Here's a little recap of my first hunting trip in Mexico.
It begins back in June, when I entered a contest on Facebook (Texas Exotic Hunting Reloaded) hunting page. They were giving away a free hunt in Mexico for reaching 50K followers. Surprisingly I ended up winning. I've never been to Mexico nor thought much about it... but since I won, I was all in.
Got everything set up through the outfitter, Mexico Hunting, who is relatively new to the outfitting business, but manages over 50,000 acres of low fence Mexico hunting leases. Most of the ranches are between Nuevo Guerrero, Tamalipas and Paras, Nuevo Leon, so not very far into Mexico.
I meet up with the outfitter here in Houston, and ride down there with him Thursday, and make it to the ranch that evening. He gave me the option of which ranch I wanted to stay at. I could choose a ranch with electricity and running water that they had hunted the entire week before or a new ranch without electricity and water, that had not been hunted yet, and holds bigger deer. It was an easy choice for me.... We stayed the week with no electricity and water. Quite frankly it was not bad at all... the house we stayed in was actually quite nice, just needs a little work, but was clean and comfortable. Just needed an extra blanket at night, because it was pretty chilly down there.
Friday morning, got up and in the stand... wind was blowing at least 35-40 mph all night and day.... made for a slightly uncomfortable sit, but No big deal, i was seeing plenty of deer. First morning I saw probably 25 different deer, about 8 bucks. Nothing that really needed to be shot though.
That evening I set up in a new stand. This time I took my bow and rifle, just in case something came in close, or i could spot and stalk something.
As we pulled up to the stand there were 2 Javelina in the sendero, so I grabbed my bow and put on a stalk. Not very hard to get close to these critters. Within about 2 minutes I had killed the first animal of the trip, and my first Javelina, ever. Hunted that stand the rest of the evening and saw a lot more deer, but nothing I was after. Right at dark, another Javelina came back out, so I climbed out of the blind and put on another short stalk. A few minutes later, I had my 2nd Javelina on the ground.
After dark I was picked up and we headed back to camp. On the way back in we came across a Huge pig in one of the senderos that had a little corn leftover from the morning hunt. I grabbed the rifle when we stopped, got out and was able to get a shot off before it took off. It was a giant Sow, she dropped in her tracks. We ended up giving the pig to a couple of locals who were staying on the ranch, that were working on the house we were staying in. They were beyond excited for the pig meat.
The next few days were more of the same, saw lots of deer, pigs, Javelina, Coyotes, & bobcats. Ended up shooting another Javelina with my bow. Also got to witness a bobcat kill a bird about 10 yards in front of the blind. That was definitely neat to see. Could have killed a pile of varmints if I wanted to, but was holding out for a mature buck, before I started killing a bunch of other animals.
We make it to the 2nd to last day of the hunt, and I hunt a blind that morning, again see quite a few animals, just no shooters. They pick me up around 9:45am to get some breakfast. We get back and they asked me if I wanted to go sit at a blind that was not too terribly far from the camp while they cook... maybe something will come out. Get back in the blind about 10 am, and start seeing deer immediately. Over the next hour I would see more and more deer pop out. Eventually I look over to the sendero on my right and a buck just popped out. after watching him for a few minutes I could tell he was the first really mature decent buck I had seen. I debated on shooting him or not, because there is always hope something bigger could step out. In the end, I ended up shooting him, He was a great deer and mature... what more could I really ask for... The hunt was free, so I was more than happy to shoot him. He is a good solid 8 point. He ends up being slightly bigger than my biggest 8 point I shot years ago.
We get the deer to the camp and the "guide" had shot a few cull bucks that morning as well. We got the deer cleaned and cut up. I kept my deer and brought the meat back. but the other deer that were shot that week by the Owner and guide we took into town to give to a few locals who asked for some meat. They were grateful for the deer meat. Offered us free food and drinks... We still payed for our food and drinks afterwards though. While we were giving meat away the Federal police drove by, and turned around. They parked behind us and got out. Turns out, they just wanted deer meat too, so we gave them some as well. The last guy we ave meat to owned a tire shop in town. He thanked us for the meat and told us about a friend of his ranch outside of town. They had been seeing a "catorce puntas" buck pretty regularly. Told us we should hunt it. After a few phone calls we had permission to hunt that ranch.
We went out there that afternoon for the evening hunt and met with the cowboys working the ranch. They showed us around the ranch, showing us where they had been seeing this big buck. We hunted that evening, and saw a few deer. Saw a decent buck, but not the one we were after. Hunted that same spot the next morning, this time it was foggy. About 8 am a good deer steps out about 80 yards away and I can barely make him out in the fog. After a few minutes I could see it wasn't the big 14 point but another good buck. I made my way a little closer to the buck and laid down in the Sendero to get a better look. after watching him for about 20 minutes the buck starts walking my way. He walks with 35 yards of me, laying in the road before he veers off into the brush. He wasn't the buck I was after so he got a pass. Had a doe follow his same path a few minutes later. Spent the next hour or 2 sitting, but the big one never appeared. That Hunt concluded my time in Mexico.
We loaded up and made our way back to Texas. All in all it was a fun trip. Made some new friends and shot a pile of critters (1 buck, 1 pig, 4 javelina). Even better it didn't cost me anything, but the tips I gave the guide and Owner. Its definitely something I will do again.
