I left OK for Ft Stockton, TX on Feb 21st and met most of the guys that night in Abilene to get some sleep and we finished the drive the next morning and were at the ranch by 1 pm. We met the guide and he told us to get ready as he would have us to our spots for an afternoon hunt. Some of the spots had big herds of javelinas coming in so he wanted some of us to sit in pairs. I elected to sit with my cousin Bart and he took us in to our spot. He showed us where to sit up and told us where the javis would come from but it seemed to us that the wind was wrong. We didn't see a thing that night except mule deer but my youngest brother shot the first javi of the trip that evening with a great shot from his Black Widow. Bart and I went back out the next morning and I took this picture of him in the blind.
We still didn't see anything and still thought the wind was wrong for where the guide had told us to sit up. That night we changed partners and I took my youngest brothers best friend from school days with me and when we got close to our spot, the javis were already on the feed. The wind was still wrong from where our blind was but when we saw them from 100 yrds, we were able to circle around and stalk in with the wind in our favor. My partner was having a bad hunt and had already missed 3 times but I told him if he had an open shot to take it and not to wait on me. We stalked in close and he was able to make a shot from from 15 yrds and got his first javilena. The next morning I sat up on the hillside a couple hundred yards from the feeder we had been watching and got tired and fell asleep. We had been meeting at the lodge at 10 each morning to start lunch and I didn't wake up till 11:40. They were worried about me by the time I got back and my lunch was cold but I was refreshed. I had been going out at night with the guide doing some predator calling and not getting to bed till after midnight and then up again by 5 so I was worn out. When I drove up to camp, one of the guys was skinning a coyote he had gotten that morning. When they gave me some tenderloin to eat for lunch and I tried to bite some off but could not, I guessed correctly that they had cooked the backstrap of the coyote. I could not bite a piece off. Probably overcooked but I'm not sure I would want to eat medium rare coyote...LOL. That night I went out and as usual, there were several mule deer that came into the feeder. Here is a pic of my spot and some of the deer.
After sitting for a couple hours, a line of 9 javis came in from right where the guide said they would, which was fine that night since a front had come through and the wind had shifted. I let them feed till one of the bigger ones got just to the left of that bushy grass looking plant in the last pic and was able to make the shot at 12 yards. It weighed 57 lbs and only went 30 yards before collapsing. This was my third year in a row to hunt javelina and my first shot opportunity. Here is a pic of the whole group with our javis the last evening of the hunt. I wish I had taken some individual pics with mine but we were always hustling around and I never did. The biggest was the one my brother shot the first evening and it weighed 65 lbs. We got 9 between the group. 7 of the eight were hunting with trad equipment but one switched back to wheels late in the hunt. I used a Black Widow SAII pulling 47 lbs at 27" with Gold Tip Arrows and Stinger Broadheads.
Here is a pic of the honey hole blind. 12 shots were taken around this feeder on the hunt. There were always a bunch of mule deer around it too. I took this picture when there were 25 mule deer within 25 yrds of me. The doe looking at me was about 8 yrds.
Most of the guys left Sunday morning early but me and one other guy got in one last hunt Sunday morning. I only had one javi come in and it was wounded with an arrow left in it so I finished the job. After shooting the javi, I saw that the arrow was just under the skin and it would have probably lived but I didn't want to leave a wounded animal. My partner Sunday morning was the only one in the group that never had a shot but he had a great time and could have shot but was more interested in hunting old arrowheads than in killing an animal. Hope the story wasn't too long. It was a great trip and the whole group is booked again for next year.
Topic: Finally Javelina Success! (Read 260 times)
