Javelina Shot Placement
Hogs
Im headed on my first DIY Javelina hunt in Arizona in January. Im hunting with a couple guys who have hunted there before but I have never been javelina hunting. I have shot many elk with my bow but that is it. Can anyone provide some insight/photos of correct shot placement on javelina? I have a good knowledge of anatomy but always appreciate input from those who have been successful.
A little low and behind the shoulder. They are smaller and thinner than they look.
I shot my first one last February in Texas. I hit him too high and spined him. The other ones jumped on him when he went to squalling. I couldn't get a shot on the second one as they were constantly moving. They ran out into the brush and I called them back to me 6 different times with a jackrabbit mouth call! Every time I quit calling they would take off again. I wasn't coordinated enough to call and shoot at the same time. It was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had hunting!
Definitely look into calling them. Lots of videos on YouTube. It was an absolute blast. Good luck!
I can tell you where NOT to shoot them ! I shot my first one behind the shoulder where you would shoot a deer. Lost him !
I shot my second one a little high through the shoulders. Lost him ! Now, I was hunting the South Texas brush, where it is thick as hair on a dog. I know both were mortal hits, but they left little blood, and they got in the brush pretty quickly, and you can't go there unless you get on your belly. I f I had it to do over, I would use a big mechanical broadhead, maybe get better blood.
If you use a call. don't hang it around your neck. Use a small retractable jismo, like you find in Walmart in the envelope and mailing items. I had one on a short lanyard and it still got hung in my string when I dropped it to shoot.
Did get the Javelina, and my call went about 20 yds!! Neck did sting a little after call was torn from my neck.
Smack dab the center of the animal. I too shot one like a Whitetial and got poor penetration and a loss. Shit one the next day in the center of the body and it was down in 20 yards
Tight to the shoulder, and just below center. Their shoulders aren't hard to penetrate, even with stickbows.
Vitals posted by White Falcon show why you don't want to hit too high/forward. You also need to consider that they have very long hair and when agitated they will puff it up so their body may be considerably smaller than they look (like a strutting turkey).
Keep in mind that javelina aren't feral hogs; they are pretty small, relatively fragile animals.
Except for the skull, hit them from any angle with your arrow heading for the vitals and you'll completely blow through them even with a hit to a leg bone, etc.
I am NOT condoning taking bad a shot, but they're closer to small game than big game. Even a very big one is only ~50 pounds; most are 30-35.
Also despite many folks saying their eyesight is bad, don't be lulled into being lazy - they can see plenty well to pick you off when you're stalking if you aren't careful.
it a thirty pound thing anywhere with the right head should do the trick
Right.....I really can't imagine losing one that was hit with an arrow? The very first javie I ever killed was recovered the day after I first shot it and with a second shot required. The first shot was terrible [I'll spare you the excuses] and only cut off one of his dew claws. It took a few miles of tracking, but I was able to get back within bow-range and put one in the vitals.
They are one of those animals where you need to determine the correct height by going up from the bottom.
I will just give you my one rule on Cactus Bounders: ALWAYS be sure you hold in the perceived bottom third of the animal. My holding point on a broadside Prickle Pig is the elbow knuckle every time. That is the correct height, of course adjust forward and rearward for quarter. The truth is Javelina are probably hit high more than any other animal because of their massive amount of hair going down their back line. This makes their "top" or highest point appear about 4 to 6 inches higher than it actually is, which distorts your perception when holding in the "middle" of the animal. The other reason is that Javelina have more fast twitch muscle fiber than any other hooved animal in N. America which means they are unbelievably good at "ducking" arrows. I have seen them take an arrow on the opposite side than it was shot from at less than 18 yards from a bow going over 280 fps. That's a 180 degree turn in the time it takes an arrow traveling a 282 fps to go 18 yards or 54 feet. Insane. They are truly one of the coolest, most misunderstood and disrespected big game animals on the planet, and a truly an enigma of the south west...
