From our mule deer hunt last week. Story in big game forum, but my favorites.
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- Thread starter DAA
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Don was the brother I never had. We were in high school, fished, shot HP rifle competition and hunted together for over 70 years. Donnie was fighting cancer last January and February, but he felt well enough for us to spend three afternoons hunting Nilgai before he passed in May. RIP, old friend.
Don was always there when there was work to be done, as well.
Replacing grommets on Jeep rear shocks on the ranch. Better on the trailer than lay in grassburs or on caliche.
Don was always there when there was work to be done, as well.
Replacing grommets on Jeep rear shocks on the ranch. Better on the trailer than lay in grassburs or on caliche.
carvercalls
Custom Call Maker and Retired PM Staff
Spike Elk Hunt 2023
The eland is the largest antelope in the world. Weighing up to 2250 lbs and standing up to 6'6" at the shoulder, I have seen them jump a 6' fence with ease. I knew when I saw the first herd on the ranch as a guest, I would have to book a hunt. This mature bull sealed the deal .
Herd of mostly calves and cows and a couple of young bulls.
This bull weighed 2000# and stood a bit over 6' at the shoulder. First shot tight behind shoulder w/375 h&h, 300 gr. Swift A Frame completely disconnected all the plumbing from top of heart and exited far side. Got off a quick 2nd shot as he ran into the brush but called it left. The bullet penetrated 32" and was recovered just behind the shoulder about 6" from entry of first shot. He managed to run about 35-40 yards.
Some of the best eating of all the exotics IMO.
Herd of mostly calves and cows and a couple of young bulls.
This bull weighed 2000# and stood a bit over 6' at the shoulder. First shot tight behind shoulder w/375 h&h, 300 gr. Swift A Frame completely disconnected all the plumbing from top of heart and exited far side. Got off a quick 2nd shot as he ran into the brush but called it left. The bullet penetrated 32" and was recovered just behind the shoulder about 6" from entry of first shot. He managed to run about 35-40 yards.
Some of the best eating of all the exotics IMO.
Duhhh
Well-known member
What a giant animal! I’d hate to have to quarter him up and pack it out.
Luckily we were able to get the jeep and a low boy tandem trailer into the brush where he fell & used the jeep winch to drag him up on the trailer. We partially field dressed him before trying to load him on trailer, it was all I could do to lift his head up to bed level to get him started onto trailer. Used the hand winch shown in next to last picture to lift him to finish everything in front of diaphragm. Since I planned to have shoulder mount, didn't want to cut too far up, so had him hanging by hocks w/a couple of rebar meat hooks and was up to my elbows cutting out innards with a hunting knife when the hooks straightened and he fell. Luckily I was able to withdraw all 10 fingers, but was a bit concerned until washed all the blood off and found out none was mine.
Shot him an hour or so before dark and it was well after midnight when we finally got him in the cooler.That is a beautiful speed goat! How about some details on rifle & hunt?
Duhhh
Well-known member
Yeah this buck comes from the Duck Valley Indian Reservation on the Nevada/Idaho boarder. I grew up out there but moved away a while back. He was killed about 20 minutes away from my back yard as a kid. (Tons of coyotes out there).
funny enough, they was stalking into him and a group of doe but a coyote pushed them up into a draw that I couldn’t make a stalk into. I was pegged on the opposite side of the bowl and ranged him at 975yards, which is what I shot him at.
The guns a Howa 1500 chambered in 6.5 creed, in a XLR chassis, with a Arken EPL scope. I’ve done a little trigger job to it and a at home rattle can paint job. Shooting a hand loaded 143 eldx and using hornady 4dof kestrel and ballistics app for dope. It’s been a pretty sweet setup for a mostly factory rifle.
funny enough, they was stalking into him and a group of doe but a coyote pushed them up into a draw that I couldn’t make a stalk into. I was pegged on the opposite side of the bowl and ranged him at 975yards, which is what I shot him at.
The guns a Howa 1500 chambered in 6.5 creed, in a XLR chassis, with a Arken EPL scope. I’ve done a little trigger job to it and a at home rattle can paint job. Shooting a hand loaded 143 eldx and using hornady 4dof kestrel and ballistics app for dope. It’s been a pretty sweet setup for a mostly factory rifle.
