Live Hunts - South Texas Javelina Hunt - March 10

Live Hunts - South Texas Javelina Hunt - March 10 - Day 1

March 10, Day 1
South Texas Javelina Bowhunt

This is a bowhunt for Javelina on the San Roman Ranch in deep south Texas. This was kind of a last minute opportunity to bowhunt the ranch while I was in south Texas to pick up some taxidermy work. I jumped at the opportunity. The San Roman Ranch lies partly in Jim Hogg County and partly in Starr County, in deep south Texas. It is 2,800 acres, and is very typical of the south Texas brush country. The San Roman's big thing each year is trophy Whitetail hunts, but with their emphasis on Whitetail for so long, the Javelina population has grown tremendously because they haven't been hunted much.

This operation is owned by Bill Hollon and Dennis James and has been managed by them for more than 10 years.

This was the first group of Javelina that we saw this morning

The idea on this trip is to hunt using 2 different methods. First, we plan to feed corn down the senderos and then spot Javelina from a distance and stalk them for a shot. If I get one that way then I'm going to try to take one from my new Double Bull ICE Blind.

A.M. Hunt
This morning Dennis James and I drove around feeding corn at many different areas along senderos and then spent a good part of the morning driving back around to those areas to spot from a distance. The moon was pretty bright last night and it was apparent this morning that the Javelina had eaten during the night. Dennis said he regularly sees 10-20 Javelina in a group, but for most of the morning they seemed to be hiding.

Here is the same group of Javelina as above, and coming closer

About 10 A.M. we finally spotted our first bunch of Javelina for the morning. They were cleaning up some corn about 400 yards away. The wind was good and so Dennis and I put on a stalk. The Javelina were very intent on eating the corn, and so I was able to get close. I knelt near the side of the sendero and the Javelina started working their way slowly toward me. Since they were coming, I let them come on so I could have a close shot. I drew and let down 3 times when they were within 20 yards because they were moving quickly and I would lose my good angle for a shot real quick. Finally they stopped long enough for me to draw and get a good shot opportunity at about 10 yards. The Javelina was slightly quartering towards me when I shot. There was an immediate reaction. He growled and ran right between Dennis and I to get out of the sendero. Dennis was only about 10 yards behind me, so that was kind of exciting. As it ran past on the entrace side I could see that it looked like a good hit. Dennis said on the other side as it ran past he could see blood spraying out the exit wound. That Javelina was on it's feet about 5 seconds before we heard it drop and die. There was an incredible blood trail created by the Wasp SST-Hammer 125 gr. 3 blade that I use. It only went about 35 yards. It was an exciting stalk and shot, and I had one Javelina and could take one more.

My Javelina left a great blood trail, although we didn't need it since he didn't go far

We took my Javelina back to the walk-in cooler and got some lunch, then headed out to set up my ICE blind. My wife and 3 little girls are on this trip with me, and my oldest, 3 years old, wanted to go out and sit in my blind with me. So we set it up and came back about an hour later to get set. We scattered corn down the sendero each way, and Elizabeth and I got in the blind and started the wait. I knew she would get antsy after a little while, so I was hoping we'd see some animals right quick, but it wasn't to be. So I called Dennis on the radio and asked if he was seeing anything. He'd seen a couple of bunches while driving around, so he came and picked us up to go to some more spot and stalking.

Me with my first Javelina of the trip

My little girl Elizabeth in the blind with me

Here was the view from inside the blind

And a view of the blind from outside

We drove in a huge circle and saw very little except deer. We couldn't quite figure out why we weren't seeing many Javelina. Just 2 days ago Dennis saw quite a few. Right before dark we completed a circle and came back to my blind. We got up in a box blind to see down the sendero and saw that there were about 5 deer right by my blind, and a few Javelina just starting to come out in the sendero. The wind was good for me to stalk down the right side of the sendero. I didn't get very far before spooking some Javelina and some Deer that were still in the brush, but the wind was blowing hard and it was hard to hear much, and the Javelina stayed out in the sendero. We moved just inside the brush for about 150 yards and finally got in range. There were about 7 in the group. I big female with a little baby and then some medium sized ones. I wasn't going to shoot the female with the baby, so I concentrated on one of the others. I drew and let down a few times before finally getting the right opportunity. The Javelina were a little nervous and tightly wired for some reason, and when I shot I believe they moved split second, jumped the string so to speak. I hit the one I was aiming at too far back and high, and heard the arrow clank into a tree on the off side. The Javelina ran in about 3 circles and died after about 10 seconds, not 25 yards from where I shot it. I'm not sure exactly where I hit it, but it died quickly, thankfully.

My second Javelina, taken in the evening

We also had some excitement today in an encounter with 2 owls. I climbed up high into a box stand to view 5 different senderos and see if there were any Javelina feeding in them. All of a sudden I felt something brush by my leg and then looked up in time to see a huge barn owl fly out the door of the blind. There was a piece of plywood leaning up against the inside wall, and I peeked behind it and there was a young owl there. I was fortunate to get a photo of it up close and personal.

Here's a photo of the owl

Since the legal limit on Javelina in Texas is two per license year, tomorrow morning we're going out to hunt with our cameras. In all today, we saw about 25 Javelina. Check Day 2 to see what we get in the way of good photographs.

DAY 2
We saw about another 25 Javelina this morning (including about 5 that were right in front of my blind when we pulled up!), but I wasn't as good this morning at getting a few good pictures. We intended to bring you another page of photos, but I kept messing up my stalk! Hope you enjoyed this Live Hunt, and keep checking back over the next month as we have several more planned to bring to the web.

Trip Notes
Our Javelina bowhunt took place on the San Roman Ranch in Jim Hogg and Starr Counties, Texas. Typical south Texas brush country, the ranch is loaded with Javelina. The Javelina have hardly been hunted at all, and are an excellent hunting opportunity, especially for bowhunters, because of their visibility and stalkability. Plus, they are great eating if taken care of properly in the field after the kill. I've had some excellent Javelina meat, it's much like pork, kind of a lighter colored meat, very mild, very tasty.

The San Roman Ranch has a nice, comfortable camp, and they only take a few hunters at a time so as to give more personal service. The camp is very hospitable, lodging is good and the food is excellent. A Javelina hunt here is a great way to extend your hunting season when you can't be hunting deer, elk, antelope and most other traditional big game. If you'd be interested in setting up a hunt on the San Roman Ranch, call Bill Hollon or Dennis James at (956) 968-9581(days); (956) 262-3683(evenings). You can also visit their web site at:

http://www.huntinfo.com/sanroman/

Equipment
I shoot a Martin Jaguar bow set at 70 lbs, Easton 3-60 ACC arrows, and Wasp 125 gr. SST Hammer broadheads. On this hunt I was wearing Predator Spring Green camo, as it blends in very well with the foliage right now in south Texas that is starting to bloom.

I just recently purchased a Double Bull ICE Blind from Michael Middleton at www.texasbowhunter.com and although I've only hunted from it today, I'm inclined to like it very much. I plan to be using it a lot in this year's hunting seasons.

e-mail Joshua Flournoy

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