Opening day javelina...and BH209 fouled barrel would not have even mattered!
02-06-2015, 04:46 PM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Arizona
Posts: 202
Opening day javelina...and BH209 fouled barrel would not have even mattered!
So I got up around 5:00 this morning and met my hunting buddy, Gordy and his son, Jon to drive to out in the desert before the sun rose...but fate would change that, as we had a flat on my ATV trailer a little before our desert destination. After changing to our spare, we continued on and reached our launching point in just a few minutes. We were pleased to see no hunters at our parking spot...only some hippie hiker types camped there!
We unloaded and started our 1.5 mile ride to our walk-in spot and found that the Sycamore Creek had MUCH more water than expected, and we had to cross it 4 times before parking.
We parked the ATVs and started our walk up the wash, looking up the steep surrounding hills as we walked. These were not the gentle rolling desert hills we have become used to, but very steep on either side. We did see many javelina tracks in the wash as we walked, and we knew they were there since we scouted about 2 weeks ago because of the rain we had. We walked about 2 miles and finally saw some less steep hills we could crawl out of the wash and climb. This looked like good javelina country!
After climbing up a quarter mile or so, we jumped a couse white tail, and were amazed at the size of her...we always hear that couse deer are about large dog size, but this doe was quite large. We kept watching her escape, as she climbed ahead of us, and suddenly, I saw a javelina about 90 yards away on a hill near where we saw the doe.
I whispered to Gordy, and his son Jon, my hunting buddies JAVELINA! And Pointed. Gordy saw it and dropped to a seated position, as did I. Jon was hunting with a handgun, and would not have a shot.
The javelina went behind a bush and neither of us had a shot, so I said, "lets go chase it". Gordy said, "I'll sit here and see you bust it out." Gordy is 74, so he had a good excuse for punting on chasing up/down terrain after javelina. Jon, his son, is about 32, and I thought he'd take chase with me, but he stayed behind with his dad.
When I made my way through the cacti, up to the ridge where we'd seen it, I saw another large draw where they might have ran into. My experience has been that javelina will usually go up, so I decided to walk upward along the ridge on my side and look off into it in case they went there.
Within no more than a couple hundred yards, I saw a javelina about 15 yards in front of me, so I raised my scoped Optima Pro and pointed with both eyes open (hardly looking through the lens, because it was so close). The Optima went BANG, and the javelina fell instantly, lung shot.
I tried to get my partner's attention by waving my arms and pointing at the other javelina that I could see and easily shoot at maybe 25 yards, as they "woofed" at me.
It turns out my partners could not see me, even though I could see them. I finally started over to the dead prey and started hauling it down.
They helped me haul the javelina out the 2 mile trek to our ATVs after I gutted it. Man, what a day...we were all beat!
CVA Optima Pro
69 grains weighed BH209
250 grain Hornady SST (decided to reserve the 300 Grn Partitions for Elk)
Entry wound
Exit wound out the chest (back home, dressing it)
We unloaded and started our 1.5 mile ride to our walk-in spot and found that the Sycamore Creek had MUCH more water than expected, and we had to cross it 4 times before parking.
We parked the ATVs and started our walk up the wash, looking up the steep surrounding hills as we walked. These were not the gentle rolling desert hills we have become used to, but very steep on either side. We did see many javelina tracks in the wash as we walked, and we knew they were there since we scouted about 2 weeks ago because of the rain we had. We walked about 2 miles and finally saw some less steep hills we could crawl out of the wash and climb. This looked like good javelina country!
After climbing up a quarter mile or so, we jumped a couse white tail, and were amazed at the size of her...we always hear that couse deer are about large dog size, but this doe was quite large. We kept watching her escape, as she climbed ahead of us, and suddenly, I saw a javelina about 90 yards away on a hill near where we saw the doe.
I whispered to Gordy, and his son Jon, my hunting buddies JAVELINA! And Pointed. Gordy saw it and dropped to a seated position, as did I. Jon was hunting with a handgun, and would not have a shot.
The javelina went behind a bush and neither of us had a shot, so I said, "lets go chase it". Gordy said, "I'll sit here and see you bust it out." Gordy is 74, so he had a good excuse for punting on chasing up/down terrain after javelina. Jon, his son, is about 32, and I thought he'd take chase with me, but he stayed behind with his dad.
When I made my way through the cacti, up to the ridge where we'd seen it, I saw another large draw where they might have ran into. My experience has been that javelina will usually go up, so I decided to walk upward along the ridge on my side and look off into it in case they went there.
Within no more than a couple hundred yards, I saw a javelina about 15 yards in front of me, so I raised my scoped Optima Pro and pointed with both eyes open (hardly looking through the lens, because it was so close). The Optima went BANG, and the javelina fell instantly, lung shot.
I tried to get my partner's attention by waving my arms and pointing at the other javelina that I could see and easily shoot at maybe 25 yards, as they "woofed" at me.
It turns out my partners could not see me, even though I could see them. I finally started over to the dead prey and started hauling it down.
They helped me haul the javelina out the 2 mile trek to our ATVs after I gutted it. Man, what a day...we were all beat!
CVA Optima Pro
69 grains weighed BH209
250 grain Hornady SST (decided to reserve the 300 Grn Partitions for Elk)
Entry wound
Exit wound out the chest (back home, dressing it)
02-06-2015, 05:43 PM
#4
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Arizona
Posts: 202
Thanks Sabot and Grouse. We had a GREAT day. This is javelina #5 for me --2 with handgun and 3 with muzzleloader. I have so much fun locating and trying to get close to them. My typical shot before this, though, is 80 yards. I've tried bow hunting them but gave up on that!
02-06-2015, 06:02 PM
#6
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Arizona
Posts: 202
02-07-2015, 04:22 AM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Rapid City, South Dakota
Posts: 3,732
I avoided the gland on the back like it was a deadly poison, and removed the hide without any contact whatsoever. The meat we had was wonderful; no odd taste. Sent down there by the company, we were like foreigners in a foreign land; hadn't eaten any venison for near 2 years. Wow, that was good meat; tasted like mixing a small amount of Pork, with a larger amount of elk, deer, or antelope. That was nearly 35 years ago now, and i still almost can taste it.
02-07-2015, 04:42 AM
#9
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,922
Don
I thought I was the only one that laid their ML against a branch like that....lol.
Were either of your parents British........ by-chance? That's my guess when looking at your provided pic. I have this fetish for guessing nationalities with people-pics. My 2nd guess would be Australian.
Congrats on your successful hunt BTW.
I thought I was the only one that laid their ML against a branch like that....lol.
Were either of your parents British........ by-chance? That's my guess when looking at your provided pic. I have this fetish for guessing nationalities with people-pics. My 2nd guess would be Australian.
Congrats on your successful hunt BTW.
02-07-2015, 06:22 AM
#10
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Arizona
Posts: 202
I avoided the gland on the back like it was a deadly poison, and removed the hide without any contact whatsoever. The meat we had was wonderful; no odd taste. Sent down there by the company, we were like foreigners in a foreign land; hadn't eaten any venison for near 2 years. Wow, that was good meat; tasted like mixing a small amount of Pork, with a larger amount of elk, deer, or antelope. That was nearly 35 years ago now, and i still almost can taste it.