I depredated one

[paulc]

Since there are no cameras allowed on the Range I have no pics.

At the end of the one day hunt I shot a nice bull with 35 3/4 horns with 7" bases.

I cant say enough about how well this was put together and how awsome the US Wildlife officers were.

this was an escorted hunt and we were with an officer all day. When we drove around the range it was in their vehicle.

Regardless of what I had heard this was not like "shooting your neighbors cow" These animals have been hunted hard and most stalks were after we glassed animals 1.5 to 2 miles away. Also they do not die easily. My animal took 5 shots from my 300 win mag (3 were after animal was down but i did not want to take any chances with it getting back up.

I will try to get a pic of the caped skull and horns to post.

 

[paulc]

The refuge was awsome. I am not sure which prez made it a refuge but it really is incredible. We hunted on the San Andreas refuge on the White Sands Missille range. We jumped between 10-15 coveys of quail during different stalks.
This refuge also holds mule deer, desert big horns and recently they have spotted elk on it.

Of course as you hunt it, you see spent and in one case unspent ordinance all over the ground.

The oryx they believe have negatively impacted the deer population so they have been leaning on them pretty hard. Most likely they will not eradicate the population as it is big $ for the state. A non res tag is over $1500. (i got mine for $60.00 :banana-man-yeah: )

The cool thing is that i was able to bring 2 guests along. I brough my 16yr old son and my 8 yr old son. they were there when i shot the bull at the end of the day. It was a great day except for me losing my keys (another story).
I would strongly recomend that if you have a chance to hunt oryx in NM go for it.

 

[subfan]

Congrats

Yes indeed they are hard to put down!

You left us in So. Cal. for the hunting in NM didn't you???? Speaking of which, can you recommend a pronghorn hunt for my daughter? Landowner tags with a guide are fine.

 

[VINIHUNT]

paulc

congrats on ur bull!!! can't wait to check the pic!! awesome to have ur 2 boys with you!

didn't ya get my email regard about unit 34? talk to ya soon

vinihunt

 

[paulc]

Sub, There is only one antelope hunt that i have applied for the last 4-5 years. that is a public hunt that has excellent trophy potential. We have drawn it twice. the last time i got a nice 16" buck and the prior time we saw several trophy lopes but could not close the distance. Email me and i could give you some specifics if you like.

Vini, We went 5 for 8 on the cow elk with many missed oppurtunities.
They really get tough to find that last season. Hope you are doing well.

 

[BOWUNTR]

Right on Paul

Congrats. Beautiful animal. Would love to bowhunt them someday. Very tough with a bow! You gonna hunt Ibex next? If you do, I wanna go!! I'll video for you. Ed F

 

[paulc]

Ed, I put in for Ibex, it is a very hard tag to draw. One of my short term goals is to shoot a mature Barbary Ram (Oudad as it is known in TX). I have been talking to alot of people about barbary sheep and hopefully i can get enuf starting info to really start scouting.

At this point i know there are concentrations of them 2-3 hours from where I live. I did see 2 yearling Barbary sheep about 15 miles from where I live though.

Ed, if i ever do draw a Ibex I will take you up on the filming part.

 

[paulc]

Here is a picture of the oryx skull with my youngest son (8) zachary holding it.

 

[baboltin]

cool animal thanks for sharing.

 

[ELKBUSTER]

Great animal,
Nice picture with your son.

 

[cognitive1]

Congratulations on your Oryx.

I hunted it several years ago myself, and it was very much a first class operation. Given that you don't need a guide, you don't leave the continental US, it's eats better than any other game, and it's nearly 100% success, it's not too unreasonable for a non-resident. It is a once-in-a-lifetime tag. When I hunted it was required that each hunter have an assistant. I hunted with a good friend and I'd love to do it again.

Some day your son will get his chance. Make sure he's old enough to enjoy it.

 

[paulc]

This was a depredation hunt that i was drawn for, so, there is a good chance that i will be able to draw again some day.

On a depredation hunt you are on call to go there with about a 48 hour notice.

 

[cognitive1]

I didn't think the depredation hunts were on the range, but were in adjacent areas to where they trying to restrict any expansion of the herd.

I understand why they want to keep them out of the National Park, but I always thought it was an ideally suited animal for the area. I wouldn't imagine they have much if any predation and they can go without water. Apparently they can eat just about anything. I noted that just about everything in the area had lots of thorns on it, so it's easy to understand why an oryx is so tough.

Do you know if the success rate is similarly high on the depredation hunts as the regular hunts. If a guy has some flexibility in scheduling, you can get to the area relatively quickly even if you're coming from out of state. I believe I was about 650 miles from the range.

Draw odds on the regular hunts were about 1 in 4 when I drew, and it took me about three or four years to draw which worked out fine.

m

 

[paulc]

I would say the depredation hunt is at least 90% oppurtunity. I passed on 2 earlier in the day before i shot mine.
I took a real chance going home with nothing as i shot mine at the end of the day and it is a one day hunt.

This was on the Missille range.

 

[subfan]

That can be a tad expensive for the non-resident for a one day gig...