Over the last three years, my dad has witnessed most of our family harvest their oryx. Now it was his turn. These once in a lifetime tags don't come easy and my dad is a great example of that. It took a whole twenty two years for him to draw his O.I.L oryx tag. My dad has hunted all of his life and has harvested many animals throughout the years. This hunt was going to be the most important hunt in his life.
Once my dad drew his tag he immediately knew which rifle he was going to use. He was going to use his trusty 300 Weatherby Mag Mark V, also known as ?Excalibur?. My dad must have spent countless hours reloading and put over a hundred rounds through that rifle prior to his hunt. Those oryx were in for a ride.
Again as many of our past hunts we were accompanied by my uncle Brian and my little brother Santiago. We were in for quite a weekend chasing after those oryx. We were not able to hunt on Friday due the fact that some missions were taking place on the range. That was a big disappointment for us. It was pretty cool because we actually heard and felt a bomb go off on the range as we were waiting in line to enter. Now we had a whole day to do nothing in Alamogordo. So we bought some pistachios and waited for Saturday to come.
A sleepless night came and went. Saturday was here. We were up and out to the range in no time. Again we were in the huge line of trucks at the gate until they dismissed us to hunt. We immediately got onto oryx. We spotted a nice 34? bull alone. We decided not to shoot because he was near a closed area and heading towards it quickly. We didn't want to wound him and have him go into the closed area.
As the morning went on we saw more and more oryx. We went on several stalks and came up short. I saw the biggest oryx I have ever seen. It was a cow that had to of been at least 40?- 42?. She definitely stood out from the rest of the oryx in that group. She never gave us a chance. We knew around midday it was going to be hard to turn up an oryx because they would bed down. It would also be hard to glass long distances because of the mirage.
It was already about 10:00 am and we were turning up fewer oryx than in the early morning. We knew that the next group we spotted, we were going to take our time on the stalk. Sure enough I spotted a nice group of 12 about 700-800 yards off one of the main roads. Half of the group was bedded, half the group was alert, and feeding. They immediately all stood up and had us pegged as soon as we drove by them.
We drove past the group and my Uncle Brian pulled over right behind some small trees for cover and let my dad and me off for the stalk. The oryx at this time were getting really nervous. They seemed to calm down as my uncle and brother drove away. We told them to drive away, park the truck out of sight, and from a long distance keep an eye on the oryx. We began a very long stalk. The oryx were still looking at us so we hunkered down. We waited by the small trees until they calmed down and took their eyes off of us.
Half the group of oryx were bedded down again and the other half were feeding, while they kept and eye out for danger. My dad and I went on a ?skull drag? after the group due to we had very little vegetation for cover. A skull drag is exactly what it sounds like. It is a military term that Snipers use to close distance more stealthy. We noticed a couple bushes that were a litter bigger than the rest of the available vegetation. We decided to skull drag to that location because those bushes might be close enough for a shot and it was the most cover to hide behind while we made our stalk.
The skull drag took 30 minutes and a long 200 yards for us to reach the little bushes. Right at the bushes we completely ran out of vegetation. We tried to get a range on the group but it would not work because of the mirage. Just right of the bushes there was a little dirt mound ideal for a prone shot. My dad got onto the dirt mound and got into the prone position. All of a sudden we heard some booms sounding off in the far distance to the southwest of us and the whole group got up and was looking toward that direction. Those booms were not from rifles. They must have been having another mission in another part of the missile range. The group slowly calmed down as we were still trying to get a range on them.
We watched that group while we were on the little dirt mound for about another 30 minutes. Every time a truck would pass, they would get up and then bed back down. My dad finally got a range on one of the nicer oryx in the group. It was 474 yards. One quick check to verify the range and again 474 yards came up. My dad told me he had to hold 23 inches high from where the heart is located. He has to hold roughly a foot over the back. I told my dad to look at the mirage to dope the wind. The mirage was going from left to right. Now he has to hold 23 inches high and 6 inches left. He tells me he is going to try a shot. The whole world slowed down at that moment. My dad squeezed the trigger and the shot went off. The next thing you here is a ?Whack?. The 180 grain Barnes TSX found its mark.
The oryx fell and then got back up right away. We knew the oryx was hit really well. The rest of the group ran and stopped about 300 yards away from us. They looked back at the oryx that was hit. The oryx my dad hit was wobbling in circles and then finally went down. We walked up and to our surprise it was another cow. No one in the whole family has yet to kill a bull. We thought it was a bull based on body size, horn mass, and posture compared to the other oryx in the group. Oh well an oryx is an oryx and this one was a nice one at that. It was a nice heavy horned 36? cow that was not broken.
My dad had made an incredible shot on that oryx. The best I have ever seen to this day. I've seen a few great and lucky shots in my life but this one takes the cake because it was all skill. It goes to show you that if you practice enough and know your rifle you can make shots like this one without a compensating scope.
It was really sad leaving the range that day. The hunt was over. Who knows when the next time we will be on range hunting these wonderful creatures. It looks like broken horn and off-range hunts form here on out for most of the family.
Special thanks goes out to my Uncle Brian for coming along with us and being the getaway driver for the weekend.
