• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Traditional Javelina Hunt Part 3

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Nov 17, 2016
Messages
1,811
Reaction score
2,053
Location
N.C. and elsewhere
This afternoon I set out for another lap around the ranch. It was HOT. There was not a lot of movement other than red ants. The brush and cactus even seemed to be napping. The trail I followed was like this...
terrain.jpg


Around the 3 mile mark I stopped and waited a long time overlooking this little dead-end area....
terrain-2.jpg


I completed the lap and had plenty more daylight so I decided to go back around the way I came from. The wind had changed direction and that would make a reverse trek logical. I limited my gear to my possibles bag with short starter, vent pick, pan primer spare patch and ball and vial of powder. I had my loading rod and a knife. After hydrating, I eased back, this time staying off the trail slightly whenever possible to use the brush and developing shadows as more cover. At around the half-way mark I was watching a little opening when this Axis doe (Chital) came out and wandered past. These are free range all over the central and western part of the State. I did not know I might encounter an Axis and did not ask for permission to take one, so I passed and concentrated on the Javelina.
axis.jpg


Just before beginning the last mile I saw a single Javelina near some cactus. It moved off slowly and circled back so I decided to wait there.
terrain-3.jpg


I was inside the last half mile when I saw a few Javelina coming towards my location. I sat down and readied the rifle. As I waited more and more came to a little puddle of water surrounded by cactus. First 3, then 5 more, then 1, then 1 then 2 then 3. If my math is correct there were 15. They were tightly clustered around and I did not want to take more than one at once so I waited. One was clearly bigger than the others. Its head was bigger, butt was twice as wide and it was taller. There was one that was a close second but it was not as colored. I focused on the big, colored one. After nearly a half hour I was really worried about running out of light. Finally, a big hawk swooped down on the cluster and pulled up at the last minute. This minor commotion caused the javelina to separate and spread out. The one I wanted was slightly to my left, facing left to right. I guessed the distance at 50-yards and started lining up the sights as I set the back trigger. I decided to aim slightly low since these are small animals and I figured my point of impact is 2 or 3 inches high at 50-yards. When the sights settled I put pressure on the front trigger. Boom - followed by a cloud of smoke move the rifle and obscured my vision. The smoke cloud drifted slowly to the left. After about 15 seconds the slow moving cloud was far enough away to clear the view. There was the javelina lying motionless. I paced the distance....65-yards. These critters are smaller than you might think and the terrain is unique so mis-judging distance is quite possible but I was off a lot more than I thought. If anything, I would have thought I'd over-estimate range, not under-estimate. The ball hit the line I was one horizontally but was the 3-inches high I expected. It did manage to get the very top of lungs and the very bottom of spine. A slight uphill angle contributed to the balls path. Very satisfied, I rigged up two poles and lashed a sled together to drag this guy out the last half mile. I tied the rifle next to him to use two hands. It worked out pretty good.....
nice-rifle-3.jpg


good-me-and-javi-for-forum.jpg
 
Well done sir. Never seen one myself, just aren’t any up here in the North, but that one appears to be quite old. Good job.
Thanks for taking us along, cannot wait till the snow is gone, this crazy world returns to normal and I can return outside.
Walk
 
I just spoke to the State biologist that studies the Javelina stuff. She said any tusks over 1.5" is a trophy. This one is over 2". Apparently a full-grown Javelina weighs 40-80 pounds as a species but the area where this one is from averages less overall. I was told average range is 35-50 pounds. This one is 62 pounds "dead" weight, so its a big one all things considered. Interesting to me is that most of the others looked literally half this size (and they may actually be), and only one other was nearly the same size in appearance.
 
1. Soak de-boned meat in salt brine for 2 hours
2. Rinse meat thoroughly
3. Soak meat 24 hours in Apple Cider Vinegar
4. Rinse meat
5. Pressure cook, high pressure 10 minutes with onions and garlic
6. Put in pan with onions, garlic, (peppers, carrots, celery as desired) and chicken broth
7. Cover pan
8. Bake on low heat 300 degrees (+/- some) for 4-6 hours. Check every 1.5 hours. Meat should fall apart on fork.
9. Season to taste with salt, pepper, celery salt, saurkraut or "seasoning" like Tony Sacherre or Alamo, etc....

I added a cup of cream of chicken soup and half-cup of water to the slow cooking. It is awesome!
 
She said any tusks over 1.5" is a trophy. This one is over 2".

It looks like the left cutter is broken???? Also, I assume this was a boar. Right?

A big gust of wind at the wrong time blew my only chance for a javelina years ago. Congrats to you for the trophy and your persistence.
 
1. Soak de-boned meat in salt brine for 2 hours
2. Rinse meat thoroughly
3. Soak meat 24 hours in Apple Cider Vinegar
4. Rinse meat
5. Pressure cook, high pressure 10 minutes with onions and garlic
6. Put in pan with onions, garlic, (peppers, carrots, celery as desired) and chicken broth
7. Cover pan
8. Bake on low heat 300 degrees (+/- some) for 4-6 hours. Check every 1.5 hours. Meat should fall apart on fork.
9. Season to taste with salt, pepper, celery salt, saurkraut or "seasoning" like Tony Sacherre or Alamo, etc....

I added a cup of cream of chicken soup and half-cup of water to the slow cooking. It is awesome!

Thanks for this. You are the 1st person I can remember speaking positively of javelina for supper. I think your brining and pressure cooker process made the difference.
 
Nearly 45 yrs ago, I read a story by Sam Fadala about hunting javelina with a cap and ball revolver. Normally hunting stories don't do manure for me. For some reason that just stuck with me as something that would be great to do. I am envious. and Thankyou.
 
I bought a Colt Dragoon to hunt javelina with, but never got the chance. Thanks for the story.

One question, it looks like your rifle is without a ramrod and I don't see thimbles for one either. Maybe it's just the photo, but what's the story there?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top