How to Hunt the Teniente and other tracts

[JimD]

We hunted down last week and it is an interesting hunt. The two Federal wardens that I met were really nice and helpful esp on a tract where you have to cart your animal up to the road most of the time.

Let me get you started for your draw hunt.

The Nilgai hunt was out of Raymondville Texas down in the valley.

They will send you or you can download the rules and regulations that change for each property. Look at the map and the aerial picture they will send you. Note the Aerial map is probably 10 years out of date and near worthless.

1. Get a good hunting app so you can study the property and be close to what is there now. This will not show you the brush but it will get you started to see roads, fire road some of the ponds. There is a good set of tools on these programs. You can also see the the boundary and what is on the other side of the fence.

2. Research on the internet and read the different forums for information. Note there is a lot of good information out there but some is BS.

Let me see if I can get the map to post. The other is what I killed on a weekend where the wind swirled and blew out of the north 7-18 miles the whole hunt and the temperature ws 33-39 the whole time.

3. the two Game wardens that we met were very helpful and had a lot of good advice.

[JimD]

If you look at the map and blow it up on your computer it gives you a good current look at the property and the land around it.
What a map cannot tell you is on the West boundary there is a deer proof fence the length of the property. On the north west you see a large field and the rest of the north boundary are small ranches. Note the brush is too thick on the north part of the property you cannot get into it or if it is hot to scared to get in it.

On the south boundary it is mainly farm land. We found lot of deer and Nilgai sign on this boundary but all the farmers had already disc and prepared this land for planting.
We did not see any animals as you might with green growth in the fields.

The west side has no fence dividing the federal land where the hunting stops but you can draw a line on the map to stay on the area to hunt. They give tickets for the trespass.

On this property you have three roads CR 10/20/30 west to east. On my map you can see all the secondary roads off these roads even if you cannot drive on the side roads.
From the East you go 1000 yards to CR 30, a mile between 30 and west to 20 and a mile west to 10 and 400 yards from 10 to the boundary fence.

[Reaper]

Awesome info, thanks for sharing! Congrats on the nilgai too!

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[JimD]

I have posted one of our mark up maps as an example of what we marked.

The other pictures are of the ground blind from both directions.

The last pictures are of old poop and smoking big Nilgai poop. Hunt the new pile of poop for the best odds but you cannot always find some.

The wardens had some ideas but these animals are so spooky that one time walking thru an area and the animals move and poop another place. We had this happen to us on the road between CR 20 west to Cr10.
Along the road from the only fire road going west from 20 we had quite a lot of poop but a lot of it small. There is a 3-4 foot levy 30 yards north of this road all the way over to CR 10. This road runs runs about 1000 yards west turns south for 400 yards south then goes west again for 1000 yards. North of that levy is heavy brush up to the north fence line. On that 400 yard section there was some big poop. See px of new poop and a pile close to where I shot my cow near the middle of the 400 yard stretch.

This is where I killed my cow but two trips in and there was no new poop on any of the road after that.

I hunted some of the roads where I had 1000 yards or more of roads that I could sit on and I saw nothing. I would have been better going into some other area looking for new poop and sit down. I did not.

Lastly years ago the 400 yd strip was a hot spot when the brush was low. Now they say there is too much traffic on 10 and there is but if nilgai were all in there then why would they not be in there now since no one jumps the fence. Land is more open the father north you go on the west side of CR10.
It could be a sleeper next year.

That was the big problem for me at near 75 the fire lanes you see were all mowed this year and easy to walk. If you look at the grass I had up for the stand it is easy to walk in the fields. Hard to walk thru.

Good luck next year.
I also wonder if you are hunkered in the brush would you be better putting some orange up before your stand on the way in and at the roads a little away from your stand so you do not have someone walk up on you.

I was near invisible in my stand as I had been in it just long enough to slip in set up tripod, chair, and pull the grass up to hide me. I picked my gun up and there was the cow looking at me and I put the rifle up and shot in one motion. I was in full camo and face cover and gloves but soon as she stepped out she was looking at "something" from 170? yards and hesitate 6-7 seconds.

Lot of Turkey and quail in the east side of CR 10.

[Texas Grown]

Great review and write JD !



I would recommend taking a young back with you on hunts like this, if you're a GOF like me.

[JRKenyon86]

Awesome info and write up! Hope to draw one of these units soon. Thanks!


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[JimD]

Hopefully Jack and Throwing Darts will post up.

