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    #31
    Great story Buff, I wish I could pull enough bow to hunt Cape Buffalo.

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      #32
      My First Javelina

      It really started in 1998. I had been back in traditional archery a few years and was looking for a new longbow. Searching on the internet I ran across Jeff Massie in Shiner Texas. I liked the looks of his Longhorns and after talking to a few people ordered one. It was 64”, 55lbs at 28”. It had a cocobolo handle with Bamboo lams under clear glass. I received the bow and it shot as good as it looked. After I received the bow I stayed in touch with Jeff and he suggested I come down and hunt pigs and javvies with him. He was running pig and javvie hunts on the Cadena ranch near Benavides. Well, I wasn’t too sure of that as it was a long ways from Virginia to Texas. He finally convinced me and I talked my brother, Lewis, into going. We went down in January of 2000. We didn’t have much luck that year, but both of us took an eating size pig.

      We had such a good time that we decided to go back the next year. This time we convinced my brother’s brother-in-law, Jesse, to go. We got down there the 3rd week in January on Sunday afternoon. It was 80 degrees and sunny. When we got up Monday morning it was in the 40’s and misting rain. It stayed that way through the week until Friday when it was in the high 70’s and sunny. We hadn’t had much luck, Jesse and Lewis had each taken a nice pig and a javvie. I had taken an eating size pig and a few rabbits.

      On Friday morning I set up in a location called Canopy Road. I hand corned a stretch of the road and settled back to wait. After about half an hour I saw some javvies down near the end of the road. I faded back into the brush and stalked up on the javvie. When I finally got into shooting range, only one of the javvies was still on the road. It was a nice boar about 35lbs. He was quartering slightly away from me with his left side toward me at about 15 yards. I picked a spot and came to anchor and released the string on the first javvie I had ever shot at. The hit looked a bit too far forward for the angle he was at, probably only one lung. I watched him run into a mesquite thicket and settled down to wait a half-hour or so before I started to track.

      While I was waiting, another Javvie, about 25 lbs wandered back onto the road. I slowly got to my feet and started a stalk. I stalked to about 20 yards. He started to get fidgety so I decided to shoot. I picked a spot, came to anchor and released the string. I watched as the arrow zipped through him in what looked like a perfect double lung hit. He darted toward the nastiest patch of cactus and mesquite on the ranch. He crashed just outside the thicket and I had my first javvie.

      It was now time to track the first javvie. I picked up some good blood and followed it into the mesquite. I followed about 25 yards and had to crawl under some low hanging limbs. I crawled about 10 yards and I heard the javvie popping his teeth. I looked to my left and he was about 10 yards from me facing me. He looked pretty sick, but still very much alive. The overhanging limbs were so low that I couldn’t get off my hands and knees. It looked like a couple yards ahead I could get to my knees so I slowly crawled ahead. I got up on my knees and got ready to shoot. The limbs were too low for me to hold my bow upright so I shot with the bow almost horizontal. He was facing me but I could see his right shoulder. I picked a spot, drew, and released. The arrow sliced into him and it looked like I got one lung. He ran 5 or 6 yards and collapsed. I waited a few minutes and he didn’t move so I crawled up to him. He was dead.

      This really hooked me on hunting pigs and javvie in Texas and I’ve been making an annual trip to south Texas ever since.
      Last edited by Phillip Fields; 06-17-2014, 11:27 AM.

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        #33
        Hunting javelina is a FUN hunt!

        Bisch, you need to tell the story of the javelinas at the pit blind when you ran out of arrows.........

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          #34
          Come on guys/gals. This is gonna be a really short "book" if we don't see some more stories. (I love reading these kinds of stories)

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            #35
            Longbow Bison

            This adventure started as many do, sitting around with good friends, sipping a bit of Jack Daniels. As I remember, it was a hot July evening. We were reminiscing about past hunts and someone mentioned that we should do something a little different. After tossing a few ideas around I suggested a Bison hunt. My hunting buddy David said he would be up for it. After a bit of discussion and research we decided we would do a cow hunt for the meat. I then started researching a location. Finally I hit on a location in North Dakota that seemed to offer what we wanted.