I really hope Uncle Brian, Aunt Glenda, and Santiago draw an O.I.L oryx tag in the future and take us along for another great on range oryx adventure.
The crew
Until next time
ElkSniper
Once my dad drew his tag he immediately knew which rifle he was going to use. He was going to use his trusty 300 Weatherby Mag Mark V, also known as ?Excalibur?. My dad must have spent countless hours reloading and put over a hundred rounds through that rifle prior to his hunt. Those oryx were in for a ride.
Again as many of our past hunts we were accompanied by my uncle Brian and my little brother Santiago. We were in for quite a weekend chasing after those oryx. We were not able to hunt on Friday due the fact that some missions were taking place on the range. That was a big disappointment for us. It was pretty cool because we actually heard and felt a bomb go off on the range as we were waiting in line to enter. Now we had a whole day to do nothing in Alamogordo. So we bought some pistachios and waited for Saturday to come.
A sleepless night came and went. Saturday was here. We were up and out to the range in no time. Again we were in the huge line of trucks at the gate until they dismissed us to hunt. We immediately got onto oryx. We spotted a nice 34? bull alone. We decided not to shoot because he was near a closed area and heading towards it quickly. We didn't want to wound him and have him go into the closed area.
As the morning went on we saw more and more oryx. We went on several stalks and came up short. I saw the biggest oryx I have ever seen. It was a cow that had to of been at least 40?- 42?. She definitely stood out from the rest of the oryx in that group. She never gave us a chance. We knew around midday it was going to be hard to turn up an oryx because they would bed down. It would also be hard to glass long distances because of the mirage.
It was already about 10:00 am and we were turning up fewer oryx than in the early morning. We knew that the next group we spotted, we were going to take our time on the stalk. Sure enough I spotted a nice group of 12 about 700-800 yards off one of the main roads. Half of the group was bedded, half the group was alert, and feeding. They immediately all stood up and had us pegged as soon as we drove by them.
We drove past the group and my Uncle Brian pulled over right behind some small trees for cover and let my dad and me off for the stalk. The oryx at this time were getting really nervous. They seemed to calm down as my uncle and brother drove away. We told them to drive away, park the truck out of sight, and from a long distance keep an eye on the oryx. We began a very long stalk. The oryx were still looking at us so we hunkered down. We waited by the small trees until they calmed down and took their eyes off of us.
Half the group of oryx were bedded down again and the other half were feeding, while they kept and eye out for danger. My dad and I went on a ?skull drag? after the group due to we had very little vegetation for cover. A skull drag is exactly what it sounds like. It is a military term that Snipers use to close distance more stealthy. We noticed a couple bushes that were a litter bigger than the rest of the available vegetation. We decided to skull drag to that location because those bushes might be close enough for a shot and it was the most cover to hide behind while we made our stalk.
The skull drag took 30 minutes and a long 200 yards for us to reach the little bushes. Right at the bushes we completely ran out of vegetation. We tried to get a range on the group but it would not work because of the mirage. Just right of the bushes there was a little dirt mound ideal for a prone shot. My dad got onto the dirt mound and got into the prone position. All of a sudden we heard some booms sounding off in the far distance to the southwest of us and the whole group got up and was looking toward that direction. Those booms were not from rifles. They must have been having another mission in another part of the missile range. The group slowly calmed down as we were still trying to get a range on them.
We watched that group while we were on the little dirt mound for about another 30 minutes. Every time a truck would pass, they would get up and then bed back down. My dad finally got a range on one of the nicer oryx in the group. It was 474 yards. One quick check to verify the range and again 474 yards came up. My dad told me he had to hold 23 inches high from where the heart is located. He has to hold roughly a foot over the back. I told my dad to look at the mirage to dope the wind. The mirage was going from left to right. Now he has to hold 23 inches high and 6 inches left. He tells me he is going to try a shot. The whole world slowed down at that moment. My dad squeezed the trigger and the shot went off. The next thing you here is a ?Whack?. The 180 grain Barnes TSX found its mark.
The oryx fell and then got back up right away. We knew the oryx was hit really well. The rest of the group ran and stopped about 300 yards away from us. They looked back at the oryx that was hit. The oryx my dad hit was wobbling in circles and then finally went down. We walked up and to our surprise it was another cow. No one in the whole family has yet to kill a bull. We thought it was a bull based on body size, horn mass, and posture compared to the other oryx in the group. Oh well an oryx is an oryx and this one was a nice one at that. It was a nice heavy horned 36? cow that was not broken.
My dad had made an incredible shot on that oryx. The best I have ever seen to this day. I've seen a few great and lucky shots in my life but this one takes the cake because it was all skill. It goes to show you that if you practice enough and know your rifle you can make shots like this one without a compensating scope.
It was really sad leaving the range that day. The hunt was over. Who knows when the next time we will be on range hunting these wonderful creatures. It looks like broken horn and off-range hunts form here on out for most of the family.
Special thanks goes out to my Uncle Brian for coming along with us and being the getaway driver for the weekend.
I really hope Uncle Brian, Aunt Glenda, and Santiago draw an O.I.L oryx tag in the future and take us along for another great on range oryx adventure.
The crew
Until next time
ElkSniper
