oryx hunt?
- Thread starter bogey
- Start date
E
ELKBOW
Guest
I have been on or tagged along on 4 Oryx hunts. I have been in Rhodes twice, and I think it is the best area. They have hammered them a little, but there are still a lot out there. Honestly, the best way to hunt them is just drive or get up high and glass some.
Depending on the time the "big meeting" lets out, you might hang back. A lot of hunters act like it is the INDY 500 and start drving. They drive past a lot of ORYX.
There was a hunt this last weekend. I had a couple of buddies go on it, and I have not heard anything yet.
Take pics!
Depending on the time the "big meeting" lets out, you might hang back. A lot of hunters act like it is the INDY 500 and start drving. They drive past a lot of ORYX.
There was a hunt this last weekend. I had a couple of buddies go on it, and I have not heard anything yet.
Take pics!
B
bullseye
Guest
Got drawn for a Rhodes Canyon Hunt about 4 years ago.
Ended up shooting a 32 Inch Bull, the first day. Should have waited as I jumped the gun, saw larger ones after I killed the 32 incher.
This is a great Hunt in a great area.
The Base personell are very helpful in helping you locate animals if you have trouble.
Good Luck
Bill
Ended up shooting a 32 Inch Bull, the first day. Should have waited as I jumped the gun, saw larger ones after I killed the 32 incher.
This is a great Hunt in a great area.
The Base personell are very helpful in helping you locate animals if you have trouble.
Good Luck
Bill
neb
Active Member
- Messages
- 178
I hunted Rhodes Canyon in 2000 and got a 38" female one the first day. We saw a lot of animals and I had the impression that it was an easy hunt.
My 16 year old Daughter was drawn last year and the story was quite a bit different. There were a lot fewer animals and more hunters.
The animals seemed a lot spookier and moved very little with rainy/windy conditions. It seemed like the earth had sucked up every Oryx on the range with the windy weather. We hunted hard for 2 and a half days before she shot a 32" bull. She did pass on a couple small oryx and we messed up several stalks in the first 2 days.
They have excellent eyes and the older animals know the game.
Some would catch us at 500 yards and run miles; others would only go as far as the nearest thicket of scrub brush then hang in there.
We were able to spot a number of them from high points and the un-used missle launch towers all over the range.
All in all we had a neat trip in spite of the poor weather, impatient teenagers, spooky oryx and the one inch "scope kiss" she had between her eyes.
They are excellent eating meat also.
neb
My 16 year old Daughter was drawn last year and the story was quite a bit different. There were a lot fewer animals and more hunters.
The animals seemed a lot spookier and moved very little with rainy/windy conditions. It seemed like the earth had sucked up every Oryx on the range with the windy weather. We hunted hard for 2 and a half days before she shot a 32" bull. She did pass on a couple small oryx and we messed up several stalks in the first 2 days.
They have excellent eyes and the older animals know the game.
Some would catch us at 500 yards and run miles; others would only go as far as the nearest thicket of scrub brush then hang in there.
We were able to spot a number of them from high points and the un-used missle launch towers all over the range.
All in all we had a neat trip in spite of the poor weather, impatient teenagers, spooky oryx and the one inch "scope kiss" she had between her eyes.
They are excellent eating meat also.
neb
I drew an oryx tag quite a few years ago and returned last year with a friend of mine. It seemed like night and day difference between our 2 hunts....although a couple things were very similar.
About 5 to 10 years ago there were oryx running all over all of the missile bases but the NMG&F has significantly upped the tags both on and off the bases. In fact, when I had my tag there were hardly any off-range tags. Another thing I noticed was there was only a small proportion of nontypical/broken horned oryx back when I hunted but there are by far more broken horned and nontypical oryx running around on the bases now. Back when I hunted they had tags for nontypicals which culled these out of the population.
As far as what I've seen and heard oryx hunting on and off the bases is becoming tougher and tougher. There also seems to be fewer 38 to 40+" oryx than there used to be with the additional hunting pressure.
As mentioned above oryx tend to hide in the tall brush when it gets windy/cold and with only 2 or 3 day seasons there isn't much time to fool around! With fewer oryx running around the ones that are there are also getting more hunting pressure and have figured out where to go once the shooting begins! If you are lucky and spot a monster right off the bat on opening morning you may be in luck but once pressured oryx can be pretty darn wild and tough to find.
It would be interesting to compare NMG&F stats for horn length and success now compared to 5 years ago....I bet the quality and harvest success...especially of mature long horned bulls is steadily spiraling downward!
About 5 to 10 years ago there were oryx running all over all of the missile bases but the NMG&F has significantly upped the tags both on and off the bases. In fact, when I had my tag there were hardly any off-range tags. Another thing I noticed was there was only a small proportion of nontypical/broken horned oryx back when I hunted but there are by far more broken horned and nontypical oryx running around on the bases now. Back when I hunted they had tags for nontypicals which culled these out of the population.
As far as what I've seen and heard oryx hunting on and off the bases is becoming tougher and tougher. There also seems to be fewer 38 to 40+" oryx than there used to be with the additional hunting pressure.
As mentioned above oryx tend to hide in the tall brush when it gets windy/cold and with only 2 or 3 day seasons there isn't much time to fool around! With fewer oryx running around the ones that are there are also getting more hunting pressure and have figured out where to go once the shooting begins! If you are lucky and spot a monster right off the bat on opening morning you may be in luck but once pressured oryx can be pretty darn wild and tough to find.
It would be interesting to compare NMG&F stats for horn length and success now compared to 5 years ago....I bet the quality and harvest success...especially of mature long horned bulls is steadily spiraling downward!
I believe the reason behind NMG&F declaring "war" on oryx is because they are a non-native species (introduced). The White Sands Ntl Park is adjacent to some of these ranges and there has been lots of controversy on what affects oryx have on native plant and animal species.
In my eyes oryx take up a niche where few to 0 other big game animals can live (extremely hot/dry areas). I believe they are a fantastic animal to watch and hunt but there are many that believe that since they aren't native to NMex they shouldn't be there.
There is a similar story here in Colo with mtn goats. Many claim that mtn goats aren't native to Colo's high country so any goat found within about 50 miles of Rocky Mtn Ntl Park is shot! They also claim that goats compete with bighorn sheep and may spread some sort of disease. It is pretty funny with the mtn goat thing because Rocky Mtn Ntl Park has several non-native fish in it's waters (such as brook trout) that they don't even flinch an eye about!
A lot of details need to be considered when dealing with non-native species!
In my eyes oryx take up a niche where few to 0 other big game animals can live (extremely hot/dry areas). I believe they are a fantastic animal to watch and hunt but there are many that believe that since they aren't native to NMex they shouldn't be there.
There is a similar story here in Colo with mtn goats. Many claim that mtn goats aren't native to Colo's high country so any goat found within about 50 miles of Rocky Mtn Ntl Park is shot! They also claim that goats compete with bighorn sheep and may spread some sort of disease. It is pretty funny with the mtn goat thing because Rocky Mtn Ntl Park has several non-native fish in it's waters (such as brook trout) that they don't even flinch an eye about!
A lot of details need to be considered when dealing with non-native species!
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