Southern AZ Spring Javelina Hunt

[keepingup]

I finally drew my first Arizona Big Game tag for archery Javelina in January 2017. Its for the 34A/37A units and as a non-resident I have no idea where to begin looking as I have never even seen a Javelina in person. I applied for this tag in the hopes of extending my hunting season and becoming a better archer. I would appreciate any help!

- A.M.

 

[JimP]

I can't help you very much since I only have hunted 37a a couple of years and that was years ago. There is a good population of them there in 37a. The best thing is to find a water source and set up a blind, or get up high and start to glass until you find a herd and then plan out a stalk. This is fairly hard to do in 37a since it is a relativity flat unit. You also might want to concentrate around the home developments since they will be traveling into them for something to eat. They love flower gardens and dog food.

I have been hunting javelina for over 25 years now and like a unit that has more canyons in it where you can find a high spot to glass from or the ability to drive washes on ATV's and look for tracks.

 

[dustin ray]

Along hwy79 between park link rd and oracle there is a good place to start find the cactus and washes and get a deer tag

 

[Predatore]

I've shot a number of javelina in 34A as well as many other units in AZ. I'll PM you more specifics about 34A.

As for javelina hunting as a whole, I always look for a lot of prickly pear and water sources. Since many miles of terrain all look the same, the real task is to put boots on the ground scouting in these areas to look for sign. You need to find prickly pear that have been shredded by the javelina's teeth, as well as tracks and droppings that resemble dog turds. Once you find fresh sign, you will eventually find the javelina. They stick to the same area, within a few miles, but will bounce around a bit. I would recommend finding good vantage points and glassing the areas hard. Worth noting is that these little guys can be completely hidden in small gullies, so it is best to move around a bit for different angles. My preferred route as well is to actually walk the good areas to jump up some critters during the middle of the day, or when you can't seem to glass up any. They have absolutely horrible eyesight but great noses, so as long as you're downwind, you will have a shot. I actually feel sorry for the little guys since their eyesight is so bad, and don't find them to be too challenging to hunt (once you find them). Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[nickpaolini81]

Predatore hit the nail on the head. Put boots on the ground and focus on food and water. I'm from PA, killed 2 the last 2 years we've been out to unit 31. The toughest part about killing a jav is finding them. We double up with deer and jav tags, so when we hunt deer, inevitably we cross paths with them. Killed them high and low....always around prickly pear and water. Walk, walk and walk some more until you find tracks or see them, actually have smelled them before we saw them too.

Walk up to them and shoot one. Their eyesight is poor but noses are sharp. Play the wind. Pretty easy critter to cut your teeth on with a desert archery hunt.