There was nowhere to legally hunt javalina in the States for many years, but the laws have changed and there are now a couple destinations!
If I was asked to list my five favorite things to hunt with an airgun, javalina would certainly be in the mix. Part of the reason is I wanted to take one with an airgun for years, and I’d see them all the time when I was in Texas and sometimes in Arizona, but I could never pull the trigger….. there was no place in the US to hunt them legally. Then after years of not being able to take the shot, I went down to old Mexico where I score my first one. But that was a long, expensive, and hard to organize trip….. and I’m saying this for someone that’s traveled in Mexico and likes it a lot.
Then a few years ago Arizona opened their seasons for everything (except elk) to airgun hunters. I went down that first season and hunted with my friend and Airguns of Arizona resident hunt Kip Perow, and we scored in that first season. I’ve been back a couple of times, but you need to draw a tag for the best untis, though over the counter tags for some areas are available.
Then Texas changed their laws for airgunners, allowing anything to be taken with a an airgun over 215 fpe and .30 caliber. And Texas has becoup javalina! I see them just about every time I go down to my friend’s ranches in West and SW Texas. But the great thing is that you can take 3 per year, and its covered under your base licenses. The only downside is I’d like to use a sub 215 fpe gun for this light bodied little desert boar, but the law in Texas is a blanket for all game animals.
The reason I like javalina is that they are fun to glass for in the wide-open spaces, and a lot of fun to stalk. There sense of small is good, hearing is good, eyesight is so-so. So play the wind and watch where you step it’s doable to close into airgun range most of the time.
A couple of buddies and I were going to guide a hunt on a private ranch for airgun hunters earlier in the year, but the pandemic shut us down. Hope fully next year, but if you get a chance to go after javalina do it, you now have Texas and Arizona as destination hunts!
