tomgobbler Report post Posted October 7, 2013 After months of anticipation after finding out I had drawn a broken horned oryx tag in NM, the hunt was finally on! After a 6 hour drive, we had to meet at the gate into the missile range at 10:00, then the vehicle search, paper work, meeting, does and don'ts while on the range they FINALLY turned us loose to head out about 1:00. WHAT A CLUSTER IT WAS, 90 vehicles all leaving the parking lot trying to beat everyone else "TO THERE SPOT" but the funny thing was that no one had a spot cause there was no scouting allowed... but i'm sure there was guys that had guides, or guys that had been there before, but it was pretty much a cluster.... anyway we had looked over the map and had found some areas that we figured would probably be good looking spots, and were we figured we could find them. we got to were we wanted to be, with a HUGE bottom ( about 2 miles across) at the base of some foothills, looked like it would be a spot were an oryx should hang out the glassing was tuff as with all the rain the yellow flowers were anywhere from 2' to 6' tall, and so they would completely disappear in them. Anyway about 15 minutes into glassing we glassed up a heard of about 30, about 1 1/2 miles out into the bottom and thick brush, after making a plan of attach and figuring for sure there would be a couple of broken horns in the bunch we headed out. We got to about 700 and ran out of good cover, so on our knees we went, 300 yards further and with blistered skinned up knees, and slivers all over in my palms we had crawled to around 300-350 yards of them depending on which side of the heard we could find a good bull. It just so happened that the herd bull, the guy that thought he was the tuffest was broken about half way off, he was running the other bulls off and was chasing cows pretty hard.... kind of a cross between a big herd bull elk and a rutting antelope, he was running all over the place, and I was having a hard time getting him to hold still in a clear shooting lane through the thick yellow flowers and the thick brush he kept going in and out of... at one point he was 295, but would not stop, he finally got out to 350 and 3-4 had kind of lined out like they were going to head out of the country with him in toe so I knelt up to get over the top of the flowers and brush and let one fly. And was able to get the job done. it was a pretty cool hunt with my son watching and a couple of my buddies there and my brother . he tagged out the next afternoon on a bull that was almost identical to mine except the horn was broken on the other side. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
muledeerarea33? Report post Posted October 7, 2013 Very cool!!! Broken horn tag? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gr8 White Jr Report post Posted October 7, 2013 Very cool! I have always been interested in a NM Oryx hunt. Congrats and way to get it done on a nice bull! Thanks for sharing! -Tracy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SWDesertRat Report post Posted October 7, 2013 Nice job and way to get it done! Some of the best tasting meat in my opinion and whether you euro the head or shoulder mount them they sure look sharp. Do they now allow cameras on base or they cant confiscate phones? There was a time when hunters and their assistants/guests would be black listed due to sneaking cameras on WSMR. Most pics from that time were taken outside the gate with a caped oryx. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SunDevil Report post Posted October 7, 2013 congrats! were you on the stallion range? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tomgobbler Report post Posted October 7, 2013 thanks guys, yes broken horn tag, and it was Rhodes canyon range, and yes they allow cameras, but can only take pic of you and your game , no scenery or anything else. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StickFlicker Report post Posted October 7, 2013 The change in the camera rule must be new, because I didn't think they allowed cameras either. The first time I went to Africa I inquired as to whether I could get a discounted price if I shot a broken horned oryx. Their reply was "why would they have a broken horn?" It's very common to see them in NM with broken horns, but after three trips to Africa I have never seen one with even the slightest bit of tip broken off of a horn. For some reason, they just don't break there like they do here. I spoke to a biologist in NM about that, and he was surprised to hear that they don't break in Africa. His guess was that the NM animals are so inbread from having such a small number of original transplant stock when they were introduced, that it has caused them to have the brittle horns. I guess that's as good an explanation as any. They are delicious, and beautiful. Congratulations! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tomgobbler Report post Posted October 7, 2013 the camera rule has been changed for I think 3 years they told us, ( this being the 3rd year you could bring one), Only one camera per hunter, and it was subject to being looked over ( they never did on mine) they also told us that in 2011 they had a really bad cold freeze and it froze the cores and they had a lot of broken ones after that.... I dont know just what they said...... ( they also said that about 30% of there ears froze off at that time as well, and killed a lot of calves.... looking forward to eating a steak Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted October 8, 2013 Very cool, thanks for sharing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UAhunter Report post Posted October 8, 2013 Congrats on your trophy, would love to hunt them some day! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Browns Report post Posted October 8, 2013 How many tags to they give out? How long did it take you to draw the tag? Looks like a lot of fun, Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lucky2hunt Report post Posted October 8, 2013 Congrats on a successful hunt. It's great your son got to witness the hunt with you!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ptowns Report post Posted October 9, 2013 Congratulation, Tommy. Will be good eating for sure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heat Report post Posted October 9, 2013 Way cool! Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
desertsheep Report post Posted October 14, 2013 Congratulations Tommy!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
