LRGV NWR - Teniente (2019)

[Lucky333]

I just had a bull come up behind me. I didn't want to turn around because he would have busted me. So I waited hoping he would come around the side of me. He got within 10 yards directly behind me. He saw me then and took off into the brush.

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[Phorizt]

LRGV NWR - Teniente (2019)

I saw a grand total of 1 mouse and some birds today. And I sat from 5:30am until dark. I hope everyone else had better luck than me. Cant wait for cool weather tomorrow.


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[Lucky333]

A buddy and I sat from about 05:30 until about 18:00. I saw 2 Nilgai and he saw one. I also saw 6 turkeys and he saw a badger. We were about 600 yards away from each other. We didn’t see any other hunters other than driving on the road.
I am hoping to get my first bow kill on this hunt. It was a close one this morning. I was sitting in some tall grass about 20 yards away from some brush. A bull came out of the brush right behind me. He was slowly walking and grazing. I hoped he would come around the side of me. I knew that if I turned and drew my bow he would bolt before I could get an arrow off. He ended up coming straight at my back. He ended up spooking when he was less than 10 yards behind me. I think it was closer to 5 yards. He looked to be about twice as large as a cow nilgai that I shot last year during the LANWR exotic rifle hunt. She was 195# field dressed. I’m guessing this bull might have weighed about 500# or more. My heart was beating like a jack hammer. I turned my head just enough to look at him a couple times. It was insane being so close to a huge bull without him knowing for so long. I’m hoping to see more and maybe shoot one, but I am happy getting that close encounter. It was a long hot day. Hopefully the cooler weather will get more animals moving. Good luck to everyone else out here.


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[jhuddleston]

A buddy and I sat from about 05:30 until about 18:00. I saw 2 Nilgai and he saw one. I also saw 6 turkeys and he saw a badger. We were about 600 yards away from each other. We didn’t see any other hunters other than driving on the road.
I am hoping to get my first bow kill on this hunt. It was a close one this morning. I was sitting in some tall grass about 20 yards away from some brush. A bull came out of the brush right behind me. He was slowly walking and grazing. I hoped he would come around the side of me. I knew that if I turned and drew my bow he would bolt before I could get an arrow off. He ended up coming straight at my back. He ended up spooking when he was less than 10 yards behind me. I think it was closer to 5 yards. He looked to be about twice as large as a cow nilgai that I shot last year during the LANWR exotic rifle hunt. She was 195# field dressed. I’m guessing this bull might have weighed about 500# or more. My heart was beating like a jack hammer. I turned my head just enough to look at him a couple times. It was insane being so close to a huge bull without him knowing for so long. I’m hoping to see more and maybe shoot one, but I am happy getting that close encounter. It was a long hot day. Hopefully the cooler weather will get more animals moving. Good luck to everyone else out here.


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AWESOME story man, keep em coming and hopefully add a pic of a big one with an arrow hole in it!!!

[Phorizt]

After seeing nothing on Thursday i moved to a new spot yesterday. It’s an elevate spot where i can see a lot further than i can shoot. I wanted to hunt here Thursday but the wind was wrong so I stayed out. I had a lot more action yesterday...

First thing in the morning i had 3 nilgai come through but couldnt get a shot. Right after that a coyote came by. At first i thought it was a small hog bc it was almost solid black. Not sure it it was melanistic or just real dark but i’d never seen one that dark. A little later I saw 3 wt bucks including one nice mature 9 pt but no shot. After lunch i had a hog come through but didnt slow down as she went down one trail i could have actually taken a shot on. Also saw 8 turkeys. Later in the afternoon another coyote came by at about 15 yards(this was a normal colored yote). Had a couple more wt bucks come through out of range a little later. One looked like a young 10pt. Finally had a big boar come in right down a dry creekbed to my left. I shot him but got him high in the shoulder. I watched him run off quite a ways but there was no blood and I could find any sign of him in the tall grass and brush he ran into.


