My sincere thanks to Amanda, AGFD, Safari International, all the dedicated mentors and volunteers and all the hunters that attended the Women's javelina Hunt Camp at the Buenos Aires Refuge on Feb 14-17th. Their objectives of safety, instruction & guidance to novice hunters, as well as friendship & camaraderie all were done in an easy-going, successful manner. My husband Stuart and I are Canadians who came to Arizona for the winter “dry heat” and javelina hunting. I am a novice hunter with only 2 years experience. Stu has a life time of hunting experiences. We arrived in camp on Thursday afternoon. We had the pleasure of bunking in with Ilene and Roger in their trailer....a luxury! Our hosts were wonderful people who shared their hunting experiences with us. We went out with our mentor Kelly, but saw no javelina that day. We learned a lot about the terrain and different cacti. After breakfast on Friday, Stuart & I headed out with Kelly, Bridgette and her mentor Mark and Deanna and her mentor Gerry. We saw a herd of javelinas and made a plan for each group to come in from different angles. Bridgette and Mark stalked the javelinas and came up on them. Bridgette shot a javelina with her handgun at about 35 yards. The rest of the javelinas scattered. Stu, Kelly and I were up on a rise. One javelina ran up the ridge by us. I did not have time to get my muzzle loader cocked and sight it in. Once the javelina ran past us, Stu shot it at about 75 yards out, with the javelina running full tilt. We took the javelinas back to camp by noon, but did not see any others that day. On Saturday, we glassed for javelina but did not see any until almost time to go back to camp at the end of the day. The javelina were at the very top of the next ridge;- too far to go there with little daylight left. Our mentor Kelly had to return home and we were joined by Reece. We enjoyed supper and Amanda introduced all the sponsors, volunteers and mentors for the weekend. With special prize draws, surveys and javelina stories, we agreed that the wonderful weather and camaraderie made for an awesome weekend through learning and friendship, whether we shot a javelina or not. On Sunday, Deanna and I went out with Gerry, Reece and Mark. Reece and Mark glassed and gave us updates at to where two javelinas were and direction. Gerry and I stalked and walked many ridges and ravines getting close enough to get a shot with my muzzle loader The terrain and dense choya and occotilla cactus proved no easy feat to hunt the javelinas. After a couple of attempted shots, I was able to shoot my javelina on the next rise, about 175 yards out with my muzzle loader My mentor Gerry stressed safety, encouraged me and assisted me in every facet of the hunt. Without our mentors, we would not have the knowledge, new skills of glassing and understanding of the principles of javelina hunting. It made all the difference! We got back to camp at 2 PM, but most of the persons were gone and camp was being packed up. Stu and Amanda skinned the javelina and Amanda de-boned it for sausage meat. The weekend was an experience never to be forgotten for so many reasons. As a novice hunter, I learned so much about the hunt that I could not without this experience. The availability of the camp, having the food done for us, the priority of a safe hunt, as well as the one-on-one mentor presence made this the best learning experience. Again, our sincere thanks to all of the people involved with this venture. Great memories are forever. Stasia Bradshaw.