Yeah but they taste like crap! Have bow killed 9, tried them every way i could think of and yuck is all I can say. I stopped hunting them because of the taste but they are fun to watch and stalk. They are a GREAT animal to get a kid his first archery kill.
where are you going? I'd like to try a javelina hunt
Hey GOT BOW: I have arrowed 16 and all I can say is keep trying cause there is no yuck factor when the meat is prepared properly. My wife can BBQ the hind quarters in a crock pot for some good eating. Another recipe we enjoy is to take the back straps, remove the silver skin, cut into 1" medallion steaks, place the cuts in a bowl and cover with milk and soak for 1 hour then pour in a can of sprite soda and let stand for 30 minutes. We then remove the meat and dry with paper towel. The meat is then batter dipped and fried. The white flesh is like sweet pork when prepared in this manner. No yuck on my end!
I agree with Bowbender, you just have to prepare it right. I always take my javelina and make chorizo out of it. I bought the mix on Amazon last time. Best breakfast burritos around. My wife and kids love 'em. Javelina are one of my favorite animals to chase around with a bow!
Good website for all things javelina: http://javelinahunter.com/javelina_kill_zone.htm
Echo Bowbender & BowmanMD: Take care of the meat in the first place and javelina is as good as anything else.
Key is you have to be ULTRA careful to not touch the hair (which is often stinky from their scent gland) and contaminate the meat. I mean like paranoid careful. I've killed half a dozen and every single one was fantastic table fare.
Best way I've cleaned them is if you have access to a hose (I only did this 1x) hang them and spray them down with a hose really good to clean them before even starting to butcher.
Regardless of whether you were able to hose them down, hang them from a tree/bush by their snout and peel skin off from head to toe. Don't touch any meat, only touch the hide. Once hide all the way off, change your rubber gloves (you do use rubber gloves, right?! - way more fun to butcher any game with disposable gloves, that way when you're done you have clean hands) and then use clean set of gloves to remove all the meat via gutless method.
Lately I've kept legs intact with bone in and marinated them whole in fridge before slow roasting with potatoes and other veggies. Yum
I think I know enough about meat care specially Javelina to know I just dont like the flavor of the meat. Then again I dont care much for dove and Mule deer meat on its own either. I can spice up or doctor up meat enough to get by eating it... but Javelina, on its own is yuck. Cut off a slab of back strap on a Coues deer, same with Javelina, grill both straight up. which you going to eat first? oh yeah, got off the subject, sorry I didn't meant to derail here. Hold low and tight to the crease. They are a tough animal for sure. As for eyesight, they do not see very well. I have stood upright and moved slowly straight in on them down to 10 yards and gotten off a shot. They are about the only animal you can get away with that.
Not to insult you in any way GotBowAz. The javelina I've eaten didn't have any "flavor". I don't like spicy food so I don't mask bad meat with a bunch of hotsauce. Honestly If I had Coues and javelina on the plate it wouldn't matter which one I pointed the fork to first; they are both good in my book.
Lots of people say Pronghorn is terrible. Lots say Barbary sheep is terrible. Lots say javelina is terrible. Lots say ibex is terrible. Lots say mounain goat is terrible. I've had plenty of all of these and they are all good. Different, just like deer is different than elk is different from moose is different from goat, but all good.
However, I do think that meat care with javelina is much more critical than with some other species. But if you butcher a bull elk that's been rolling in mud and piss and contimanate the meat with that mess guess what, elk is going to taste pretty rank too.
Now coyote backstrap...that wasn't so good the one time I tried it...LOL
Why would you kill 9 of them if you don't eat them? Ed F
and they do have nice choppers!
One from last year. Texas!
I'm going on my first combo Coues-Javelina hunt in January and really appreciate all the tips, guys! Especially the field care and meat care tips.
As far as flavor, to each his own, but our CO plains muleys are as tender and delicious as any big game animal I've ever eaten, including elk and caribou. My nonhunting wife loves it even from mature rutting bucks that have been aged and cared for properly. ditto nonhunting neighbors for whom I've prepared it. But I've heard others say they aren't edible. So...
