We got 3 decent boars. Moe's was the biggest, mine had the biggest teeth and Jorge shot an old, lone boar that was definitely on a downhill slide - it probably wouldn't have lasted another year or maybe even through this winter.

I have to say that it was not a very challenging hunt. The rancher pretty much knew where they were, within a mile or two, and we drove out at 8:30 AM. Javelina don't like the cold and will wait for the sun to come out before getting active. I saw them about a 1/4 mile away in the cholla cactus thicket, and pointed them out. We ended up driving ahead of them to get the wind right, and then got out and walked a whopping 1/2 mile to get ahead of the feeding pack of peccaries. We must have positioned ourselves properly because they walked right up to us. Since I had never shot one, I was given first right of refusal and promptly missed one, offhand at 75 yards since my knee would not cooperate with going to a kneeling or sitting position....I had had knee surgery a few weeks ago. At that point, I said "Screw the knee" and dropped to a sitting postion and nailed the boar that looked like he had the biggest.....head. (What were you guys thinking?) The .243 80 gr Remington SP dropped it on the spot.

The rest of the herd took off, but one boar stopped after running about 100 yards at an angle to us. I don't think he was quite sure where the danger was. Moe, in his typical manner, missed the standing broadside shot at 100 yards. He had only found 10 rounds for his .240 Wthby, so that was all he had. He then proceeded to miss several more times at the running boar, hitting high. The lateral placement was right on, but he was shooting a couple inches high. He finally nailed it with a perfect shot on the thing as it was running flat out at top speed. Moe frequently seems to miss the easy, broadside standing shots but then nails the critter on the run. I think he had 3 bullets left out of his 10....

We took our two little piggies back to the skinning pole and cleaned them up. Then we had lunch and went out looking for Jorge's piggy. Once again, I spotted this lone boar eating some cactus. Jorge nailed it with a perfect shot with his .257 Wthby, and a 100 gr Triple Shock at a lasered 119 yards. He was trying not to hit bone, but the thing was a mess anyway when we skinned it out. His javelina was old, skinny and losing hair on his cheeks and chest. It had one broken fang/tusk/tooth/whatever you call them.

These are sure ugly little critters, and they do smell - although not as badly as I anticipated. The meat actually did not look or small badly at all. I will let you know how it tastes....

My computer is downloading the pictures from my camera, but is not letting me print, email or download them. I'll have to figure out what is up with that. I use a little Kodak digital camera and Kodak Easy Share software, which has been problem-free for several years...

It was fun to finally get out and shoot something, and hang out with the guys for a few days. Moe and I met John Wasson, Gila Monster on several forums, in Silver City for a few adult beverages. John has spent most of the last 3 years in Iraq as a civilian contractor driving trucks and serving as a Convoy Commander. He has some interesting stories to tell that he cannot post anything about, and a different perspective on the war there than a lot of people.

Anyway, it was fun, if not challenging.

Me and my javelina -



Jorge and his old boar -



Moe's javelina -



My javelina's teeth -

Good job! Thanks for sharing!!

Nice looking javies! Sounds like the ranch you hunted had quite a good amount of them running around. Boy, you are right they don't start moving around until the sun is out, so at least you can sleep in a little on those hunts...lol!

Sorry to hear you found the hunt unchallenging. It did sound like pretty easy pickins. Their eyesight is really bad and at the distance you were shooting they could wind you but probably not see you well. It does sound like you had a great time with your buddies though, chasing pigs always is!

We hunt javelina with traditional archery equipment, which brings the challenge factor up a notch when you need to get within 15 to 40 yards. Stalking is great fun as is calling or woofing them in. Primos makes a dynamite javelina call, which has brought pigs back to us after they blew out of an area.

If you have a good meat processor, you may want to try making summer sausage with the meat, it is really tastey. Also bacon wrapping the backstraps and tenderloins and grilling with a little barbecue sauce is very good too!

Congrats to you and your buddies and if you want to kick the challenge up a bit come to Arizona with your bows next year.

Thanks for sharing your story! I couldn't hunt them this year due to an injury over a year ago that I haven't fully recovered from.

Kindest Regards,
Mary

Nice peccaries ,here hunting peccaries use to be a very popular sport now with the boom of soin beam croplands the populations decreased .Juan

bout how big do those critters get out in NM, about the samw as here in Texas?

Thanks for sharing!

I love seeing others enjoying the thrill of Javi hunting

sounds like a good time was had by all. Congrats on your success. Let us know how they taste.
GWB

Where in NM was this? Just curious.

As mentioned in a post above, I got one in Texas recently. You can skin the head and boil all the meat and stuff off and make a real neat skull mount that really shows off those teeth. Just boil in an old stewpot or something with plenty of dishwasher detergent or borax thrown in. Picking all the brains and gunk out of the snout area is the most tedious part. The front teeth will for sure come out but the molars on mine loosened but stayed in place. Just use some Elmer's to glue the front teeth and tusks back in place. Its easy and makes an interesting trophy if you like skull mounts.

Congrats on having a good fun hunt! Merg

This was outside of Silver City, New Mexico. I imagine they are the same size as they are in Texas. 40-60 pounds, with an good siszed one being about 50 pounds?