pointing_dogs_rule Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 My cousin, Chucky drew an Oryx tag for the last week of Feb. We flew into to Albuquerque and drove to Alamogordo where we stayed. We would be hunting the Rhoades Canyon area of the Whitesands Missle range. A week before the hunt we were sent and email telling us that 45% of our hunt area would be closed due to base activities. First time this has happened, that anyone can remember. That meant 68 hunters in a 28 mile by 20 mile area. It would be nice if the Oryx were spread out' however, they tend to "like" certian areas. That meant overcrowding of hunters. The New Mexico Game & Fish thought that they could still put on a "quality hunt". In the end everything worked out. My cousin decided to go with a guide. Good as it turns out because of the partial closure. After the meeting it was off to the races. Trucks headed out in all directions to the "hot spots". We soon spotted Oryx on the hill sides, as did other people. One broken horned Oryx stood by the road as hunters passed him by in search of better Oryx. The first day was unsucessful... a few that could have been shot, however, they were not shooters on the first day. The first day they saw 70 Oryx. 13 Oryx were harvested the first afternoon. Saturday started much the same as trucks raced to the coveted areas. You could tell the Oryx were pressured and they were even more skiddish then Friday. Chucky had a great stalk on Saturday. We spotted 5 Oryx from a mile away after and hour of glassing. We made a plan to circle around the 5 Oryx. Chucky and the guide started the stalk through the tall brush, constantly trying to keep an eye on the Oyrx. They saw where the Oryx were headed and cut them off. They were coming right at them, however, the brush made them hard to keep track of them. The guide saw them at 100 yards and then popped up from the brush for one more look to see where they were going. He saw the Oryx at 40 yards in front of him and out of this left eye he saw a "white face" looking at him.... it was the lead cow at 40 feet... staring him the face. I could only imagine both the guide and the Oryx thoughts... "OH S**T". Well she didn't stay around to see what was going to happen and took the rest of the herd with her. It was a great experience for the hunter. By the way, if anyone tells you that you just go there and step out of the truck and shoot an Oryx.... thay are WRONG. These animals have become wise over the years and this being the last hunt of the year they were especially wary. 300-400 yard shots were common. Lots of fun was had the second day going after these wise animals. A nice one was missed and another passed on at 125 yards because of tall vegetation blocking the kill zone. the total killed after Saturday was 43. Sunday rolled around and the motto was "if it's brown it's down"... not being picky on the last day. We had heard how great the meat was some was going home with us. Shooting started at 6:15 am. at 6:25 we reached our area nad low and behold an Oryx ran across the round and almost hit our truck. He was an old broken horn bull. Large in size. Chucky left the vehicle and walked over a little hill where the animal had gone. There stood the bull and a very old cow. She had two broken horns and was nice in size. She presented a 75 yard shot and she was downed with a perfect heart shot from the 300. The biologist estimated her age as 8 years old. The hunt was and experience that I will not forget. Someday I hope to draw. I just wish that instead of being the truck driver I could have tagged along with Chucky and the guide to see the vast area that they covered and been on the stalks close up. good luck to all the dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colorado bob Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 Sounds like it was good hunt. That "Indy 500" is something---LOL. It's really good meat. Hope you get drawn this year. I had my hunt on the Stallion Range. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetailfreak55 Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 Sounds like a good hunt. Hopefully you draw soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texastrophies Posted February 27, 2013 Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 Great story and hunt. One day I hope my name is drawn as well. Question for you since you have been there, done that, if you are drawn will you go guided or do you think you could do it yourself now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointing_dogs_rule Posted February 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2013 I could do it myself now. I learned alot. good luck to all the dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvertip_co Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Cool. Congrats on a good hunt and nice looking oryx. I have that on my bucket list as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosierhunter Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 2013 New Mexico Oryx Nice story. Thanks for taking the time to post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted March 17, 2013 Report Share Posted March 17, 2013 Congrats on the successful hunt PDR! The hunt is not a "shoot" like it used to be. We heard about the guvmint closing much of RC on the weekend of the hunt. What was the total kill? Iheard they opened up some of the area to the south for you guys, that true? Did your cow have full ears? We had a very hard freeze a couple years ago and many of the oryx have lost part of their ears from frostbite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointing_dogs_rule Posted March 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2013 total kill was about 85%.. which is about normal. No area to the south opened for anyone. Cow had full ears. good luck to all the dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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