Growing up on the East coast and hunting deer in New Jersey and wild boars in Florida, I always dreamed of hunting out West in the wide open plains and the Rocky Mountains. As soon as I was able, I packed up the family and picked up a travel job in New Mexico. While researching potential hunts in my new state, I stumbled upon a once-in-a-lifetime hunt for Oryx on a missile base. I was intrigued, to say the least. Hunting an African antelope at the base where the first atom bomb was detonated, sign me up.

So my two brothers, my father, and I applied for tags, not really thinking we would be drawn due to the low odds. After months of waiting, my youngest brother got drawn for a tag at the stallion range on the White Sands Missile Range. We were all super excited and started planning the hunt. Many people on this forum helped with planning, as well as a local taxidermist. We began mapping out locations on oryx maps, and began perfecting our long range shooting skills. Remember: shots in New Jersey and Florida are around 50 yards, so a possible 400 yard shot was new to us. We sighted in the Remington .300 ultra magnum and my cz .505 Gibbs at 300 yards and made the 4 hour drive to the base.

Once we arrived at our hotel, we realized we were not the only hunters staying there. We decided that a good night's rest was in order so we could get a nice, early start. The next morning, after a decent breakfast, we got in our Jeep and joined a long line of trucks waiting to get into the base. After all of the extensive checks were performed, we were lead to the base parking lot for our orientation, which was transmitted through the radio due to Covid¬-19. Once the briefing concluded, we were sent on our way Friday at 1100 am to start our two and a half day hunt. No pressure, right?

We began driving down a dirt road, not really knowing what to expect. An hour into the drive, we saw our first juvenile Oryx looking at us from approximately 60 yards away. We got out of our vehicle to check him out, and he just looked at us for 5 minutes and then ran off. We decided to pass on him because he was not large enough, and it was too early in the hunt to settle. I think his young age, and the fact that our hunt was the first of the season, is probably why he hung out for so long. Next, we decided to drive to a location near some tall mountains in order to do some proper scouting.

We made it to the mountain on our map, got out of the car, and began climbing the mountain. We made it to the top and began glassing. After 10 minutes, we spotted two mature Oryx around 800 yards away. We began stalking the animals, but were busted from 700 yards away. They stared at us, and we decided to try and close the distance from behind some mountains. As we got down the mountain we lost sight of them, but found some big fresh tracks that we thought were theirs. We were tracking them for an hour when we accidently bumped them. The two big ones ran, and there was around 10 more that we did not see that joined the stampede. I read that before they bolt for good they stop and look back to see what is chasing them, and sure enough they did, but the big ones were gone and we did not want to shoot the 10 smaller ones. These are very curious animals with amazing eye sight. It is also amazing how well they disappear in their habitat; you can see them from the mountain, but when you drop down to ground level, the foliage blinds you.

On the defeated mountain descent back, we bumped some mule deer, and a jack rabbit that was the size of a mule deer. Once we arrived back to the car, we made our way to another location that was a bit flatter. Based on a tip from a forum member, we brought at 20 foot extendable ladder for scouting, and we were glad we did. We glassed at ground level for 45 minutes and saw nothing. We then decided to try the ladder, extending it to 20 feet, and two of us climbed to the top. After 15 minutes of glassing, we saw an Oryx 75 yards away. The ladder helped us spot an Oryx we missed from ground level. The Oryx did not have the biggest horns, but was a thick body bull, so we decided to take the shot. My brother got on the ladder to take the shot, and the Oryx ran. I have read that Oryx don't like to jump fences, but go under them at certain locations, an sure enough this Oryx kept running the fence line back and forth looking for a way under. We tried crawling into range as he ran back and forth like a crazy person, but unfortunately he got tired of the game and took off. Defeated again.

We spent the next hour or so driving, glassing from the ladder, and following tracks with nothing to show for it. We drove to a new area and saw fresh tracks and stool; my two brothers followed fresh tracks, while my dad and I glassed from the ladder. My brothers came up empty, and my dad and my eyes were hurting from all the glassing. At this point it was 6pm, and we had to be off the base by 8pm, so my brother decided he did not want to shoot anything this late and be pressed to process the animal. I then made the suggestion to just drive the rest of the base, and plan our attack for tomorrow.