I agree with Bowbender, BowmanMD, and smarba. Field care is paramount. Changing gloves between skinning and butchering makes a huge difference. I gut my javelina on the ground and then hang them from the rear legs for skinning and butchering. Once I've skinned the animal I change gloves and clean knives before boning out the animal. I turn the meat into sausage that anyone will eat (including my non-hunting MIL from the midwest!).
Never shot one nor eaten one, but I did a euro on one for a friend. They are one greasy bugger for sure. Regular degrease tank of dawn and ammonia wouldn't work. had to degrease in a sealed bucket of white gas, (which was yellow gas a week later) then go to the tank. Wasn't grease so much as resin. Came out OK, but if you could figure out a way to paint a house with one you may never have to paint it again......
Here's one from 2015
Here's one from 2015
"Hey GOT BOW: I have arrowed 16 and all I can say is keep trying cause there is no yuck factor when the meat is prepared properly. My wife can BBQ the hind quarters in a crock pot for some good eating. Another recipe we enjoy is to take the back straps, remove the silver skin, cut into 1" medallion steaks, place the cuts in a bowl and cover with milk and soak for 1 hour then pour in a can of sprite soda and let stand for 30 minutes. We then remove the meat and dry with paper towel. The meat is then batter dipped and fried. The white flesh is like sweet pork when prepared in this manner. No yuck on my end! " __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Completely agree^^^ ___ We have found that like Antelope, Javelina are really all about who is "killing" them and "handling" them. We absolutely love the jalapeño sausage recipe we have developed right now. Some animals just take a little more care than others. Apparently more than some can provide. There is no reason an animal should be disrespected just because of the hunters incompetence...
ELKMAN, I have to give your comment a Facebook style "like"
ELKMAN, i do agree with you on the disrespect of an animal part which is why I quit hunting them. And I did eat every Javelina I ever shot. I just dont like them. Everything you and Smarba mention above says you flavored the meat in some way or another. Im not saying thats a bad thing, im saying I still dont like it. the only time I ever came close to saying it was ok was when a guy had it made into spicey summer sausage. it was so spicey hot it killed my taste buds! LOLl. I am very meticulous with field care, specifically with javelina and the nasty musk gland I wear rubber gloves, dont touch the meat etc.etc. This does include big rutting muddy Bulls and I absolutely love that meat. I process my own. Smarba, Im not offended but I am jealous as it sounds like you can like just about anything. No way do I like sheep or goat, thats another yuck factor. Again I will say, Javelina taste, to each their own but they are one of the funnest animals to spot and stalk.
GotBow- You just need to be sure that you don't touch the meat with ANYTHING that has touched ANY part of the hair/hide. Glove up, skin the entire animal ASAP, and then dispose of gloves for boning process, then straight to the ice. Also a lot has to do with "how" their killed. Javelina have a heart literally the size of a golf ball and lungs only slightly larger. So in order to kill and bleed quickly, and properly you have about a 3" target. My guess is most guys are shooting WAAAY to far at Javelina as per their ability to hit said 3" target. We don't shoot beyond 20 yards at the small desert dwellers, and most of my last 20 or so have been closer than that. A bunch at less than 10, and with the Rage 2 blade they are alive on average less than 8 seconds after impact. No chance adrenalize and musk out. This all matters when it comes to the finished product, believe me... (And I totally appreciate that you aren't hunting them, seriously I respect that. Wish more hunters had that moral compass.)
Be in Texas in 2 weeks chasing them as well as deer and hawgs. Rage it'll be but hogs get an exodus!
Another from the Texasshoot-out.com.
Smarba and Elkman are spot on! I dealt with javelina aftertaste for several animals until the light went on. Now that we approach it with the above mentioned care, It is some good eating. People that wouldn't touch it before, like it. I make some nice Italian sausage out of mine when I get one.
With the right care, it is very mild, very lean white meat that makes excellent sausage and smoked products...
Just keep it your mind to hold low and tight on these little Prickle pigs...
Is there a diaphragm call anyone can recommend , so a shooter can keep on calling right up to and through the shot?
Get the J13 Javelina call, it's not a diaphragm but used after you bust them up and you'll have plenty of time for a shot.
