South Texas Cast and Blast – Fishing and Nilgai
Hunt dates – July 16-18, 2021
Hunt location – Port Mansfield, TX
Guide – Tyler Hill (with help from his brother Nick)
Game seen – nilgai, wild hog, coyote, ducks, whitetail deer, hard heads (catfish), red fish
Game taken – coyote, nilgai, hard head, red fish
Firearms – For me a Winchester M70 .338 Win with Leupold 3.5-10 and handloaded 225 grain Barnes TSX; for my dad a Browning A-bolt .300 Win with Leupold 3.5-10 and handloaded 150 grain Barnes TTSX

Summary – I booked this hunt directly with Tyler after seeing it advertised here on AR by David Keith. I paid a deposit back in January and scheduled the hunt for a time that would work for both Dad and me. We did this mostly because COVID and Dad’s recent knee surgery prevented him from going on the caribou hunt he would like. This seemed like a good opportunity to do something fun during the “off” season. The chance to fish the ocean was what really sealed it for my dad. He loves to fish and hasn’t fished the ocean before. Overall, I would characterize the hunting as good, with nilgai sightings each outing. The fishing was awful.

We left southern NM on the afternoon of July 15 and stopped for the night in Kerrville, TX. We continued on the next morning, targeting our arrival in Port Mansfield for about 4:00 PM, our agreed upon check in time for the condo in which we would stay. We stopped in Raymondville for groceries and made it to Port Mansfield at about 3:00. We hit a local bait shop for non-resident hunting licenses to start that night. Tyler recommended that we buy daily fishing licenses prior to any fishing trips because of the lower cost. We did so. Tyler met us at the bait shop and led us to the condo. We were greeted by a small but comfy living room. Adjacent is a sparsely equipped kitchen, then a small bedroom and bath. Pretty decent overall.





We completed the typical waiver (one might call it a small contract…) and settled the bill. Tyler told us to be ready for our first outing that night at about 9:45. As advertised, hunting would be at night using thermal imaging to locate nilgai from the boat. Tyler met us that night along with his brother Nick, who would help out. We departed immediately to the boat ramp, launched the boat, and headed out into the bay. The wind was up and the water was pretty rough. We learned that the wind can really drive your chances for success on this hunt. After several miles, we reached the legal hunting area and slowed. Nick and Tyler scanned the shoreline with a thermal monocular, searching for a huntable bull. They spotted several nilgai, but none were reachable because of bad wind or terrain. Nick dropped Dad, Tyler, and me off on the downwind side of a large island for a walk. Our plan was to circle the island looking for nilgai that could be stalked. We dropped off the boat and slogged our way through marshland to relatively dry ground. Once on the leeward side of the island, the mosquitoes became fierce! Even with heavy DEET preventing most bites, they were so thick you almost breathed them in. We scanned our island and those nearby, but the only nilgai were over a mile away on a small hump of land we couldn’t access with the boat or on foot. We turned towards the pickup point. As we neared the shore, Tyler spotted a heat signature in the knee-high grass/brush and asked us to get ready. We snuck closer and bumped the critter from its bed – a coyote. With no nilgai around, Tyler asked if we wanted to try for the coyote. I almost never say no to doing some predator control, so I agreed and got ready. Tyler lip squeaked a little and the coyote came in. I couldn’t see him in the dark, but when Tyler asked if I was ready I responded in the affirmative. When he hit the light, the coyote started to trot away, but a couple barks stopped him at less than 100 yards and I dropped him where he stood.



We made it back to the boat and headed back towards the port, scanning as we went. Nick spotted a bull working his way down the shore. We put into bank. Tyler told us that we would probably have to run him down. Dad bowed out of that, knowing that he couldn’t keep up, so Tyler and I gave it a try. The crosswind we had on the water wasn’t as “cross” on the bank, and the nilgai likely smelled our approach. He turned inland and made it out of the open hunting area. We returned to the boat and discussed options. We hoped to work up the coast in the other direction, but the wind had gotten bad enough that the open bay was potentially unsafe. We bagged it for the evening after a pretty short outing.

After a good night’s rest, breakfast, and an easy morning, the crew picked us up for some fishing. We hit the water and stopped at a bait shop for gas and fishing licenses. We then headed out into the bay to try our luck with sea trout and red fish. It was then that we got to see some of what we had hunted the night before. We also saw a few nilgai out browsing in a non-hunting area. This is the low-lying coastal scrub and shoreline we hunted.





