February always means hunting Javelina to us. This year was no exception. We, my husband Bob and I drew tags in Unit 23 for this years hunt. We have hunted Unit 23 many times and it is one of our favorite places to go. Our hunt opened on Friday morning, February 23rd. This was a seven day hunt and would go through Thursday, March 1st.
It’s about a 4 hour drive from our house to where we set up camp.
This area is beautiful especial when they have gotten moisture. Bits of green grass are starting to pop up and the plants are getting there new spring leaves. 
The Sierra Anchas mountain range lends itself to glassing, from mule and coues deer to javelina. The habitat is perfect for javelina with: several types of cactus, stag-horn, prickly pear (one of their favorites), cholla and ocotillos along with agave and cat-claw plants.
A storm was to come in on Friday and when the sun came up I could it was coming. Javelina do not stay out in the open when the weather turns bad with rain, snow wind and cold. Their guard hair is hollow and they have no undercoat to help keep them warm, so when it rains or snows they head for cover and make pig piles to stay warm. We started out at our favorite spot for 
glassing. After 2 hours of glassing and no javelina we decided to head up the hill behind us and glass the rolling hills from the ridge. The storm was coming and the wind was starting to pick up. We were not glassing for 5 minutes and my husband found a herd of javelina. Since we were already on top all we had to do was walk the ridge top to get closer. We started to feel a few drops of rain and the wind was blowing in all directions. We got as close as we could get and saw there were about 10-12 javelina in this herd. I saw a big one walk out in the open at 200 yards. I took a shot and missed. The javelina scattered and then stopped. Two headed in our direction, they were about 150 yards, moving and I shot the second one when it stopped with my 25.06. With that they all ran out of sight. The storm was really coming in now, rain and some snow. I gutted the javelina, dropped him in my pack and we headed for the truck a mile away. We made it back to the truck just in time before we got really soaked.
The next morning, Saturday, was beautiful. A little cold but the sun was out and we knew the javelina would be out soaking up the warmth, and they were. My husband glassed a big herd of javelina on the mountain side across Cherry Creek. So off we went. It was a short hike to the creek but not a nice hike up the high ridge. We climbed higher and higher trying to find the javelina 2 ridges over but never did. We decided the next game plan was to take a break and have a snack, since we were already up on the mountain. We crossed a land bridge to the next ridge glassing as we went. Bob glassed another good herd of javelina on the opposite side of the drainage. They were far and we had to close at least 500 yards for Bob to get within shooting distance. We planned the stalk and headed out. We hadn’t covered 100 yards when all of a sudden a javelina in the trees woofed and took off down the mountain. We had walked into a third herd we hadn’t even seen. We continued to walk slow and pay close attention, because there was javelina sign everywhere. All of a sudden they broke and ran in all directions. Bob was in front and we were in a saddle and one ran up the ridge in front of him. He knelt down and took a shot with his .243 and the javelina went down and rolled part way down the hill. A bush stopped him before he went all the way to the bottom, and that was good thing. He gutted the javelina and loaded him into his pack and we started the 2 mile hike, down the mountain, across the creek to the truck.
It had been a good two days. We both had gotten our javelina. We had a friend also hunting with his 24 year old daughter. This was her first hunt. We stayed to help glass for javelina for her. Sunday morning she got into two herds of javelina but was not able to get a shot. She did really well, had a good time and wants to try again.
