you will probably smell them before you will see them. They smell a little like a skunk.
One more quality about Javelina is that they are very noisy eaters. You will hear snorting sounds and woofing. They also have great hearing. Be careful when you are putting the stalk on them. Move as slow as possible and pay attention to where their heads are facing. They don’t see well, but they pick up movement easily. Once they see a movement and get concerned, they will usually sit tight and watch very intently or they will just leave the country.
All is not lost when they bolt. You have one very powerful tool on your side, game calls. Get your self in position, ready to shoot and then start calling on a Modern Call Products, Javelina Call. More times than others you will have a herd of Javelina within kicking distance by using this tactic. Feel free to drop me an e-mail to find out where to buy one these fantastic calls. This call is truly one of a kind.
Well I hope I have given you some tools to enhance your success for the up coming Javelina hunts. Get out, look around and find these areas I have discussed. Using your topo’s, optics and calls should improve your success ratio.
Good Luck and Best Wishes,
Hunting Editor for AZOD
Modern Call Products Pro Staff Captain
Modern
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