Thanks everyone for all of the replies. I am super excited to hunt these critters!
Just remember once you use that call, you won't be seeing Javies on that ridge for quite some time. It is HIGHLY stressful on the herd and will most certainly move them to another portion of their home range. The truth is the calling can be exciting, but it is also like using dynamite to fish... AT A FISH FARM FOR LITTLE KIDS! If you can't get within 20 yards of a Javelina without them having any idea your even their zip code, then I feel sorry for you as hunter. Give them a break and just hunt them straight up...
The life of a Javelina is HIGHLY stressful, Coyotes, Lions, Snakes, Humans.
Your right! So why not add to it for no reason? Right? Who cares! GIT ER DONE!
Kudos to you if you can slip into 20 yards, let the air out of a Javelina and slip back out without stressing any Javelina.
I've had most success when woofing them (mimic them) in. Most times when i get close I can hear them woofing back and forth. Sounds like their locating each other. I mimic it by mouth oofssh oofssh and have them come right in to me. last one I shot was roughly 8 yards, he came in from over 40 yards with a couple others in tow woofing the whole way.
The trouble with woofing or a predator call is they come in head on. They are really thin critters with a lot of head covering their vitals. Predator call works but the action will be extremely fast and aggressive. Woofing them in gives you time, and when they cant locate you most often then not they will give you a perfect broadside shot when their about to turn back towards the herd. Fun stuff!
Bow Hunting, In Texas, the Javelina are very spooky! 20 yrs ago you could stalk them to 20 yds. or less!! Now, you might get to 35 or 40 yds. If you ambush them or use a blind you can get a closer short. Every once in a while while you can get a 15 or 20 yd stalk . But what do I know, I have only been bow hunting them for close to 30 yrs!!
Trust me the semi-tame Javelina in TX. are FAAAAR easier to get close to than their wild counter parts in the mountains and deserts of New Mexico and Arizona. And yes I have hunted TX. several times. Good fun to be sure, but not much of a challenge with all the corn in the roads. LOL! My last two Javelina in TX. were killed at 13 yards, and 4 yards so...
So are they hard or are they easy to get close to? Lol
People always tell me that bears are as blind as pigs.
Well after thirty five years of spot and stalk black bears, I'm hoping that the javelina's eyesight is a whole lot worse.
Not to get in a pissing match!! But some people are MUCH better hunters. Granted Javelina out West are harder to kill. If you would like to come to Texas in February to the "Texas Shoot-out.com" you are more than welcome to stay in our camp. This way we could hunt together and learn from each other!
"People always tell me that bears are as blind as pigs."
LOL. They don't see as well as many other animals but...they aren't blind by any stretch of the imagination. They can certainly hear real well and the can smell real well. They will also see you. It's certainly easier to stalk close to Javelina in certain types of terrain but other types it's not quite as easy as some experts profess. When they spend much of their time in and around large tracts of catclaw, your stalking expertise won't be quite what you think it is. "trust me" They're like hunting anything else, sometimes they they just cooperate and they seem like the easiest animal in the world to hunt.....sometimes they don't.
"So are they hard or are they easy to get close to? Lol" LMAO. It depends on their accent.
Agreed^^^ ____ I would say that the hardest part of hunting them in a public land/wild setting is locating an actual pig. You are trying to spot an animal that is about 2 foot tall at the shoulder, and grayish color with no discernible markings, that lives in a world of things that are in general taller than two feet, and plenty of gray mixed in across the landscape. Also you are not the only one/thing looking for them. They are hunted by something pretty much 24-7 from the time they are born to the time they die. So yeah they are difficult to get close to, for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is their general scarcity in numbers, and then their amazing sense of smell and hearing. People will tell you they are blind but that is an absolute load. Their vision is poor, but they are wizards at picking up movement inside of a hundred yards, sometimes they run, and sometimes they investigate in order to determine fight, or flight. They are an awesome animal in a natural setting, and they truly don't get the credit they deserve, but I'm thankful for that because it leaves more of that experience for me. If they had 200 inches of horn sticking out of their skull, every ego driven idiot in the "hunting" community would be after them every year and talking about how intelligent and difficult they are, and even telling you how great they taste! Javelina are one of the most misunderstood and disrespected animals on the planet. Truly an iconic enigma of the southwest, and one of my absolute favorites.
