2025 Traditional Hunt Success Thread

[bisblue]

Had a wonderful AZ javelina hunt and my good buddy got his first javelina.

We get to hunt in the higher elevation Pinyon Juniper which seems like it takes a couple days to find them in that landscape.

I scouted a few new spots and then we hunted together in a spot we knew for a couple days. On the third morning we split up in a small valley bottom, and I ran right into them. With many of them being within 20 yards I tried to rush things. I put my arrow on with the blade in the wrong orientation, and snapping on my nock made a loud click that they all noticed. Instead of waiting for things to come together I rushed a shot. I was worried they would all squirt through my lanes and got a clean miss, then they took off in various directions. My buddy and I got a few other opportunities as they squirted around us in a thick wash and mesquite thicket the next couple hours. He was able to get a nice sow as a few came back through an open area. I bumped into them a few more times but didn't get another shot.

By 1:30 PM we had chased them all over and I hiked up the hill to glass another area on the way back to camp. My buddy headed back to make breakfast. He came hoofing back up to tell me there was a group of Javelina milling about our camp up the canyon, about a mile away from where we bumped them that morning. I got a good chuckle and was able to slip in, take my time, and get a controlled shot. It sure is fun running around the desert chasing theses things.

 

[Slickhill]

I got my first javelina the other day, actually the first one I’d ever laid eyes on. Was sitting watching a trail intersection more for deer or Nilgia when a single javelina came out behind me and followed the trail around into a lane I could shoot in.

I put an arrow right behind the shoulder from my cheapo 40lb ILF bow and it acted like nothing happened. After a minute or so it circled back the way it had come and I put another one 2” from the first when it entered the same lane. It walked about 10 feet and tipped over. Tusker Aztec on some old Beman 500s.

Neat little animals. Smelliest creature I’ve ever encountered. TX requires salvage and my eyes were watering as I quartered it. I’m not normally a glove wearer for field dressing but was thankful for the pair I found in my pack. Skull is in the maceration tub and I’m trying to figure out what to do to make the meat edible. Thankful it had a nice set of tusks as one may be my lifetime supply.

 

[bisblue]

I do gloves and a scalpel blade to skin it, then new gloves and different blade to quarter. I've found them to be great eating