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Just got back late last night from my Texas Free Range Hunt. Here are some pics to enjoy. First one is of a Free Range Persian Ibex. I was told they were very rare free ranging.This animal was found in the steepest of the mountains in the area I was hunting. it was basicall sharp cliffs, like the top of the rocky mountains. I think I am going to mount it full body. Hers a pic.  Here is a picture of my first hog. a 200 Pd sow.  The last picture of of my Free ranging axis does. I should of had the big boy, but thats another story  .They will eat great and make a beutifal rug. i am told they are the best eating game meat, even better than the free ranging sikas we have here in MD.(which so far have been my favorite.  I hope you enjoy my pics, and thanks for letting me share. W. | ||
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Looks like a fun hunt. That Ibex is a wonderful trophy ! SCI DSC NRA NAHC DRSS | |||
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Nice animals for sure.Was your Hunt DIY or Guided???? OB | |||
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Great hunt! Looks like fun!  | |||
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Contrary to popular belief, not all hunts in Texas are sitting in a stand and shooting animals at a feeder. Glad you were able to show that. Congratulations on your hunt!! | |||
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Congrats on a very successful hunt. Axis is, by far, the best of any game meat I have ever tried. If you grill up an Axis steak, you'll never want anything else again. Now how about a few details regarding ranges, calibers, bullet performance, etc.? Congrats again! Bobby Μολὼν λαβέ The most important thing in life is not what we do but how and why we do it. - Nana Mouskouri | |||
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Looks like a great hunt. I'm with Bobby, more detail is certainlt needed. Where did you hunt in Texas? Was it public land? How many days did you hunt? And, of course the stuff Bobby asked about. Larry "Peace is that brief glorious moment in history, when everybody stands around reloading" -- Thomas Jefferson | |||
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That's a nice looking ibex (great coloration too), they make awesome looking life-size mounts. Lets get the details! ____________________________ If you died tomorrow, what would you have done today ... 2018 Zimbabwe - Tuskless w/ Nengasha Safaris 2011 Mozambique - Buffalo w/ Mashambanzou Safaris | |||
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Thanks guys, I was hunting in the mountains by Utopia texas. I was amazed by the steepness and and ruggedness of these moutains. We also were hunting some Free Range Audad, but I was unable to connect on extreme long shots, especially since I was using my regualr old 30-06 with 150 gr noslar Balistic tips.I am just not used to shooting at that range. There is also a chance that my bullet connected, and the toughness of the animal just sucked it up. We looked for the Audad, but found no blood or any sign that there was a hit. The Ibex was shot at 150 yards, and dropped in its tracks after I put it right on the mark. It was cool shot as I had to thread the needle on the shot. The main goal of this hunt was a Blackbuck, but they apparently left the ranch a few days before. Thats why I didnt have a proper caliber gun (in my opinion) The axis does where a last day option, as I needed a little confidnece booster after missing the Audad. I was excited to shoot them, as said earlier its delicious and the hides will make a beutifull rug. I shot them at about 150 yards, and they both went about 30 yards before going down. The hog was cool as I shot it at about 30 yards, and she she went down with a couple extra shots jsut to make sure she was down, as I like shooting. It was a fully guided hunt. If any body wants info on the guide, please PM me, Thanks again for all the kind words everybody. I am very excited about my trophies, and am looking forward to getting my full body Ibex back. Thanks again, W. | |||
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Holy Crap guys... I just got a call from my guide. He found the Audad that I thought I missed, and the axis that I thought I missed. I knew I wasnt that bad of a shot(I practice alot.) He believes it all was my bullet (Nolser Balistic tip) being to small and not tough enough for the animals.(remember I was going after Blackbuck) My bullets were both placed perfectly with no exit wound. So anyways, I will have nice european mounts for both animals. Please go easy on me guys, as I am disapointed i could not find these animals in "eating"condition, but we did put our effort in trying to find them. (Buzzerds led him to the animals) I also understand that I probably should have swithched bullets, but I honeslty thought they were adequete. Thanks again, I really appreciate it. W> | |||
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WOW!! I understand it's bittersweet to lose an animal and find it later, but it's better than not finding them at all. Congratulations on a wonderfully successful trip!! 1 Axis, 1 Aoudad, 1 Ibex, 1 Hog, and 2 Axis does.....WOW!! _______________________________________________________ Hunt Report - South Africa 2022 Wade Abadie - Wild Shot Photography Website | Facebook | Instagram | |||
