As a new resident to Arizona in 1999, I was optimistic for the State’s many hunting opportunities. I put in for Cow Elk and Whitetail Deer in 2000 and drew out for both. Unfortunately I was unsuccessful on both hunts. Javelina was the next opportunity to get back out there and try again. Last fall I talked to an Army buddy from Utah, Andy, to put in with me for the Javelina HAM (handgun, archery, and muzzleloader) hunt. A friend of Andy’s, named John was also interested. None of us had hunted Javelina before and were hopeful for the opportunity. We sent in our money and as luck had it, we drew out in Area 21.

Unfortunately I didn’t make many opportunities to do much scouting in the northern portion of the state. I purchased a Tonto National Forest map and two area maps in the southern region, north east of Cave Creek. I saw some sign near Horseshoe Dam but figured it would be heavily hunted due to the close proximity to Phoenix. I started looking for suggestions on the Internet and found www.AZOD.com. Louis Urquides, hunting editor for AZOD, suggested south of Dugas. The Dugas exit would make a good spot to meet up with my Utah friends. It was in between Flagstaff and Phoenix and may lower the number of hunters in the area. I attempted a scout a few weeks prior to the hunt. Of course it rained. The roads were muddy and I didn’t have a four-wheel drive. Bad went to worse when I neglected to get more maps of the area to include a Prescott National Forest map. I was setting us up for failure.

On the evening of the opening day I met up with my friends. It was dark so camp was hastily set up. The following morning we loaded up. John and Andy were both carrying Remington inline .50s with optics. They were shooting 110 grains of Pyrodex, pushing a 210 grain Knight lead hollow point sabot. They also were carrying .45 automatics with Speer JHP handloads. I, on the other hand, was trying to keep it simple by carrying an S&W Mod 57 .41 magnum shooting Winchester 175 grain silvertip hollowpoints.

Once geared up we headed north around a hilltop and glassed the area. A dozen doe Mule deer crested the ridge as we moved up the hillside. Later, as I worked the west draw, I saw movement below me. Four coyotes were running toward the crest of the ridge. A fifth broke cover in front of me. Unfortunately all were out of pistol range. When I reached the crest of the ridge, I glassed down into the valley. I saw one coyote standing in tall grass watching something in the open prairie. I looked farther north and saw four coyotes near a herd of antelope. The antelope were circling just out of reach of the coyotes. The coyotes watched the herd curiously then continued moving north into the hills.

We returned to camp and decided to drive the roads to get a feel for the area. As we neared a bridge crossing a small canyon, we saw three Javelina ("pecks" as we began to call them) running down the hill side into the thick cover at the bottom of the draw. Of course my having a pistol and the others rifles, I ended up pushing through the thick brush. Andy and John set up on either side of the canyon. Everything poked or scratched as I worked my way through the dense growth. Andy saw a bobcat walk carefully out of the brush. It looked at him and quickly returned to cover. Later, John saw the bobcat on the other side of the canyon and again it ducked into cover. I was regretting having left my leather gloves at camp when I heard movement only yards ahead of me. The brush was so thick I couldn’t see a thing. I had to crawl on my belly to move forward. It was uncomfortable to hear the "huff "and "chomp" of a peck only yards in front of me, but it was exciting. I could hear them, but couldn’t see them, as they moved back and forth in front of me. Andy could also hear the pecks, but could not get a clear shot. The pecks worked their way behind me and headed up the canyon, staying in the heavy cover. Disappointed, we headed back to camp for lunch.

While relaxing in camp a Fish and Game truck pulled near our vehicle. Officer Cooper got out and identified himself. He asked how things were going and to see our licenses. We showed our licenses and talked for several minutes about the area and Javelina. FGO Cooper stated that the Javelina numbers were down and the success rate was below 20%. That didn’t help our hopes much but we were determined to beat the odds. FGO Cooper pointed us toward some of the canyons and hillsides that may hold a few Javelina. We were grateful for his information and he left us to our hopes of filling our tags. We later found out through Game and Fish that there were only eight herds of approximately five Javelina per herd in area 21. There were 400 tags sold for that area.

That afternoon we decided to check a canyon south of camp and save the area FGO Cooper told us about for morning. While pushing the canyon we kicked a pair of ducks off a small pond. Frustrated and coming on to dark, we called it an evening.

The next morning John and I started from camp and worked south. We eventually found a large canyon with water and cottonwoods. Andy headed for a rocky out cropping to watch the canyon ahead of us. We slowly pushed the canyon to the east. The wind wasn’t cooperating but we committed ourselves anyway. As I worked through a wide area where the river split, I noticed a brown spot near a large juniper. The spot looked like a large bird. As I approached, I could see it was a red tailed hawk. It wasn’t moving and was face down. I rolled it over and could see a red spot centered in its chest. It appeared to have been shot. I believe it was a day or two old, but no more. I was very disappointed. It was instances like this that give hunters and law-abiding gun owners a bad name. I left it were it was and continued down the river bottom.

