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Saturday morning found me back inside my recurve model ICE Blind waiting for
daylight and deer. It wasn't long before a pair of does, followed again by
a young eight pointer, found their way in front of the blind. I decided if
I could get a shot on video, I'd attempt to take one of the does. The does
were very nervous, though, and never presented a shot opportunity in front of
the camera. I would have had several opportunities through the other
window, but I was committed to only shooting if I could capture it on
video. The buck, meanwhile, fed in front of the camera for a while,
offering multiple shot opportunities. "Potential" saved him from
being pierced by a Jak Hammer tipped Epsilon!
The buck finally chased the does away. They were soon replaced by the
group of javelinas. Again, I opted not to shoot one since I don't care
much for the meat. I filmed a couple of baby javy's as the suckled on
their momma while she gobbled up the corn that I had scattered on the
ground. Again, I attempted to make noise with my grunt tube and rattle bag
in an attempt to scare them off, but they had apparently wised up since
yesterday evening!
Finally, they looked north down the road and scattered. I thought I
might be in for another round with the illegals, but instead the young buck came
strolling back to finish feeding, obviously having given up on his attempt to
woo the unwilling does. He didn't stay long, however. Moments after
he left, the javelina returned once again. I agonized over whether or not
to shoot. Since I don't typically eat them, I had decided not to shoot
earlier, but my brother actually enjoys eating them, and since his freezer went
out over the summer, he's in dire need of meat (I actually gave him the doe I
shot last weekend for the same reason). Even so, javelina are best
left to stalking rather than shooting from a ground blind. However, it's
impossible to get a javelina stalk on video without a cameraman, so I finally
talked myself into shooting one. I chose not to shoot the nursing sow,
which was feeding perfectly in the viewfinder. Once she cleared, however,
I was presented with a great shot of a medium sized boar.
I drew back on my Hoyt Striker as my new Muzzy Zero Effect rest lifted my
arrow slowly into place. I placed the arrow low on the chest of the
javelina and pressed my index finger on the release. The arrow sailed
through the air and smashed into the javelina, sending the boar high in the air,
jaws snapping at the arrow that had skewered the animal! Click on the
image below for a video clip of the shot.
He barked and jumped and then javelina scattered in every direction! In
fact, a couple of them ran right at my blind, before seeing me peeking through
the window, causing them to veer in another direction.
I waited ten minutes before exiting the blind to see what kind of blood I
had. It appeared as if I had hit perfectly in the chest, so I expected a
huge blood trail to be created by the Thunderhead. To my amazement, I
couldn't find any sign, other than a couple of bone fragments. I looked
and looked, but never found a drop. I worked my way through the brush
until I stumbled upon a black figure in the thick brush. I walked towards
it until I identified it as my javelina. It was still alive, but obviously
crippled. I backed off, deciding rather than risk breaking another arrow,
I'd finish it off with a shotgun. I went back to the cabin, retrieved the
shotgun, along with a wife, kids and my brother, and returned to finish the
job. The only problem is that the javelina was no longer where he
was. We followed the blood trail until we found the boar another twenty
yards away and finished it off with a load of #5 12 guage shot.
The arrow had pierced the lead shoulder, sliced a nonvital gash in the boar's
chest and then through the offside shoulder, breaking both front legs in the
process. Martin was more than happy to take the meat.
I've uploaded a short clip of the damage done to the animal by the
arrow. Click on the image above if you'd like to see it, otherwise,
continue on!
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