Javelina February and March

[BayouBengal]

I just moved to Albuquerque this year (Air Force) and drew JAV-1-102, which allows me to hunt GMUs 19, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27.

I assume White Sands is off the table, so looking more into units 25 and 26. I would really appreciate any tips or advice that anyone may have to share. I've never even seen a javelina in real life, so my expectations are low to start!

 

[TX Trophy Hunter]

They are easy to hunt once you find them but can be hard to find. They will eat the pads of prickly pear cactus and will dig up the ground to eat roots. They leave tracks that look like tiny deer tracks and are almost always in big groups so usually there’s a ton of tracks. Getting on a high point and glassing is effective, but sometimes they stick to the thick mesquite choked drainages that are hard to glass into. You can also call them in sometimes with a dying rabbit call. Look up YouTube videos on how to remove the gland while cleaning them.

 

[TheTone]

They are easy to hunt once you find them but can be hard to find. They will eat the pads of prickly pear cactus and will dig up the ground to eat roots. They leave tracks that look like tiny deer tracks and are almost always in big groups so usually there’s a ton of tracks. Getting on a high point and glassing is effective, but sometimes they stick to the thick mesquite choked drainages that are hard to glass into. You can also call them in sometimes with a dying rabbit call. Look up YouTube videos on how to remove the gland while cleaning them.

This is spot on advice.

They will live in rougher country than you expect. You might smell them or hear them before you see them. They can be easy to shoot too high, especially if they’re on edge and the hair is fluffed up on the back. If you lightly bump a group you can almost always expect one or two stragglers hanging around that don’t know what happened to the rest of the group; in that case they will tend to sniff out the group and often follow the same trail the others used

 

[Bigjay73]

You remove the gland by skinning them, no special cutting required. I usually walk till I find fresh crap. Javelina crap looks like human crap only green if it's fresh. Find fresh poop, you're within 800 yds of javelina

 

[Redraider7]

Another tip is the talk
To ranchers and farmers in your unit. Typically, they strongly dislike javelina and will tell you where to find them or let you shoot one off their property.

I’ve found them on top of a mountain before but usually I’ll find them in brushy arroyos close to water.

Once you do find them, you can keep coming back because they rarely move far. But they are family units so if you shoot them all, your spot is now gone.

Set up cameras on remote water holes to see if they are being used.

I only use an javelina call when I am trying to stop the herd from running away. Use sparingly and Don’t educate the herd!