Javelina hunt sparks hunting passion

The first big game animal Kristin Parma harvested when moved to Texas from Oregon was a javelina.

In late January, Parma shared her knowledge of Texas’ native collared peccary with four young women. Parma was the “huntmaster” on a Texas Youth Hunting Program guided trip. She, along with four guides, introduced young women to the native species.

“Javelina sometimes gets a bad rep,” Parma said. “It’s hard to get people excited about the species when they don’t know anything about them.”  

The hunt took place on a 20,000-acre ranch near Eagle Pass. The girls, aged 12-16, came with their fathers from all over the state to hunt and learn about javelina.

The focus of the weekend was to educate the girls about the species, improve their familiarity with shooting and enjoy time outdoors.

“I believe you shouldn’t hunt anything you don’t know anything about,” Parma said.

Downtime between hunts was filled with activities like games with animal facts, animal species charades and a landscape painting session. Parma even brought in the skull of her first javelina for the girls to inspect.

Most of the girls had hunted before, but for Viviana Moreno, this trip was her first introduction to hunting.

Moreno, 14, from San Antonio, has wanted to hunt since she saw the movie The Hunger Games when she was 10 years old. She was inspired by the idea of hunting, skinning and eating the animal harvest and begged her father to find a way to take her.

Her father, Michael, who doesn’t hunt, learned about the TYHP through friends. The all-girls javelina hunt sounded like the perfect introduction to hunting for his daughter.

Viviana was ecstatic about the opportunity.

“Since the other girls had hunted before, I was a little nervous,” she said. “But I made friends right away and they were really nice and encouraging.”

Moreno, her father and a guide set out early in the morning. Deer covered up the road not long after they got into the blind.

Far off in the distance, a few javelina emerged from the brush.

“They looked like little tumbleweeds,” Moreno said.

Once she spotted them, Moreno couldn’t sit still. The group got down from the blind and decided to try to sneak up on the peccary.

When they got close, they picked out a female in the group and Moreno made her shot. She turned around with a huge smile when the javelina hit the ground. Her father had captured the whole hunt on video.

“I was just so excited,” she said. “I’ve waited a long time to go hunting, I knew I was gonna love it and I did.”

After taking their animals, the girls were taught how to skin them properly and prepare the meat.

“That was my favorite part,” Moreno said. “They didn’t smell as bad as I thought. Not as bad as a goat; I’m used to that smell.”

The Moreno’s took the meat to the processor and are waiting to get it back and plan on making tamales.

“I didn’t want to leave,” she said. “I cried a little when we were taking pictures at the end of the hunt.”

It’s experiences like Moreno’s that keep people like Parma passionate about introducing people to the outdoors.

Parma hopes to continue the girls’ javelina hunt. Next year, she plans to teach them how to cook the javelina.

“I think it taste best when made into tamales,” she said.

Parma works for the Texas Wildlife Association and has been guiding hunts with the Texas Youth Hunting Program for 4 years. She became a huntmaster for the program last spring.  

Parma’s husband, Adam, grew up hunting through the TYHP program.

The Texas Youth Hunting Program is a program sponsored by the TWA and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. It was established to provide opportunities for youth to participate in hunting activities while learning about the role landowners and hunters play in wildlife conservation. They offer more than 200 hunts each year.