Bone Beer-West Texas Aoudad Hunt

[Stone Sheep Steve]

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.

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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.http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC01825.JPG

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Cont'd

[coach]

Oh I think this is gonna be a good one...:smile:

[Stone Sheep Steve]

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.
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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:oops: , 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.

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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

[Stone Sheep Steve]

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.
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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.

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

Cont'd

[Stone Sheep Steve]

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

[MB_Boy]

Very cool Brent!!! :cool:

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. :wink:

[d6dan]

Awesome hunt SSS!. Looks like you had a fantastic hunt with some southern boys. Did you eat the pig?.

[adriaticum]

Great report. Wow that's a whole lot of aoudad.

[Philcott]

That ram will certainly look good on your wall, Brent. Can't wait to see it up close.

[huntcoop]

Looks and sounds like you had a great time, congrats :smile:

Scope bite :mrgreen: ?

[one-shot-wonder]

Great report, good times spent in good company, thanks for sharing!

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Very cool Brent!!! :cool:

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. :wink:

Yes, there were introduced from north Africa to the southwest USA back in the 1960's and have done very well.


Awesome hunt SSS!. Looks like you had a fantastic hunt with some southern boys. Did you eat the pig?.

Didn't eat the javelina as there's a reason they call them 'stink pigs'...although I have since seen a couple episodes of Meateater where he cooked them up.
We did bring some of the pig from Oklahoma to cook in camp and it was delicious!


Looks and sounds like you had a great time, congrats :smile:

Scope bite :mrgreen: ?

Observant HC!...but I prefer to say I got bit by a javelina. Sounds more macho:D. Luckily I didn't get cut. It was more of an abrasion.
Funny...only other bite I got was from shooting at a coyote. Seems the ones with teeth bite back.

[d6dan]

Didn't eat the javelina as there's a reason they call them 'stink pigs'...although I have since seen a couple episodes of Meateater where he cooked them up.
We did bring some of the pig from Oklahoma to cook in camp and it was delicious!.



Yup, watched that episode also Brent, but he eats anything including coyote. :shock: Are you getting the skull done or did you leave it south?.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Yup, watched that episode also Brent, but he eats anything including coyote. :shock: Are you getting the skull done or did you leave it south?.

LOL! Yes....coyote....with LOTS of spices:shock:.

I left it down south for the Taxidermist to clean up and ship back with my mount. Larry, one of the guides in camp, is also an excellent taxidermist and is doing my 'do-dad' for me. That's one skull I wasn't going to leave behind.:cool:

[Rackmastr]

Such awesome looking animals and some amazing country to hunt!!

I cant wait to get back and hunt those critters again!!!

[Philcott]

The teeth on the Javelina are awesome.

[d6dan]

LOL! Yes....coyote....with LOTS of spices:shock:.

I left it down south for the Taxidermist to clean up and ship back with my mount. Larry, one of the guides in camp, is also an excellent taxidermist and is doing my 'do-dad' for me. That's one skull I wasn't going to leave behind.:cool:

Right on. Looking forward to the pics of the finished 'do-dad' and pig.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Right on. Looking forward to the pics of the finished 'do-dad' and pig.

Sorry. My post was a little ambiguous. Only getting the do-dad mounted. Not the Harvey. Just getting the skull done on him.

[d6dan]

Sorry. My post was a little ambiguous. Only getting the do-dad mounted. Not the Harvey. Just getting the skull done on him.

Gotcha........

[Surrey Boy]

Excellent thread!

[boxhitch]

Looks like a good time. Glad there was some drama to it too.


impromptu tailgate party to celebrate! I won’t go into details but I will just say the ‘Legend of Eyeball Canyon’ was bornNot enough time with the magnum ? )

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Not enough time with the magnum ? )

Always knew your were a wise man, B/H.
Definitely should have familiarized myself with a borrowed firearm.
The standing joke by the end of the hunt was that I blew more in ammo that I did on my ticket to win the hunt!! Lol.

[guest]

Great looking experience guys, thanks for sharing, congrats to you all. Good pics too .......

