Oryx Jan. 31 WSMR

[leftturnabq]

Got it done, 3 for 3. My buddy couldn't get settled for the first 2 opportunities I gave him at some big animals, but was able to get it done on this young 31" bull. he was more than happy as it was his first big game kill.

His son bagged a full bodied, yet smaller horned, bull with his buddies that same morning, and the daughter-in-law was able to get it done on a 32" bull on Sunday morning with her father, brother and husband.

They were not trophy hunting, it was the first big-game kill for all of them, and they all went home very happy.

 

[OldJake]

Great Job and Great Pic!
Thanks for posting!

I need to get my pics uploaded onto the puter and post them up.

Question for you. Are they going to get them mounted, even though they weren't trophy hunting?

 

[leftturnabq]

Thanks,

I believe they're all going to go with skull mounts. None of them are monsters, and shoulder mounts are spendy. I think one of them was considering having a hide tanned as well.

 

[30inchbuck]

The thing is a O-I-L tag and hunt and yes mounts are spendy but dang. Oryx are good looking mounts.

Hell I even did my daughters - got it back recently it was a small - small one. Maybe 18". The taxi and his wife wanted to keep it cause it looked so good.

 

[leftturnabq]

I hear ya, but that's not my call.

I've taken 2-36" bulls, 1 O-I-L and 1 Off-Range. I did a shoulder mount on the O-I-L and skull mount on the other. I really like them both. 36" horns on a skull mount look huge!!

Very cool animals.

 

[OldJake]

I agree with them. The oryx that I got off of Stallion last month was a young bull (32"). I'm sure some will say I'm way "off" for not mounting him, but I like the look of the european mounts and his tanned hide is going to look great.

Thanks again
Dustin

 

[nmelktrout]

Thanks for sharing Lefturn, man, getting me stoked for my March Stallion Range hunt!

 

[vinihunt]

awesome!!! big congrats to u guys!!


vinihunt

 

[IdahoBugler]

That is awesome. Congrats on the first kills for everyone. I bet a lot of people would love to have an oryx for there first big game animal. Anyway getting pumped for my hunt on the rhodes feb. 28th. These pictures are getting me pretty excited.

IB

 

[leftturnabq]

To get you guys even more excited, I see no reason why a competent hunter shouldn't have a good opportunity at a trophy quality animal on this hunt. My buddy went into it with no intention of harvesting a trophy animal, but had he been a little more experienced as a hunter, he would have gotten a shot off on such an animal...he had two such opportunities, got a little case of "buck fever", and was at least smart enough to know to hold off on rushing a shot. After running him for about a mile, he got his second wind, was able to calm down, and made an okay shot on the bull pictured. The hit was not where I would have liked it to be, but the animal pretty much dropped in it's tracks. He hit it high and back, clipping the top rear portion of the lungs, some liver, and the lower portion of the spine.

I'll see if I can't get some pics up of the other two.

 

[nmelknut]

awesome job.this was my first year to go with a friend on an off range hunt he was lucky and shot a young cow. first time for me to see them in the wild what an awesome animal

 

[ktmrider2a]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-03-09 AT 03:54PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Feb-03-09 AT 03:53?PM (MST)

LAST EDITED ON Feb-03-09 AT 03:51?PM (MST)

I also hunted Rhodes this past weekend. What a great hunt! This was a DIY hunt for myself and a couple of buddies who tagged along. Unfortunately one of my friends had his wife hospitalized the day before and could'nt make the hunt (she has since be released). That left just two of us.

I need to give a shout out to Jordon Christensen of Wild Mountain Taxidermy in Las Cruces. He unselfishly gave a ton of great advice to a first time Oryx hunter, prepared me mentally for the "Oryx 500" following the orientation and without his pointers on how to judge these animals I would have had no clue.

We hunted hard and passed several decent animals the first day while getting a feel for judging them. I was able to take this cow around 11AM on the second day after watching her bed, and then pulling a stalk to within 200 yds.Thanks New Mexico for a super great hunt!

She measures 40.5" and 40.25".

 

[leftturnabq]

Congrats!!

That is a very nice specimen of the species.

The White Sands 500 is hilarious isn't it?! We were one of the last to roll out so as to avoid traffic on the 1st day.

If you're patient and know what to look for, good animals (like yours) are there for the hunting.

Again, congrats on scoring on a great trophy.

 

[leftturnabq]

Small update: Looks like my buddy is getting a skull mount, while the son and daughter-in-law will be busting up for shoulder mounts after all.

Still working on getting pics of their oryx.

 

[mozey]

Awesome job to both of you. And yes, I'd mount even the little ones. They're good looking animals.

 

[GrizlyHunter]

I must be confused. I thought that you couldn't take cameras onto the missile range?

Please elaborate.

TX!

GrizlyHunter

 

[leftturnabq]

GrizlyHunter: You are correct. No cameras allowed.


Ktmrider2a: The hunt summary is out. You bagged the top cow for the hunt.

Success rate = 83%

The top bull was 39" X 39.5" with 7.5" bases totalling up to a gross score of 93.5".

 

[ktmrider2a]

>I must be confused. I
>thought that you couldn't take
>cameras onto the missile range?
>
>Please elaborate.
>
>TX!
>
>GrizlyHunter


I can't speak for the first photo but mine was taken outside the gate, off the WSMR. Just dumped her out and then loaded her back up.

 

[ktmrider2a]

>Ktmrider2a: The hunt summary is out.
> You bagged the top
>cow for the hunt.
>Success rate = 83%
>The top bull was 39" X
>39.5" with 7.5" bases totalling
>up to a gross score
>of 93.5".

Wow, that is cool that Gilbert will e-mail a hunt summary.

I don't know why but he didn't measure the bases on my animal. They are actually 6 1/2" and 6 5/8". Total score is 93 6/8".

Doesn't matter, I just wanted a nice animal and was lucky enough to have it work out for us.

 

[leftturnabq]

We got a flat driving in to pick it up, and again in the spare hauling it out whole.


They list the top cow at:

40.5" x 40.125" w/6" bases, grossing 92.625"

I assumed this was yours, but know they are not too particular about how they score them at the checkout station.

 

[ktmrider2a]

Bummer on the flats. I brought 2 spares and am thankful we didn't need them.

I don't think Gilbert measured the bases on my cow because he was in the middle of burning the crap out of a dozen super bowl brats on his grill outside the shack. LOL!

He got the length correct, got all excited, told me that is just the 38th Oryx to come off the range with +40" horns, forgot about the brats and let's just say they were well done.
Too funny!

 

[leftturnabq]

Here's the daughter-in-law with her 32" bull:

Took her 2 shots with a .308 to bring him down on Sunday.

 

[MNHunter]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-06-09 AT 11:50AM (MST)[p]Very nice pictures everyone! I really like the thicknes of the bull's horns. I've got a tag for the Mar 21-22 hunt. I think I would sacrifice length that a cow would offer to get a nice thick bull. Then again, when I'm standing there with a good cow in my sights I might change my mind!

"Whatever you are, be a good one."
- Abraham Lincoln

 

[OldJake]

Good luck MNhunter. I hope you get a nice one. You should be able to.

I'm gonna post pics from my hunt with my boys in the other thread. You can check them out if you want.

Dustin

 

[Oryxrus]

Your NOT confused WSMR does not allow pictures.