Here are some pics and the story...
On Sunday morning we pulled up to the end of the road where we would be parking the truck around 6:45 am just before light. About a mile into the hike my partner and I found some caves in a steep wash that were full of pig hair and the soft dust in the caves held tons of fresh pig track. We decided to split up and work the area, we would meet back at the truck in 3 hours. By 9:30 I had hiked over 2 miles, was down to my t-shirt and still sweating my butt off. I hadn’t seen much pig sign since leaving the caves and I was getting a little disappointed with my chosen route. I took a break to drink some water and do a little glassing. As I sat down I hit the button on my radio which made a loud beep. I heard a few rocks tumble above me then silence again. I knew there was something up there but wasn’t sure where or what it was. I nocked an arrow and slowly crept up the hillside. After about 100 feet I saw a couple mule deer does feeding along above me. Following them were a spike and a fork horn, which slowly passed at about 30 yards. Walking back to where I left my gear I saw some real big deer tracks a mature buck for sure. I stayed up there another two hours still hunting looking for the big buck that had made the tracks. I saw a small 3x3 running with 2 does but I know he wasn’t the one that made the big tracks.
Around 11:00 am I decided to make the 2.5 mile hike back to the truck. I made it back to the truck a little after 12:00 and learned that my buddy had seen a monster buck but couldn’t get close enough for a shot. The buck was a heavy-horned 5x5 with deep forks and 4-5 inch kickers off the rear fork on both sides. I am sure it was the same buck I have seen the last 3 years and is known by me and a couple other hunting buddies as the Joker buck. We call him that because before the season he seems friendly enough to pet, and I have been within 30 yards of him a couple times and even got some good footage on camera. About 2 weeks before the December season it seems his attitude changes, he never slips up even in full rut he is skittish and uses areas that make it near impossible to put on a quiet stalk. I have not seen him since September but from the description I am almost sure he saw Joker. He was amazed by this deer and said he thinks it was the biggest buck he has ever seen in the wild. Anyway, Joker was long gone and we were worn out so we headed back to grab some lunch.
We headed back out around 2:30 drove to an access point closer to the caves we found in the morning and the plan was to hunt that area for the evening. As we were discussing our plans and what routes we would take I pointed to a hillside about half a mile west of us which was where I was planning on hiking. Before I could say anything I spotted movement on the hillside I was pointing to. A quick look through the binocs confirmed it was a herd of Javelina. Our plan was to put my buddy in front of them and I would stalk up behind them, hopefully whoever got the first shot would spook the herd at the other person. Well things never go as planned and by the time I reached the hillside I had lost sight of him and the pigs. I climbed to the top of the ridge and still saw nothing. I walked about 50 yards in the direction that David should have been and stopped to look around. Right away I heard them in the wash about 40 yards below me. I nocked an arrow and waited. After about a minute a pig stepped out into the open at 40 yards, a near vertical shot and I missed. The whole herd was running now and it took me another 30 minutes or so to get back on them. They were feeding along a steep ravine as I made my way across the wash and up the side of the ravine about even with the pigs. I watched four of them walk into a thick bunch of mesquite and bed down, so I figured I would make a stalk on them. When I was about 50 yards away I heard a WOOF to my right and looked over to see a javelina all bristled up hair on end about 20 yards away. I had to take 3 steps backward for a clear shot. The pig stared at me as I slowly drew back my bow and shot. A good pass through shot but a little far back. It ran into the wash where it spooked a bunch of others. There was pigs running everywhere and I wasn’t sure which was mine. I waited 10 minutes and started to follow the blood trail. As I was following the blood I walked to within 5 yards of the pig and it got up and ran. I could tell it wasn’t going far so I followed slowly and watched it bed down. I crept to about 5 yards and shot it again right behind the shoulder, the pig was down but still making noise so I shot one more time just to make it fast. I had left my pack behind with my knife in it so I had to carry it out whole. It was a heavy load to carry close to a mile over rocky steep terrain and by the time I got back to the truck I was beat! When I got back to the truck I found that my buddy David had taken a wrong turn and never got into the pigs. He had been sitting there for over 45 minutes while I was in the action. Poor Guy!!
