August 1st is where it all started, my buddy Roy(rperezjr) and I went to sign up for the refuge. We signed up for the hunt and didn't think much of It, until I received the prettiest little white paper with my name on it! I called him to only find out he had also gotten Picked. AWESOME!! Double trouble.
We put in a lot of scouting hours on two different occasions. If I would have to guess just about 5+ miles through the brush. Until we finally found a "spot" . This wasn't just any spot, this was the "spot" . We had one of those gut feelings about it.
Thursday wasn't such a good day, it rained all day so we really didn't miss much. Roy had to work and I had two exams. First day of the Hunt comes around for us ( Friday) we get there around 9 am and walk in as quiet as possible. We set up our stands and then went back to the truck for our gear. Finally we get settled in and I knew lunch time would be good due to the full moon we had( that's why we woke up late) . Sure enough 11 am comes around and as I look up I see something red ( my first though was a hog) then I realized oh crap, it's s Nilgai. Standing 29 yards away , after trying to get one for 8 years this moment felt to good to be true. She was feeding towards me eating Johnson grass, I though for sure I was busted ( didn't have much cover on that side) then just as I though that she turned away from me and I was able to draw my bow. I drew back took a deep breath in and let it fly. perfect shot, She runs off 100 mph and at first I though she was going along ways by the way she was running. Then surprisingly I heard her stop running, I wait and wait AND WAIT, then finally hear her go down. I walked Over to my buddy's tripod to let him know my dream came true. We high five and all that good stuff then headed to the truck, 1 hour later we head in and find her 75 yards from where I shot her, rage did the trick. Blood everywhere!! Double lung !!
Saturday morning we didn't see much, so I did some more scouting and that sure did pay off. We set up north of " the spot" and got ready, we heard hogs and all kind of critters. Then at dark I hear something coming so I get ready. I can't believe my eyes, another Nilgai. Not just a Nilgai but a fully grown cow. She smells around and turns away from me, sure enough I draw back and make a good quartering away shot. We start tracking her quicker than I would have liked due to it being dark. We have good blood at first then it was real heard to see any blood in the tall grass. Finally I find her track and we find her bedded, she ran about .2 of a mile before my buddy put another arrow into her... She would have died but I didn't give her no time.. She kept bedding up but I kept pushing her... It was late when I shot her so I didn't wanna be up all night packing her out. After a long while we finally get her packed out, amazing animal and an amazing feeling to get two Nilgai in two days in public land.
Sunday morning coming around and sure enough we wake up at 7 and get to our stands around 9 am , we sit still and right around lunch time I hear Nilgai running, which either meant my buddy got busted or he shot one... So sure enough 30 seconds later I hear her let out her last breath.. This is my buddy's second animal he has recovered... Very proud of him with the shot he made... Heart shot... She managed to run 2-300 yards with decent blood but not what you would expect from a heart shot .
Thanks for reading sorry for the long read.
Thanks to my buddy Juan and tony for lending me your game cart .
Friday morning double lung
Saturday night my second cow
my buddy with his first Nilgai 
buddy's shot
We put in a lot of scouting hours on two different occasions. If I would have to guess just about 5+ miles through the brush. Until we finally found a "spot" . This wasn't just any spot, this was the "spot" . We had one of those gut feelings about it.
Thursday wasn't such a good day, it rained all day so we really didn't miss much. Roy had to work and I had two exams. First day of the Hunt comes around for us ( Friday) we get there around 9 am and walk in as quiet as possible. We set up our stands and then went back to the truck for our gear. Finally we get settled in and I knew lunch time would be good due to the full moon we had( that's why we woke up late) . Sure enough 11 am comes around and as I look up I see something red ( my first though was a hog) then I realized oh crap, it's s Nilgai. Standing 29 yards away , after trying to get one for 8 years this moment felt to good to be true. She was feeding towards me eating Johnson grass, I though for sure I was busted ( didn't have much cover on that side) then just as I though that she turned away from me and I was able to draw my bow. I drew back took a deep breath in and let it fly. perfect shot, She runs off 100 mph and at first I though she was going along ways by the way she was running. Then surprisingly I heard her stop running, I wait and wait AND WAIT, then finally hear her go down. I walked Over to my buddy's tripod to let him know my dream came true. We high five and all that good stuff then headed to the truck, 1 hour later we head in and find her 75 yards from where I shot her, rage did the trick. Blood everywhere!! Double lung !!
Saturday morning we didn't see much, so I did some more scouting and that sure did pay off. We set up north of " the spot" and got ready, we heard hogs and all kind of critters. Then at dark I hear something coming so I get ready. I can't believe my eyes, another Nilgai. Not just a Nilgai but a fully grown cow. She smells around and turns away from me, sure enough I draw back and make a good quartering away shot. We start tracking her quicker than I would have liked due to it being dark. We have good blood at first then it was real heard to see any blood in the tall grass. Finally I find her track and we find her bedded, she ran about .2 of a mile before my buddy put another arrow into her... She would have died but I didn't give her no time.. She kept bedding up but I kept pushing her... It was late when I shot her so I didn't wanna be up all night packing her out. After a long while we finally get her packed out, amazing animal and an amazing feeling to get two Nilgai in two days in public land.
Sunday morning coming around and sure enough we wake up at 7 and get to our stands around 9 am , we sit still and right around lunch time I hear Nilgai running, which either meant my buddy got busted or he shot one... So sure enough 30 seconds later I hear her let out her last breath.. This is my buddy's second animal he has recovered... Very proud of him with the shot he made... Heart shot... She managed to run 2-300 yards with decent blood but not what you would expect from a heart shot .
Thanks for reading sorry for the long read.
Thanks to my buddy Juan and tony for lending me your game cart .
Friday morning double lung Saturday night my second cow
my buddy with his first Nilgai buddy's shot
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