As I drove home from Arizona last year after our first successful javelina hunt (“First Dance with the Desert Ghost” by Alex DeGeorgey, Dec/Jan 2022 issue of TBM), I couldn’t stop thinking about applying again the following year and taking one or both of my kids with me. They’ve joined me afield since they were old enough to carry a gun or bow (and even before then) and the best thing about always taking them along is they learned to hunt the way I like to hunt. So now I have perfect hunting partners for life—when they can get time away to go with me. When it came time to put in for the draw, both my daughter, Greta, and son, Anders, were all in. Unfortunately, Anders (who is taking a break from skiing the last four years and returning to college) would not be available in early January as classes would be starting back up.

Glassing the surrounding hillsides and valleys is the most productive way to find javelina and plan your stalk. In the winter, javelina are typi- cally feeding in the sun until mid to late morning before bedding down for several hours. (Photo by Mark Drayer)

In early October, Greta and I put in for Arizona javelina and were able to draw tags in the same units as the year before. Our party this year consisted of Alex DeGeorgey, Mark Drayer, Greta, and me. After a long wait, the departure date finally arrived and I picked Greta up after work in Grand Junction, Colorado, and we turned south toward Arizona. In Prescott the following day we met up with Californians Alex and Mark and headed to our campsite for the week-long hunt.

After camp was set up, Alex tossed out a small archery target and we all grabbed our bows for a quick practice session. After the first shot or two, Alex was a bit quiet looking at his bow and then muttered a few, quiet expletives. We all went over to see what was up and he pointed out some cracks that had appeared in his beloved ILF recurve riser where the limbs attach—one crack even went all the way through the riser. After a brief bow medic confab, we pulled out superglue, duct tape, and Gorilla Tape. We poured super glue into the cracks while a couple of us held the bow and then wrapped it all together with tape to hold it in place telling him it should be good for at least one more shot, so make it count. Convinced it was fixed, Alex shot targets and judos the rest of the week with no issues. Bow repairs complete, we left camp for an evening hunt. Although we didn’t find any javelina, we did find lots of sign, proving they were still in the area.

The next morning, with great anticipation, we set out in two directions. Greta and I hiked up a hill behind camp while Mark and Alex headed up a hillside across from camp. Within 30 minutes Greta and I heard some calling and knew Mark and Alex must be into javelina. We continued up the hill to a ridgeline to glass and soon spotted a group of javelina a mile away. We decided we could get there in 15-20 minutes by running along the flats most of the way. We scoured the area for an hour but never found them and returned to camp for lunch, stories, and naps. It turned out Mark and Alex did bump into a group of javelina early that morning, but fickle winds frustrated their stalk.

By early afternoon, Mark and Alex were ready to head back out while Greta wanted to go for a run. She recently graduated from Oregon State University where she ran cross country and track and still loves to run. I told her to go for a 30-minute run and I would scout for sign behind camp. As I wandered around a hillside, I heard whistling near camp and realized it must be Greta trying to get my attention. I quickly came down the hill and got back to camp just as she was leaving with her camo coat, bow in hand, and still in her running shorts. She had left me a note and a map and was heading back out—definitely no time to wait for her old man. Greta quickly relayed that she had run into a group of javelina while running on one of the side roads and had sprinted the mile back to camp to get her bow and sneak shoes. I grabbed my own sneak shoes and together we jogged back up the road where she had seen the javelina. Arriving on scene, we put on our sneak shoes and slowly crept up the road. We rounded the corner where she had seen them and surprisingly, they were still there. I decided to go after one off to the left while she snuck up to the main group feeding alongside a stream bed. As she eased over a small rise, there were suddenly five javelina looking at her from six yards away, but none offered a shot. When one finally turned, she rose up, and shot just over its back.

Greta with her javelina, her first big game animal taken with a bow.

At that point pure chaos ensued. Javelina ran everywhere, in front of me and behind me. Two more ran by Greta and when one stopped, she shot over that one’s back, too. When she reached for her last arrow, a female javelina came up over the little rise and charged her. She was backing up and trying to get the arrow out of her quiver when it turned and flashed by her at two yards followed by a baby javelina. Greta put her last arrow on the string just as another javelina ran past. She composed herself, concentrated, raised her bow, and shot it as it ran by at five yards.

I had seen the javelina charge Greta and watched as the mother, with baby in tow, ran off but wasn’t sure if she had shot anything. There were still javelina dashing everywhere as I mouthed the words, “Did you get one?” She nodded in the affirmative, so now it was my turn. I began calling and several javelina started coming back. As they closed in, I was trying to figure out how to shoot as the call was in my right hand with the bow in my left. I dropped the call and grabbed the string but when the call hit the ground the javelina turned to bolt. I quickly picked it back up, blew off the dirt, and called again. Once again, they came running back in. But this time Greta called for me, so I dropped my call and got ready. One of the javelina ran past me toward Greta’s calling and stopped eight yards away. I shot and the javelina instantly dropped from a spine hit. A second arrow quickly concluded matters.