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[TXOUTLAW]

Good stories


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[Lucky333]

After seeing nothing on Thursday i moved to a new spot yesterday. It’s an elevate spot where i can see a lot further than i can shoot. I wanted to hunt here Thursday but the wind was wrong so I stayed out. I had a lot more action yesterday...

First thing in the morning i had 3 nilgai come through but couldnt get a shot. Right after that a coyote came by. At first i thought it was a small hog bc it was almost solid black. Not sure it it was melanistic or just real dark but i’d never seen one that dark. A little later I saw 3 wt bucks including one nice mature 9 pt but no shot. After lunch i had a hog come through but didnt slow down as she went down one trail i could have actually taken a shot on. Also saw 8 turkeys. Later in the afternoon another coyote came by at about 15 yards(this was a normal colored yote). Had a couple more wt bucks come through out of range a little later. One looked like a young 10pt. Finally had a big boar come in right down a dry creekbed to my left. I shot him but got him high in the shoulder. I watched him run off quite a ways but there was no blood and I could find any sign of him in the tall grass and brush he ran into.


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Sounds like you have a good spot. I didn’t see anything yesterday. It was chilly and drizzling all day long. I moved around some but didn’t have any luck.

This morning I about crapped myself. I was walking into my spot with my headlamp on with a low red light. When I was about 20 yards from my spot I heard a very low and loud growl. I didn’t see what made the growl but it sounded large. I sat in my spot and it sounded like the animal stuck around for about 5 minutes before moving on.


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[Phorizt]

Sounds like you have a good spot. I didn’t see anything yesterday. It was chilly and drizzling all day long. I moved around some but didn’t have any luck.

This morning I about crapped myself. I was walking into my spot with my headlamp on with a low red light. When I was about 20 yards from my spot I heard a very low and loud growl. I didn’t see what made the growl but it sounded large. I sat in my spot and it sounded like the animal stuck around for about 5 minutes before moving on.


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Wow that will keep you on edge in the dark.


I just put a stalk on a group of 4 nilgai that came through. Looked like 2 cows, a small calf and probably a yearling. Too far and on the other side of some brush from my blind so i tried to sneak up on them. Made it about 35 yards on my hands and knees through mesquite and cactus when one of the nilgai in the front that I thought had turned and walked off into the brush circled back and got spooked and they all ran off. I probably got to within about 40-45 yards of the one i was trying to shoot before they ran off. I should have brought kneepads.


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[glen]

Antelope are tough to stalk without a ditch or hump to use. Unfortunately those are hard to find in S.Texas

[Phorizt]

Yesterday was my best and then worst hunting day ever...

After the failed stalk attempt in the morning I decided I was going to try to find a new spot along the trail where I had watch the deer and nilgai travel the previous day and a half. After lunch I packed up all of my stuff and moved over to a new setup across the dry creekbed from the trail which was a perfect ambush site. 30 yards from the trail and perfectly concealed. I could still see my previous setup from my new spot too.

So around 2:30 I look up an there about 100 yards away is a nilgai standing 10 yards away from my previous setup walking on one of the trails I had been watching for almost 2 days. That was frustrating but I still felt good about the new spot. Then a couple of hours later I look over through the brush and there is another group of nilgai and they are walking straight towards my old setup again and end up on the same trail 10 yards away from the old spot. Now I'm ****** and thinking these nilgai are a lot smarter than I gave them credit for and they're all just playing games with me at this point.

Right when they get next to my old spot I'm not sure what happened but several of the younger ones(not small calves but not mature animals either) stop, start jumping and kicking around and then they all take off running full speed. I watched them for the next few minutes playing chase running in big circles all around the field where I had been setup watching for 2 days. Eventually they start running in circles closer and closer to me and then run a complete circle right around me. It felt like I was in a nilgai stampede. All of the sudden one of them runs right down the creek bed and up the bank right in front of me and stops 10 yards away. So I got ready, aimed right behind the should and shot. 10 yards away, shot felt good, dead nilgai I thought. It took off running but the sun was right where she went so I couldn't see very well. I was elated after 4 days of hard scouting/hunting to finally get a shot at a nilgai.