            I talked to the outfitter and he recommended we come between December and early March as the hides would be prime. We decided to make the trip in December. It would be a three day hunt. Neither of us wanted mounts, but both of us wanted a nice buffalo robe. I decided that I would use my go-to bow, a 66” Jeff Massie 2 piece takedown Longhorn, 57 lbs at 28”. For arrows I would use Arrow Dynamics Trads tipped with 2 blade, 160 grain Magnus broadheads for a total arrow weight of 620 grains. My buddy opted to use his Black Widow recurve, 54 lbs at 28”. For arrows he used Grizzlystics tipped with a 2 blade,125gr Magnus Stinger for a total arrow weight of 600 grains.

            We arrived at the ranch on December 6, met up with the outfitter, Orem, and got settled into the comfortable old ranch house. Orem took us for a quick tour to see the bison and where we would be hunting. It was wide open prairie with about 6,000 acres behind barbed wire. Orem said that the wire would not stop the bison if they decided to go somewhere. We went back to the house and settled down to rest up from the 2 day drive. Later, Orem picked us up and took us out to a local bar/café for dinner. We had a couple of drinks and ate some excellent T-bones while we planned strategy for the next day.
            Next morning when we got up it was 19 degrees and there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground. We climbed into Orem’s pick-up and drove out to the pasture. We had decided we would start out by trying to stalk. This proved to be difficult as it was wide open prairie. There were some gullies and some trees along the watercourse, but the bison pretty much stayed away from them. By crawling and taking advantage of the low cover we were able to close the distance to about 50 yards, much too far to shoot with our trad equipment. We spent the morning trying stalks but were never able to close the distance.

            After warming up with a hot lunch of chili, we discussed the afternoon hunt. Orem decided to put out some bales of hay and we would hide behind them to ambush the bison. We crouched behind the bales and waited for the bison to approach. The herd of approximately 200 finally came in and we were virtually surrounded. I examined the herd searching for a cow with a really good coat. Finally I spotted one that suited me, and waited for her to separate out from the herd enough that I could get a decent shot. Finally, she separated from her companions and turned almost broadside at about 20 yards, just slightly quartering away from me. I figured that if I held for the off shoulder I could slip an arrow through both lungs.

            I picked my spot, came to full draw, hit my anchor, and dropped the string. I watched my arrow arc through the air and make contact just behind the rear rib, headed for the far shoulder. As she ran off I could see the arrow fetching protruding from her side. David was watching through binoculars and said it looked good, but penetration might be a little lacking. Then he said “She’s down”. She had made it about 100 yards before going down. When we walked up on her she was still breathing but couldn’t get up. I slipped another arrow into her and it was all over. We waited while Orem went to get the tractor and front end loader to load her onto the truck for the trip to the processor. She weighed about 900 lbs and I wound up with over 300 lbs of packaged, prime eating.

            My penetration was a little less than I would have liked. I think this because she was somewhat quartering and the fact that I was using a 1 1/2” wide broadhead. I took out he near lung and was into the far lung. I think with a slightly narrower head I would have fully penetrated both lungs.
            Attached Files

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              #36
              Originally posted by Texas5o View Post
              Hunting javelina is a FUN hunt!

              Bisch, you need to tell the story of the javelinas at the pit blind when you ran out of arrows.........
              My first game animal with a bow was a Javi this past spring... hunting them is a blast!!! I can't wait for next year when I take my trad bow.

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                #37
                Nice bison Phillip......on my bucket list for sure

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                  #38
                  Are you looking for traditional only stories?

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                    #39
                    Originally posted by GarGuy View Post
                    Are you looking for traditional only stories?
                    I'll let Chunky answer this since he started the thread, but that is the way I interpreted it!

                    Bisch

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                      #40
                      Awesome stories guys! Phillip, that's an awesome bison!!

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                        #41
                        Mark,
                        You started this yet you haven't blessed the campfire with any of your tales. You too, Bisch.

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                          #42
                          Of course I will contribute, I would probably use my mule deer story for one, and pick one where I messed up for the other. People seem to like those, and luckily there are plenty of them.

