Looks like a fun hunt
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Day 3
Day three was a grind. VERY few hunters in the woods yesterday. I don’t know if that’s typical for the rifle hunts or not, but there were only 4 other trucks in there that morning.
I was still in Grey Bull or nothing mode, and I put in a ridiculous amount of miles searching for one (18.2 total) but I couldn’t turn up a single nilgai anywhere. LAWR is an awesome place I did see all kinds of cool stuff tho. Started out with a bobcat - really wanted it to be an ocelot but I just couldn’t make his tail grow any longer no matter how hard I tried!
It was really slow all morning, but around 11am I had a really nice rack buck that got the jump on me. He was bedded in the grass in the wide open. Let me ride my bike right by him and waited until I’d passed to bust. By the time I saw him he was close to the cover. Had a chance but took a second to shut down the bike and I had the gun slung over my body to ride so I had to fight that off. He paused to look back at me about the time I finally got the rifle in my hands. But (with a rifle) I keep an open chamber until I’m ready to shoot and this time that cost me a nice buck. Needed another .3 seconds. I know others may do things differently, but I’ve decided that’s right for me. I couldn’t swear to his size, at least an 8pt. I just know I got excited when I saw his rack!
Went back to a few other spots where I’d run into Nilgai but couldn’t find anything. Went to the furthest corners I could get too. Places where there were zero boot or bike tracks in the mud and thought that certainly there will be one here somewhere... nothing.
Kept riding and glassing.
Ran into this cool fellow on the road:
Later I ran into another bobcat, got him on video but can’t figure out how to post that?
I must have seen at least 30 javelina in total throughout the day. I would have been happy to shoot a pig at this point, pedaled to the area where I found 3 different groups of pigs on scout day but again no one was home.
Rode up onto a couple of whitetail does. Had one of them in the scope for a while but decided to hold out.
It was an amazing day to see wildlife but I still wanted a bull, even a young bull. but reality was setting in for operation “Fill The Freezer”. As I will likely not ever draw this rifle tag again in my lifetime, my standards were dropping quickly and pretty much any Nilgai calf was now in danger.
Yesterday was my 8th day on the WMA in total (4 archery hunt days, 3 rifle hunt days, and 1 scouting day). I’m proud to say that I’d turned up Nilgai in each of my 7 previous days - but at 5:20pm it was looking like my luck had run out. I Had a few other places I could check but I was running out of daylight and Good ideas, so I was basically just making my way back to the truck.
Then I got a flat.
Great. Just what I needed to cap off my last day. But, as I stood there staring at my tire and cursing my luck, I looked up and saw a Nilgai in the most unlikely place and not far from the road. Sometimes you just get lucky! Looked to me to be a young bull based on the dark brown coat. Range = 422. Pretty long shot for me but one I’ve made before. Wind was fairly stiff but luckily straight into my face. I was able to get prone under the bipod, Dialed for distance, chambered, deep breath and.... it stepped into the brush. ****.
Waited.... Waited some more.... Nothing.
23 min left of legal light left. F-it. grabbed the gun and the pack and went in to try and dig him out. Looking at OnX, It appeared to have gone back into a cut that was hidden from view from the roadside so I made my way towards it. I expected that I would find it feeding in there as soon as I cleared past the brush on the point I was on, but as I rounded that point and could begin to see down into it I flushed some ducks off the water and then spot a whitetail doe staring around nervously for the source of the commotion. I wait her out and she calms down, but there is no way I can get past her to see down into that cut. 16 min left. I slowly back out and try to come in from the side of the cut and about half way down it and hope I can make my way quietly through the brush to get a shot. And the whole time being careful to stay hidden from view of that doe on the other side. I’m losing light fast now. 12 min left. Stopped to check my location on onX and as I do I pick up the movement of a startled animal. That doe again? Can’t be. Another doe? I Can’t really see it, but it’s doing that head thing - up/down... up/down... so I’m pretty sure it’s another doe. Nilgai don’t stand around and do that, they just clear out of the county and ask questions later. It finally turns behind brush so I Put the phone away and get the rifle shouldered. It’s not that far away at all but it’s in cover and light is fading. When It pops back out in a clearer area staring at me, hard-hard quartering to me. 30 yards. In the scope I realized it’s not a young bull nilgai, but it’s not a doe either! Boom! Folder her on the spot. 9 min of light left on the very last day. I couldn’t have been happier!
I am a huge fan of LAWR and the staff and volunteers that work there. I found all of them to be very helpful and supportive. It is a special place. The common man’s King Ranch as Sarge puts it. I loved every minute of it and can’t wait to draw this tag again one day.
Thanks for everyone who followed along.
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Wow, what a ride. Thanks for taking the time to write such detailed posts, I really enjoyed reading them. You definitely put in the hard work and it paid off, way to go. Much respect to you.
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X2 of what JackRyan said. Fantastic stuff there sirComment
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X3 enjoyed following along. Congrats on well earned success!
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Thanks for taking us hunting. Congratulations on all the successes. All that hard work makes it so rewarding. Memories for a lifetimeComment
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The final board:
Sorry, I meant to post this last night. There were much fewer Nilgai killed than I expected to see on the board (5 total) and zero hogs. Still the overall success rate was pretty high with 20 kills for 35 hunters.Comment
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well-deserved success! great writeup and photos, thanks for posting.Comment
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Are the mosquitos in full force down there? How much does one have to prepare for them in LANWR? Are thermacells needed or just a long sleeve shirt treated with Sawyers good enough?Comment
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I have a house in Arroyo City and they aren't that bad right now. Cold front came in about mid morning and its in the low 50s right now so that should kill a bunch of them.Originally posted by Chisos9716 View PostComment
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The years I hunted down there I only ever treated my clothing with permitherin and never had a problem with mosquitoes. That included treating my hat.Originally posted by Chisos9716 View PostComment
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I pretreated my clothes and gear, but They were still pretty bad on 3 of 4 days. I used a thermocell in my tarp at night and sprayed this stuff on a couple times per day (was hot, kept sweating it off). It’s the best I’ve found.
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FLyGuy
Where were you camped out there? is there a designated area or are you allowed to stay out on the refuge so you dont have to pack back every evening?Comment
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@mags84 - unless you’re part ocelot you’re not allowed to stay on the refuge.. thomae county park is nearby. Part of the fun is that you have to pack in and out of the refuge using only the designated entrances (ie not the north one).
I haven’t stayed at the park yet but am planning to try that next timeComment
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If y’all stay at Tomme park call and ask about after hrs in the evening or make arrangements when you check in. Think they lock the gate at 8. if you kill a big nilgai you’ll be later than that getting back to camp.
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