So after a minute I start gathering up my stuff and was going to go check to see if I can find my arrow when I remember that there was still a large cow back where they had come from. So I turn and look over there and see her standing 75 yards away trying to figure out why everything ran off the other direction. She starts making some loud coughing/grunting sounds like she's trying to call the kids back and begins walking right down the trail towards me. After several minutes she's standing broadside at 30 yards in my shooting lane. I'm debating what to do the entire time as she gets closer and closer. There's still daylight, the other shot was a layup and it wasn't a big nilgai so I decide to take the shot. Thwack! Looked and felt like another perfect shot. The cow runs towards where I last saw the first one I shot, slows down and stops. The sun is right in my face and I still have sunglasses on trying to look through the binoculars so I set the binos down, take off the sunglasses and the look through the binos again and can't see her. Based on how she was moving, I was sure she had just layed down and died right there 75 yards away. now I'm super excited and can't believe what just happened. I'm thinking abbot stopping in Austin and Hamilton on my way home and being able to drop off a cooler full of meat to both my brother and sister's families. I realize I'm going to be in for a long long night and a whole lot of work but this was better than I ever anticipated.

After waiting a while I get up and go look for arrows and blood. I find some blood near where I shot the first one but not a lot. No arrow. The grass is real tall and would be hard to find an arrow if I got a passthrough which I would expect at that distance. Then I head over to where I shot the cow. No arrow. Not a speck of blood anywhere that I can find. Then I head over to the spot where I last saw both of them expecting the cow to be laying there dead. Nothing. Start circling the area just to see if I see her somewhere nearby and see nothing so I head back to start following the blood trail. Long story less long, I end up following the trail(not a very good blood trail) for about 300 yards out into a field where I lost the trail in some really thick tall grass. By now it is really late well after dark and I've been searching for a few hours when I decide to head out and come back early Sunday morning to look some more. If I actually do find something and the meat isn't spoiled or the coyotes haven't eaten it it would be a miracle.

I'm completely sick about it and I'm beating myself up for taking the shot at the 2nd nilgai. It was a shot I felt very confident in and I was sure I'd find the first one quickly but now I'm second guessing everything. I've never in my life lost an animal until this hunt.

I knew nilgai were tough animals although I've never hunted anything other than whitetails. Because of this I actually decided to hunt with my crossbow this week. I brought the compound as well and was hoping if I got a nilgai early on with the crossbow I would switch and try to get a hog or deer with the compound bow. I haven't had a compound bow for too long and just felt more confident trying to shoot something as big and tough as the nilgai with the crossbow and didn't want to risk it with a bow. I was shooting 125 grain QAD Exodus broadheads and now I'm second guessing that. They seem to be heavy duty little broad heads but the lack of blood trails has been disappointing. I'm sure it was probably my fault and the shots may not be as good as I thought they were and has nothing to do with the equipment.

I can't sleep and I'll be back out there in a couple of hours searching...

[TXOUTLAW]

Rough night, very tough animal so don’t beat yourself up. Also hard to track in that high grass at night. Hope you find at least one of them and if you do, yes the work is just beginning. Pack it out in pieces. Good luck


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[Lucky333]

I can't sleep and I'll be back out there in a couple of hours searching...

I left a pm with my number in case you need a hand.

Good luck



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[Phorizt]

I left a pm with my number in case you need a hand.

Good luck



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Just saw this... i appreciate the offer. I followed the blood trail about 1000 yards as the crow flies and walked 4 miles doing it but eventually lost it for good so I’m headed home now.


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[yanta61]

Anyone else hunting this weeks hunt? I’ll be down Wednesday

[jhuddleston]

What roads are y'all parking on to walk in?