What's a BIG javelina?
Hogs
What do you seasoned Javi hunters consider a big pig as to weight??? I'm currently on on a cabin build on a 6000 acre ranch outside of Tucson with free run of the place, tonight saw javizilla, well according to me. I'm gonna arrow that beast, I'd say he was 125 lb. I'm being very conservative,,I killed a 155 swamp hog in NC. So I'm a little schooled... wat say the vets?
If it was 125 pounds it probably wasn’t a Javelina……maybe a feral hog?
50 to 60 pounds is a big one. Biggest I've ever seen was one my little brother shot one day quail hunting outside of Oracle Junction. Weighed 64# on our scale. (He shot it at 8 or 10 feet in the head with #7 1/2 shot)
It was a javi 100% it was a biggin,
Having been involved of killing hundreds of those critters over 40 years of hunting them
The largest one we ever killed in far west Texas was 72 lbs. in south Texas 65 lbs
I'd love to see some photos of 100 lb javelina
Don't know where you were......20 years ago or so there was a small herd of feral hogs hung around the washes down between ThreePoints and Sasabe. Always wanted to shoot one but never did. (I lived in Tucson 26 years awhile back)
It was a javi 100% it was a biggin,
We need a photo with the javelina hanging on scales to believe this one !
This could be deemed as major embellishment of the truth !!
OK boys, well at this point, I'll just have to slay that beast. Stay tuned for the....rest of the story! Thx for the input
It depends. The common collared peccary/jabalina will usually not weight more than 70 pounds. My personal best was arround 68 pounds in northern Tamaulipas. However, although they do not live on US soil there is the white lipped peccary species that you can find from South México down to Northern Argentina in tripical forests. I encountered a 50-60 members herd in Campeche. I saw several boars that weighted more than 150 pounds. There were a few biiig all black hogs in that herd. I never got a shot off as first I was too far off on the ground and then they got my wind and ran. They are also much more agressive and if they attack you better find a tree you can climb. I was hunting sólo. I showed the pictures and the video later at camp to the guides and they told me I was lucky that I didn t shot at them because injured they are very protective of the members of the herd.
The biggest I have ever seen was 81 3/4# scale weighed and was an ag pig and that was after years and years of seeing big pigs killed in ag fields. If there are not ag crops on the 6,000 acres you are on, I would venture you didn’t see what you thought you saw. If there are ag crops, I still doubt it.
Jeez, I’ve seen hundreds of them…heck I saw 60-80 on my trip just last month. I think the biggest I’ve seen was maybe over 65#….… but I’ve always hunted the mountains and desert, no ag stuff.
Ill keep checking back on this one. Good luck, for God sake keep the head for a Euro at the very least. The State record with bow - (skull) for Javelina in AZ is 15 4/16 per quick Google search. Can't imagine a 100 plus pound - Javelina, says a lot if RK has not seen anything close to that.
Tequila will make you see thing that are not normal.
And mezcal even more so. :)
I'm sure at this point that I've misjudged the weight, I'll just have to kill him and weight him. Yep alfalfa here,,no tequila..or what the hell ever that other product is...
I would definitely consider RK an expert on this matter.
Would love to this Javi you speak of though. Good luck on your hunt for it.
Be careful out there. Know when to walk away. :-)
Adrianne with one that weighed 69 on a luggage scale
Love to see a pic of that cabin when your done too.
That’s a big Javi Adrianne shot. She sure was excited talking about the hunt!
For those who shoot 3-D, the 'simulated weight' of the Rinehart Javelina target is 40 pounds. Is that 'average'?
Most game is a lot heavier, until it’s “weighed.”
Javelina do have long, stiff hair so they can look bigger than they are when the back hair is standing up.
Randy who ever took that photo did a great job on setting it up.
We've probably taken 30 or so javelina over the years and have seen a bunch over time.
Most of the mature boars were in the 50# range with sows being in the 40# range.
I think the best person to give insight on the size and habits of javelina would be RK.
Good luck savage, regardless of weight I'd like to see this big javelina.
A quick google search of several sites gives a 40 - 60 pound range. One site even mentions they tend to look bigger due to their bristly hair.
Javelina also aren't very wide, which may make people who are used to looking at wild pigs think they are heavier than they are.
Funniest true javelina story I know (rifle hunt):
About 30 years ago......my good friend Donnie H, lived in Benson and worked at Davis Monthan AFB at the time with me. He got a brand new Ruger 30/06 package deal with a 3x9 scope from Jenson's. All excited about using it.
First morning of javelina season he's out scouting a slope as the sun warms up. Donnie liked bar hopping and drinking beer some and had a rough night before, (maybe still a little drunk, for sure hungover) which contributed to adventure I'm sure.
Anyway he soon spots a nice herd up the slope maybe 150 or 200 yards away. Easy range for his new 30/06.
He's sitting and raises his rifle (scope cranked to 9x of course). A fine looking pig fills his scope, he takes aim and squeezes off a shot and pig tumbles like hit with a bazooka.
Following Monday before work Donnie asks if we want to see his pig, he's got it in a cooler in his truck.
We go take a look and it's a piglet, may 11 or 12 # at the most.
What happened was as he raised his rifle to shoot one from herd that's quite aways out, a little guy came from behind a prickly pear 30 or 40 yards in front of him . He thought he was shooting a monster from the herd. LOL
Took Donnie awhile to live that down. Maybe you had to have been there. Still makes me smile.