As for fishing, if it wasn’t for bad luck though, we would have had none at all. We tried several locations and methods, but the fish weren’t interested in our bait. We caught only a few hard heads, a type of saltwater catfish. They put up a nice fight, but these guys don’t keep them. Apparently they have enough clients get stabbed by the barbs that they’re a bit reluctant to let others handle them.





We left the water with nothing in the live well and agreed to meet up again at about 9:45 for more hunting, which we did. This night we headed up the shore to where we had not made it last night. Shortly after leaving, we spotted a large herd of nilgai in an area we could not hunt. Bummer. As we sped along, Nick spotted several others with the thermal, but none in favorable locations. We reached the end of our hunting area and turned around. Now we would be working into the wind, so we slowed and took our time to really scope out the beach and nearby inland areas. We soon spotted a lone bull and made landfall. We had barely gotten off the boat when Tyler informed us that he had spooked. We concluded that he had seen the boat in the relatively bright moonlight.

Onward. Not long after, we spotted another bull in the distance. This time we beached well downwind of him and started the stalk. We eased into the wind with the best of intentions, but the bull moved away faster than we could get to him. We did see a large hog in his wallow, but passed him up hoping for the nilgai. We signaled Nick, who brought the boat up to get us.

Off again, cruising and scanning. The guys spotted a group of nilgai way up ahead, and confirmed that at least one was a bull. They were acting nervous though, so we knew we’d have to move fast. With this in mind, Dad decided to send me on the stalk without him. Nick eased the boat into shore and Tyler bailed out on what looked like solid ground. It wasn’t. He immediately sank nearly to his waist. I wisely stayed on the boat while he doggedly slogged his way through the muck to the real shore, waving for Nick to back the boat out and move further up the shore toward the nilgai. We did, and I was able to bail off into only shin-deep water for a quick wade to shore. We took off at a trot, hoping to close the distance on this group of jumpy nilgai. After a half mile or so of run, stop, glass, run, stop, glass, etc., Tyler pulled up and told me to get ready. I set the Trigger Sticks and confirmed the approximate location of the nilgai (remember that I can’t see him in the dark). Previously, Tyler had said we would likely stalk in relatively close, with shots in the 60-70 yard range. With this in mind, I left my scope on 3.5x, thinking I could make the preferred neck shot at that power. When I told him I was ready, Tyler hit the spotlight and lit the bull up. I immediately found him in the scope, but he was much further than 60 yards and there was no way to make a neck shot on 3.5x! So I dropped the crosshairs low and forward on the chest and sent a bullet on the way. I heard the report of a solid hit, but ran the bolt and got ready, keeping the running bull in the scope while Tyler kept him lit up and whistled. The bull ran quartering to us and stopped at about 125 yards, so I hit him again in basically the same spot. He charged forward as I worked the bolt and got ready. As I watched him continue to run toward us through a large shallow pool, I saw him crash face first into the water. I told Tyler he was down and, after topping off the magazine, we rushed forward. The bull lay thrashing in shin-deep water, so Tyler had me put another round into his brisket through the vitals, which ceased all movement. Having heard the shots, Nick and Dad were already headed our way with the boat, so we signaled our location. They soon arrived and we all went to check out the bull. Both Tyler and Nick were impressed with his body size and horn length. To me he just looked cool; a little devilish.



After a few pictures, we dragged the beast to the shore and loaded him in the boat.



With a full load, we headed in to take care of the meat. During skinning, we recovered two of the bullets. One was typical recovered Barnes, the other missing petals (it was the one fired at point blank range through the chest upwards and recovered next to the spine).




We broke the bull down to his parts and put all the meat on ice. The cape was off to the freezer pending a decision on what to do with it. Because it was such a late night (or early morning?), we agreed to try fishing again at 3:00 the next afternoon. We would fish until dark and then switch to hunting to find Dad’s bull. Those were well laid plans, but as you all know, plans often go awry. We learned the next day that all of our close-in action had sucked enough grit into the boat engine’s water pump to kill it. The only one available on a Sunday was in Corpus Christi, a long round trip journey from Port Mansfield. Tyler made the trip, got the pump and replaced it in time for the night hunt, but it cost us the afternoon fishing trip. Instead, we cruised around and looked at the area and the returned to the condo for a dinner highlighting fresh nilgai tenderloin. The condo has a nice yard and patio equipped with a great charcoal grill/smoker and outdoor dining area. We put these to good use.