Gemsbok (Oryx), the national animal of Namibia, and are members of the antelope family. They adapt quite well to S. Tx brush country. The bulls can weigh up to 550# and the cows 440#. Both cows and bulls have horns which can reach a length of 47" and are used in defense from lions & other predators in their native habitat. In S. Tx. they use them to flip portable blinds made of burlap covered hog wire an unbelievably long distance usually into some very dense brush.
Ranch foreman sent a ranch hand with a tractor equipped w/hay forks to get this one out of some pretty heavy brush for me.
They run a close 2nd to the eland as table fare and their beautiful markings make for nice mounts.
Ranch foreman sent a ranch hand with a tractor equipped w/hay forks to get this one out of some pretty heavy brush for me.
They run a close 2nd to the eland as table fare and their beautiful markings make for nice mounts.
My next favorite quarry is the Scimitar Horned Oryx. These, too are native of African deserts. They are a bit smaller than the Gemsbok, usually congregate in herds of up to 50 animals. There were more of them in Texas a few years ago, at least, than were left in Africa at that time. They even captured some here and flew them back to restock in Africa.
They are "designed" to survive in the deserts with large split hooves for soft sand, their body regulates temperature so they can survive extreme heat and even their urinary tract shuts down to preserve water when necessary.
Supposedly, the bulls can weigh up to 460 # and the cows up to 300, but IME, they tend to be a bit less. Both sexes have horns, the cow's being longer (and a bit thinner) than the bulls and curve to the rear more than the bulls.
They are very difficult to stalk withing shooting range, which is shortened mostly by the fact that we were allowed to shoot only the cows and I would never depend upon the horns as a positive indication. Plumbing is the only sure method to determine sex and the males are not overly endowed, plus location is just behind the pot belly so a full sideways view is only way, further exasperated by the fact that grass is often belly high......... I was pretty sure the front animal is a bull, later verified when he turned a bit more to the left. Note his antlers are a bit thicker at the base than the cow drinking water behind him.
Herds are usually strung out making it impossible to get a picture of all of the animals. There are always lots of eyes and ears on the lookout for predators, making approach very dificult.
Drove up on this mama which had just had her calf in the high grass adjacent to a two track one day. As soon as I figured out what was happening, I backed up to a respectable distance and watched as mama coaxed the very new born into the safety of some brush on opposite side of the road. Note afterbirth still carried by mom.
I was recovering from surgery and we only had a couple of days left to get my partner an oryx. I did not even carry a rifle, as I was getting around pretty gingerly. Luckily, carried a 20x spotting scope mounted on rifle stock to call the shot for him when we spotted two oryx in some heavy brush, which is unusual to catch the smaller group. I ended up climbing a tree to watch the two oryx due to the tall grass obscuring the plumbing. This picture was a bull, unbeknownst at the time. They were feeding in and out of brush, most of time in tall grass.
When I finally identified one as a cow and called the shot, I was so engrossed in checking out the plumbing that I hadn't even noticed she was a unicorn until we recovered the animal; a perfect animal to cull.
Never weighed one, but guessing weight of all the ones we shot to be maybe up to 250#??
My wife claims the Gemsbok is a bit better eating than the scimitars. I think maybe she is getting a trace of odor when cooking, because I can't tell the difference, but my sense of smell is not nearly as acute as hers. Any rate, they are very good vittles.
Would have loved to mount a scimitar, but ran out of wall space, so................
They are "designed" to survive in the deserts with large split hooves for soft sand, their body regulates temperature so they can survive extreme heat and even their urinary tract shuts down to preserve water when necessary.
Supposedly, the bulls can weigh up to 460 # and the cows up to 300, but IME, they tend to be a bit less. Both sexes have horns, the cow's being longer (and a bit thinner) than the bulls and curve to the rear more than the bulls.
