CompassWestOutfitters
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Well boys and girls, its about that time!!! Here you go, feedback is so positive every year I thought for the 6th year in a row I would post it up!
A Guide to New Mexico Guide Free Range Oryx:
Since there is so little info on the oryx hunts, for people looking to DIY, or thinking about going on this hunt guided, I thought I would try my best at offering a hand. I have hunted all the bases now many times so I know and understand how the hunts work at all locations including guiding a large number of hunts on all of the base and off the base. My Name is Chris Guikema I live in Aztec, New Mexico with my wife and son, I am a full time outfitter in NM, hunting/fishing and trapping year round in this wonderful state we call home!
You need to take a deep breath and remember that the stress of the hunt for you is going to be almost unmanageable for that night before and even worse once you are on the base. Here is how it all works:
You??ll want to arrive the day before in time to drive out and find the gate that you need to check into. Stallion range is easy but Rhodes Canyon hunt gate was a little hard to find the first time keep an eye out for blue and white WSMR gate signs they now put out. Once you have the location down head back to the hotel and check for, NO BEER in coolers,1 camera, be sure you have the permit and your ID in a folder along with your current registration and proof of insurance for auto and all in the folder, this is what they are going to check at the gate. There will be taxidermists and butchers at most hunts outside the main gate. If you are hunting in Rhodes Canyon, or on McGregor there is a great rifle range right in the area in La Luz NM, 19 Rock Cliff Road La Luz, New Mexico 88337 Phone: 575-443-9006. Take some time and hit the range they have a great 350 yard shot! For hunters on Stallion, there is a ton of BLM to the west as you head for the main gate, check your maps and get in a little shooting.
SAFETY MEETING Friday morning you will have a meeting at the base to go over the does and don??ts as well as all game and fish rules. Normal time is about 10 am, they will open gates about 9-10 most hunts. You have a CHANCE to hunt on Fridays, but its not a sure thing! Hope for the best seems like about 50% of the hunts I have been on since the new hunt Friday rule have been a go on Friday the other 50% nada?K?K. Arrive at the safety meeting 8-10am to get in line and wait for the gates to open.
PARKING remember when you park to get into a spot that you can drive out of easy, they will end the meeting and no joke, people will RUN to the cars and take off to race to the spot they want to hunt. Its un-nerving to say the least, your heart will be in your throat, you??ll feel your pulse pounding into your ears you??ll feel like a 12 year old on the first deer hunt with your Dad again, TAKE A DEEP BREATH and settle down. You??re going to get one, if you are calm and remember what I have written!!!!
GETTING TO HUNTING AREAS. Drive safe and smart and you??ll have a great hunt. There are a ton of animals on Rhodes Canyon and we still hold out for 35-40?? animals here. On Stallion Range you will see less animals but is still a great hunt I would NOT be real picky here if its got two whole horns you might want to shoot it. McGregor Range has good numbers of animals and you can scout here, 35??+ animals are the norm but the numbers of animals seems to change week to week here. I have hunted on McGregor and seen almost no animals and harvest a broken horn the last day and the next hunt I have seen 50+ Harvest rates are 65-80% for the base??s and if you are willing to walk and glass you??ll be 100% (more on hunting later). Study maps and pick an area based on gut feeling or info from helpful info. It will be light out as you leave the meeting so keep an eye out you might shoot one 100 yds from the starting point?K..
HOW TO HUNT: GLASS GLASS AND MORE GLASS, I can??t tell you how important GOOD optics are going to be on the hunt. 10x42 at a minimum for the hunt you need to glass big areas and judge them. I will talk more about judging later. They are not easy to see at first, just remember to look for white and black in the fields, the areas are open grass to thick brush, first thing I do is find a high spot to glass pull over park and start looking. Remember they will run in groups from 3-100 you just never know. Once you find a group start to look for bigger body??s first then start to look over the horns. The adults and sub-adults will run with like age groups for the most part, the babies ??brownies?? are brown and black with little white, they breed all year so you??ll likely see a few in the cow groups, this will help you pick out the young animals as well as the cow groups. Bigger bulls will be in the areas but not always with the pack, I have shot 4 monster bulls that were bedded down all day all alone in the middle of nothing?K.. Hunt like you would Antelope! 90% of people are lazy the other 5% will walk a little giving you all the great animals that you need to walk to, if you are in the last 5% that is willing to WORK FOR IT, hunt like it??s a once in a lifetime hunt, because it IS!!! But guys find them FIRST don??t walk for exercise you can do that at home!
WHERE TO HUNT: It took me years to learn where to hunt and how to judge these great animals and public forums and blogs are just not the place to talk about it 100% openly, but I am more than willing to attempt to offer the same quality of information I am putting in this post even if we are not going to guide you. But you will be getting a pitch!! ?? This is a once in a lifetime hunt, it is also one of my personal favorite hunts I have ever been on in the US for a great animal!!! I want everyone to have a wonderful time and help you be a 100% harvest hunter for this special once in a lifetime hunt!!!