Plan B was to kill a bull early and then fish the next morning. Again with the plans… The fellas came ‘round again about 9:45 and we headed out into the bay. They knew of other hunters working the area we hunted on the first night, so we headed back towards the area where I killed my bull. There wasn’t a lot of activity this night. We spotted one bull that we tried to put a sneak on, but he moved faster than us and was gone before we could get on him. While cruising slowly back to port, Nick spotted a lone cow very near the bank not far from the boat. We were already pretty close to her, and there just wasn’t a way to put into shore and make a stalk. We tried, but she buggered out. Tyler touched base with the boys on the other end of the bay to see if they were finding any, but they reported even less activity than what we had on our end. With no real opportunity left, we called it a night and planned for an early morning of fishing. We hoped to at least round out the trip with some red fish.

The next morning we were on the water at sunrise, and flailing away for redfish shortly thereafter. We gave it the ol’ college try for about five hours, but were rewarded with only one small redfish that did not meet the minimum length to be a keeper.





With our time up, we reeled in the baits and headed to shore. We had time to ice the meat good, load up the truck, and clean up before hitting the road back to New Mexico.

Our overall impressions are somewhat mixed. I believe that Tyler runs a good outfit with good equipment and help (brother Nick). He and Nick know nilgai well. They were able to find animals each night, and could easily identify bulls and cows through thermal while bouncing around in a boat. I was lucky to tell it was an animal when I got a chance to look through the thermal unit! There seems to be a fair number of nilgai in their hunting area, but the relatively small size means you don’t have many options. It is also publicly accessible, so others with the right equipment can hunt it too. That’s not a big deal to me, since I’m used to hunting public land for nearly every hunt I go on. These animals are hunted often though, so they’re jumpy and poised to run at any sign of danger. Again, not a big deal. If one is a decent stalker, Tyler and Nick can work with you to get close enough for a good shot. I’m disappointed that my dad didn’t get much of an opportunity at one, but that too is part of hunting. It’s likely we will return in the fall/winter for another crack at them, and hopefully better fishing. So, fishing. Yeah, pretty disappointing. I don’t know if it was the weather, last winter’s bad freeze, crappy timing, the wrong bait or area, or just plain old bad luck. Whatever the cause, fishing was pretty bad. I definitely would have liked to see some decent redfish and some trout. Oh well. In summary, I guess I will answer the age-old questions. Would you go again? Would you recommend it to a friend? Answer to the first, yes. In fact, we are likely returning later this year for another attempt at nilgai (maybe in daylight) and perhaps even a whitetail. Answer to the second, mostly yes. We enjoyed our time and I think there is good potential here. For the price of admission, I think it’s worth checking out.

I am grateful you likewise had a positive experience.

I really want one of those Nilgai.

I am going back the 3rd Week of November.

I enjoyed reading your hunt report!

Enjoyed the read and the pics. Sounds like it was a mostly successful trip. Kinda surprised yall didn't put more of a hurt on the fish though. And those hardheads you do have to be careful with. Nasty slimy creatures that if you get stuck with one of the fins you're very much likely to get it infected. It hurts. A lot.

Ive shot a number of Nilgai on the King ranch, back in the day a hunt was $600 for a bull and a cow. We hunted in the day and had cooler weather that coincided with deer season on our year around lease in So. Texas...Nilgai meat is one of my favorite wild game meats...I have killed Nilgai with the 30-06 and 7x57, but I recommend a 300 magnun or better yet a .338 or 375..they can be tough as nail on ocassions..The king provided and excellent hunt in every since of the word...I suspect those hunts are considerably more expensive today, but Nilgai hunts are more available on other ranches these days Ive been told..

Thanks for the report, DR. Not sure what I think of night hunting.

Thanks for the report, and congrats on taking a fine trophy class bull, it is a stud! Hopefully, the weather will be more suitable in the Fall for your return. The TX gulf coast was hit hard last winter, especially on the trout, but reds survived much better.
As for the King ranch, they offer Nilgai hunts starting at $3,900 with Nilgai/fishing packages starting at $4.000.