Greetings,

I may have an opportunity to hunt Aoudad/Barbary in New Mexico this next Feburary. My question is, are they fit to eat or do people donate the meat to someone and whom?

TIA

Will

I have not heard many stories about someone craving another fresh aoudad tenderloin on the grill. I have heard a lot of stories about marinated, slow-cooked, highly-seasoned aoudad meat eaten as burritos.

If you properly care for the meat and cool down quickly then could give it a fair taste test.

I hunted Barbary here in NM last spring.

As you can see in that link, I killed a young ram. we boned him out and packed him down. He was on ice within about 6-7 hours of hitting the dirt. Temps were in the 70s and down to the 50s by the time we got to the truck. Before processing, I aged the meat several days on ice. First thing, we grilled up a backstrap. Flavor - unremarkable, actually I found it quite bland compared to elk and oryx, which I quite like. Texture - pretty fine grained, much like a pork tenderloin. Feel - tougher than a damned ol' boot. Took forever to chew a mouthful of that. After that experience, I dug out all the steaks I'd set aside, chopped them up, combined with the other trimmings and some pork fat, and turned the whole sheep into sausage. And that I have quite enjoyed. That will be my approach for the next one.

My experience is restricted to this one young ram. I have heard from those who have killed more than one that older sheep aren't worth packing off the mountain...

I found the flavor okay on a couple of ewes that I took but I never found a way to make them tender. I'm headed to west Texas again next month for a trophy aoudad hunt and if I'm fortunate enough to take one I'll leave the meat on the mountain. Varmits got to eat too.

quote:

Originally posted by JA:
...I'll leave the meat on the mountain. Varmits got to eat too.

True, and a valid approach in Texas. I caution the OP though, in NM these are game animals and the meat must be recovered from the field.

From the NM regulations:

Anyone who takes a Barbary sheep, bighorn sheep, deer, elk, ibex, oryx, pronghorn antelope or turkey must transport from the field the edible portions for human consumption. The edible portions of game animals include all four quarters, backstraps, tenderloins and the neck meat. Hunters are not required to remove the rib cage or organs of game mammals from the field. The edible portions of turkey include the breast, legs and thigh meat. Anyone who wounds or may have wounded any big-game species must go to the place where the animal sustained the wound or may have sustained the wound and make a reasonable attempt to track and kill the animal. This requirement does not authorize trespass.

As a side bar.....what calibers are recommended for Aoudad? I know, conditions and ranges will vary, but I'm guessing a good starting point would be a quality bullet in 6mm at about 115 grains, and up through 30 cal from there?

Funny thing about aoudads.

First ones I killed where in far west Texas in the Sierra Viejo mountains, grown rams, meat smelled awful. I made sausage out of one and it was still a bit gamey. At my place in the hill country the meat is excellent, much better than whitetail. It must be the diet?????

I have several friends that come here just to put meat in the freezer, aoudads....

.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:
Funny thing about aoudads.

First ones I killed where in far west Texas in the Sierra Viejo mountains, grown rams, meat smelled awful. I made sausage out of one and it was still a bit gamey. At my place in the hill country the meat is excellent, much better than whitetail. It must be the diet?????

I have several friends that come here just to put meat in the freezer, aoudads....

.

You sure you not shooting someone’s stray goats instead of aoudad

Mike

I've had Aoudad chicken fried on a ranch I hunted back in 1995. The cook used a mallet on it, and it was very goood. I suspect that it was from a young animal. A few years back, I killed an 11 year old ram, and kept only the back straps. The rest was donated to the Mexican ranch workers, who were quite happy to get it. I took the 'straps home, beat them with a mallet, put tenderizer on them, then marinated them for four days, and still just about broke my teeth trying to chew them. I donated the rest of the backstraps to the catfish in the canal down the street.

quote:

Originally posted by TWL:
As a side bar.....what calibers are recommended for Aoudad? I know, conditions and ranges will vary, but I'm guessing a good starting point would be a quality bullet in 6mm at about 115 grains, and up through 30 cal from there?

For a big ol' ram your starting point might be a bit light. Ewes and younger rams like mine are fairly light boned, but those big guys are pretty robust. I used my .300 WSM with 150 grain TTSXs and thought it was perfect. They often live in wide open, windy, rough country, so I'd recommend a fairly flat shooting rifle with plenty of punch so you can buck the wind and anchor your sheep fairly quickly. A wounded auodad can quickly become irretrievable in some of those hills they call home.

quote:

Originally posted by TWL:
As a side bar.....what calibers are recommended for Aoudad? I know, conditions and ranges will vary, but I'm guessing a good starting point would be a quality bullet in 6mm at about 115 grains, and up through 30 cal from there?

I've had the opportunity to cull probably 100 aoudad over the years. I've killed them with 7mm Rem Mags and partitions, accubonds, interlokts, and the original Barnes X. I've also used the same type bullets in my 7mm08 and it worked wonderfully.

I have a Ruger No1 bull barreled rifle with a 2x10 power variable scope, chambered for 7MM Remington magnum, that is perfect for the type of country where Aoudad and Mouflon sheep live. The mountain country of South West Texas will offer very long shots across valleys from one mountain top to another. A good 175 gr bullet will buck wind well, and even at long range will have plenty of punch for Aoudad, or Mouflon sheep. Both are tough animals and can take hits and still get away to places where they may not be recovered. Most of these ranches are low fence and are sheep ranches the Aoudad and mouflon are wild and free to roam where ever they want.



A fiend of mine shot a Mouflon ram at 200 yds with a 180 GR bullet from his 30-06 and he didn't even flinch and made his way up and over the ridge across the canyon in the Davis mountains of west Texas, and still on his feet at around 200 yds when we made the top of the of the ridge, and had to take another round. So both Aoudad, and mouflon can take a lot of punishment before they give up the ghost!

As far as the meat goes I have it ground up and mixed with the regular ingredients used to make Polish sausage then smoked. Mine has turned out very tasty and this thread has got me wanting to go get another Aoudad ram for the wall, and kitchen!

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