We drove no more than 50 yards, when a giant bull leaped out in front of the car and started galloping away. This was the biggest bull yet. My brother grabbed the .300 RUM and jumped out the car like the Dukes of Hazzard. He took aim at 75 yards away, the Oryx stopped galloping for a second to look back, and my brother cracked off a round through both lungs with a 200 grain Barnes TSX loaded hot. The animal immediately dropped. I told my brother to put another round through the shoulder to make sure he was down; I have heard too many stories about people thinking the animal is down, only for it to get back up and run away for good.

It was amazing that this giant animal was hiding in a place that my dad and I glassed forever, and my brothers missed while tracking in the area, only for him to jump out in front of our car on our way out. I guess sometimes it's better to be lucky than skilled. We walked up to the animal and it was a massive bull. We were fighting the clock, and daylight, to get this beast skinned and out of here in time. Everyone grabbed a knife, and we began chopping away with a flurry. We were processing the beast until dark, and luckily I brought a few headlamps with us because it gets dark in the desert.

We finally got the animal cleaned to the bone (after cutting ourselves a few times) and packed in the jeep. We were at the gate by 830 pm, but the guys did not seem to mind. They congratulated us on the nice bull, and we drove back to the hotel. We packed the meat and hide in tons of ice, and had a celebratory beer before passing out due to exhaustion. We drove home the next morning and stopped by the taxidermist where he measured the horns at 39 1/2 inches. We are not much for measurements, but it was crazy that we almost got a 40 incher. Once we arrived home, we processed meat for hours and had some delicious Oryx burgers. This was probably one of the best hunts my family and I have ever done, and I have a new respect for the animal and beautiful land.

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I did not know how to actually post pictures that immediately show up on the forum through phot bucket so I hope the links work.

Beast of a bull! I took the liberty to post some of your pics here.

Thanks aspen. I will need to figure out how to do that.

WOW! That's a fantastic bull! Very nicely done. I'm sure glad to hear you all had a good hunt out here. Pass on my congrats please.

Fantastic bull! Bigger than mine from the Kaokoveld!

I took a cow on WSMR in 2010.

Taking my wife to hunt off-range in December. Have a good area.

Outstanding! Best part about the whole thing is sharing it with your brothers and dad.

Thanks guys, it was a great hunt. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a hunt thats a little different, and the meat is super tasty.

Steel - Congrats! Thanks for posting the report. There's a link to instructions for posting photos in my signature; postimages.org is probably the easiest route. And there won't be any watermarks on the photos.

Ann - Thanks for posting the photos.

Who is your taxidermist..Mike?
I know most of them. Its where I work

Nicely done -- and you celebrated with one of my favorite New Mexico beers -- Cumbres Elevated IPA!

Good bull! Congrats!

That is a hell of a bull from anywhere let alone Stallion Ridge.

Nice job and congrats to your bro.

Outstanding!

Thanks for sharing.

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There have been a couple of AR guys that drew this year. I am not sure if you are the one I talked to about the ladder or not. But it works very well.

If you draw a hunt on the Chapparral areas of the Southern Part of the range it is indispensible.

Yes, I'm the one you spoke to about the ladder and it worked well. That stuff is thicker than it looks at first glance.

Ladder?

The brush can be quiet thick, and does a great job hiding oryx especially at ground level. I used a 20 foot extendable a frame ladder to glass from. Makes spotting game much easier.

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
Beast of a bull! I took the liberty to post some of your pics here.

Congratulations on bagging a nice animal. In this photo the hunter has posed with a rifle pointing directly at his head and the bolt is closed. Loaded? Brrrrr.

The firearm was unloaded, but you are right the barrel should not be pointed at anyone.

Great story.
I have oryx (gemsbuck) on my low-fenced ranch and so the animal is very familiar to me and some of the best meat about. Also very difficult to hunt as they are exceptionally clever.
My experience is that while they generally go underneath a stock (sheep) fence, they will jump it when they have learnt how to do so.

Congratulations sir! I worked all over the missal range, and white sands for many years and we saw these Oryx on a daily bases, among other exotics that are there. They are beautiful animals, and anyone who thinks these missal range animals are a cake walk to hunt, are sadly mistaken! These oryx could spot a gnat from 300 yds, and can run like the wind from a hurricane, and don't stand for long once they spot a hunter!
........................... MacD37

Thank you for taking time to write the report.

Congratulations!

Congrats always fun to hunt with family. Nice bull