AustinL
AH enthusiast
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2018
- Messages
- 335
- Reaction score
- 984
- Location
- Kerrville, Tx
- Media
- 146
- Hunted
- USA, South Africa
My son has been shooting his bow a lot and was really hoping to get his first archery kill this past hunting season. Unfortunately that just did not all come together this year.
For his birthday which is in April I arranged for a Javelina hunt that was to occur on one of the pastures of the Callahan Ranch in South Texas.
I grabbed him from school just a little early on Friday the 11 to make the 3 ish hour drive down. We quickly unloaded and got geared up to go look for some Javelina. Due to heavy rains prior to our arrival the pastures were unseasonably lush and green. While that is fantastic news it is not ideal for Javelina hunting. This was to be a spot and stalk hunt we would not be hunting over feeders, but the traditional method is to corn long stretches of the roads and cut senderos you then cruise around until you spot a group and stalk in on foot from there. For those unfamiliar with this part of Texas anything that has not been mechanically cleared by man is a virtually impenetrable wall of brush all of which wants to poke stick or stab you.
That first evening we saw two groups of javelina the first were crossing a sendero from one block of brush to the next they were not feeding however and we were unable to cut the distance before they disappeared into the thick brush. Just before dark we spotted a second group this group was in a great spot and we started out approach. As we raced the darkness cutting the distance we closed in range finder showed we were 37 yards to the closest one we needed at least 7 more yards and preferably 17. Unfortunately for us while we were able to get to 25 yards we just did not have enough light to attempt the shot.
Due to the spring green they were not interested in the corn and while this ranch has a large population sightings were few. The next morning while discussing our plan with the guide we decided we would switch to a rifle for the first javelina then concentrate on bow only for the second. It didn’t take too long before we spotted a lone boar a quick stalk and I got greedy and we pushed past 100 yards and were trying to close the distance as we were setting up for the shot he sensed something was amiss and turned to face us then darted back behind the wall of brush. Lesson learned. It was about 8:30 before we spotted our second javelina another loan boar. This time we closed to 100 and set up for the shot, a well placed one from his 6.5 Grendel that anchored him on the spot. We pressed on till 9:30 with only one other small herd spotted but no stalk opportunity.
The weather called for temperatures to reach into the 90’s so we eased back to camp for some breakfast, AC and to take care of the first javelina. We hid from the heat for most of the day keeping tabs on the masters
About 6:00 we headed out for our evening hunt. The rifle stayed at camp. It didn’t take long before we had another lone boar ahead of us. We had a marginal wind but all other factors were right so we gave it a go. It wasn’t long before we had closed the gap and were in range. My son made it to full draw but he just never stopped long enough to release an arrow. As he got directly down from us he caught our wind and was gone. It was quite awhile before we spotted another loan boar and moved in. We had closed to about 40 yards when he disappeared into the brush. With him being out of sight we quickly cut 20 yards off and waited, it wasn’t long before he appeared again. My son grabbed a quick range but must have ranged over him because he had a range of 30 and his arrow sailed right over his back. At this point he was pretty down on himself and we were down to the last hour for the evening. I gave a quick pep talk and told I’m to put it behind him and move forward. With that we hurried back across to the other side of the pasture where we had seen the most activity and with light fading found a larger group in a old sendero that had small mesquite and large prickly pears scattered through it. Wind was perfect cover was excellent this was a solid opportunity. It didn’t take long and we closed the distance the herd was somewhat scattered and we poked around a mesquite only to see a small portion of them at 15 yards while the rest were at 40. Once the largest one near us cleared the brush my son made a perfect double lung shot and we watched him run a 60 yard loop and die within 20 yards of us.
It was an epic adventure and one that won’t soon be topped
For his birthday which is in April I arranged for a Javelina hunt that was to occur on one of the pastures of the Callahan Ranch in South Texas.
I grabbed him from school just a little early on Friday the 11 to make the 3 ish hour drive down. We quickly unloaded and got geared up to go look for some Javelina. Due to heavy rains prior to our arrival the pastures were unseasonably lush and green. While that is fantastic news it is not ideal for Javelina hunting. This was to be a spot and stalk hunt we would not be hunting over feeders, but the traditional method is to corn long stretches of the roads and cut senderos you then cruise around until you spot a group and stalk in on foot from there. For those unfamiliar with this part of Texas anything that has not been mechanically cleared by man is a virtually impenetrable wall of brush all of which wants to poke stick or stab you.
That first evening we saw two groups of javelina the first were crossing a sendero from one block of brush to the next they were not feeding however and we were unable to cut the distance before they disappeared into the thick brush. Just before dark we spotted a second group this group was in a great spot and we started out approach. As we raced the darkness cutting the distance we closed in range finder showed we were 37 yards to the closest one we needed at least 7 more yards and preferably 17. Unfortunately for us while we were able to get to 25 yards we just did not have enough light to attempt the shot.
Due to the spring green they were not interested in the corn and while this ranch has a large population sightings were few. The next morning while discussing our plan with the guide we decided we would switch to a rifle for the first javelina then concentrate on bow only for the second. It didn’t take too long before we spotted a lone boar a quick stalk and I got greedy and we pushed past 100 yards and were trying to close the distance as we were setting up for the shot he sensed something was amiss and turned to face us then darted back behind the wall of brush. Lesson learned. It was about 8:30 before we spotted our second javelina another loan boar. This time we closed to 100 and set up for the shot, a well placed one from his 6.5 Grendel that anchored him on the spot. We pressed on till 9:30 with only one other small herd spotted but no stalk opportunity.
The weather called for temperatures to reach into the 90’s so we eased back to camp for some breakfast, AC and to take care of the first javelina. We hid from the heat for most of the day keeping tabs on the masters
About 6:00 we headed out for our evening hunt. The rifle stayed at camp. It didn’t take long before we had another lone boar ahead of us. We had a marginal wind but all other factors were right so we gave it a go. It wasn’t long before we had closed the gap and were in range. My son made it to full draw but he just never stopped long enough to release an arrow. As he got directly down from us he caught our wind and was gone. It was quite awhile before we spotted another loan boar and moved in. We had closed to about 40 yards when he disappeared into the brush. With him being out of sight we quickly cut 20 yards off and waited, it wasn’t long before he appeared again. My son grabbed a quick range but must have ranged over him because he had a range of 30 and his arrow sailed right over his back. At this point he was pretty down on himself and we were down to the last hour for the evening. I gave a quick pep talk and told I’m to put it behind him and move forward. With that we hurried back across to the other side of the pasture where we had seen the most activity and with light fading found a larger group in a old sendero that had small mesquite and large prickly pears scattered through it. Wind was perfect cover was excellent this was a solid opportunity. It didn’t take long and we closed the distance the herd was somewhat scattered and we poked around a mesquite only to see a small portion of them at 15 yards while the rest were at 40. Once the largest one near us cleared the brush my son made a perfect double lung shot and we watched him run a 60 yard loop and die within 20 yards of us.
It was an epic adventure and one that won’t soon be topped
