Somewhere near Wilcox, AZ. March 1988. My friend Kenny Walters was a dairy equipment  rep for five western states. He got acquainted with some guys from Arizona who said they would take us on a Javelina hunt. We were told to show up with our camping gear and rifles. The food would be supplied by our hosts. 

We arrived in Phoenix, AZ  at the ranch of one of our hosts. He and his friend had been trying to get a horse in a trailer for far too long. Kenny and I took charge and got the horse in the trailer. This should have been a clue as to the rest of the trip.

We finally made it to where we were to camp and got set up. Our hosts set up their trailer (Kenny and I were sleeping on the ground). Shortly thereafter they announced that dinner was ready. Kenny (a big Swede) and me, (a hungry young German) were ready to chow down. 

They set a pot of warmed can of condensed tomato soup on the table with a sleeve of saltine crackers. Kenny and I thought “Cool”, soup before dinner. Wrong. That was dinner for four grown men. We figured they must be big breakfast eaters. 

After nearly freezing during the night we woke to a breakfast of ….............. 6 oz cans of juice and 6 Danish rolls. We figured we would starve by noon. 

We went hunting and I was the first to tag a Javelina. Drilled him sideways and then stem to stern with my .50 caliber Lyman Great Plains Rifle, and he still ran 200yards down the arroyo. Tough little critters. 

Kenny and I arrived back in camp..........starved. The host's boys were camped there also.........and saw that we needed food. They had BBQ burgers and chili. They saved our lives. 

After eating lunch Kenny and I looked at each other..........and a decision was made. We were packed up and gone in less than 30 minutes. We stopped in Blythe, CA at some kind of fast food taco shop before getting a cheap motel for the night. 

I remember we spent on the plus side of $20.00, maybe near $30.00  (1988 money) for the two of us for dinner. We devoured it and wished we had ordered more.

Anyway, here I am with my Javelina. Just a young kid.......not that long ago.

JerryH

I do have a good picture of a muzzle loader hunt on Hart Mt. in SE Oregon in the 70's. I'll have to see if I can get it scanned to digital so I can post it.

How are javelinas as table fare?

JS

Obsidian,

Yes, two shots in about a minute. The first shot just made him stagger a little. He walked behind a bush and when he came out on the other side I shot him again. At the time I was shooting my muzzleloader a lot and was pretty quick on reloading.

JS47,

From what I remember I wasn't impressed with the taste. The wild pigs here in CA are much better table fare.

JerryH

I suppose wild hogs are as dangerous as domestic.  One of the kids I went to school with saved his dad who was in a difficult situation with a boar.  Too long ago, I do not remember the details.

My Cousin ran Cattle on a ranch in the coastal calif. mountain range that had an over abundance of wild Pigs. The owner of the property shot 28 in one day trying to legaly thin them out and not an easy task. They don't care for us humans and quickly head into the thick brush to get away from any human contact. They really do not do much harm with the cattle but they can raise hell with the young deer. My cousin lost a Bull not from the pigs but within two weeks the only thing left were clean bones so they do have their place in nature. I spent allot of time on horse back helping him over the years and all though I could clearly hear the pigs close by in the brush I never saw one come out in the open. That being said they are really harder to hunt out this way than the Deer are. 

JLouis

Jerry,

You and your buddy may have been almost hungry enough to eat javelina but I doubt it.  As you may remember they stink to high heaven, they are not pigs and to the best of my knowledge there is no way to cook them that makes them palatable.  The old timers here in southern AZ used to try and pit roast/barbecue them but couldn't get anyone to eat the meat after it was done.  After a couple of tries at the fair grounds they gave it up as a bad idea.

Nasty animals that will take a bite out of you if they get a chance.

Mike

Zack T wrote on Oct 23^rd, 2017 at 1:02am:


This sounds a lot like what I remember from a south Texas rancher. He was firm about only shooting one on his land cause nearly all hunters quickly gave up on cleaning even one.

calledflyer wrote on Oct 23^rd, 2017 at 12:09pm:


Sounds like one of my "little" deer hunts on a Texas Hill Country ranch. One hind leg of a corn-fed forkhorn from elsewhere had as much good meat on it.