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ORYX DOWN!!!

nmtaxi

Active member
Joined
Mar 23, 2004
Messages
695
Location
Albuquerque
It took me all month to finally fill my off-missile-range oryx (gemsbok). He's 34" long with 7" bases. That gives him an SCI score of 82. I think 80 makes the books. Score 102.5 for Rack Attak!!!
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The Ruger is a .338 win. mag. I had to test it out before I head to AK next week.
This off-the-range depredation tag I drew was for the whole month of August. The oryx usually come off the missile range for water, but with the monsoons, there haven't been to many crossing lately. I've been going down every weekend, and the only one I had seen until yesterday was in the first ten minutes of the hunt, and he had both horns broken off. I'd seen hundreds of oryx on-range though.
Yesterday, we checked all the crossing where they come under the fence, and couldn't find any fresh sign. About 8:00 in the morning we finally found some fresh tracks. I decided it was probably my only chance, so I followed the tracks for about 2 miles, and jumped this bull out of his bed at about 75 yards. That .338 put quite a wallop on him. I had never tracked an animal down like that before. It was a pretty exciting way to hunt, but I would guess doesn't pan out too often.
 
thats really cool. and the fact that they are free range is even better. I especially like the pic with the kid in it. He looks tough.
 
awsome animal. I hope to get one on the range in december. Can you tell me any area that you have been seeing them on the range?
 
Schmalts, where I was hunting was near the Stallion Range. At any point in time, I could glass the range and find oryx. I've also been on hunts on the Small Missile Range, and they are everywhere in there, too. I hear Rhodes Canyon is one of the best spots, but I've never been in there myself.
These animals are extremely intelligent, but the success rate of the on-range hunts is really high due to the sheer numbers of animals on range. They started out 30 years ago with 26 animals, and now have somewhere between 3500 - 5000. They breed year round, and have no natural predetors. You won't have any problem finding them. A lot of people just drive around until they find one close to the road, and pop it. If you get on the ground after them, it can be really challenging, and tons of fun. The hard part is judging them.
 
OK, for future reference: NM oryx are scord under "Kalahari Gemsbok", with a min. score of 88. There are several different kinds of oryx and gemsbok, and it took a call to a state biologist to figure this one out. :D
 
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