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It begins back in June, when I entered a contest on Facebook (Texas Exotic Hunting Reloaded) hunting page. They were giving away a free hunt in Mexico for reaching 50K followers. Surprisingly I ended up winning. I've never been to Mexico nor thought much about it... but since I won, I was all in.
Got everything set up through the outfitter, Mexico Hunting, who is relatively new to the outfitting business, but manages over 50,000 acres of low fence Mexico hunting leases. Most of the ranches are between Nuevo Guerrero, Tamalipas and Paras, Nuevo Leon, so not very far into Mexico.
I meet up with the outfitter here in Houston, and ride down there with him Thursday, and make it to the ranch that evening. He gave me the option of which ranch I wanted to stay at. I could choose a ranch with electricity and running water that they had hunted the entire week before or a new ranch without electricity and water, that had not been hunted yet, and holds bigger deer. It was an easy choice for me.... We stayed the week with no electricity and water. Quite frankly it was not bad at all... the house we stayed in was actually quite nice, just needs a little work, but was clean and comfortable. Just needed an extra blanket at night, because it was pretty chilly down there.
Friday morning, got up and in the stand... wind was blowing at least 35-40 mph all night and day.... made for a slightly uncomfortable sit, but No big deal, i was seeing plenty of deer. First morning I saw probably 25 different deer, about 8 bucks. Nothing that really needed to be shot though.
That evening I set up in a new stand. This time I took my bow and rifle, just in case something came in close, or i could spot and stalk something.
As we pulled up to the stand there were 2 Javelina in the sendero, so I grabbed my bow and put on a stalk. Not very hard to get close to these critters. Within about 2 minutes I had killed the first animal of the trip, and my first Javelina, ever. Hunted that stand the rest of the evening and saw a lot more deer, but nothing I was after. Right at dark, another Javelina came back out, so I climbed out of the blind and put on another short stalk. A few minutes later, I had my 2nd Javelina on the ground.
After dark I was picked up and we headed back to camp. On the way back in we came across a Huge pig in one of the senderos that had a little corn leftover from the morning hunt. I grabbed the rifle when we stopped, got out and was able to get a shot off before it took off. It was a giant Sow, she dropped in her tracks. We ended up giving the pig to a couple of locals who were staying on the ranch, that were working on the house we were staying in. They were beyond excited for the pig meat.
The next few days were more of the same, saw lots of deer, pigs, Javelina, Coyotes, & bobcats. Ended up shooting another Javelina with my bow. Also got to witness a bobcat kill a bird about 10 yards in front of the blind. That was definitely neat to see. Could have killed a pile of varmints if I wanted to, but was holding out for a mature buck, before I started killing a bunch of other animals.
We make it to the 2nd to last day of the hunt, and I hunt a blind that morning, again see quite a few animals, just no shooters. They pick me up around 9:45am to get some breakfast. We get back and they asked me if I wanted to go sit at a blind that was not too terribly far from the camp while they cook... maybe something will come out. Get back in the blind about 10 am, and start seeing deer immediately. Over the next hour I would see more and more deer pop out. Eventually I look over to the sendero on my right and a buck just popped out. after watching him for a few minutes I could tell he was the first really mature decent buck I had seen. I debated on shooting him or not, because there is always hope something bigger could step out. In the end, I ended up shooting him, He was a great deer and mature... what more could I really ask for... The hunt was free, so I was more than happy to shoot him. He is a good solid 8 point. He ends up being slightly bigger than my biggest 8 point I shot years ago.
We get the deer to the camp and the "guide" had shot a few cull bucks that morning as well. We got the deer cleaned and cut up. I kept my deer and brought the meat back. but the other deer that were shot that week by the Owner and guide we took into town to give to a few locals who asked for some meat. They were grateful for the deer meat. Offered us free food and drinks... We still payed for our food and drinks afterwards though. While we were giving meat away the Federal police drove by, and turned around. They parked behind us and got out. Turns out, they just wanted deer meat too, so we gave them some as well. The last guy we ave meat to owned a tire shop in town. He thanked us for the meat and told us about a friend of his ranch outside of town. They had been seeing a "catorce puntas" buck pretty regularly. Told us we should hunt it. After a few phone calls we had permission to hunt that ranch.
We went out there that afternoon for the evening hunt and met with the cowboys working the ranch. They showed us around the ranch, showing us where they had been seeing this big buck. We hunted that evening, and saw a few deer. Saw a decent buck, but not the one we were after. Hunted that same spot the next morning, this time it was foggy. About 8 am a good deer steps out about 80 yards away and I can barely make him out in the fog. After a few minutes I could see it wasn't the big 14 point but another good buck. I made my way a little closer to the buck and laid down in the Sendero to get a better look. after watching him for about 20 minutes the buck starts walking my way. He walks with 35 yards of me, laying in the road before he veers off into the brush. He wasn't the buck I was after so he got a pass. Had a doe follow his same path a few minutes later. Spent the next hour or 2 sitting, but the big one never appeared. That Hunt concluded my time in Mexico.
We loaded up and made our way back to Texas. All in all it was a fun trip. Made some new friends and shot a pile of critters (1 buck, 1 pig, 4 javelina). Even better it didn't cost me anything, but the tips I gave the guide and Owner. Its definitely something I will do again.
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