HOW TO JUDGE: The first oryx hunt I did was with a friend, I have guided elk and mule deer in NM for years so he asked for my help in judging and glassing. I did all the same that you are doing right now, hunting for all the info I could find on oryx and how to judge and pick the right animal. Bugging the heck out of Gilbert at WSMR about how to Judge (was not gilbert back them)?KI was able to find limited info at best on judging them so I decided we would be OK and just look for a big one. Well all the stress and confusion affected us just like it will you, we found a big group about 30min into the hunt in a location a friend had told me to hunt. Of the 30 animals 3 were much bigger than the rest, we looked them over picked the biggest bull and shot it. 34?? bull in a group of 30 other sub-adult animals, we were MORE than happy with the hunt but we did what so many people do, we rushed with the stress of a once in a lifetime hunt and all the worry about only 2-3 days to hunt. If you just half ass work at it you will harvest one, do you need a guide, not always but judging is the HARD part, and these hunts are getting tougher every year! WE have been almost 100% success on mature animals for this hunt for the last 7 years in that 7 years only 2 hunters have not harvested, and 2 have taken sub adult animals. We offer a calm head who knows where when and how these animals move on the base. You can??t scout for this hunt, and the days of killing them on the road are over, this is a once in a lifetime hunt, think about that $1800 and what that would bring you as piece of mind, or better yet talk with our past hunters about how much guide service was worth to them!
Best advice I can offer you is this: if you see a animal feeding with its mouth eating on the GROUND the top of an adult animals back will be 33-34??. So if you watch one feed and its on the ground eating and its horns are 3-4 ?? over its back, SHOOOOOT EM!!! But be careful its feeding on the ground and an adult animal!
BULLS: The mature bulls will polish their horns in the brush, so as a result they will tend to have shinny horns more so than the cows. Bulls tend to have less visible rings on the top of the horn and have rings that are more spaced out and bigger gaps, and like I already said the horns shine in the sun! The bases are going to be 2-5X bigger than a cow this is where you need to be looking. Some of my best bulls have been 36-37 but HUGE mass on the base. Body mass is the second thing to look for. If there are a bunch of animals in a group look for the largest body first THEN look at the horns. Check for polished horns first then at the bases, then compare overall length. This spring I had a client who had never seen an oryx in the field, and was really nervous about the hunt and only 2 days. About 2 hours into the day we glassed up a big group walking in the direction of a road, we drove to cut them off, parked and got out and hid in the bushes and waited. About 15min later they all walked into a big opening, I glassed them all over and told him they were all immature I knew this because the bulls in the group all had dull horns. Dull horns does not always mean they are not adult (I have killed adult bulls with dull horns) but all the body sizes in the group were the same, cows and bulls allowing me to make a quick decision not to shoot a bull, so as I pull him back to the truck almost kicking and screaming about only 2 days to hunt a second truck showed up, they asked if we were going to shoot the animals we said no but I told them 5th from the front was the largest in the group but a cow about 34??, they asked if they could harvest a bull from the group, we said no problem they shot the biggest bull in the group that we were looking at, it was a great bull but 31.5??. Later that day we glassed up a small group of adults about a mile into a flat, stalked into 400yds glassed them for 45min to pick the right one, my hunter choose to harvest a huge cow in the group because the animal had great LONG horns and just was a beautiful animal. That 45min got Steve in a grove and we shot a 38 3/8?? cow at 427yds with a 300 WSM. Remember look for the biggest body then- bases- horns (dull or polished) - overall length of horns, a 40?? animal will have horns that almost reach the rump of the animal, but also remember cows for the most part have longer horns.
COWS: They have longer horns as a rule, and thin horns compared to bulls. Look for tight rings and dull horns compared to the bulls. Mature animals tend to run in groups, don??t let the biggest of the group fool you unless they are all adult animals!
Over the last 5 years I have seen major changes in the oryx hunting on all the bases. Both Rhodes Canyon and Stallion Range and McGregor hunts have gotten very difficult to expect a trophy size animal. The oryx hunt is no longer a road hunt you get lucky now and then, but don??t really expect to shoot a monster bull on the side of the road.
Congratulations!
You have drawn what I think is the best hunt in the western US, I place the same hope and prayer into my unit 16A or 16D or my unit 10 or 9 AZ rut bow tags every year that I do my oryx tags?K?K?K. Email anytime or call me for more info on the hunts and where when of the base! Hope this helps!
