Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
swaro06

JAVELINA VITALS

Recommended Posts

The white stripe is too far forward. Ideal shot is the crease of the shoulder 1/3 the way up the body from the brisket. Granted pigs take a hit like no other. I've pinwheed pigs before and lost them and I've hit them bad before and found them. Javelina are some seriously tough SOBs! Good luck and wack one of them stinky critters!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

loco4coues and Amanda, awesome visuals. The vitals on Javis are relatively small, as you have shown. As anyone on this forum knows, I'm a huge fan of Javi hunting, but it seems a lot get hit badly and lost, as they sometimes don't bleed like a deer, or even if they do bleed, they can cover a huge amount of country once wounded.

 

I recently tracked a hit Javi for close to 3 miles. At times there was good blood, other times nothing but tracks until the next blood spot turned up. It was probably the longest tracking job I ever took on, and at about the 3rd mile in, when we were sure the pig would be hunkered under the next bush. We found the spot on top of a ridge where he/she rolled in soft dirt and clogged the bleeding wound. We found only one more place where a single hoof scuffed a rock with blood.

 

In all my years hunting Javelina, most "hard hit" don't move very far, even when the herd takes off. This time, it was like tracking an elk. It just kept going and going. Those who have been hand-and-knees following the smallest blood drop know, there is a point at which you know you're either right on it, or the wounded animal is no longer in shock, it's fully aware that it's hurt and fully aware that it is being followed. It just keeps moving and when the time comes, it instinctively knows to use dirt as a coagulant.

 

If there is something to learn here, it's shot placement. Javi's have a small "kill zone" and they are very protected by bone and hide. A well placed shot will result in a short tracking job. A poorly placed shot will often result in a long tracking job and ultimately a lost animal that will probably die from the wound.

 

Javi's aren't as hardy as elk and deer. I've seen photos of elk and deer with broadheads and bullets inside them that have been callused over.

 

I saw an elk once that had an arrow embedded between then neck and inside the ribcage. The entire left lung was collapsed and the arrow was covered in fat and flesh. Similarly, I have shot deer and found pieces of branch and thorn so deeply embedded, that they couldn't be expelled, but the tissue just grew around them and isolated the area to avoid further muscle damage and blood loss.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

From the looks of it, I put the arrow on my pig right where the heart is... Problem is she was 1/4'ing away and I didn't know it. Arrow ended up cutting an artery in the neck and exited through the top of the head :blink: :blink:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×