Aoudad
My next hunt of the year was an Aoudad hunt in Texas. This had been a bucket list hunt for me for so long, and when the right deal popped up, I jumped on it. Leading up to this hunt I decided I wanted to do it with my bow. Most people that I talked to, that had experience aoudad hunting, told me that it wasn't an easy hunt with a rifle, let alone a bow, but I was determined to give it a try anyway.
The morning I began my 20+ hour drive, I received a call from the outfitter telling me to go to a different property than originally planned upon. He said that it was 11,000 acres, and was supposed to have aoudad, but he hadn't been on the property in several years so he was unsure. That definitely wasn't what I wanted to hear going into the hunt, but I was already headed South so I continued on. I detoured through Amarillo and spent the night meeting up with some friends, and continued on the next morning.
I arrived around noon, and met with the outfitter. He had "accidentally" double booked so I was going to be hunting by myself. He was going to be on another property hunting axis with a few hunters. I drove to the property, and pulled it up on OnX Maps. I found a waterhole at the back of the property and figured that would be as good of place to start as any. I dove to the waterhole and was greeted by at least 100 domestic sheep. At that point I figured I'd hunt it like anything out west and just get to the highest point and start glassing.
I glassed for several hours, and wasn't seeing anything. I was honestly getting really discouraged and thinking this hunt was going to be a bust, when I spotted a ewe making her way around the face of a cliff. As I watched her more aoudad continued to follow her. There was 7 in total including one decent ram. They ended up in a great position for a stalk. I quickly came up with a plan and took off.
I was going to come around on the same well worn sheep trail they did. The wind was perfect, and I knew I'd be close when they came into view. I made my way around the cliff face, moving quickly as the trail was clear and easy to move quietly on. I slowed down right before I figured I'd be able to see them, knocked an arrow and crept forward.
The first aoudad that came into view was a ewe, and she was already moving away. I had been busted, and I have no clue how. I ran forward until I could see the rest of the herd, and quickly found the ram. I threw my rangefinder up and ranged him at 87. I dialed my sight, drew back, settled my pin and squeezed the shot off. The arrow hit exactly where i was aiming. It went in the crease and stuck on the opposite side. As he ran off with the arrow sticking out of him I was sure he'd be down quick. I sat down, and waited about an hour. I went down to where I'd hit the ram and immediately found good blood. I followed heavy blood for over 300 yards and then it dried up. Now unsure of the hit, I decided to back out, and come back the next morning.
The next morning I arrived back at the property, and went to last blood. At that point, I just began grid searching. After several hours of finding nothing, I was walking the property line back down towards my truck when I found a patch of fur on the fence and a couple drops of blood on the ground below. It appeared that he had made it on to the neighboring property. I looked on google earth and found the house I figured the land owner lived in. I went and met with the landowner, and explained the situation. After a little convincing he decided to let me on the property.
I went back to where I had found the hair on the fence and followed the trail on to their property. 50 yards in, I found him laying there. The arrowed had entered perfectly and just barely poked through on the other side about 4 inches behind the crease. I had hit both lungs, and he still made it over 500 yards. I was extremely fortunate to even get a shot on an aoudad considering the circumstances, and I was on cloud nine to be able to get it done with a bow. He's not a giant, but I don't care. I'm very happy with him.