John had worked around a hill and was waiting near Andy at a junction in the canyon. I was pushing directly to them. I was feeling somewhat depressed thinking about the hawk, when the air was shattered by the boom of John’s Remington. I drew my revolver, knelt down and waited. John fired again and I could hear something running toward me. I was in some trees and brush and could not see further than 20 yards. A huffing sound and movement was to my front. Flashes of black and gray and the outlines of several Javelina were coming my way. An adult peck ran within 15 yards of me at an amazing speed. Two smaller pecks dropped down toward the river bottom. I quickly swung my revolver to the left and fired as the adult ran past. It continued running and I fired another round. My ears rang and my heart pounded. It then began to set in that I had missed it completely. I believed I shot over and behind the peck as it ran past. I followed them for about 100 yards to see if they dropped down into the river bottom. They don’t call them the gray ghost for nothing. They had disappeared. Tracks revealed they had gone up and over the hill, above a rocky outcropping.

I later found out that John had been successful and had taken his first Javelina. As I headed toward him to see how he was doing, Andy fired at two pecks running up the other side of an adjacent draw. The distance was about 150 yards and he hit below them.

If that wasn’t enough, Andy called out and said there were two more pecks above me, working their way over a ridge. I ran up and out of the canyon as per Andy’s guidance. My lungs were screaming. As I crested the ridge I saw two Javelina at about 100 yards, trotting away from me. Andy called on his predator call and they stopped. I continued my stalk, but they didn’t stand still for long. Andy called again and they stopped once more. Unfortunately they were still out of range for my revolver. The two worked their way back down into the river bottom. About ten minutes later I saw them both wallowing in a mud hole about 600 to 800 yards down the river. Andy and I continued to stalk them, but they too disappeared. Meanwhile John had tagged, cleaned and hauled out his Javelina. We met up at the truck and headed back to camp.

Later in the day John and I drove east to Dugas. There were a few scattered houses and out buildings, barbed wire fencing and "no trespassing" signs. We decided not to go further. We headed back west and stopped to push a small canyon covered with juniper. We didn’t see any sign and quickly gave up.

That night we recalled our pathetic marksmanship, John’s three rounds and my two and how exciting the hunt had been so far. John was proud to be the first to fill his tag. It wasn’t a big one but it was one. It was more than Andy or I could say.

With John no longer able to hunt, he offered his rifle to me. Having missed with the pistol and having had a longer shot available, I took the long gun. I had never shot an inline and was looking forward to the opportunity.

The next morning we pushed the cottonwood lined canyon again. Nothing was stirring. That afternoon Andy drove us north to the head of the small canyon where we saw the three pecks the first day. As we unloaded the truck, we saw six does move out of cover and trot north, away from us. They didn’t waste any time on us. They were about a thousand yards away when we first saw them and they weren’t sticking around.

Andy went back to camp to make an ice and grocery run. John worked the river bottom while I stayed on high ground. It didn’t take long for the fun to begin. Out of a small patch of thick brush, four Javelina, two adults and two juveniles, burst into the open in front of John. I was about two hundred yards above the canyon floor. They ran about one hundred yards or so, when one of the adults quickly turned around and stopped. The others huddled nearby in some brush. I believe it was the male challenging whatever spooked them. They quickly regrouped and trotted down the canyon. They disappeared into the dense foliage. I went down into the canyon and up the other side. The east side provided a better overlook into that part of the canyon.

As John pushed forward I could see the four pecks working their way south into heavier cover. I tried to get a bead on the largest of the group but with the cover, distance and movement, I didn’t feel comfortable shooting. The group moved down into the thickest part of the canyon. The same spot I had crawled through the day before. I went back over to the west side and watched as John gave it a try.

Shortly after John entered the thick brush, I heard movement. John threw rocks to his left and right to try and keep the pecks in front of him. I saw one of the large pecks moving toward the southern edge of the cover. It stopped and I could just see the back half of it as it stood quartering to the right, away from me. It was approximately 75 yards away. I aimed carefully at where I thought the front shoulder would be and pulled the trigger. The rifle jumped in my hands and smoke filled the air. The peck spun around and faced toward me. My heart raced as I drew my revolver and fired several rounds. A limb broke above its head and dirt kicked up beside it. The peck broke cover and ran across the riverbed and up the hill to my right. I reloaded my pistol and moved to intercept its course. The peck stopped near a thicket and I fired. It turned broadside as it began to move and I fired again. The second round hit center mass. The peck slowly moved into the brush. I worked around the opposite side of the thicket and could hear the peck breathing heavily. Andy had just arrived to pick us up. He slowly worked toward me to see what was happening. He could see the peck at the edge of the thicket. It was on its side. I approached the peck cautiously. It was dead. It was an adult male with 1 ¾ inch bottom tusks. I was excited! My first Javelina and it was a nice boar.

