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Third Times a Charm; TwiceWhen I checked the Arizona Fish and Game web site and saw that I had been drawn for archery elk and a late season whitetail I was beside my-self. Two great hunts were going to fill up my early fall and winter. Little did I know, for me, those tags would not be the best tag. The elk hunt did not turn out successful do to many factors. I had scouted and found two great places that I wanted to hunt. One was a tank that is not on a topo and the other was a great spot that took some hiking to get into. The scouting during the summer (when the forest wasn’t closed or on fire) went very well. The elk were limited to where they could find water and so patterning them went fairly easy. I had even hauled water to two or three places and they were using those drinkers. I was very excited for the hunt and being that I had never killed any game in Arizona with a bow I thought my chances were pretty good. What I did not count on was a hurricane coming off the gulf of Mexico and filling the forest with water. All the hauling of water and much on my scouting was for nil. My good spots turned out to not be so good. I found the elk and was trying to get in on them as they were going to their bed or coming out of them but getting close was pretty tough. I had a great hunt with Paul P. and Bryan B as we worked hard and were into elk most every day. During the months of October and November I was selling and buying a new house so once that was over the scouting for whitetail in unit 21 started. I worked hard to find places where the canyons were good and the people would be scarce, tough job. I did find a few places that looked promising and sign was present but nothing to write home about. I kept up the scouting and finally found a few places that I really liked. Working the new Leupold binoculars, which Gary M. sold to me from Randall’s, hour after hour, did not find me the whitetail deer that I had expected to be there. I found some mule deer and some elk but no whitetail. I kept at it trying new canyons and new places but it was to no avail. It was the first time that during the season I saw almost as many lion tracks as did see deer tracks. It was when I got home from one of my scouting trips that I found out I had been drawn for Javelina in a unit I had never hunted before. The hope was that maybe a third tag would work its charm. I know not to compare a Javelina to an elk tag but I was just as excited to maybe getting my first archery kill. The deer hunt also doesn’t compare to a Javelina so that meant I was not going to do any on site scouting. I used my topo program to have a general idea on where I wanted to hunt. My friend Bryan B. had been out one weekend but did not find a place he liked. This left me with an opening day hunt scout situation. Mike R and I went out on a ridge and started to look at a hillside, which the sun would hit upon is rise. We looked for about 20 minutes when I found a heard eating across the second ridge to our west. We had two canyons to hike so we took it slow and made it there in about twenty minutes. They had made it up the ride farther than we had thought so I came up with the idea that we would stock them from behind. Not the best idea I have ever had. We were 40 yards away from the first three when a bark like sound broke the silence. Two pigs that were closer to us but unseen made the whole heard very nervous. We tried to be quiet and get closer but our bad plan helped us to miss a good opportunity. The next weekend we were back at it again. Same ridge, same time, and same pigs, this time we decide to head them off as they were feeding down into the canyon. Better idea, but they were moving down into cover so we needed to at the bottom of the canyon when they got there. Looking back I am sure we rushed a little. We did not mark the spot that we needed to be at very well and came up a little short of where we should have been. When we broke them up I tried to blow my varmint call and either it did not sound right or I couldn’t blow it right as they took off for the hills. Once again the Javelina eluded us again. The following weekend we decide to hit the same place. Low and behold there they were feeding up the canyon. This time we were in front of them, so our plan was to just cross the canyon and let them feed to us. We used cover sent, put on the silent stocker that Rhonda at Corner Archery sold me, and headed across the canyon. During the week I had purchased a Javelina call from javelinahunter.com and was ready to use it if need be. Mike R was a little behind me and to my left when a sow stepped out at 45 yards. She had not seen, smelled, or heard me so I was looking good. All I needed was her to feed her way to me for a great shooting lane. I looked at the spot and decide it was 30 yards on the nose. I had given Mike the hand signal to not move and within 10 seconds the pig covered the last few yards to the spot. I set the pin on her nose and slowly worked back until it was right where I wanted to hit. With a loud thump she was hit and running away. She crossed a little gully and when she came out the other side she was just walking at a very slow pace, my arrow still in her side. Now that I new where she was headed and that she was not doing well I turned back to Mike to see if he had a shot. He didn’t the pigs were running everywhere. I grabbed my new call and squilled three times. It was like I had rung the dinner bell on a cattle drive. Pigs came from everywhere back to Mike and I. A pig came running down the hill and Mike had a good shot at it, unfortunately it went right under its stomach. This again scattered the pigs. I decided to try the call again. To our surprise they all came back. One big one stopped at 10 yard from Mike. Under all the excitement he drew back fast and knocked his arrow off his rest. He had to slowly release the bow to fix it and the pigs scattered gain. I figured there would be now way it would work again, but it did. Pigs were everywhere. I had one at 20 yards but Mike couldn’t see it from where he was located. Mike didn’t get another shot and I tried blowing a forth time to no avail. What an exciting 2 minutes! Had Mike not been there to witness the calling back of the pigs I’m sure my friends would never had believed it. Mike and I found the pig under a Joshua tree about 50 yards from where I had shot it. She was little and not a trophy elk or a wall hanging whitetail but I am very proud of my first archery trophy. I’d like to thank Rhonda and the crew at Corner Archery who have always steered me and my friends in the best direction with our archery equipment. Gary M and the gang at Randall’s who share there knowledge anytime I ask for it.
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