Ever Hunted Exotics Before???

scottyboy · Aug 9, 2004

LAST EDITED ON Aug-10-04 AT 01:56AM (MST)[p]Just wanted to see if any of you out there have ever tried your hand at some exotic hunting. To me, some of the huntable exotic species offer some of the best hunting out there for the price. Not only are they a blast to hunt, but they make a striking addition to your room of big mulies and alot of them are absolutely great to eat.
Now, I know alot of you out there find that hunting behind a high fence to be unethical or not sporting, but there are tons of opportunities out there to harvest a variety of species that now well established in several parts of the country that are 100% pure free ranging. So lets hear it guys, what do ya'll think of this type of hunting. I for one this it is some of the best out there.
Scottyboy
By the way, all of the animals in my pics here were all totaly free ranging on low fence ranches and were not restricted in movement in any way.

MartinHunter · Aug 9, 2004

Never done it, but looks like it could be fun. What is the general price range to hunt them here in the U.S. as opposed to an African Safari?

Michael

bigfoot llamas · Aug 10, 2004

We have our first hunting experience for exotics coming up in November. We will be hunting in Decatur, TX. It is an archery only ranch and really have know idea what to expect. The referneces for the place were very good and the communication with the ranch from the get go has been excellent. My son who is nine will be joining my father and I. We have tags for pigs and an exotic of our choice.

Is there an exotic that you would take of another? From what I understand the Aoudad rams are one of the hardest animails to take.

I can't wait to have something funky hanging on the wall.

meatinthepot

scottyboy · Aug 10, 2004

I would have to say that you guys are right about the aoudad. Those sheep are super wary. The one I harvested took me 6 trips up to the ranch to finally get within range on a good ram. The nilgai and axis deer are super sporting too. Super wary. Now with the good comes the bad too. Fallow deer are about as challanging as shooting a teathered up goat! And then there are the species that fall in between such as sika deer and blackbuck antelope and others. Pricing for the different species varies according to avalibility and demand. A good guided, free range aoudad hunt will run you from 2000$ to 2500$. A blackbuck, sika or axis hunt will run around 1500$. Basiclly, you can run the gamet on pricing anywhere from 50$ for a day hunt for feral hogs ( some of the best hunting out there), to 15,000$ for some of the rare, hard to obtain animals out there. If you are interested in a good hunt, I have several friends in the exotic business back home in TX. They always have around 5 species on their ranches.

Here's a few more pics of a couple of hunts from days gone by. One is my fiance's blackbuck she took in '02 and a HUGE feral hog I took. He weighed 435lbs.

freedivr2 · Aug 10, 2004

LAST EDITED ON Aug-10-04 AT 01:11PM (MST)[p]The way these posts have been going this summer, I thought FOR SURE you were talking about exotic dancers........

Nice work Scotty!!!! Great looking animals, no question. And it sure looks like you done real good (at least in the looks and attitude/pro-hunting department) for your life partner also! Congrats on all!!

I've only hunted exotics one time, and that was due to the wild boar on the ranch not presenting themselves well. Barbados sheep, kinda cool lookin. Funny deal, he even had a .30 caliber hole in his ear (from a previous near miss I guess).

Looking forward to seeing you and your pup out here in a couple months to chase some mountain quail around.....

P.S. The other "exotic" (the photo) in this pic is a small Marlin I got in Cabo a few years back......

264Magnum · Aug 10, 2004

i agree about fallow deer being easy to shoot, i shot this one at about 10 steps. i had to yell at it to get it to stop. my dad shot this russian boar later in the day that weighed about 340 pounds.

__________________________________________________________________
There are three reasons to own a gun. To protect yourself and your family, to hunt dangerous and delicious animals, and to keep the King of England out of your face. -- Krusty the Clown

kilowatt · Aug 10, 2004

Scottyboy,

Send me your e-mail address I need to talk with you. I tried sending you an e-mail here next to your profile, and it is not valid.

Brian

nbjbhunterman · Aug 10, 2004

Hunt them every year and it is a blast. Great addition to the trophy room and great conversation pieces.

NBJB

scottyboy · Aug 10, 2004

LAST EDITED ON Aug-10-04 AT 09:31PM (MST)[p]Freedver2, that is a nice looking sheep you got there. A corsican ram was the first exotic I took back when I was 18. I was bowhunting for whitetails over a feeder and he came out of nowhere. I was super exited to get him with my bow. Only this was that I had left my camera back at home, so I didn't get any good field shots, only got a few pics in the backyard. Oh well. He ended up being right at 30".
Oh yeah, I can't wait to get out there a knock down a few birds with ya out there in Cali. !!!

264Mag, that is a good fallow buck and that hog your Dad shot is AWESOME!!! I love those boars that have alot of Russian blood still in 'em. Keep um comin guys,
Scottyboy

nbjbhunterman · Aug 10, 2004

Here are some of my exotics. The 4 horned ram is called Satan.

NBJB

Randy11 · Aug 10, 2004

Does anybody know of any places to hunt exotics in the more northern part of the country, id be interested in doing one if it was within feasable driving range from here in montana.

DeerKing · Aug 10, 2004

Been a few times...

My most prized exotic taken in south central Arizona...