I thanked John for the use of his rifle and his hard work at pushing the canyon. The Javelina was inspected and was found to have two very well placed shots in the vitals. We took the peck back to camp. Now I had the bragging rights.

The next morning we wanted Andy to fill his tag. We went to the canyon with the cottonwoods and started west. John and I were working the cover while Andy stayed on high ground. Two other men were working the same area. Both were using pistols and we decided to work it together. Shortly into the push, Andy had two pecks break cover and move up hill. He was unable to get a clear shot. One of the new guys went over the ridge and circled back around a rock outcropping. As I circled back trying to find where the two had gone, out they came. They didn’t run, just trotted and casually glanced toward me. They weren’t more than 50 yards away going up the side of a small draw. Andy was about two hundred yards up the hill and couldn’t see them through the brush. Andy worked toward me, but we couldn’t find where they went. The gray ghost strikes again.

We continued along the canyon and were losing steam when Andy called out he had movement. I couldn’t see through the cottonwoods but heard the boom of his rifle. Four pecks were on the steep hillside of the canyon, hidden in the thick brush. They ran down the slope jumping across rocks and brush. Andy believed he shot over his target as it jumped down from some rocks. Frustrated and hungry, we headed to the truck and back to camp. On the drive back we saw two antelope running away from us through the open flats.

That evening we worked the canyon where I shot my boar. Down in the thickest part we had movement. Four pecks got between John and I as we pushed south. We turned north and pushed them into a corner of the heavy cover. This would allow Andy a small window of opportunity as they left cover and crossed the dry riverbed.

They broke and Andy fired. Shortly after, he fired three rounds from his .45 ACP. I could hear the pecks huffing as they continued to run north through the brush. Unfortunately there were no signs of any hits. The rifle round hit at the correct elevation but Andy believed he was behind the second peck that came out. The three rounds from the .45 were in the right area but again Andy believed he shot behind the fourth peck. The area was searched to assure there was sign of a wounded animal. Tired and disappointed we headed back to camp.

The last day we hunted the cottonwood canyon, but further east. We came upon some old junk and what appeared to be an old farm of some sort. Just as we were giving up we heard movement to our front. John was on the hillside watching the canyon. From his location he saw two pecks run up the ridge and circle behind us. Andy was unable to get a shot. Disappointed that we couldn’t fill Andy’s tag we headed back to camp. We had still beaten the odds and were already planning next year’s trip. It was the first Javelina hunt for all of us and we were hooked.

I recently cooked a back strap in the slow cooker. It was good and better yet, my wife loved it. That will help for next year.

Just a few suggestions for next year, practice on moving targets at close range. Pecks didn’t give us much warning when we tried to jump them. I would also suggest hunting smarter not harder. We covered a lot of ground. We could have watched the two canyons and probably had the same results. The use of optics will definitely help. When going through thick vegetation, keep your weapon pointed in a safe direction; i.e. crawling through brush with a loaded pistol in your hand can be dangerous.

There were a lot of predators in the area. It is unknown to me what effect they have on the population. We could have shot the bobcat but were unsure of the regulations.

Good luck on your Javelina hunt, and be safe.

First time Javelina hunting and wanted to say thanks for the tip to look near Dugas. Two out of three of our hunting party was successful. It should have been 100% but the pecks weren’t cooperating. They don’t hold still for long. We still beat the odds.

Fortunately, F&G Officer Cooper pointed us in the right direction once in the area. We were informed the population was down from last year and would be lucky to see many pecks.

The first day we saw five coyotes working as a pack harassing a herd of antelope. We heard coyotes every night. I assume they have an impact on the population. Later in the week we saw a bobcat and two more coyotes.

We worked the canyons hard, pushing the thick brush. We covered a lot of ground. Once we thought we had it figured out the pecks would be somewhere else. First it was canyons with water and cottonwoods, then it was thick brush, then it was open canyons with dry riverbeds and finally rocky hillsides with thick cover. We’ve got the scratches, scrapes and sore ankles to prove it.

Both pecks were taken with Remington inline .50s at approximately 75 yards. A finishing shot on a mature boar came from an S&W Mod 57 .41 magnum shooting 175 grain Winchester silvertip hollowpoints. The boar’s lower spikes measured 1 ¾ inches.

A suggestion to those preparing to go, practice, practice, practice on moving targets at close range. On four different occasions we missed pecks on the move, twice with pistols and twice with long guns.

They don’t call them the gray ghosts for nothing.

Good hunting.