The Javelina Hunt that Almost Wasn’t

 JC Amberlyn

   I have been hunting for about ten years now, and had yet to get a big game animal. I was thrilled when I got drawn for General javelina season, Unit 16A.  I had been backpacking in that unit recently with some friends and come across a perfect little javelina habitat, complete with a water source and no roads nearby. Finding a javelina skull told me they were in the area. However, when javelina season came around, it began to look like it was just not meant to be. I caught a horrendous cold/sore throat and was sick as a dog. My boyfriend Dan had offered to drive me back out to our backpacking area in his truck, but instead I spent the first day of javelina season still sick in bed. 

   Finally, on Saturday I felt well enough to go, and we packed up and moved out. Having been sick meant that I hadn’t sighted in my rifle (a scope-sighted 30-30), and I wound up doing that out in the desert before we got to our chosen spot. THEN, it turned out Dan’s truck couldn’t make it all the way to where we wanted to go, due to a very rough road, and we ended up camping more than a mile from the waterhole. In addition, he had to get back Sunday night, which meant I had Saturday evening and Sunday morning to hunt- that was it. Regardless, we decided that the fun was just in being out there, and you never know what will happen!

    We hiked up the rough road to the water hole area and waited around- I was still sick, so I didn’t feel like hiking through the rugged terrain much. Darkness fell and we headed back. The next morning I felt better. I figured this hunt would probably be like all my other big game hunts and I wouldn’t even see legal quarry, but we headed out for the short time we had, anyway. We spent the next few hours making our way around the mountain and approaching the waterhole from another angle. I had been glassing all morning, but not seen a thing. We were less than a mile from the water, almost down the mountainside, when I looked over and couldn’t believe what I saw heading straight for us from the other side of the draw maybe 50 yards away! In all of the immense miles-long tangle of brush, cactus, washes, and canyons, the local javelina herd chose that moment to make its way up the draw I was standing next to!

   I immediately crouched down and began my stalk while Dan quietly took all my excess gear and camera and found a good vantage point to watch from. The herd disappeared into the brush below us and I sneaked up above them and looked down. Dan directed me to where they were, and soon I caught glimpses of the critters. Once I had my quarry pinpointed, I sat down and found a very nice, solid sitting position on the rocks. I noticed one javelina had made his way into a small open area, heading back up the hillside. With a clear target, I aimed and fired- my first shot ever at a big game animal. I was too excited, and the first shot missed. All the javelina immediately jumped, bristled up, and stood around, trying to locate the source of the sound. I don’t think this herd had been heavily hunted. I calmed myself, and tried again- this time the javelina dropped right in its tracks and I knew I had it! The others just nervously walked off! I couldn’t believe it! I finally had my first big game animal! Dan and I both had the happiest, most excited, and most incredulous looks on our faces! :)

    It turned out I had made a perfect heart shot at 50 yards- a humane kill. I placed a small sprig from a green shrub in its mouth- this was inspired by a German hunting tradition of giving the animal its “last meal”- a token of respect to the life taken. Then the hard work began. Everything about this hunt timed out perfectly. We had just enough time for me to field-dress it, get it back to the truck (35 pounds dressed and almost 3 miles on Dan’s back while I carried the rest of the gear- I can’t thank him enough!), and get back to my house so he could get home!

   I never knew how much work is involved with skinning and butchering an animal that size, but the result was worth it.  I’ve been enjoying excellent BBQ javelina ever since! And no, the meat is not “gamey” at all- it’s very mild. I have once again seen (tasted) how care of the meat in the field is what matters most! This is one Arizona big game hunt I will never forget- and it almost didn‘t happen!