Been hunting? Collin English’s javelina hunt
By Kevin English, Glendale

My son, Collin English, 14, has been active in many sports for years. He’s an 8th-grader at Cheyenne Elementary School in the Peoria School District,  plays on the school football and basketball teams, and is currently the starting catcher for the softball team.

But one of his biggest passions is hunting. Hunting is a tradition and lifestyle for our family. Collin has been big game hunting since he was 10 years old.

Collin drew a cow elk tag for his first hunt, the Unit 6A youth hunt, and successfully harvested an elk. Since then he has gotten two deer on Kaibab youth hunts, and two javelina.

Collin’s most recent javelina hunt was the juniors hunt in Unit 37B. His group jumped a herd in thick cover around mid-afternoon. The javelina were running all over. Collin spotted one on a small hill about 75 yards away. He surveyed the area, took aim at his target and took one shot with his .223 Thompson Contender. The javelina fell by a nearby bush, where Collin retrieved it.

The junior hunts are an excellent opportunity to teach hunting skills to youth. They give me a chance to work on hunting basics in the field with Collin and my other son, Darren.