Handgun Ham Hunt in AZ. Which Gun Choice?

[crewzer]

Well with my upcoming Ham hunt for Javelina here in AZ I have to narrow down my handgun choices.

Taurus Raging 30 .30Carbine w/Nikon RedDot

S&W 657 8 3/8" 41Mag w/ Nikon 2x scope

S&W 29 4" 44Mag

S&W 686+ 6" 357Mag

Ruger SuperRedHawk 8" 44Mag

Ruger Super BlackHawk 10" 45LC

Glock 20 6" 10mm

Desert Eagle 6" 44Mag

My thoughts are shoulder holster w/ S&W 657 & Glock 20. Further than 25yards go to the 41mag anything closer use the Glock.

Any suggestions on hunting loads would be great as well.

Thanks

 

[sumpnz]

Any of those will work well on a pigalina. Which do you shoot best out to 25 yards? Whatever that is would be the one I'd take. I might avoid the 8"+ guns and the Eagle just due to the size and bulk, but if you shoot one of those really well, I'd still take it.

For loads, any decently powered JSP or JHP or even hardcast wads will work just fine.

 

[hagar]

I agree with your picks, 41 magnum backup by Glock 20. Javelina are easy to sneak up to and kill. We used to call them up (out of season) occasionally calling coyotes, and it was kind of amusing to have them sniff at the sole of your boot trying to figure out what you were!

 

[Art Eatman]

Anything from .38 Spl on up, really. Knowing your trajectory is about the main thing. I always try for the eyeball as the target. Center of the head, anyhow...

Art

 

[Lennyjoe]

Your one of the lucky ones. We didn't get drawn for squat. Take the .41 mag with a 2X scope and the G20 for back up.

Last year we got charged by a Javalina during bow season. I had gotten to within 30 yds of a group of them to include a sow with piglets. A large male got between us when she snorted at me. He started to charge and stopped when I put a 180gr XTP out of the G20 1ft in front of his snout. He backed off briefly then came at us again. I side stepped him and was going to shoot his ass but he ran off the same direction the pack went. Bad thing was, I didn't have a Javalina bow tag and we were out hunting deer.

 

[crewzer]

We are hunting in AZ 35B down by Patagonia. Gotta worry about them 2 legged illegal south of the border animals as well. I am definite on the Glock 20 (great balistics and superior firepower). I am hitting the range with the 657 and the Raging 30. How about a AR15 pistol in 223? Thought I would throw that in for ****s and giggles.

 

[lawson]

i'd take the .41 mag w/ scope. they're little critters, so shot placement is important. it's easy to waste a good amount of meat with a bad shot. i go for the eye as well.

if you can get a 5 round magazine for the AR-15 pistol, it would also be quite effective on javelina.

i didn't get drawn for squat this year either. my lucky cousin got drawn for both deer and elk (cow). he was the only one in the family to get anything this year.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Haven't seen many javalina's down in 35B. I bowhunt out in that area and have yet to see a pig out that way. Definitely be on the look out for the illegals. They are down in that area. Be more worried about the 2 legged coyotes and the drug runners. We hunted out in 36B and seen quite a few illegals, border patrol and National Guard folks out there.

Stay safe.

 

[sixgunner455]

I hunted quail outside patagonia over the holiday, and saw plenty of javalina sign. Just depends on where you go, I guess.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Sign is one thing but finding them buggers is another ball of wax.

 

[sixgunner455]

Just like "hunting" quail: my wife calls it hiking with a shotgun and expensive dog.

 

[Steel Talon]

Hello crewzer...

Any will do just fine. I've killed them with a 22 mag, 38/357, and a .45acp in pistols. May favorite round is the .223 (my mini-14) Thompson contenders, Savage strikers and others offer this caliber in pistol.

For sure carry yourself a javalina call, its can be exciting times when the heard responds to the call usually when they have reds about. Either way a call will get them moving to or away from you. Ive been on ridges not even seeing a piggy and have called them in to me.

When you glass for them glass small and tight into the cover your looking for a rock that moves

My favorite way to prepare Javaline is grind them up for chorizo

Best of luck

Peace
Steel Talon

 

[RemingtonFreak870]

I like to use my Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum for javelina(Rifle but shoots pistol rounds), Five rounds with .45 ACP and one still had to be subdued with a knife. So .45 is out IMP Once with a .223 my dad shot one, when he went to retrieve it and it bit him badly, severed his arteries, tendons and nerves. He cut its mouth of his wrist with a Rambo knife, stuck the blade up through the palate and finished it off. He tied the pig onto a rope on his waist, tied a turnicate on his arm, walked four miles back to his truck and drove 80m miles to the hospital. After nearly loosing all function in his hand he has gotten up to about 85% of the useage back. Anyways, you want something that stops them clean, my 44 has always done the trick for me. Although nothing matters more than shot placement. Javelina can be dangerous if not hit hard enough.

 

[crewzer]

We are going scouting this weekend. I have hunted down there before. I was the only one that didn't get one then. But now that I am 220lbs lighter I will be able to do a lot better in my hunt. Kinda hard to keep quiet when you way over 400lbs. I have one of the Javelina calls. Who knows I might bag a coyote or two as well. haha. I hear they taste worse than Javelina. HaHa I do have some german recipes for slow cooking that are really good at getting rid of that gamey taste. I will probably go for the slow bbq pit method. But gotta get one first. Well gotta go to the range to make sure my scope is still sighted in.

 

[Art Eatman]

I've had javelina come to a wounded rabbit call...

As far as sitting and waiting for the piggies to come to you, that's best done in late evening between sundown and dark. Generally along a game trail toward some water point or even just a moist area.

Art