And then all was quiet. Greta was so excited she could hardly talk. She thought the arrow hit a little back and high but felt good about it as it had a lot of penetration. I thought the arrow may have barely hit lungs or possibly a liver shot, so I suggested we back out and give it a couple hours as we didn’t immediately find a blood trail. After a brief photo session with my animal, we started for camp, but Greta wanted to check one other area and soon discovered her javelina lying under some trees just 25 yards from where she shot it. As I suspected, the arrow had been a little high and back, but it was a quartering away shot and the arrow came out the far side, low and just behind the opposite shoulder—a perfect hit. We snapped some photos, walked back to camp, got the truck, and returned to pick up our javelina. At dinner that evening, Alex and Mark toasted our first day success.

The next day we went back down the canyon below camp and glassed a group of javelina 500 yards away. We moved below them to get the wind right and stalked in their direction. A half-hour later we began to wonder where they had gone when Mark and Alex were suddenly right in the middle of the group with javelina feeding 15-20 yards away. Alex started to draw on one when another stepped out 10 yards away. As he rotated and started to draw again, his arrow rattled on the rest, spooking them, and chaos ensued. Alex started calling hoping to bring them back and one stopped in front of Mark. Mark was at three-quarter draw when we started calling again, not knowing he was beginning to shoot, and it ran off.

The author with his javelina.

The following morning Greta spotted a javelina on a far ridge over a mile away. We decided to check it out as it was in an area we hadn’t been to yet. Although we found some sign, we were not able to locate them, and started the long walk back to camp. Later that afternoon Mark, Alex, and I drove to a new area while Greta decided to go for another long run. We parked the truck in a large clearing and walked up a stream bed. There was plenty of sign but no javelina. With the wind in our favor, we did some sneaking but couldn’t find any javelina and we were not in a particularly good location for glassing as we could only see 100 yards. We decided to head back to camp and see if Greta had “run” into anything again. Heads down, we fast-walked back to our vehicle but just as we came into the clearing where the truck was parked, we bumped into a squadron of javelina that were feeding 75 yards away. They bolted and ignored our calling. We drove back to camp where we learned Greta did in fact run into another group of javelina. There was an hour left of shooting light, so we quickly jumped back into the truck and drove the three miles to where she had seen them. We located the javelina down in a little valley, but they were now on a small section of private land. Establishing that we had time to skirt around the private land to the far side, get the wind right, and try calling, we set out. Once there and in place, Alex started calling. Within 45 seconds, javelina charged into the call, woofing and grunting. As they got within 12-15 yards of Alex and Mark, they would stop, and then turn, and race off. The wind had switched on us and that was as close as they would get. Mark was able to get a shot at one but may have hit a branch he couldn’t see in the waning light as the arrow went wide.

All of us hunted together the following morning, glassing as a storm blew through, but we only saw a few deer including one very respectable buck. We headed back to camp where Greta and I packed up and began the long drive home leaving Mark and Alex to hunt the last couple days of the season. They unfortunately didn’t see any until the last day. As they were driving out, they spotted a group on BLM land and were able to stalk to within 25 yards but when they tried calling, the javelina faded into the desert leaving Alex and Mark to reflect upon the hunt on their long, 11-hour drive back to California.

It was a wonderful time and we are looking forward to next year. I know Greta is for sure (when she mumbled something about redeeming herself in a card game against Alex).

Equipment Notes: The author shot a 59# @ 27” Thunderhorn, two-piece takedown longbow, homemade ash shafts, and Woodsman broadheads. Greta used a 42# 1953 Bear recurve, homemade Surewood Douglas fir shafts with Woodsman broadheads. Alex shot his Morrison ILF, with Hoyt Quatro recurve limbs, Gold Tip Kinetic carbon arrows, and Woodsman broadheads. Mark used a 47# Centaur longbow with Black Eagle arrows and Magnus Stinger broadheads.

Bowhunting Javelina

It’s been said that javelina are made for bowhunting. They can appear to act like farm animals in one instance and then be as elusive and wary as a mule deer the next, so they need to be approached very cautiously. While their eyesight may not be the best, their noses and ears seldom fail them, and they will detect you unless you’re cautious. There are plenty of opportunities to put in for javelina tags and these are great DIY hunts as the weather is fairly mild in the winters— freezing at night and 40-50 degrees during the day. Javelina are found in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. In Arizona, the draw deadline is early October and the archery only hunts are the first three weeks of January. The Arizona Fish and Game website has very good statistical data for drawing odds and success ratios as well as good information on where to hunt in the different units. This information allows for computer scouting to be very productive prior to putting boots on the ground. A GPS or app on your phone like GAIA or onX is also a good option as there are small parcels of private land in and around the national forests and BLM land that one needs to be aware of while out in the field.