                          I was kind of hoping that a person with good computer, grammar, and organizational skills would take the lead on the project.

                          All my ideas are not good.

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                            #43
                            I just know you and Marty and Bisch have hunted more far-away places than most of the rest of us. I love hearing the tales and try to live those hunts vicariously through the stories.

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                              #44
                              Originally posted by Bisch View Post
                              I'll let Chunky answer this since he started the thread, but that is the way I interpreted it!

                              Bisch
                              Guess I need a trad kill.

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                                #45
                                Well this is an archery story, kinda. When I was about 22 I got hooked up with an old, old guy with a lot of experience who took me under his wing and taught me some stuff. He was 43ish.

                                RIGHT BEHIND THE SHOULDER

                                We we hunting in Sanderson Tx on a lease with Earl Bateman III. Norris, my buddy Joe and I were walking a long a ridge and spotted a javalina down in the bottom of a canyon. It was decided that Norris would stay on top and guide the two of us to the javy by hand signals. Well it did not take long for the animal to catch our scent and haul outta there.

                                As luck would have it the javalina headed straight up the hill about 150 yds straight to Norris. The javy paused for a second and Norris shot. The javy ran into a cave on a ledge with an opening barely large enough for it to enter.

                                I asked Norris if he made a good shot. Norris said "Perfect RIGHT BEHIND THE SHOULDER." Me being the smaller and most agile of the three of us crawled onto the ledge and peered into the cave. The javalina ran towards the opening popping it's teeth. Our faces were about 6" apart. I screamed. The javy screamed. I don't know about the javy but I might have peed a little wee bit.

                                I asked Norris again where he hit the javalina. "Pefect RIGHT BEHIND THE SHOULDER" he replied. We hung around for awhile and you could hear the animal in the cave and he was not happy. I said "Well its been 30 minutes and he is either really tough or you did not hit him RIGHT BEHIND THE SHOULDER". It was getting dark so we closed the opening with rocks so a predator would not enter the cave and drag off the soon to be dead javy which was hit RIGHT BEHIND THE SHOULDER.

                                We went back to camp. I fashioned a hook with an 8' handle out of an old branding iron and a piece of rebar. I also made a spear out of a survival knife and a piece of mequite limb, Rambo had just came out. Norris asked about the spear and the hook. I said "Next time I am looking into that hole I am going to be armed." He said "He is gonna be dead he is shot RIGHT BEHIND THE SHOULDER. I said "I'm not too sure about that." The hook was for if he was dead and did not run out of the cave we could reach in there and drap him out.

                                Well daylight found the three of us on top of the ridge. I removed the rocks. The javy charged the entrance. He screamed. I screamed and maybe peed a little wee bit. We had a quick meeting. It was decided that I would lay on my belly above the cave opening. I would stick the 8' hook into the hole and rattle it around in there to get the javy to exit the cave as we had stood guard for near an hour and all the javalina had done was hide and poop its teeth, a lot. Since it was Norris's javalina he was to take the shot standing over me as the javalina ran down the incline.

                                I rattled the hook in there. The javalina was very, very POed. All of a sudden I felt like I had a fish. I told Norris "I think I have hooked him around his ankle or something because I have him and he can't get it off." The hook was very dull and it would have been impossible to "gaff" him with it.

                                I was a whooping 135 lbs back then and found that I did not have the strenght to pull the javalina out while laying on my belly. Norris took over the hook and began to pull the javy out while laying on his belly.

                                I got down on the ledge and when the javy got near the opening I stabbed it with the spear RIGHT BEHIND THE SHOULDER. The javalina died instantly. After looking the animal over it was found that Norris's arrow had hit the javy right on top of the hips. The broadhead had not cut any meat and had cut a hole about 3" long through the hide. The hook which had only been rattled in the hole to scare the javalina had by an accidental miracle fell perfectly into this hole. Javalina hide is tough allowing Norris to pull it out of the hole.

                                We teased Norris abit about being old and not being able to see anymore as the javalina was clearly not hit RIGHT BEHIND THE SHOULDER.
                                Last edited by M.E.B.; 06-21-2014, 02:47 AM.

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