Northeast New Mexico. When I was hunting mulies we found some free ranging Aoudad living in the canyons and headers that cut up into the mesas. A hunting buddy on that trip killed a nice mature ram but we found another 'Herd" ram that was a whopper. Best of all, they only require a license and permission/land owner tag. So, I went back this January to try for one. I've taken my share of critters and I think I have the "boots on the ground" experience to say that these are one of the hardest animals to approach and kill that I have ever experienced. Any shot opportunity will most likely be at 350-550 yds. If you love pure spot and stalk for incredibly wary animals and love to hear a bullet go "THUD" at 400 yards, these goats are a must try. If they see you first, and they can at over a 1000 yards, you are gonna wear some boot leather. When you spook them, they just pick up and haul a** for the next mesa, or county. Sorry for the photo quality, I was using a disposable that day.
This is what the country looks like:




You will spend alot of time behind your glass:



Well, we never did find that Whopper but I did get lucky:



The "Poor Man's" bighorn:




As I said, sorry for the crappy resolution but I was using a cheap film camera that day and I can't resize the images for some reason, well, you know how that goes .....

Good Hunting.

Looks like a helluva a lot of fun in some nice rugged country. I'm heading to west Texas for a free roam hunt this fall. Congrats on your sheep.

Hey Darkside,
I too am going to west texas, either the Davis or the China mountains. They have more and bigger sheep over there and the country is more condusive to putting a sneak on them. The area I hunted was down right tough for spot and stalk because there was no real way to get above them. They mostly bedded on the canyon rims where they could see anything approaching from any direction. But it was fun. I want to kill a 30" ram!!!!!

That hunt sounds like a lot of fun.

What would it cost for a hunt like that for a Texan?

From what I understand, Texas considers them a species to be eradicated as they co-mingle/ breed and compete with the bighorn. I would think a Texan could hunt one for the trespass fee into a large ranch that has canyon/rim country. Most of the outfitted hunts run $3500.

quote:

Originally posted by Kroil:
I want to kill a 30" ram!!!!!

I can't wait to go after one also

Congrats on the NM ram!

Kroil
I'm headed to the Chinati Mnts just north of the Mexico border. Yes lots of BIG sheep in the area. I'll be a bit surprised if I don't get something 30+ inches based on what I know about the place. Going to be a helluva fun hunt.... and rugged.

Kroil, I like the poor mans hunt. Nice country.

Wasn't free range, but on Wendell Reich's ranch in TX where my buddy shot this king Billy. 29.5" horns with 12.5" bases. I've hunted twice there and only managed to miss one at 198 yards. We checked my rifle and it was way off zero. Still trying to figure out that one???? I agree, Aoudad is one slick critter. I've seen plenty of them on Wendell's ranch but holding out for a trophy class ram takes dedication of the highest degree. I'll be back! FYI: Texas has free range in the Palo Duro Canyon (panhandle near Amarillo) but my Uncle told me it was as bad as hunting for Mt Goat X 10.
LDK

My friend Mark with his Billy

Think I would be looking at the Tres Hermanas and west of there in southern New Mexico...don;t believe there is anything but Federal land in that region except for the Gray Ranch down in the bootheal...over around Animas would be fine country also...hell they have them right off the I-10 Hwy in Deming....Blessings....

This is the first ram my buddy Brian killed in November. It is a NICE sheep. We saw a larger one too but could not get on him. When I went back in January, we could not find the big one. Who knows, he might have gotten "Cougaritis".




A very nice free range sheep from country that is not known to have alot of big ones.

Yes, I agree that a free-range auodad hunt is the best poor man's sheep hunt available today......lots of glassing and climbing and stalking in the traditional way. I took a 32+" ram a few years back with Bubba Glosson in the Chinati Mnts of Texas. I plan to do it again, too. Dave

quote:

Originally posted by Kroil:
From what I understand, Texas considers them a species to be eradicated as they co-mingle/ breed and compete with the bighorn. I would think a Texan could hunt one for the trespass fee into a large ranch that has canyon/rim country. Most of the outfitted hunts run $3500.

