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Thread: Bone Beer-West Texas Aoudad Hunt

  1. #1
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    Bone Beer-West Texas Aoudad Hunt

    Bone Beer-West Texas Aoudad Hunt
    As a lot of you know already, I was the fortuitous winner of the Bone Beer donated raffle hunt for free range Aoudad in Southwest Texas at the BCWF fundraiser last year in Kelowna. We all know about Bone Beer’s commitment to wildlife and the BCWF, well, it’s not just a marketing idea. These guys ‘walk-the-walk’ and put wildlife and conservation first and foremost. They actually donated three hunts to last year’sconvention....two Aoudad hunts (one raffle and one auction hunt) and a Wyoming pronghorn hunt!! I was also fortunate to have already known Shawn and knew what a fun guy he was to hunt and hang with! Fast forward to this past mid-February as we headed south for some pig hunting eastof Oklahoma City (that’s a separate story in itself) before making the long drive down to southwest Texas some twenty miles from the Mexican border along the famous Rio Grande.




    When we finally arrived at our destination 20 minutes south of the small town of Van Horn, Texas, it was already dark. After a couple cocktails in the quaint ranch cabins we hit the hay with much anticipation for the next day’s hunt. We all were up well before daylight and were soon topped-up with one of Shawn’s many delicious meals and were eagerly awaiting what the daylight in this unfamiliar country would reveal.




    Cont'd
    Last edited by Stone Sheep Steve; 03-19-2015 at 07:40 PM.
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  3. #2
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    Re: Bone Beer-West Texas Aoudad Hunt

    Oh I think this is gonna be a good one...
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  4. #3
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    Re: Bone Beer-West Texas Aoudad Hunt

    We split into three separate groups (five hunters) and went our separate ways. As daylight spread across the desert, wildlife soon began reveal itself.....first some mule deer, pronghorn, coyotes, roadrunners then some cattle and finally some aoudad ewes and lambs.



    As we continued to drive and glass, my guide Seth, spotted some black objects rooting behind some prickly pear cacti that turned out to be javelinas. Under a Texas exotic license you can shoot aoudad, javelinas, coyote, bobcats and barred quail so needless to say it was game on! Well, after a short stalk and a couple off–hand warning shots from within bow distance with the 300 winmag , I had my first“Harvey” (as Shawn likes to call them) on the ground! Grizzly bears have nothing on these little stink pigs in the denture department.




    Continuing on, we toured the country taking in the sites between glassing sessions and after a few hours I spotted my first aoudad ram. We watched them closely for a while and I decided to pass since it was only day one and I didn’t want to end my hunt so early on an only okay ram. Since one of the other hunters in camp was a sheep rookie (and admittedly out of shape) we decided to go find him and see if the ram met his standards. Eventually we tracked them down and he was perfectly happy to take that ram. Our group sat and watched from a distance and waited for the young man to make his stalk. Well, the “Okie boys” are all dialed in to long range shooting and coached the young man to his longest shot ever and he downed afine first ram! He was tickled pink and it was a pleasure to be able to share in that moment!

    cont'd
    Last edited by Stone Sheep Steve; 03-19-2015 at 12:30 PM.
    https://oceola.ca/
    http://bcwf.net/index.php
    http://www.wildsheepsociety.net/

    I Give my Heart to my Family....
    My Mind to my Work.......
    But My Soul Belongs to the Mountains.....

  5. #4
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    Re: Bone Beer-West Texas Aoudad Hunt

    Day two found us back out cruising the same spots where we found the ewes and lambs the day before. Since aoudad don’t have a set rut, the rams are constantly cruising to find the hot ewes.Well, we didn’t spot any new rams in first couple of areas so we ventured into new territory and soon found a band of three sheep including two mature rams inthe group. It didn’t take me long to decide if I wanted to put a stalk on either of these rams! We checked the wind and made a plan that would take us closer to the sheep. Eventually, Seth peaked over and spotted one ram bedded only 120 yards away but unfortunately he was facing us.

