Javelina Hunting Tips  

 The weather patterns and habitat conditions are the keys to having a successful hunt strategy for javelina.

  Tice Supplee, Game Branch chief for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said if conditions are dry, then pay attention to water sources such as springs and stock tanks. "Javelina will be tending to bed in the daytime closer to water."

  If it is unseasonably warm, like much of last year during the javelina seasons, Supplee recommends hunting at first light to catch the javelina before they head to bedding areas. "If it is unseasonably warm, look for javelina to bed earlier in the day and be a little nocturnal. That

means hunting at first light."

  Supplee said hunters should always check the southeastern facing slopes, especially in the morning. Also check the drainage bottoms and grassy benches where it is possible to have an early green up.

  "If there is no green up, javelina will be eating prickly pear in most of the state and shindagger agave in southeastern Arizona," Supplee advised.

  However, if it is a real January (meaning cold), javelina will bed in places with good cover, including caves. They will rise with the sun and be more active on a cold and sunny day. At sunset, they will move back to warm cover. "Your hunt in these conditions can be more leisurely with the start-up time, but plan to hunt all day. So pack a lunch," she said.

  If there is a light rain, Supplee said, don't stay at home. "Javelina will stay out and feed all day in those conditions. You can move more quietly, plus track them more easily."

  When there are windy conditions, javelina will feed on the lee side or lower in the canyons. During calm days, they are likely to be on the ridges or higher on the slopes.

  As usual, no matter where the javelina might be, actually finding them means wearing out your eyeballs rather than your shoe leather. Good optics can make all the difference. Javelina blend in well with their surroundings.