From Chris Here at:
Compass West Outfitters
??I do not hunt for the joy of killing but for the joy of living, and the inexpressible pleasure of mingling my life however briefly, with that of a wild creature that I respect, admire and value.?? -John Madson
www.200inches.com
A Guide to New Mexico Guide Free Range Oryx:
Since there is so little info on the oryx hunts, for people looking to DIY, or thinking about going on this hunt guided, I thought I would try my best at offering a hand. I have hunted all the bases now many times so I know and understand how the hunts work at all locations including guiding a large number of hunts on all of the base and off the base. My Name is Chris Guikema I live in Aztec, New Mexico with my wife and son, I am a full time outfitter in NM, hunting/fishing and trapping year round in this wonderful state we call home!
You need to take a deep breath and remember that the stress of the hunt for you is going to be almost unmanageable for that night before and even worse once you are on the base. Here is how it all works:
You??ll want to arrive the day before in time to drive out and find the gate that you need to check into. Stallion range is easy but Rhodes Canyon hunt gate was a little hard to find the first time keep an eye out for blue and white WSMR gate signs they now put out. Once you have the location down head back to the hotel and check for, NO BEER in coolers,1 camera, be sure you have the permit and your ID in a folder along with your current registration and proof of insurance for auto and all in the folder, this is what they are going to check at the gate. There will be taxidermists and butchers at most hunts outside the main gate. If you are hunting in Rhodes Canyon, or on McGregor there is a great rifle range right in the area in La Luz NM, 19 Rock Cliff Road La Luz, New Mexico 88337 Phone: 575-443-9006. Take some time and hit the range they have a great 350 yard shot! For hunters on Stallion, there is a ton of BLM to the west as you head for the main gate, check your maps and get in a little shooting.
SAFETY MEETING Friday morning you will have a meeting at the base to go over the does and don??ts as well as all game and fish rules. Normal time is about 10 am, they will open gates about 9-10 most hunts. You have a CHANCE to hunt on Fridays, but its not a sure thing! Hope for the best seems like about 50% of the hunts I have been on since the new hunt Friday rule have been a go on Friday the other 50% nada?K?K. Arrive at the safety meeting 8-10am to get in line and wait for the gates to open.
PARKING remember when you park to get into a spot that you can drive out of easy, they will end the meeting and no joke, people will RUN to the cars and take off to race to the spot they want to hunt. Its un-nerving to say the least, your heart will be in your throat, you??ll feel your pulse pounding into your ears you??ll feel like a 12 year old on the first deer hunt with your Dad again, TAKE A DEEP BREATH and settle down. You??re going to get one, if you are calm and remember what I have written!!!!
GETTING TO HUNTING AREAS. Drive safe and smart and you??ll have a great hunt. There are a ton of animals on Rhodes Canyon and we still hold out for 35-40?? animals here. On Stallion Range you will see less animals but is still a great hunt I would NOT be real picky here if its got two whole horns you might want to shoot it. McGregor Range has good numbers of animals and you can scout here, 35??+ animals are the norm but the numbers of animals seems to change week to week here. I have hunted on McGregor and seen almost no animals and harvest a broken horn the last day and the next hunt I have seen 50+ Harvest rates are 65-80% for the base??s and if you are willing to walk and glass you??ll be 100% (more on hunting later). Study maps and pick an area based on gut feeling or info from helpful info. It will be light out as you leave the meeting so keep an eye out you might shoot one 100 yds from the starting point?K..
HOW TO HUNT: GLASS GLASS AND MORE GLASS, I can??t tell you how important GOOD optics are going to be on the hunt. 10x42 at a minimum for the hunt you need to glass big areas and judge them. I will talk more about judging later. They are not easy to see at first, just remember to look for white and black in the fields, the areas are open grass to thick brush, first thing I do is find a high spot to glass pull over park and start looking. Remember they will run in groups from 3-100 you just never know. Once you find a group start to look for bigger body??s first then start to look over the horns. The adults and sub-adults will run with like age groups for the most part, the babies ??brownies?? are brown and black with little white, they breed all year so you??ll likely see a few in the cow groups, this will help you pick out the young animals as well as the cow groups. Bigger bulls will be in the areas but not always with the pack, I have shot 4 monster bulls that were bedded down all day all alone in the middle of nothing?K.. Hunt like you would Antelope! 90% of people are lazy the other 5% will walk a little giving you all the great animals that you need to walk to, if you are in the last 5% that is willing to WORK FOR IT, hunt like it??s a once in a lifetime hunt, because it IS!!! But guys find them FIRST don??t walk for exercise you can do that at home!
WHERE TO HUNT: It took me years to learn where to hunt and how to judge these great animals and public forums and blogs are just not the place to talk about it 100% openly, but I am more than willing to attempt to offer the same quality of information I am putting in this post even if we are not going to guide you. But you will be getting a pitch!! ?? This is a once in a lifetime hunt, it is also one of my personal favorite hunts I have ever been on in the US for a great animal!!! I want everyone to have a wonderful time and help you be a 100% harvest hunter for this special once in a lifetime hunt!!!