    It was a chip shot but with light winds and crunchy ground, I could not sneak forward to get a rest. I was perfectly willing to sit tight and wait out the situation when I suddenly felt the wind at my back.........it was now or never. I tried to crouch and use my knee as a rest and eventually found the crosshairs making smaller and smaller circles. BOOM!! Up jumped the other ram but my ram had one front shoulder not working so great. Eventually, he bedded and I was able to finish him off.



    I had my first non-BC ram on the ground!!


    We made it back to camp, worked on the cape and headed to town for lunch and a few more supplies. Later that afternoon we headed out to help the other hunters. We told them about the other ram that was with my ram and they headed that direction while we looped around the backside of the mountain. We had sporadic cell coverage throughout the ranch but soon we received a text from the other guide, Larry that just said “Dead”. Well, we ended up meeting up with them in a rugged little pass and had an impromptu tailgate party to celebrate! I won’t go into details but I will just say the ‘Legend of Eyeball Canyon’ was born.

    Cont'd
    Last edited by Stone Sheep Steve; 03-19-2015 at 12:32 PM.
    https://oceola.ca/
    http://bcwf.net/index.php
    http://www.wildsheepsociety.net/

    I Give my Heart to my Family....
    My Mind to my Work.......
    But My Soul Belongs to the Mountains.....

  6. #5
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    Re: Bone Beer-West Texas Aoudad Hunt

    For the first two days of our hunt, the weather was absolutely beautiful with highs approaching 80 deg F but on the evening of the second day the winds ripped up and howled for two straight days and the temps plummeted to 20F!! With this major change in the weather, the desert critters that were so visible in the first two days, went into complete hiding. Even being outside for any length of time was just plain punishment!The remaining two clients in camp worked hard and hiked all day during those two miserable days. Eventually on the very last day of our hunt the winds finally subsided and they were able to connect on two down-to-the-wire rams!!


    This same weather pattern shut down the Dallas airport a couple days later. Here’s a few more picture from the trip........



    I had an absolute BLAST on the trip!! Many thanks to Shawn, Cory (who couldn’t make it), Seth and also Larry, Casey, Randi, Jim, Jeff, Gary, Matt and finally Randy with a ‘y’! If you’re looking for a fun hunt, some belly laughs, great food and great people, I would highly recommend heading down to Texas on a free range aoudad hunt with the boys from Bone Beer! They are also generously donating another hunt to the upcoming BCWF convention in Fernie. You can contact Shawn through the Bone Beer website to book a hunt.

    http://bonebeer.com/


    SSS
    Last edited by Stone Sheep Steve; 03-19-2015 at 12:25 PM.
    https://oceola.ca/
    http://bcwf.net/index.php
    http://www.wildsheepsociety.net/

    I Give my Heart to my Family....
    My Mind to my Work.......
    But My Soul Belongs to the Mountains.....

  7. #6
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    Re: Bone Beer-West Texas Aoudad Hunt

    Very cool Brent!!!

    Are they an introduced sheep? Although I have seen pics of them before wasn't sure if they were native down there? Hate to sound naïve....but just have no idea.

  8. #7
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    Re: Bone Beer-West Texas Aoudad Hunt

    Awesome hunt SSS!. Looks like you had a fantastic hunt with some southern boys. Did you eat the pig?.
    " You know you're in Goat country when it takes both arms
    and legs to climb and you can spit down on sheep". Patrick Stephens

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  9. #8
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    Re: Bone Beer-West Texas Aoudad Hunt

    Great report. Wow that's a whole lot of aoudad.
    1. Human over population
    2. Government burden and overreach

  10. #9
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    Re: Bone Beer-West Texas Aoudad Hunt

    That ram will certainly look good on your wall, Brent. Can't wait to see it up close.
    Rejuvenation: Sitting in the slash in sub-zero temperatures waiting for first light and hearing antlers clashing together. Oh man, life is good!

  11. #10
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    Re: Bone Beer-West Texas Aoudad Hunt

    Looks and sounds like you had a great time, congrats

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