They are very difficult to stalk withing shooting range, which is shortened mostly by the fact that we were allowed to shoot only the cows and I would never depend upon the horns as a positive indication. Plumbing is the only sure method to determine sex and the males are not overly endowed, plus location is just behind the pot belly so a full sideways view is only way, further exasperated by the fact that grass is often belly high......... I was pretty sure the front animal is a bull, later verified when he turned a bit more to the left. Note his antlers are a bit thicker at the base than the cow drinking water behind him.
Herds are usually strung out making it impossible to get a picture of all of the animals. There are always lots of eyes and ears on the lookout for predators, making approach very dificult.
Drove up on this mama which had just had her calf in the high grass adjacent to a two track one day. As soon as I figured out what was happening, I backed up to a respectable distance and watched as mama coaxed the very new born into the safety of some brush on opposite side of the road. Note afterbirth still carried by mom.
I was recovering from surgery and we only had a couple of days left to get my partner an oryx. I did not even carry a rifle, as I was getting around pretty gingerly. Luckily, carried a 20x spotting scope mounted on rifle stock to call the shot for him when we spotted two oryx in some heavy brush, which is unusual to catch the smaller group. I ended up climbing a tree to watch the two oryx due to the tall grass obscuring the plumbing. This picture was a bull, unbeknownst at the time. They were feeding in and out of brush, most of time in tall grass.
When I finally identified one as a cow and called the shot, I was so engrossed in checking out the plumbing that I hadn't even noticed she was a unicorn until we recovered the animal; a perfect animal to cull.
Never weighed one, but guessing weight of all the ones we shot to be maybe up to 250#??
My wife claims the Gemsbok is a bit better eating than the scimitars. I think maybe she is getting a trace of odor when cooking, because I can't tell the difference, but my sense of smell is not nearly as acute as hers. Any rate, they are very good vittles.
Would have loved to mount a scimitar, but ran out of wall space, so................
They have quite a herd of scimitars on Punta del Monte, just north of Raymondville. Very close to where you and your dad went for your nilgai hunt/fishing combo.
As a lease hunter we were allowed to hunt scimitars on our own for several years (when nilgai herd was slim due to combination of severe freeze, then drought causing die-off of nilgai. When herd numbers were/are normal, lease hunters can hunt cow nilgai.
They do offer guided hunts for scimitars, which have free range within the high fenced 11,000+ acre ranch. Lots of other species available as well. Not a canned hunt, all species have free range mostly spot/stalk hunts and are available on guided basis.
Couple of years ago, my son and I planned a trip to the lease to get him a buck for his freezer. He had not checked the zero on his rifle since it had flown back from Africa, so our first stop was the ranch 100 yd. range to check it's zero. Set up sandbags on the bench and he fired one shot, which I was spotting for him w/binoculars.
Immediately after the shot, this nice little buck stepped out from behind the small berm behind the target. Well, it was not spot on, but close enough for the job, so I reported, "its on, and he's yours if you want him". The rest is history. We've been hunting together for 55 years and this was the shortest whitetail deer hunt we ever made.
Buck right where he dropped ^^ View of shooting bench taken from spot where buck fell VVV
Immediately after the shot, this nice little buck stepped out from behind the small berm behind the target. Well, it was not spot on, but close enough for the job, so I reported, "its on, and he's yours if you want him". The rest is history. We've been hunting together for 55 years and this was the shortest whitetail deer hunt we ever made.
Buck right where he dropped ^^ View of shooting bench taken from spot where buck fell VVV
Another member of the antelope family on the ranch, also native to Africa, is the Sable. Bulls reach a height of 55" at the shoulder, and can weigh up to 500#
Cows, a bit shorter & can weigh up to 490#, this one, with calf, a bit more..........
Roan antelope are about same height as the Sable but a bit heavier, with bulls weighing up to 650# and cows 610
Sable and Roan bulls and cows both have horns.
The great thing about calling this ranch is that you never know what's going to show up next.
Cows, a bit shorter & can weigh up to 490#, this one, with calf, a bit more..........
Roan antelope are about same height as the Sable but a bit heavier, with bulls weighing up to 650# and cows 610
Sable and Roan bulls and cows both have horns.
The great thing about calling this ranch is that you never know what's going to show up next.