Here is the starter post for this hunt. Real time and has some really good info like from TD above.

https://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?p=16122612#post16122612

As the Game warden said they see a lot more Nilgai in the warmer weather and they like Axis seem to stay in heavier brush and there is some heavy brush property. The scariest for me is the north fence line You have this grass that has 4-6 ft runners growing up around and up into the trees and it is like rope you cannot push thru it and it is waist high+. Might find a world record rattlesnake that you cannot see and I always hunt in snake chaps or chaps in deep south Texas. Lot of the fields had this same grass and it was hard to walk if you did not stay on the animal trails.

Note This property has cactus, mesquite, huihea (Green tree/brush with the smaller thorns) BUT for the most part a lot of the country had trees and brush and visibility for 50 to 150 yards back off the roads and you did not really need legging to stop the cactus. Look at the brush behind my cow px all this area had descent visibility as long as you did not cross in to the levy. I could have gotten away with out the brush busters as there is a lot less thorns than Laredo ranches.

I used to trophy hunt white tails in the 80's and we had stands out, rattled or set cross roads with extreme views and then went to where the bucks were running then took off in that direction when you saw several bucks after a hot doe. It may work here if people had not been wandering around thru the brush spooking the animals. There was a nice big guy on 30 that must have walked the whole time which does not help setting up on some of the roads. Two months of people walking around and one smell and the Nilgai moved.

I would hunt the property differently now and try to get off the roads and "FIND FRESH POOP" WITH MINIMAL INTRUSION AND STOMPING AROUND AND DO WHAT "THROWING DARTS" DID "SIT ON FRESH POOP".

Once I cleaned my cow I never could find fresh poop FROM Saturday on and I looked.

I kept thinking about that 400 yard strip that was great hunting 5 years ago. I might have been better to jump the fence and see what was in and around some of those ares that had 100 yard and set over there where no one goes. At least with the North wind it would have been in your face and the road behind you instead of walking into the wind most of the weekend.

Hopefully others will post up on the other tracts.
If you shoot something be sure you can get it out. lol My cow was 1200-13 hundred yards down one of the fire lanes and the game warden helped me out. Even with a cart that is a lot of trips at 75 and a bad tendon tear in the right ankle. My son and I had trouble getting the cow loaded.

One more ramble but do not gut your animal is the smart move. Like one of the wardens said. skin the animal on it side from the top midline down and remove leg, shoulder and back strap then flip the animal over and repeat. The only thing you might need other than a sharpener and some sharp knives would be a piece of tarp or plastic to put under the animal on the roll. I had a portable saws-all for the legs but you could take off at the joint. This is a lot quicker and less messy than gutting and has about the same problem. The hip joint is a lot larger and was a little tricky to cut loose with out getting into the gut but if you stay near the bone you are ok. Second side went real quick. I did not get the neck meat (see shot) but the neck was all I could see and split the shoulders so both were whole.

TD and our group both had northers blow thru so the wind blew slightly quartering across the whole property from a north west direction at 7 + ALL THE TIME and killed a lot of your hunt blowing from your back and swirling all around..

I did see a cow/calf in the brush about 200 and did not get a shot and did not try after I saw the calf. I did see them again as I sat in the car waiting for my son at about 5 to 6 hundred yards and did not go after her was the only Nilgai I saw just sitting.

Hopes this helps you on your next hunt. There is a ton of animals on the property turkey, quail, and deer. I had 19 deer come by me the first morning sitting where I could see 800 yards all within 200 yards either direction.

Stay safe. JimD

[TXOUTLAW]

Awesome info congrats and thanks

[Huntindad]

Is this the tract that has private property that is not marked?

[JimD]

https://www.bowhunter.com/editorial/simple-steps-to-gutless-field-dressing/182424

Here is a quick way to clean your Nilgai or elk with out gutting it. There are others but this is a quick 3-4 minutes utube most of the others were 15-30. The hard part is getting the ham loose with out cutting into the stomach.

This does a good job.

I shoot a monopod from ST trophy deer hunting days days and it is very steady if you set the length of the rod so it fits in your pocket and extends straight out with your non trigger hand extended and locked. Not good for poop sitting. I had a lite small lightweight camera mono pod that I had built a gun rest for 30 years ago. Easy use a small piece of aluminum bar to bend and drill and tap a quarter 1/4" 20 tap and it screws on just like a camera.

I looked and there are a ton of Utubes on how to build a quick bi or tripod to use sitting down. Nilgai do not hesitate crossing the road. Practice getting the gun up and shooting in one motion.
Jim