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woodsie wrote: " He believes it all was my bullet (Nolser Balistic tip) being to small and not tough enough for the animals." --- I am happy that the animals were recovered and that you now know the shot placement was not in issue. But as to your guide saying the 150 grain Ballistic Tip at '06 velocities is inadequate does not hold water with me and shows a lack of knowledge on his part. I've taken a good bit of game with that bullet -- including a few dozen hogs -- and never, ever experienced a problem. These were all taken with a .308 and with guns varying in barrel length from 20 to 28". Nonetheless, most broadside presentations resulted in an exit -- and I never lost an animal. Yes, aoudad can be tough, but I took one cleanly at 190 yards using a 14" .257 JDJ Contender shooting 100 grain Ballistic Tips at something around 2650 fps. The bullet blew through the shoulders, took the lungs out along the way and dropped the animal in its tracks. Axis deer are no larger or no more tenacious than a whitetail buck, and I've yet to see one that couldn't be cleanly harvested with a 30-06 and any 150 grain bullet, the Ballistic Tip included. You had a great hunt, but don't let the guide taint the memories of it by telling you your armament was inadequate for the task at hand. That's pure hogwash. Just for the record, how far away were the animals recovered? The terrain you hunted all looks the same. About 20 years ago, I took a buck early one morning and then was told I could take a doe. It was a piece of cake: a mid-range shot using my backpack to steady a custom XP--100 in .250 Savage. We saw the impact and saw the doe go down. But I shot across a canyon, and we had a long walk to go down and then around to retrieve the deer. When we got there, we could find nothing after searching for several minutes. The guide then said: "Hey, I know the shot was good, but I really didn't mentally mark the spot -- and these rocks and cedar all look alike." So I went back to where I took the shot from and redirected the guide, who immediately spotted the doe right where she should have been. But we were at least 50 yards off in our original search due to human error. ANd that territory was EXACTLY like the hills you hunted near Utopia. By the way, the hogs below each fell to a single 150 grain BT.  Bobby Μολὼν λαβέ The most important thing in life is not what we do but how and why we do it. - Nana Mouskouri | |||
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Woodsie, I noticed you're from Maryland. I hope you enjoyed your visit here. I've been hunting within say 10 to 30 miles from Utopia for the last 11 years. Many folks that are not from around these parts decry the way we hunt here, but it sounds like you had a good time and a great hunt. What a lot of folks don't realize is that the area you hunted is extremely rough terrain and covered with juniper, mesquite, scrub oak and cacti, and very sparsely populated. Depending whether you came in from San Antonio,(Medina,Bandera on SH 16 & FM 337) Kerrville (on SH 39 to 187) or Sabinal (US 90 to 187), once you got away from "town", you probably didn't see a dozen houses. The ranch I hunted on just north of Vanderpool was 3,000 low fenced acres and 39 miles from the nearest town. Nothing but hill country, juniper, oaks, and game. Utopia and Vanderpool are "eyeblinks". There are a lot of free ranging exotics in this area including, audad, mouflon, texas dall, black hawaiian, corsican, fallow deer, sika deer, axis deer, even elk. You also have turkey, quail, dove, raven, javelina, coyotes, fox, bobcats, ringtail cats, and cougar. I for one would enjoy hearing more about your hunt and your experiences here in Texas. GWB | |||
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WOW! I've never seen a critter shot so perfectly that its skull popped out like that!  Cool pics all around, gents. ______________________ Hunting: I'd kill to participate. | |||
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THanks guys, Bobby, we did have a spotter guiding the him to the spot each time. I appreciate your advice also on the bullet. You certainly have alot of experice. GW, THat certainly is some crazy country. Once you get into thos mountains, it is as steep as it gets, liket he tops of the rocky mountains. We spent most of the days hunting up there, as thet blackbuck left the ranch. I could believe some of the hills that Pick-up went up. Does anybody know what those mountnains are called? We also think my Ibex will go High silver or low gold. I not a score guy, but I think that was cool. I also dont want everyone to think that there were animals just sitting there all over the place. This was a tough hunt, with very spooky animals. The weather was poor the first 2 days, and we saw very few animals. The third day, it was still windy as heck, and we had to work to find the mt. game. On the last day when I shot the Axis, it was much warmer, and they were moving much better. I dotn have a problem with hunting over bait, but just FYI, no animals were shot over or near any bait or feeders. I could barely sleep last night I was so excited. THanks again, W. . | |||
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woodsie- I meant to say thank you for posting all the results of your hunt. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about it and seeing the photos. The bottom line is that you had a great hunt and seemed to thoroughly enjoy it -- and that's what matters most. Now, when you get that ibex mount in, don't forget to post some photos...  Bobby Μολὼν λαβέ The most important thing in life is not what we do but how and why we do it. - Nana Mouskouri | |||
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Don't think they have a name. Just some of the hills in the Texas Hill Country. And yes, they can be steep. Seems like the older i get the steeper they get! Glad you had a good hunt thanks for the report. Enjoyed reading about it. | |||
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Definitely post up a picture of the ibex when you get the mount back. Who's doing the taxidermy? ____________________________ If you died tomorrow, what would you have done today ... 2018 Zimbabwe - Tuskless w/ Nengasha Safaris 2011 Mozambique - Buffalo w/ Mashambanzou Safaris | |||
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Thanks guys, Brush COuntry Studios in Cypryss Texas is doing the work. Thanks, W. http://www.brushcountrystudios.com/ | |||
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Woodsie, Kudos on the Texas hunt! Great kills, and great pix. Thanx for the posting. I can always love hunting pix.. Don | |||
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Couldn't have picked a better taxidermist. Rocky Cooper is a great guy and does outstanding work!! _______________________________________________________ Hunt Report - South Africa 2022 Wade Abadie - Wild Shot Photography Website | Facebook | Instagram | |||
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I enjoyed your pics. Congratulations on your successful hunt! | |||
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Congrats on a successful hunt. Tony Mandile - Author "How To Hunt Coues Deer" | |||
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