With a nasty ice storm hitting North Texas this week my dad and I headed 600 wiles south to try my luck for a nilgai on the King Ranch.
My dad was my copilot and just an observer on this hunt but had a great time getting away from the cold even for just a few days. We met our guide Jimmy at the gate and headed to the headquarters and head out for the days hunt. We made our way through the thick coastal fog to the Santa Cruz pasture for the days hunt.
The forecast called for the fog to break around lunch but I was a little worried that it might make the morning hunt a little challenging, nevertheless we saw plenty of wildlife especially several bulls around the headquarters but the area surrounding camp was a no shooting pasture.
We had made a couple stalks without seeing any bulls so we headed to some more open terrain as the fog had opened up somewhat from earlier hat morning. We set out for a longer stalk around some open coastal dune pasture with a scattering of oak mots while my dad stayed back at the truck for photos and a mid morning nap! About 30 minutes into the stalk the fog had blown back in and visibility was down to about 200-300 yards as we walked along a mot edge I glanced up in front of Jimmy and saw a silouette of a nilgai through the fog about 250 yards ahead of us! One nilgai turned to 2 and another, pretty soon we were glassing three bulls but no shooters until another bull came in with his ears pinned and tail straight out to the herd. Jimmy in a fluid motion said thats the bull you want, set the sticks up, and slid out of my way to prepare for the shot. The range was about 200 yards but the bull was walking at a descent clip. Jimmy gave the bull a quick shout and the bull stopped, glancing in our direction and I touched off the 338 win mag. The recoil knocked the bull from view but I could hear the the bullet connect I went for a follow up shot but I short stroked the bolt but by that time it was clear the 225 grain barnes had done its jobs through both shoulders. We made our way to the bull that had traveled another 200 yards before piling up, they are truly tough critters! Jimmy went back to get the truck and my dad.
I truly couldn't believe the size of the these creatures up close, a whole lot of some nice venison.
We headed back to the cooler to let the bull chill and grab a bite of lunch in Raymondville.
After a great lunch we headed back to quarter up the bull and the long drive back home. We really wanted to spend more time on the ranch but with all the ice power outages at home we knew it to get back.
Jimmy and everyone with the hunt made a great memory my dad and I could share with some great experiences on one of the game richest properties I have ever seen, I you are considering this hunt you can't go wrong with this hunt!
My dad was my copilot and just an observer on this hunt but had a great time getting away from the cold even for just a few days. We met our guide Jimmy at the gate and headed to the headquarters and head out for the days hunt. We made our way through the thick coastal fog to the Santa Cruz pasture for the days hunt.
We had made a couple stalks without seeing any bulls so we headed to some more open terrain as the fog had opened up somewhat from earlier hat morning. We set out for a longer stalk around some open coastal dune pasture with a scattering of oak mots while my dad stayed back at the truck for photos and a mid morning nap! About 30 minutes into the stalk the fog had blown back in and visibility was down to about 200-300 yards as we walked along a mot edge I glanced up in front of Jimmy and saw a silouette of a nilgai through the fog about 250 yards ahead of us! One nilgai turned to 2 and another, pretty soon we were glassing three bulls but no shooters until another bull came in with his ears pinned and tail straight out to the herd. Jimmy in a fluid motion said thats the bull you want, set the sticks up, and slid out of my way to prepare for the shot. The range was about 200 yards but the bull was walking at a descent clip. Jimmy gave the bull a quick shout and the bull stopped, glancing in our direction and I touched off the 338 win mag. The recoil knocked the bull from view but I could hear the the bullet connect I went for a follow up shot but I short stroked the bolt but by that time it was clear the 225 grain barnes had done its jobs through both shoulders. We made our way to the bull that had traveled another 200 yards before piling up, they are truly tough critters! Jimmy went back to get the truck and my dad.
I truly couldn't believe the size of the these creatures up close, a whole lot of some nice venison.
We headed back to the cooler to let the bull chill and grab a bite of lunch in Raymondville.
After a great lunch we headed back to quarter up the bull and the long drive back home. We really wanted to spend more time on the ranch but with all the ice power outages at home we knew it to get back.
Jimmy and everyone with the hunt made a great memory my dad and I could share with some great experiences on one of the game richest properties I have ever seen, I you are considering this hunt you can't go wrong with this hunt!
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