While the Hummer crew went to "Javi Central", I headed on back to my spot at the "T" intersection. I parked the Jeep back down the road a ways, and on my way back up to the intersection spied two javies already out in the road. They were feeding very slowly in my direction, so I circled out into the cactus to cut the distance somewhat.
I got to a point where I couldn't go further without making noise or being too brushed in, so I knelt down and arranged a little ambush point 10 yards off the road.
Seems like it takes forever when you're waiting and can't see up the road to know if they're still coming or not, but it really wasn't long before I could hear the crunch crunch crunch of something close chewing on corn. The time is here!
As they came into view they both looked to be nice size animals, so I decided to try for whichever presented himself properly to me first. A low growing prickly pear gave me the cover I needed to draw, and as one stepped into an opening I tried to force myself to concentrate on a spot low and directly above the leg.
The string slipped from my fingers, and I wish I could say I hit my mark exactly, but the arrow struck just a bit high. The spinal column rides lower than a guy would think on these animals, and that is what I hit. The good news is that he dropped on the spot.
At the hit the javie let out a series of squeals - let's just say he was not very happy with me at all! His buddy came charging in to defend his partner, grunting and popping his teeth at me not 5 yards away. A third animal that I had not seen before charged in from behind. These boys meant business! Only the brush in between us kept me from trying a shot to complete a double.
The reinforcements for my wounded javie quickly, and thankfully, dispersed back to the thorns, and I turned my attention back to the animal on the ground. A follow up shot to the spot I should have hit the first time ended things quickly.
In less time than it takes to tell I had my first javelina in the bag. As Norbert told me later, I had just completed the North American portion of a "ham slam", all in my first Texas hunt.
I finished with a couple of photos and field dressing chores, and there were more javelina further up the road. The limit is two, and I thought it would be great to be able to roll back into camp with a matched set in the back of the Jeep.
It was still plenty early, and I had multiple opportunities, but swirling wind foiled a perfect set up on one group. A javi that couldn't stand still while I held at full draw eight yards away foiled another.
Generally, it seems that the acton picks up toward dusk, however this evening proved to be the opposite. As soon as the sun dropped low in the sky the temperature dropped just as quickly, and the javi action was over for the evening. As I watched the sky turn spectacular shades of pastels though, I had no regrets. It had been a wonderful day in South Texas.
Topic: TXSweat group 2- tales of adventure (Read 7254 times)
