Javelina success in 24A 

By Amanda Moors

I hunted javelina with my friend Bob Corley in February 2005. We hunted a beautiful area down in the south end of 24A.  Everything was so green after the series of storms we had.  It was tough getting to where we wanted to be due to numerous washouts of the road.  We were lucky enough to know a rancher in the area who gave us keys to his gates and info on where some good spots were.  I spotted my herd around 3:30 pm on Monday afternoon a little less than a ½ mile away.  I stalked within about 100 yards of them and took out my rangefinder to double-check the distance. 

As I put the rangefinder back in its case, a pig that was probably 40 yards from me (but not visible) started “woofing”.  He had heard the slight Velcro noise on the case.  As they started getting alarmed, I could hear a couple shots from off in the distance.  That seemed to really make the pigs nervous and they started moving out.  They moved across the canyon from me and I rushed forward another 10 yards or so and sat down to get ready for a shot.  Finally one stood still long enough for me to make a quick shot and it rolled hard down the steep slope into the bottom of the drainage.  It died pretty much instantly.

Two days later Bob spotted a herd and went after them while I spotted for him.  Unfortunately for him, the javelina seemed to have somewhere to go and they kept moving fairly quickly over one ridge after another.  They weren’t spooked, but they kept moving.  I was on an opposite ridge and in radio contact telling him where the pigs were going.  He kept chasing them through some very tough climbs.  Eventually, after about an hour and a half of this chasing game, they slowed and he got a 30-yard shot at a nice young boar with his muzzleloader.

My pig was one of the oldest I have ever taken.  She was at least 7 years old, probably more.  I used the aging guide put out by the AZGFD.  She was missing three molars on each side of her lower jaw.  Her teeth are worn to almost nothing.  Her canines are very short and the front incisors are missing or very worn.

Here are some comparison photos of my old pig versus the young boar (probably 2-3 yrs old) that Bob got. I will eventually clean them completely and use them for wildlife classes.  Unfortunately, I hit my javelina in the neck/head and so the back of her skull is all broken up

(Additonal photo's below/at end)

I also included an image of some Whitetail.  A doe and her twin fawns from last year.  But look at how green and lush that slope is.  It was like that everywhere!!

Amanda is a wildlife biologist and the owner/creator of www.coueswhitetail.com