The time has arrived!!

[djonescfi]

I am stoked. My Oryx hunt on the McGregor range starts Saturday!! Rifle all zeroed, gear assembled, all
ready to go. I am scouting the area tomorrow afternoon to see if I can find that monster. Camera's are allowed
so I hope to have some good pictures to post when I return.
Don

 

[hatchet1]

post it up bro!!

 

[djonescfi]

Bull Oryx down!! Saturday was a long day. We had 2 people in our group who had permits and we decided to go to the Otero Mesa area of McGregor range Saturday morning. We saw lots of Oryx, although not as many as we were told were there. Problem was that area offers no cover and getting close to those dudes requires some really sneaky tactics. I have hunted Antelope(saw a lot of those in there also) but, Oryx are even tougher to get close to. I played hide and go seak with a nice bull and a cow in the morning for must have been 2 hours. They would not let me get under 400 yards from them. I had the rifle off safety 3 different times and just couldn't make myself take the shot, knowing how hard they are to take down and not wanting to wound one. I finally pushed them into another hunter and he scored, boy does he owe me!! We went through a 3 hour dry spell in the afternoon where no matter how hard we glassed no Oryx to be found, lots of lopes though. Then just after 5 pm we spied 5 Oryx on a ridge some 400 or so yards away, legal hunting ended at 5:17, this was gonna be close. Managed to work within 300 yards of them. There were 2 bulls in the group, the larger one stayed where I could not get a shot, so I decided to take the smaller one. I laid the cross-hairs on target and squeezed one off. The bullet found its mark and dropped him where he stood. Nice bull, not a record 30 & 32 inch horns, but lots of good eating. Time now 5:16! I will post pics as soon as I get them from my hunting buddy. What a great day it was!! When we checked out of the area there were only 4 hunters of 25 who hadn't gotten their animal. I am sure they probably got theirs on Sunday.

 

[hatchet1]

AWESOME STORY BRO.CONGRATS

NOW POST UP THE PICS

*
*was this the new mexico whitesands hunt?

 

[Glass eye]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (djonescfi @ Jan 15 2008, 08:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Problem was that area offers no cover and getting close to those dudes requires some really sneaky tactics. I have hunted Antelope(saw a lot of those in there also) but, Oryx are even tougher to get close to.[/b]

Too late now but I bet that if you had used an antelope decoy to hide behind, you could've walked right up to them.

 

[Glass eye]

Don't forget to post some pics.
Did you see any Broken Horn Oryx ?

 

[djonescfi]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Glass eye @ Jan 15 2008, 10:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Don't forget to post some pics.
Did you see any Broken Horn Oryx ?[/b]

Yes, I saw quite a few with broken horns, probably 6 or 8. I saw one bull while scouting on Friday that was huge. His bases had to be like 9 or 10 inches(mine had 7" bases and his were a lot bigger), but both horns were broken off 12" from his head. Sad!! I was told there was a 40" bull hanging out in the area I saw him, I bet it was him. Still waiting for pictures

 

[djonescfi]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (hatchet1 @ Jan 15 2008, 09:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

AWESOME STORY BRO.CONGRATS

NOW POST UP THE PICS

*
*was this the new mexico whitesands hunt?[/b]

The hunt was on the McGregor range area in New Mexico, which is SE of the White Sands hunt areas.
It is about 40 miles north of El Paso Texas.

 

[DEERSLAM]

Great job! Can't wait to see pics.

 

[PheasantHunter]

Don, a couple of questions for you: Was there much involvement with the base personnel since it was on the McGregor range, or did they just give you a map and let you have at it? How much scouting were you allowed to do? You mentioned that you saw some antelope, how about deer? I am looking at applying for the deer hunt out there and was wondering if it was worth it. Look forward to the pics. Thanks, Ed.

 

[djonescfi]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PheasantHunter @ Jan 15 2008, 07:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Don, a couple of questions for you: Was there much involvement with the base personnel since it was on the McGregor range, or did they just give you a map and let you have at it? How much scouting were you allowed to do? You mentioned that you saw some antelope, how about deer? I am looking at applying for the deer hunt out there and was wondering if it was worth it. Look forward to the pics. Thanks, Ed.[/b]

Hey Ed, there was no involvement with anyone beyond checking in and out of the range. They require an access permit which may be gotten at either the BLM office in Las Cruces or at the Fort Bliss Range Enforcement office. Once you have
the permit, you may scout at your leisure. You only have to call Range Control and let them know when you enter
the range as well as exit. I would imagine if there was a mission going on they might deny access, but the range is rarely in use on weekends as I understand it. The permit is good for a year. We didn't see any deer, however I bet the northern end which runs up against the mountains would be a good bet, never made it that far north.

 

[djonescfi]

Finally, here is a picture of my grandsons and I with the Oryx. I was as tired as I looked in the picture, been hunting hard all day. The boy on the left is the one who bagged his Oryx last year. He is 11 now, the 9 year old is in hunter safety in February. Going to be buying another hunting rifle soon!!

They are both already pretty deadly with a bow too.

 

[hatchet1]

man they are beautiful creatures!! congrats again

 

[djonescfi]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Glass eye @ Jan 15 2008, 10:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Don't forget to post some pics.
Did you see any Broken Horn Oryx ?[/b]

Here is a picture of the biggest broken horn I saw while scouting last friday.

 

[baboltin]

very unique looking animal, congrats

 

[Gomer76825]

Awsome, thanks for sharing.

 

[daddy63]

Nice... thanks for sharing. What rifle were you shooting?

 

[DEERSLAM]

Very beautiful animal! Hope I get drawn someday.

 

[djonescfi]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (daddy63 @ Feb 6 2008, 11:50 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Nice... thanks for sharing. What rifle were you shooting?[/b]

I was shooting my Browning A-Bolt in 300 Win Mag.