Tool Selection for Javelina

[Yo Mama]

I put in for Javelina today as it was the deadline. Feels good as I haven't hunted bigger than a Dove yet.

Questions: Which tool would you be most confident with for a Javelina hunt?

1. AK with 123 grain 7.62 x 39
2. Mauser with 165 grain 8mm
3. 870 w/ slug out of a 28 inch barrel

None of my long guns except my .22 have a scope, so I need to reach out and get one. I'm thinking AK as tacky as it may be, but want other opinions for options I have available.

Thanks!

 

[Flintknapper]

Any of those are more than enough. Usually, you can stalk within 25-40 yds. of Javelina (depending upon terrain), so open sights should present no problem.

Remember to place shots much farther forward than you would on other animals such as deer. Basically right through the shoulders (use the collar as a reference).

People have a tendency to aim for "the big middle" of animals when they first start out. You'll have a long tracking job if you do.

Best of luck.

 

[Yo Mama]

Thanks Flintknapper! I appreciate the wisdom.

I've been watching alot of videos that show this also, front making it harder for the animal to run far.

Will a hollow point rifle round or slug be sufficient, or must I use a soft point? Reason asking is ammo selection is hard to come across right now, and I have some hollow points.

 

[hoghunting]

Hollow points will work just fine, as a big Javelina is only about 50 lbs.

 

[MCgunner]

Hell, .22 mag about right. Anything more is overkill. I killed one with a 4" Rossi M971 in .357 magnum, stalked up to about 50 yards and let him have it. Keep the wind to your face. They can't see, but they can smell. This one was perfect, down in a draw. I just eased up to the draw and let him have a 140 Speer JHP.

 

[MCgunner]

People have a tendency to aim for "the big middle" of animals when they first start out. You'll have a long tracking job if you do.

Yeah, that's what I did on my first one. 7mm rem mag and that thing went 350 yards in the brush. All I got was guts and I hit him right in the ribs behind the shoulder. When I got to him, he was still alive enough to try to charge, although his intestines were draggin' on the ground. Didn't take much to gut him. LOL The .357 kill, I just shot him in the head. They have big heads.

 

[a-sheepdog]

Mauser with 165 grain 8mm

 

[WardenWolf]

Well, I hunted javelina with an AK, but it was a Saiga .223. I'll warn you right now, all three of those calibers are way too large. I was using 68-grain Black Hills hollowpoints. The shot went clean through. Heart, both lungs, and both shoulders, clean out the other side. Absolutely no expansion, might as well have been FMJ. Basically, it went through like it wasn't even there. That was a .223, and your smallest caliber is significantly more powerful. That should tell you something. If I had to do it again, I'd go for 55-grain.

 

[Art Eatman]

The proper target area on a pigelina is somewhere close behind the ear. They don't really have much of a neck, and the "innards" come well forward inside the body.

I've always spotted them and eased up close. If you work the wind, walk quietly and don't move in a jerky fashion, you can get close enough to grab a baby piglet for the fun of it. I've eased along within fifteen or twenty yards of a bunch for several minutes and they never realized I was there...

.22 Mag or .38 Special is plenty of gun. Shoot one toward his front end and you can field dress it without even getting bloody hands. Greasy is another story, of course.

 

[Flintknapper]

And fleas!

 

[Yo Mama]

Thanks everyone. I'm super stoked here and I'm going with my father-in-law and Great-Uncle, which in of it's self will be a great experience.