You understand kind of incorrectly!

Aoudad are not really a sheep, them a blue sheep (Bharal) are a sheep-goat. Kind of like how muskox aren't wild cattle they are a cow-sheep, and how mountain goats are a goat-antelope.

They can not naturally cross breed with bighorns. They are not close enough related.

They stay together in huge bands and are quite a bit bigger than the desert bighorns.

Both New Mexico and Texas Game and Fish departments hate them. And in both cases the Game department is the one that released them.

I hunt on a 3000 acre lease north of Vanderpool Texas. I've located my stand at the junction of two electic right of ways. I can look directly south for approx 1000 yds and east about 1750 yds. I have been on this lease since july of 2003. I go up once a month and fill my demand feeders and shoot hogs and take pictures. One afternoon in September '03, I was sitting in my stand looking down the eastern right of way when I saw something moving way off in the distance. The telephone poles are spaced about 250 yds apart according to my rangefinder. This movement was six telephone poles down the right of way or about 1,500 yds. What caught my eye was a group of Audad sheep walking west along the right of way. At 1500 yds. I could tell that one animal stood out as being darker and larger than the rest. I grabbed up my binoculars to take a better look. I don't know about you, but from time to time, when I see something that amazes me, I swear to myself. This was one of those occasions. The one audad was half again the size of the others dark and with good horns. Boy this really got my juices flowing. I watched them walk down one side of a hill, go out of sight for about 15 minutes the appear again about 800 yards. I said to myself, If they got within range I was going to bust this dude. However, they turned off the right of way about 600 yds away. Talk about a bummer. I hunted all of the 03 deer season, which in Texas runs from the first week of November to the first Sunday in January. I saw numerous groups of other Audad, but I never saw this bad boy again until August of 04. Once again I was sitting in my stand. It was a beautiful morning, and I was reading a book when I looked up and there was this same Audad with about thirty other audad 120 yards away at my feeder. Talk about buck fever. This guy was a monster compared to all the other sheep. I put my rifle up to shoot, but all the other sheep were milling around so close I could not get a shot. I watched through my scope and binoculars for what seemed like forever but was actually about fifteen minutes without being able to get a clear shot. By this time I had settled down a little bit and got to thinking that I was the only one in camp. There was no one else there to see my trophy or brag to. I decided that I would wait till deer season (3 months) in hope that I could take him when all my hunting buddies were there. Sure enough in the second week of November '04 I was sitting in another blind on the other side of the ranch at a place called "Atudad Point" when this ram appeared once more. This was now 14 months since I had seen him the first time. I decided that if I could get a clear shot, I would take him. Once again I had to wait approximatly 20 minutes for him to separate from the herd. He walked about 20 yds. from the main group. I was using my browning hi-wall in 30-06 and 180 gr. nosler partitions. I had been told how tough Audad were and this location was right on the side of a cliff. I decided to try to take out both shoulders. Anyway, I nailed him at about 120 yds. At the shot he took off running. He ran over the side of the hill and dissapeared. I waited abou 30 minutes to make sure he had time to lay down and bleed out. Turned out he only ran about 30 yds from where I shot him. As it was, he weighed 270 lbs., had 12-1/2" bases and 30" horns. Not the biggest in the world but sure a trophy to me.
gwb

Great story Geedubya! I enjoyed it and the pictures


If you ever need help filling feeders, let me know

quote:

Originally posted by dawaba:
Yes, I agree that a free-range auodad hunt is the best poor man's sheep hunt available today......lots of glassing and climbing and stalking in the traditional way. I took a 32+" ram a few years back with Bubba Glosson in the Chinati Mnts of Texas. I plan to do it again, too. Dave

Bubba is the best when it comes to free range aoudad hunting. I am hoping to hunt with him this spring in the Davis Mtns

Drum

I can't stand looking at these pictures! Man I want one of these sheep bad. But I want to get one with my Muzzleloader. Ron