What could be better than a big game hunt in 2024? How about two in six months! I was fortunate to have my son, Ryan, join me on both hunts.
Some 20+ years ago, I applied for New Mexico’s oryx hunt with a friend. After several years of not drawing a tag, we stopped applying. However, that doesn’t mean I stopped having the urge to go after an oryx.
Fast forward to October 2023 when I was reading the Huntin’ Fool magazine and saw Matt White’s article about the oryx hunt he did in New Mexico. Matt and I had talked several times about different hunts in the past, so I called him to inquire about this oryx hunt. After hearing what a great hunt it was, I asked him to sign Ryan and me up for the two-day broken horn hunt.
We drove to New Mexico, and it was the last week in April 2024. We met up with our guides, Jude and Carlos, on the first morning of the hunt. I hunted with Jude and his friend, Patric, while Ryan hunted with Carlos. That morning, we saw several oryx and a few broken horns. We did a couple of stalks but never got within range for a shot. I ended up not shooting one the first day.
Ryan and Carlos saw several oryx in a different area of the ranch that morning with no shots fired However, that afternoon, they belly crawled to get a 275-yard shot at a beautiful bull oryx just before sundown. Ryan shot his oryx with a .300 Win Mag and dropped it on the spot. Carlos told him to reload quickly because it was going to get up, and it did. Ryan drilled the oryx again and again! All three shots were perfect kill shots just inches apart. These can be extremely tough animals to bring down.
On the second morning, Jude, Carlos, Ryan, and I set out to get me an oryx. We went off to a different area of the ranch. We did one stalk and ended up spooking the oryx. On the second stalk of the morning, I was able to connect with my 7mm Rem Mag on a cow oryx at 250 yards.
I can’t thank Jude and Carlos enough for their effort and hard work getting us our oryx. As we were packing the meat in coolers for the long drive home, we couldn’t fit the last fore quarter in the cooler we had brought with us. Without saying a word, Jude went to his truck and gave us his cooler to take the meat home with us. That is how thoughtful and caring these guys were. Thanks again to the both of them. We will be back one day to hunt with them again.
Matt and I had talked several times in the past about doing an elk hunt, especially in Colorado since I had 30 preference points. He said I really needed to go on an elk hunt in 2024 because of how Colorado was going to be limiting the non-resident tags in the future. Now guys, here is where you really need the expert advice from the Huntin’ Fool Advisors and realize how important they are in planning a hunt. Matt put me in the drawing, and I drew a tag for the first early rifle hunt in unit 61 with Jackson Outfitters. Ryan did not have a tag but came along for the experience of an elk hunt.
We drove to Colorado and met up with Roy Jackson and my guide, Terry Albright, the day before the hunt started. That evening, we drove out to where we were going to be hunting the next day to do some scouting. We saw several elk, but they were about four miles away.
Day one of the hunt, Terry saw a beautiful bull several hundred yards away, but we were out of position and the bull was on the move. That afternoon, we set up 80 yards away from a waterhole. About a dozen cows and yearlings came to it with a smaller bull just about sunset.
Day two of the hunt, the morning was quiet. We didn’t see any elk, but we heard several off in the distance. We were hoping they would come our way, but they didn’t. We drove to another area a few miles away. There, we heard several bugles. We figured they were heading for a pine tree grove to bed down for the day. We kept trying to get in front of them, but the wind kept swirling and we didn’t want to spook them, so we backed out and left the area.
That afternoon, we went back near the same area where we were in the morning and set up near another waterhole. We weren’t there long before a few cows came running to the water. The sun was beginning to set, and across the field at 200 yards, a bull came into view while bugling. Terry whispered to me, “Shoot him.” I already had the bull in the scope and squeezed the .300 Win Mag trigger. The bull ran about 80 yards and disappeared out of sight. I was elated to find him in a small clearing just beyond where we lost sight of him. It was getting dark when extra help arrived as we were ready to get him loaded up.
A big thanks to all involved getting me this nice bull.
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