If it was 125…it wasn’t a javi, plain and simple
A big javelina is 60# 125# is 2 javina
n the book The Peccaries by Lyle Souls, he states that of 450 javelina considered adults, the live weights ranged from 25 lbs. to 70lbs. Says Sowls, “ The first and most important, of course, is the quantity and quality of food that the animal can obtain. The influence of high quality diets can be seen with captive animals. In our pens, animals weighing more than 70 pounds were common when they were fat. The heaviest collared peccary I have seen was captive male that weighed 78 lbs.” In the book, Javelina, Research and Management in Arizona by Gerald Day of the Arizona Game and Fish Department, he states average field dressed adult javelina weights were 34.2 lbs. for males and 33.4 lbs. for females. A field dressed boar weighed 65.7 lbs. in 1981. I immobilized an extremely fat captive boar that weighed 89 lbs.”
I don't know about "free run of the place" in AZ, hope you have an appropriate license and tag.
Dan, I’ll tell Lucas you thought he did good.
I ‘ve seen a few porkapotamuses that had that Andy Reid look with fat hanging down over their legs…but even then they were probably under 60#. The avg adult I see in the mtns is about 30 to 45.
Unique critters. I love the Chinese fire drill when you shoot one.
A buddy and I spotted a herd up on the mountain. It was steep…and by the time we got up to where we thought they were- Gone! It was bouldery and brushy so we each got up on a rock to look around. Not one minute later, one is standing 8’ from me, 10’ from Randy- we look at each other like, ‘what the heck?’
I’m pointing at Him, you shoot….he shakes his head- no you. We are going back and forth multiple times until I finally spine one with my recurve at maybe 12’ away. He starts screaming and here comes the fire drill, maybe 15 of them darting this way and that, grinding their teeth, rooting on the one I shot, carrying on.
They are darting by My buddy who is at full draw swinging one way then another …..I thought he was going to fall. He wrecked a couple arrows before shooting one at about 5’.
Those critters are a hoot.
This has been very educational. I've been in javelina territory a couple times briefly but never hunted them or even seen one.
Ive hunted pigs exclusively around farm fields for years. The heaviest ones I ever saw were just over 60 lbs field dressed. But the heaviest ones always seem to come from Willcox area and used to take 1st place in the heavy Javelina contests. This was in the 1980s and 90s and It seems there was one that hit 81 lbs. What are you feeding them? LOL
60# - certified scale weight
60# - certified scale weight
Biggest I ever saw was 66#. This was way west Texas by Sierra Blanca. Most I have seen run 45-50 with a good one being in the mid to upper 50's
They are not considered "filet mignon" by vultures or coyotes, if that's any indication !!
I have mine made into Chorizo…..it’s incredible!
This last one was 47 lbs. I didn’t weigh any previous ones. As for eating, I grill the backstraps, jerky for the rest.
I think anything made into sausage or chorizo is awesome
Years ago we had several coyotes turned into sausage Those dogs were the hit of the wild game dinner. Of course we told nobody what it was
It was labeled "special wild game"
My pard Lopez's wife would usually take javelina and make tamales and burros.. Pretty good stuff. My little brother did a pit bbq with a big one once. Seemed great but we also were working on a keg all the hours it was cooking.
Be sure to remove the glands when cleaning it btw.
I do not rate javelina in same class as beef, elk, venison or antelope
Back in the mid-80's , a friend from d'Hannis TX told me once to take a javelina hind guarter, with a couple #'s of potatoes, chopped up onion, sliced carrots and a chopped head of cabbage. Toss it all into a turkey-size roaster bag with a large bottle of italian dressing and cook it at 425 until the meat falls off the bone (about 90 minutes).
I tried it, not knowing what to expect. It was DARNED good!
Since then I've had several made into sausage with good results.
Had cured javalina ham last night. Great !!
The largest one I've ever taken (AZ) and weighed (no agriculture and no feeders) was 47 pounds dressed in weight.
Has The Last Savage slain the first #100 plus javi yet?
Ed, Sounds like TV hunting show talk !! I bet you "smoked him!"
Is that one of those “Be the Javelina” decoy hats, Ed?
Bristle pig arrowed by a bristle hunter! Nice one Ed.
They sure are cute but I'd still kill one for lunch.
Frankly, they oughta be in P&Y. A uniquely American animal. I would argue all day that they are "big game." Fun as heck really
They are the only native big game animal (recognized in every state they live in as big game for decades) in the U.S. that is NOT recognized by P&Y. There have been several discussions regarding adding them in the last few years, so perhaps it will happen at some point. Arizona has two hunting records programs (an all-weapons program like B&C and a bowhunting-only program like P&Y), and both of them recognize Javelina trophies (length + width of skull without including the teeth).
The bowhunting records program, Bowhunting in Arizona, is also a fantastic source for researching where the biggest trophies of each species come from in Arizona, since every entry includes the unit number in which it was taken.
Largest one I've ever taken, for reference I'm 6'1 190lbs...
Hey guys are you talking live weight or dressed weight?
Would never have guessed you were that tall, sneakum ;-)
Now THAT'S a record pig LOL
They’re fun to hunt…….but they’re a rodent and not a big game animal. I doubt they’ll ever ever accepted by P&Y / B&C as a big game animal.
Javelina are actually not a rodent. Lost a bet on that in the 1990's.
They are when you see them! :)
"Javelina are actually not a rodent."
They're not a pig either despite looking and acting like one. Since DNA unraveling has become common place, many mysteries have been solved and new wonders are revealed. The Javi is one.
Wild boar are a-heck of a lot bigger game than these things. Can’t see the club ever elevating such a small animal to official status. What’s next turkeys? Bobcats?
Wild Boar are not an animal native to North America. Javelina are. ...and my girlfriend said size doesn't matter.
