Any offrange oryx suggestions?

[JRABQ]

Well I've hunted 8 days, put 2400 miles on the truck, coughed up a pound of dust, nothing to show for it. Going to try 2-3 days this week, hope to get lucky. Torn between just hunting a couple of spots where I've seen fresh sign, or trying some new areas. Any suggestions, or recent sightings?

Here's one just over the fence, pretty sure he has been wandering across but I haven't been there at the right time/place, yet.

 

[Don_K]

Dang Jim,

2400 miles and you live in the state that's some serious driving!!

 

[landop]

PM sent

 

[Blackfoot]

You and your brother shot a mess of ducks near a good herd not long ago! Saw about 12 last week while dog training/scouting and plenty of sign too. Think thick cover and water.

Or, call your buddy Jamie for info he seems to know everything, about everything?

 

[JRABQ]

Thanks for the clue Blackfoot. Sent you a PM, if you have any more specific info please tell, area I'm thinking about is still 50 square miles.

>Or, call your buddy Jamie for
>info he seems to know
>everything, about everything?

Don't have a buddy named Jamie, could only hazard a guess who you're talking about. "Knows everything about everything", well that's half the people on this website.

 

[JRABQ]

Finally got lucky this morning in the area I had been seeing a good bit of sign, and spending most of my time. 425 yards, hit him a bit high and behind shoulder, he dropped at shot but got up and ran out of sight over a rise. Was quite worried for a while but found him down about 300 yards from shot and finished him off. Lots of broken horns on the oryx I've seen, couldn't be picky with 2 days left, very happy to get one. Any ideas how long his horns might have been?

Thanks for the suggestions sent, maybe I can use them if I draw again.

JR

 

[mozey]

Much congrats!

 

[earlyriser]

No idea about possible length. However, nicely done! Sounds like you put on a record amount of miles! That's roughly what I drive going to MT and back.

 

[NMPaul]

Cool looking oryx. I would whack him in a second.

 

[NMWapiti33]

Awesome man!!! Congrats!!! I would REALLY be interested in how that big bull broke off both horns in the same place!!!! Either way, he's got some decent bases and I would put him around 36" if he was full. Great kill and props for putting in the time and effort!!!

 

[Blackfoot]

Way to go Jim!!!

Persistence and hard work will usually payoff.

And yes that 50 mile stretch.

 

[smarba]

BTW the cold snaps past couple of years have damaged oryx horn cores and made them brittle and very prone to breakage.

Great looking bull!

 

[muley505]

Nicely done!! Any off-range oryx is a good one(broken or not). I was blessed with one last August off-range, but it took me 11 days and about the same amount of miles to finally find one off- range. Hopefully, if I ever draw the off-range tag again, it won't take so long now that I'm a little more familiar with the area. In the 11 days I hunted, I saw 42 oryx, two of them were off-range, and only 8 of them were unbroken. I was fortunate enough to get a 24" one that was unbroken, and I was very satisfied with him because it was my first try, and I had to work very hard for him.

Congratulations, again!! That's a lot of work if you are starting from scratch.

 

[JRABQ]

>BTW the cold snaps past couple
>of years have damaged oryx
>horn cores and made them
>brittle and very prone to
>breakage.
>
Yep I've heard that before, and explains the high number of broken horns. This one was also missing his ear tips, which I heard was from frostbite.

 

[elkmuzzleloader]

Congrats on a great off range Oryx. I wish I could help you more on the horn length but all I can do is offer you the pic of the oryx I killed in July. He has 35.5 inch horns on both sides, hope that helps you figure out the length.

 

[JRABQ]

Wow that's a great looking oryx, thanks for the pic. Do recall what his bases measured? Hunting in the summer must be a challenge, but it looks to be rewarding.

 

[elkmuzzleloader]

Well I must be the only hunter with out a soft tape. I used a piece of wire and then measured it. The bases were 7 3/8"

 

[Gator]

Nice Looking Bull.
Was he on the little trail that is behind you in the picture.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
>[Font][Font color = "green"]Life member of
>the MM green signature club.[font/]

 

[outdoorsdude]

I can only imagine the perseverance it took to make that happen.

Much congratulations!

 

[505sniper]

Aw man i just drooled on my keyboard thinking of one of my favorite ways to cook oryx!Green chile bacon wrapped cooked over non direct heat simple but good.

 

[nmhntr]

That sounds like a crazy tough hunt! I have never driven that far for anything let alone hunting. Going to saves gas money and stick with on range hunting applications.

 

[JRABQ]

Just to clarify, the main reason I put on so many miles on the truck was I was doing mostly day-trips to the main hunt spot. Not much fun sleeping out in the desert this time of year with the wind, but I did it a couple of nights. In any case, if you have an off-range hunt you should plan of covering a lot of ground unless you have some pegged ahead of time.

 

[NMPaul]

>Just to clarify, the main reason
>I put on so many
>miles on the truck was
>I was doing mostly day-trips
>to the main hunt spot.
> Not much fun sleeping
>out in the desert this
>time of year with the
>wind, but I did it
>a couple of nights. In
>any case, if you have
>an off-range hunt you should
>plan of covering a lot
>of ground unless you have
>some pegged ahead of time.
>

That is what it takes. Most of us have at least a couple hours to get to where we may find oryx.
To me it is one of the funnest hunts there is. Any oryx off range is a rush.

 

[quackaddict]

>Or, call your buddy Jamie for
>info he seems to know
>everything, about everything?


Hey, thanks for the shoutout John!

 

[JRABQ]

So the Jamie = quackaddict is who I was supposed to ask, oh well.

 

[quackaddict]

Glad you got one killed...you would have been wasting your breath asking me anything about an oryx.

Blackfoot just has some kind of wierd internet crush on me.