HOW TO JUDGE: The first oryx hunt I did was with a friend, I have guided elk and mule deer in NM for years so he asked for my help in judging and glassing. I did all the same that you are doing right now, hunting for all the info I could find on oryx and how to judge and pick the right animal. Bugging the heck out of Gilbert at WSMR about how to Judge (was not gilbert back them)?KI was able to find limited info at best on judging them so I decided we would be OK and just look for a big one. Well all the stress and confusion affected us just like it will you, we found a big group about 30min into the hunt in a location a friend had told me to hunt. Of the 30 animals 3 were much bigger than the rest, we looked them over picked the biggest bull and shot it. 34?? bull in a group of 30 other sub-adult animals, we were MORE than happy with the hunt but we did what so many people do, we rushed with the stress of a once in a lifetime hunt and all the worry about only 2-3 days to hunt. If you just half ass work at it you will harvest one, do you need a guide, not always but judging is the HARD part, and these hunts are getting tougher every year! WE have been almost 100% success on mature animals for this hunt for the last 7 years in that 7 years only 2 hunters have not harvested, and 2 have taken sub adult animals. We offer a calm head who knows where when and how these animals move on the base. You can??t scout for this hunt, and the days of killing them on the road are over, this is a once in a lifetime hunt, think about that $1800 and what that would bring you as piece of mind, or better yet talk with our past hunters about how much guide service was worth to them!
Best advice I can offer you is this: if you see a animal feeding with its mouth eating on the GROUND the top of an adult animals back will be 33-34??. So if you watch one feed and its on the ground eating and its horns are 3-4 ?? over its back, SHOOOOOT EM!!! But be careful its feeding on the ground and an adult animal!
BULLS: The mature bulls will polish their horns in the brush, so as a result they will tend to have shinny horns more so than the cows. Bulls tend to have less visible rings on the top of the horn and have rings that are more spaced out and bigger gaps, and like I already said the horns shine in the sun! The bases are going to be 2-5X bigger than a cow this is where you need to be looking. Some of my best bulls have been 36-37 but HUGE mass on the base. Body mass is the second thing to look for. If there are a bunch of animals in a group look for the largest body first THEN look at the horns. Check for polished horns first then at the bases, then compare overall length. This spring I had a client who had never seen an oryx in the field, and was really nervous about the hunt and only 2 days. About 2 hours into the day we glassed up a big group walking in the direction of a road, we drove to cut them off, parked and got out and hid in the bushes and waited. About 15min later they all walked into a big opening, I glassed them all over and told him they were all immature I knew this because the bulls in the group all had dull horns. Dull horns does not always mean they are not adult (I have killed adult bulls with dull horns) but all the body sizes in the group were the same, cows and bulls allowing me to make a quick decision not to shoot a bull, so as I pull him back to the truck almost kicking and screaming about only 2 days to hunt a second truck showed up, they asked if we were going to shoot the animals we said no but I told them 5th from the front was the largest in the group but a cow about 34??, they asked if they could harvest a bull from the group, we said no problem they shot the biggest bull in the group that we were looking at, it was a great bull but 31.5??. Later that day we glassed up a small group of adults about a mile into a flat, stalked into 400yds glassed them for 45min to pick the right one, my hunter choose to harvest a huge cow in the group because the animal had great LONG horns and just was a beautiful animal. That 45min got Steve in a grove and we shot a 38 3/8?? cow at 427yds with a 300 WSM. Remember look for the biggest body then- bases- horns (dull or polished) - overall length of horns, a 40?? animal will have horns that almost reach the rump of the animal, but also remember cows for the most part have longer horns.
COWS: They have longer horns as a rule, and thin horns compared to bulls. Look for tight rings and dull horns compared to the bulls. Mature animals tend to run in groups, don??t let the biggest of the group fool you unless they are all adult animals!
Over the last 5 years I have seen major changes in the oryx hunting on all the bases. Both Rhodes Canyon and Stallion Range and McGregor hunts have gotten very difficult to expect a trophy size animal. The oryx hunt is no longer a road hunt you get lucky now and then, but don??t really expect to shoot a monster bull on the side of the road.
Congratulations!
You have drawn what I think is the best hunt in the western US, I place the same hope and prayer into my unit 16A or 16D or my unit 10 or 9 AZ rut bow tags every year that I do my oryx tags?K?K?K. Email anytime or call me for more info on the hunts and where when of the base! Hope this helps!
From Chris Here at:
Compass West Outfitters
??I do not hunt for the joy of killing but for the joy of living, and the inexpressible pleasure of mingling my life however briefly, with that of a wild creature that I respect, admire and value.?? -John Madson
www.200inches.com