WoodMoose · Aug 11, 2004

Deerking,
That's a real nice "collared pecacoues"! Don't see many of those running around.

scottyboy · Aug 11, 2004

Deerking, Now that is a NICE axis buck. I have been looking for one like that for a while now. Good barrel shape to the beams, good brows and cottal tines too. Definately a shoote. And I guess I'll have to keep an eye out this fall during my Coues hunt this fall for one of those elusive critters you got there from AZ. Nice pics!!!
Scottyboy

freedivr2 · Aug 11, 2004

LAST EDITED ON Aug-11-04 AT 11:36AM (MST)[p]nbjhunterman.....funny thing; the second I saw that 4 horned Ram, I thought "man, what an evil looking kinda thing", must've struck you in the same way. Very cool critter! Bet he didn't look over his shoulder very often

DeerKing........already lookin forward to the exotics you'll be postin up here next year....

DeerKing · Aug 11, 2004

Thanks Scottyboy, your trophies are great as well! Very nice critters as are all you guys that posted photos. Some day I'll get back down to Texas and try for a few other species. Last I checked that Axis was still #3 all time taken with a pistol (7mm-08 Contender)... spot and stalk, no feeders.

FreeD
Yep I can't wait either, Africa is calling my name. Boy May ain't to far off now....

scottyboy · Aug 11, 2004

Africa huh, I do think that place is my all time favorite. I was over there for a total of one year(two 6 month stays). I absolutely loved every minute of it while I was there. The animals and the senery is amazing. If you have'nt been there before, once you do go , you will return. It gets in your blood. Ah what the hell, I guess I'll start a thread sometime later today and get some of us to start BS'in about Africa!! I for one could talk about that all day!

And again DeerKing, I said nice axis. I guess I meant to say GREAT axis. I knew he was good, but #3?? That is a helluva deer. Those big axis bucks really get the blood going. On e of these days I'll get me one of 'em.
Check out this table I made a few years back. I made it out fresh sheds that were all over 34". A guy made an offer for it that I could'nt refuse. I still regret selling it, though. Oh well, one of these days I plan on making one out of 4 big moose paddles and 4 big fallow sheds. I have always thought that those together would make for one cool lookin table. Keep em comin
Scottyboy

freedivr2 · Aug 11, 2004

Scotty......dang it, your table didn't seem to post right for some reason. All your other photos did, though. Hmmmmmmmmmm

Yeah, DK once again, is da man

264Magnum · Aug 11, 2004

scotty, thanks for good comments. sneaking up on about 20 boars with my dad was more fun than i thought it would be. next year i'd like to go chase an axis, and a black buck if finances allow. and maybe one day an aoudad. oh, and a mouflon. a sika would be nice as well. definitely a nilgai.

randy, don't know anything about this place other than it's in oregon, which is defintely feasible driving range from montana. http://www.adventuresinhunting.com/huntNAmerica/hunt_NAOregon.htm

__________________________________________________________________
There are three reasons to own a gun. To protect yourself and your family, to hunt dangerous and delicious animals, and to keep the King of England out of your face. -- Krusty the Clown

scottyboy · Aug 11, 2004

LAST EDITED ON Aug-11-04 AT 04:56PM (MST)[p]ok lets try this again. I think it will come up now. And while we're on the subject of the table, may as well ask all of ya'll if you know anywhere I could get 3 or 4 big, fresh moose paddles to make my next table. Thanks,
Scottyboy
Lovin all the pics comin in so far....

DeerKing · Aug 11, 2004

Scotty
The picture still isn't coming up for me, not sure if anyone else can see it?

fisrtcoueswas80inches · Aug 11, 2004

you guys think that scotts PICTURES look good, you should see the mounts he has in his apartment that HE did. o yeah, his chicka aint bad either huh scott????? hahaha lol j/p!
casey

scottyboy · Aug 11, 2004

one last time for DeerKing........

DeerKing · Aug 12, 2004

Pretty sweet table Scotty. Not sure if the wife would go for any more animal parts than there already are laying around the house but she'd probably like it. Very nice.

LoveBigRacks · Aug 12, 2004

Nice pics Scotty, looks like good fun and sure it adds something to the game room. What's with the shots to the hind end though, looks like you hit a few of those in the a$$...??

LBR

scottyboy · Aug 12, 2004

LAST EDITED ON Aug-12-04 AT 06:43PM (MST)[p]LBR, if you are refering to the phots of the auodad and the oryx, let me explain. The pic of the oryxis showing the EXIT hole on his side. I shot him while he was quartering towards me, thus the exit hole towards the rear. My 300 WBY made a nice sized exit hole in him. Now the aoudad was a whole different story! I snuck up on him on the rim you can see in the pic. He was acually sleeping below the ledge when I peeked over and saw him. I only had one shot available, and that was to put one right up his fundehole and try to break his back. Well, I missed his spine by 1/2 an inch and the rodeo was on!. I hit him in the neck twice once behind the shoulder and one more thru the hips. So, a total of 5 shots before he went down! Those are some damned tough sheep. Anyway, there you go and thanks for the comments,
Scottyboy

freedivr2 · Aug 13, 2004

That's a GREAT looking table!! That was a keeper, Scotty.....

LoveBigRacks · Aug 13, 2004

Scotty, was only giving you a hard time, nice animals. That 300 WTHBY sure does make an exit hole doesn't it...

LBR

goatman · Aug 14, 2004

Randy11
Jay Novacek has the upper 84 ranch in western Neb. Also there is the McRoberts ranch and Rocking Heart. Haven't been to any but just know about them.