On Sunday morning we pulled up to the end of the road where we would be parking the truck around 6:45 am just before light. About a mile into the hike my partner and I found some caves in a steep wash that were full of pig hair and the soft dust in the caves held tons of fresh pig track. We decided to split up and work the area, we would meet back at the truck in 3 hours. By 9:30 I had hiked over 2 miles, was down to my t-shirt and still sweating my butt off. I hadn’t seen much pig sign since leaving the caves and I was getting a little disappointed with my chosen route. I took a break to drink some water and do a little glassing. As I sat down I hit the button on my radio which made a loud beep. I heard a few rocks tumble above me then silence again. I knew there was something up there but wasn’t sure where or what it was. I nocked an arrow and slowly crept up the hillside. After about 100 feet I saw a couple mule deer does feeding along above me. Following them were a spike and a fork horn, which slowly passed at about 30 yards. Walking back to where I left my gear I saw some real big deer tracks a mature buck for sure. I stayed up there another two hours still hunting looking for the big buck that had made the tracks. I saw a small 3x3 running with 2 does but I know he wasn’t the one that made the big tracks.
Around 11:00 am I decided to make the 2.5 mile hike back to the truck. I made it back to the truck a little after 12:00 and learned that my buddy had seen a monster buck but couldn’t get close enough for a shot. The buck was a heavy-horned 5x5 with deep forks and 4-5 inch kickers off the rear fork on both sides. I am sure it was the same buck I have seen the last 3 years and is known by me and a couple other hunting buddies as the Joker buck. We call him that because before the season he seems friendly enough to pet, and I have been within 30 yards of him a couple times and even got some good footage on camera. About 2 weeks before the December season it seems his attitude changes, he never slips up even in full rut he is skittish and uses areas that make it near impossible to put on a quiet stalk. I have not seen him since September but from the description I am almost sure he saw Joker. He was amazed by this deer and said he thinks it was the biggest buck he has ever seen in the wild. Anyway, Joker was long gone and we were worn out so we headed back to grab some lunch.
We headed back out around 2:30 drove to an access point closer to the caves we found in the morning and the plan was to hunt that area for the evening. As we were discussing our plans and what routes we would take I pointed to a hillside about half a mile west of us which was where I was planning on hiking. Before I could say anything I spotted movement on the hillside I was pointing to. A quick look through the binocs confirmed it was a herd of Javelina. Our plan was to put my buddy in front of them and I would stalk up behind them, hopefully whoever got the first shot would spook the herd at the other person. Well things never go as planned and by the time I reached the hillside I had lost sight of him and the pigs. I climbed to the top of the ridge and still saw nothing. I walked about 50 yards in the direction that David should have been and stopped to look around. Right away I heard them in the wash about 40 yards below me. I nocked an arrow and waited. After about a minute a pig stepped out into the open at 40 yards, a near vertical shot and I missed. The whole herd was running now and it took me another 30 minutes or so to get back on them. They were feeding along a steep ravine as I made my way across the wash and up the side of the ravine about even with the pigs. I watched four of them walk into a thick bunch of mesquite and bed down, so I figured I would make a stalk on them. When I was about 50 yards away I heard a WOOF to my right and looked over to see a javelina all bristled up hair on end about 20 yards away. I had to take 3 steps backward for a clear shot. The pig stared at me as I slowly drew back my bow and shot. A good pass through shot but a little far back. It ran into the wash where it spooked a bunch of others. There was pigs running everywhere and I wasn’t sure which was mine. I waited 10 minutes and started to follow the blood trail. As I was following the blood I walked to within 5 yards of the pig and it got up and ran. I could tell it wasn’t going far so I followed slowly and watched it bed down. I crept to about 5 yards and shot it again right behind the shoulder, the pig was down but still making noise so I shot one more time just to make it fast. I had left my pack behind with my knife in it so I had to carry it out whole. It was a heavy load to carry close to a mile over rocky steep terrain and by the time I got back to the truck I was beat! When I got back to the truck I found that my buddy David had taken a wrong turn and never got into the pigs. He had been sitting there for over 45 minutes while I was in the action. Poor Guy!!
