My two older kids are both of hunting age and have done pretty well in recent years with Texas whitetails and New Mexico elk. As soon as they finished hunters' ed and could be put in the draw for "bigger" game (NM allows non-hunters' ed "mentored youth" to hunt deer, javelina, and turkey), I started putting them in for other NM game species, including exotic oryx, brought here decades ago from the Kalahari Desert in Namibia (southern Africa).
2017 was their Year of the Oryx! In the April 2016 big game draw, my son drew a youth tag in what they call the off-range hunt, meaning he could hunt any public land (or private with permission) outside of the core area in which oryx reside (primarily the White Sands Missile Range and some adjacent government-owned land). His hunt was scheduled for the entire month of March 2017. In the April 2017 draw, my daughter drew a youth hunt on the missile range for September 2017. Both hunts have been conducted, and the results stand thus - kids 2, oryx 0.
Since there are some decent areas close to home for off-range oryx, the boy and I just did some day hunts. We had fun glassing, hiking, and shooting the random jackrabbit.
Late on the fourth day of hunting, I located a herd of a dozen or so oryx way out in the desert. After a nice stalk and a bit of a chase when we got busted while still too far for a shot, we closed the distance and he put his trusty Marlin .308 to good use to take his first oryx.
We were able to rassle the crazy thing up on to the game cart and wheel it back to the truck that we had left in a low spot on the dirt road. Here's a tired kid and oryx "reduced to possession" as the game and fish requires.
My daughter got to hunt a really good area on range, so we were pretty excited. Security is tight, but she got to bring three guests, so we made this a triple-generation affair, with her, good ol' Dad, and two, count 'em two, grandpas. We opted to put the camper in an RV park a bit closer to the gate through which we would enter the base. Here we are getting ready to head to the hunt check-in last Friday afternoon.
We got to the gate well before check-in time, and the hunt officials were already working the line handing out all the safety information and required security/safety waivers. Here's the kid reading up on the rules while we waited.
After a long wait, and the briefing on safety and hunting regulations, we were finally released to hunt at nearly 3PM. We headed straight to an area I hoped would hold oryx. No luck. We covered a bunch of ground, glassed a lot, and made a few attempts to get closer to some oryx, but ended up calling it a day at about 7 so we could check out before dark as required.
Luckily the next morning we got through the gate bright and early and started hunting right off. However, we didn't see any critters until nearly two hours after daylight, when we came upon a pair of oryx near an open grassy area. We made a play for them and were able to get the kid set up on the sticks for a fairly close shot at this one.
With the support crew.
Hunters on range are only allowed to take a few pictures of the downed oryx (no terrain, buildings, live oryx, field dressing, etc.), so these are the only pics I have.
Both of the kids had a great time hunting their first oryx and can't wait to apply in next year's draw. I can't either! And to think, the 8-year old is pretty close to her shot too!
2017 was their Year of the Oryx! In the April 2016 big game draw, my son drew a youth tag in what they call the off-range hunt, meaning he could hunt any public land (or private with permission) outside of the core area in which oryx reside (primarily the White Sands Missile Range and some adjacent government-owned land). His hunt was scheduled for the entire month of March 2017. In the April 2017 draw, my daughter drew a youth hunt on the missile range for September 2017. Both hunts have been conducted, and the results stand thus - kids 2, oryx 0.
Since there are some decent areas close to home for off-range oryx, the boy and I just did some day hunts. We had fun glassing, hiking, and shooting the random jackrabbit.
Late on the fourth day of hunting, I located a herd of a dozen or so oryx way out in the desert. After a nice stalk and a bit of a chase when we got busted while still too far for a shot, we closed the distance and he put his trusty Marlin .308 to good use to take his first oryx.
We were able to rassle the crazy thing up on to the game cart and wheel it back to the truck that we had left in a low spot on the dirt road. Here's a tired kid and oryx "reduced to possession" as the game and fish requires.
My daughter got to hunt a really good area on range, so we were pretty excited. Security is tight, but she got to bring three guests, so we made this a triple-generation affair, with her, good ol' Dad, and two, count 'em two, grandpas. We opted to put the camper in an RV park a bit closer to the gate through which we would enter the base. Here we are getting ready to head to the hunt check-in last Friday afternoon.
We got to the gate well before check-in time, and the hunt officials were already working the line handing out all the safety information and required security/safety waivers. Here's the kid reading up on the rules while we waited.
After a long wait, and the briefing on safety and hunting regulations, we were finally released to hunt at nearly 3PM. We headed straight to an area I hoped would hold oryx. No luck. We covered a bunch of ground, glassed a lot, and made a few attempts to get closer to some oryx, but ended up calling it a day at about 7 so we could check out before dark as required.
Luckily the next morning we got through the gate bright and early and started hunting right off. However, we didn't see any critters until nearly two hours after daylight, when we came upon a pair of oryx near an open grassy area. We made a play for them and were able to get the kid set up on the sticks for a fairly close shot at this one.
With the support crew.
Hunters on range are only allowed to take a few pictures of the downed oryx (no terrain, buildings, live oryx, field dressing, etc.), so these are the only pics I have.
Both of the kids had a great time hunting their first oryx and can't wait to apply in next year's draw. I can't either! And to think, the 8-year old is pretty close to her shot too!