NM Oryx success!

[firehuntinmedic]

Got lucky and drew out, then got lucky and tagged out.

Very exciting, tough, frustrating, and fun hunt all at the same time. Glassed up several bedded down at the base of a big hill/small mountain, made an over the top stalk and was able to seal the deal with one shot at 320yrds.

 

[sbhooper]

Nice animal. Which hunt did you draw? I lived in NM for ten years and drew a tag for the Small Missle Range and two tags for depredation hunts. That is a unique hunt for a real cool animal that is unbelievably tough. You will have some great eating there for awhile.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[dustinf]

Great stuff.

What are the details on the rifle? It's a sharp looking piece.

 

[schmalts]

Great looking bull!

 

[pointingdogsrule]

Vary nice, Congrats.

good luck to all
the dog

 

[noharleyyet]

Nice job, welcome to Hunttalk.

 

[1_pointer]

Well done! I'd really like to get a tag for one of those someday...

 

[Art Vandeley]

Awesome bull. Thanks for sharing

 

[MNHunter]

Nice! Congrats!

 

[idahofishnhunt]

I never tire of seeing pictures of these beautiful animals. Congrats!

 

[firehuntinmedic]

The hunt was the "once in a lifetime" on the Rhodes Canyon portion of White Sands Missile Range. I've had multiple friends that have drawn this hunt in the past and have been told that as time has past the difficulty of the hunt has increased while the overall number of animals, not to mention "monster" trophies, has decreased. Gone are the days of seeing hundreds of animals from the roads, taking you pick and making the shot from the truck. Still a great hunt though.

The rifle is a Ruger M77 stainless in 300 Win Mag with Nikon glass. I love this gun, it is the best shooting 300 I have ever owned. It's a bit heavy with the laminated stock, however the weight definitely helps reduce the recoil.

I failed to provide the specifics on the animal. It is a bull with both side a touch over 34" and 7 1/4" bases. By no means is it a massive beast but I feel it is a quality representative example and a quality trophy animal in my eyes. Not to mention Oryx is some of the best meat a fella can put in his belly.

 

[L. I. Yankee]

Good job....welcome.....

 

[stillkickin]

Great job! Keep on posting these whoppers, I will get to do that hunt someday

 

[fishing4sanity]

Very very nice, congratulations!

 

[The Hedgehog]

Great looking critter!

 

[JDH]

Cool looking animal!

 

[putm2sleep]

Congrats --- looks like an awesome day! Congrats on your trophy firehuntinmed!

 

[sbhooper]

The hunt was the "once in a lifetime" on the Rhodes Canyon portion of White Sands Missile Range. I've had multiple friends that have drawn this hunt in the past and have been told that as time has past the difficulty of the hunt has increased while the overall number of animals, not to mention "monster" trophies, has decreased. Gone are the days of seeing hundreds of animals from the roads, taking you pick and making the shot from the truck. Still a great hunt though.

The rifle is a Ruger M77 stainless in 300 Win Mag with Nikon glass. I love this gun, it is the best shooting 300 I have ever owned. It's a bit heavy with the laminated stock, however the weight definitely helps reduce the recoil.

I failed to provide the specifics on the animal. It is a bull with both side a touch over 34" and 7 1/4" bases. By no means is it a massive beast but I feel it is a quality representative example and a quality trophy animal in my eyes. Not to mention Oryx is some of the best meat a fella can put in his belly.

Don't downplay the quality of your trophy. That is a fantastic Oryx! They have definitely over-hunted them to make the environmentalists happy. Those animals are everywhere down there now, but not a real heavy population anywhere. It is a shame, as they are wonderful animals that add a lot to the crappy scenery.

I worked in Alamorgordo as a Border Patrol Agent for 10+ years. I had the privilege of working for two weeks on an IR scope near the checkpoints. I was able to observe those animals every night for two weeks and recorded their movements on tape. It was amazing! They never quit moving. I saw some absolute giants during that two weeks.

The hunts that I did, I did for $41 and a tank of gas. How times change!

 

[firehuntinmedic]

Don't downplay the quality of your trophy. That is a fantastic Oryx! They have definitely over-hunted them to make the environmentalists happy.

Oh yes, I completely agree and understand the quality of the animal I had the pleasure of harvesting. Sorry if it came across like I was disappointed or whining, I was just trying to illustrate how significantly these herds have changed over time. I am seven kinds of happy with him; he will eat great and look good on the wall.

I have a buddy that works for G&F who works primarily in that area, he tells us that their (NMG&F) goal is to get the herd size to about 2500 animals on Rhodes and that they would really like to see the hunter success rates down around 25% while still running 4-5 OIL hunts of 30-50 hunters a year, not to mention the broke horns, youth, military, etc. Sure seems like a crappy management plan to me, especially if you are an out of stater paying $1600.00+ for a OIL hunt.

 

[Big Fin]

Officially jealous on this end. Congrats,