Elkman, I am right there with you! Some years I have filled my tag in 20 minutes opening morning and other years I haven't seen a Jav in 9 days of hard hunting! We love hunting them, it can be a super challenging hunt and there is nothing like getting into a heard of 10-15 or more :) Also very Good Eating!
Scar.
Truly one of the best things about the whole desert experience is you just never know what you'll get. Box a chocolates for sure!
Javelina's are one of the most fun animals to hunt. You feel once you spot them, you at least have a chance of getting a shot. One thing you need to remember when you are stalking them. They are a short animal and their eyes are even lower than the top of their backs, so, unless you are in heavy cover you are almost always sky lined. Watch your left and right movements when stalking.
I've only hunted them once. I shot a big boar behind the shoulder and low. What would be a Heart shot on a deer I think. The boar ran over a hill and holed up in a cave still very much alive. The cave was so short I had to draw my (compound) and hold it horizontal and shot the boar up thru the mouth to finish it off.
I skinned it and quartered it. Brought it home and ate it! It was good! Pretty neat creatures!
It's kinda funny that two of the most uniquely NA animals, javelina and antelope, are two of the seemingly, most under appreciated.
I've been watching tons of javelina vids on Utube and can't wait to see some!
Does anyone have a photo that they can post which shows the gland that is located on the back of the javelina? I know that they are not palatable if the gland is not removed. I have heard that it almost resembles a nipple...I would be interested in learning about its exact location on the animal.....as well as how deep you have to cut, to completely remove it, so the taste of the meat is not compromised.
The gland you are referring to comes off with the hide when you skin it.
Gland is about 6" from butt hole. +1 GaryB@Home
If possible, wash animal good before skinning with Dawn soap to remove fleas.
I don't have a pic but can tell you that the gland is only skin deep. You don't see it from the inside of the hide.
Jake, You don't cut it out, comes off with the skin. Just don't touch the hide then touch meat with either hands or knife. Good practice for circus tricks.
"Gland is about 6" from butt hole."
6" up is a gland, 6" down - that is not a gland. HaHa
Located approx 6" due north of butt hole.
Is that a pic of a javelina gland or a sasquatch nipple?! LOL
As others have stated, just peel the skin as normal and the gland comes right off with the skin. I initially found it odd that there is no tube extending inside the skin like one would at first think.
Never seen a single flea on ANY of the Javelina in Arizona, but the TX. experience was vastly different. They had them for sure. May be a TX. thing. That gland just comes of with the skin. Pay it no mind. Just be sure to wear gloves while skinning from start to finish. Then when your done remove them and put on a fresh new pair to handle the actual meat. (Or you could just use clean hands of course)
I can skin, bone meat, and clean skull, and fit it all into 5 one gallon zip lock bags within an hour. Perfect for the hotel freezer then the suitcase for the flight home...
Most of Arizona is too dry for Fleas but there are a few areas that sustain Fleas.
I have never noticed fleas on the javelina I have killed in AZ either
Texas Javi's with the longbow
Texas Javi's with the longbow
My first trip to Texas hunting near Alpine. I shot the first one spot and stalk through the shoulders and had to use a follow up shot 15" later. The second one I was behind the shoulder, did not go 20 yards. Both taken on the same morning with a Habu longbow and snuffer broadheads. 45# and 48#
Javis are tough. Shoot a big cutting expandable broadhead, have the classic quartering away shot, or right up the leg on broadside shots.
Headin over to AZ as well in January for some Javelina and Deer huntin. If you guys kill somethin give us a holla we'll come by for some BBQ..
Quick question about meat retention. Are there any onerous rules around salvaging meat, ie. "rib roll" or other portions that are required.
If I should fluke into a kill, I would plan to do a gutless, boneless retrieval. Is that good enough?
Yes. At least in AZ. and TX. I haven't hunted them in NM.
