I was one of the four lucky hunters drawn for this years gemsbok or scimitar oryx hunt at Mason Mt. WMA, up in the Hill country of Texas. This is one of the TPWD public drawn hunts. It was a great hunt, and I had the opportunity to meet and make new friends. The area manager and techs were all great people to spend time with, and went out of their way to ensure you had a good time. There were two of us hunting scimitar and two others hunting gemsbok (Kalahari oryx). They are separated on the area because they can inter-breed so there is a cross fence across the property. Lots of deer, hogs, sable, waterbuck, Thompson gazelle, axis, some blackbuck and the oryx were visible every day. Great chances to get some pictures. It was a 3 day hunt, so it started out Wed. afternoon following some range time, then all day Thursday and finished at noon on the last day. Food and lodging is provided for this hunt, and the accommodations are really nice. After a short indoctrination and discussion about physiology and shot placement they asked us what we expected and wanted to do. I told them I would prefer to look at all the animals on Wed and Thurs, then take a nice representative bull on Friday morning. That is exactly what we did, and it was a fun hunt. One of each animal was taken on the second day by hunters, and the third guy made a bad shot on his animal and lost it. They looked all evening Thurs and then about 6 people looked again on Friday but it was never found. The three animals were taken with 7mm Rem Mags and either 150 or 160 grain Barnes bullets. The animal that was lost was shot with a premium lead core bullet in 300 WSM, but doesn't appear to have resulted in a psss through shot. Sucks to go home without your trophy. frown

The bull I took was 39.5" on both horns, and was very narrow and symetrical. Prefect for a beautiful trophy in my home. Had Custom Processing in Brady do the meat for me, and Jason Williams did an excellent job. I went on down to Matagorda and then Uvalde for a few days, and the meat was ready for me when I came back. A great trip overall and I can't wait to get back to Texas once again this coming year. It certainly was a nice break from the two feet of snow and 25 below zero temperatures here at home in Idaho!!!!!!!!

Sounds like a nice hunt

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I have been putting in for the various Exotic hunts offered in the draw, including those on Mason Mountain, but that is the one category I have never been drawn in.

A few years back a hunting partner and I got drawn for a cull white tail hunt at Mason Mountain, and it is an impressive place.

Cool

Man you draw some fantastic stuff! Great trophy, thanks for sharing.

Congratulations! A fine trophy.

Neat old bull.

I have applied for those hunts a couple of times. I didn't know they would even enter you if you didn't have a Texas zip code on your application.

You are the first person I have heard of that does not live in Texas that has drawn.

Shhhh! Don't tell anyone.

Texas public hunts are one of the unheard of good deals for tag draws. While the odds are not great because of the numbers of residents who play, it does happen.

No license to apply, cheap fees, and you accrue bonus points. I have drawn deer, aoudad, and now oryx on the different WMA's.

Damn impressive!

Yep, no need in giving away the keys to the castle.

quote:

No license to apply, cheap fees, and you accrue bonus points. I have drawn deer, aoudad, and now oryx on the different WMA's.

You have done good. I have been playing the game since the program started.

Been drawn for several hunts, I guess the most special was being drawn for the Antelope hunt on the Rita Blanca Grass Lands in 1996, t6ook a really nice buck, and in 2015 Lora and I were drawn for a new Mule Deer hunt on Private Land in the Big Bend area and both of us took really unique bucks.

The various exotic hunts are the only ones I have never been drawn for.