[BiG Boar]

That looks like a great hunt SSS. I'd like to do it one day. Right time of year and a fun looking low pressure hunt.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Just got word from Shawn that Bone Beer is donating TWO 2016 Aoudad hunts AND a 2016 Kansas whitetail hunt to the BCWF fundraiser this year!! The Kansas hunt is in some of the best whitetail areas of the entire country! I have a pic to go upload that you'll be interested to see!

[srupp]

Hmmmmm awesome..congrads..exellent adventure..
Cheers
Steven

[The Dawg]

Just got word from Shawn that Bone Beer is donating TWO 2015 Aoudad hunts AND a 2016 Kansas whitetail hunt to the BCWF fundraiser this year!! The Kansas hunt is in some of the best whitetail areas of the entire country! I have a pic to go upload that you'll be interested to see!


I better win one! :D

[Sitkaspruce]

Awesome hunt and very cool sheep!!!

Congrats on the hunt!!

Thanks for posting Brent!!!!

Cheers

SS

[Daybreak]

Wow. Looks like a great trip with a few variables thrown in to keep it interesting. It must have been exciting to set out in a completely new climate,flora and terrain. That ram will be a huge conversation piece. Thanks for taking us down with you.

[Ambush]

What a fantastic trip, experience and trophies! Javelina is high on my list of out-of-country hunts.

I typically don't like the exotic sheep and goats, but the Aoudad is the exception. Very cool looking ram for sure. I've been looking at free range Aoudad archery hunts for the last few years and you may have put me over the edge!

Congratulations on a unique adventure!

[Tīɡ]

Awesome read, thanks for sharing! Congrats on a beauty ram!!

[Stone Sheep Steve]

What a fantastic trip, experience and trophies! Javelina is high on my list of out-of-country hunts.

I typically don't like the exotic sheep and goats, but the Aoudad is the exception. Very cool looking ram for sure. I've been looking at free range Aoudad archery hunts for the last few years and you may have put me over the edge!

Congratulations on a unique adventure!


If you every do get a chance to do an archery Harvey hunt, make sure you bring a javelina distress call. Apparently they come running in almost every single time. On that Meateater episode that Dan and I mentioned earlier, Remmy mentioned that they can't seem to resist that call.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Here's a Kansas whitetail that was taken in 2014 in one of the leases that is part area included in the BCWF donated hunt for this April. 2015 was already booked solid so the hunt will be for 2016.
This would have been the new Kansas State record Typical but the scorer deemed one of the points as non-typical as he thought it had a shared base.

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[Blainer]

Wow! Cranker Whitetail
Excellent thread in the off season
tfs

[sheephunterab]

Awesome trip report. I will definitely be getting in on those hunt raffles and auctions at the convention!

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Awesome trip report. I will definitely be getting in on those hunt raffles and auctions at the convention!

I guess we have something in common, TJ......drinking 'whadka' with the G- boys! Just different continents. Lol!

[sheephunterab]

I've done it on a few continents with them...lol Hope to see you next month at the convention. I want to hear all about that aoudad hunt!

[David Heitsman]

The javelina's I've shot in Mexico you could track with both eyes closed. It's remarkable how pungent they are. Could never eat one but the vaqueros love them. I was elk hunting this fall in Arizona and saw a few javelinas in my motel parking lot in Globe. One of them surely went 60#s. I've tried to book aoudads a couple of times with no luck. Maybe try again after I see what the US draws yield. Nice ram Brent, looks like a great vacation.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

The javelina's I've shot in Mexico you could track with both eyes closed. It's remarkable how pungent they are. Could never eat one but the vaqueros love them. I was elk hunting this fall in Arizona and saw a few javelinas in my motel parking lot in Globe. One of them surely went 60#s. I've tried to book aoudads a couple of times with no luck. Maybe try again after I see what the US draws yield. Nice ram Brent, looks like a great vacation.

These guys run their aoudad hunts during the last two weeks in February. Great late winter getaway when not much else is going on.
Was a nice break from all the 'extra' stresses from this year.