I have hunted a lot of animals here in New Mexico and oryx is one of the more fun hunts I have had the opportunity to go on. A few years ago I shot a 40 inch cow and I really wanted to get a bull this time. Since it was on range, I had to get security clearances for the guests to come with me months in advance – and when two of them had to drop out last minute, that left me and my dad to chase them ourselves. This was funny, because my dad and I had different ideas on what was a trophy. To him a trophy was whichever oryx was going to be the easiest to get to and pack out. To me, it was whichever one would make him work harder to get.
Anyway, we went out Friday at noon for the briefing and then they let us all go hunt. We were one of the last cars to leave and we spotted a group of 6 less than a mile from the station that all the cars had flown right by. There was a 40 inch cow in the group that we got to 200 yards from standing broadside, I had her in the sights and decided to pass. I didn’t want to end the hunt 30 minutes into it. Since many of you know how patient and understanding my dad is, you can imagine how happy he was with me not pulling the trigger.
We drove around seeing a bunch at long distances, but really just trying to figure out the lay of the land, as this is not an area they allow you to scout before the hunt. You have to learn it as you go. We went to the far south end and spotted a group of 60 oryx – no joke – and that was a sight to see. They were out in the flats and 800 yards away, as soon as we got out of the truck they started moving, and we had no chance of getting close to them. But they kind of moved to some small rolling hills, we drove down the road a mile and spotted them again heading back to the direction they came. We turned around, drove up a dirt road to where we guessed they were headed, got out and walked towards them. Sure enough, after a half a mile we crested a hill and there they were, at 120 yards from us. They looked like ants crawling up the mountain. 60 oryx at close range is crazy, and also hard to pick the one you want.
Since it was about an hour from sundown, and they have a strict policy of checking out at a certain time – I didn’t think it was a good idea to shoot in case it ran and we would have to track. Boy did my dad love that, haha all night I heard about how I wasn’t going to get a better opportunity than that, and how I was going to have to settle for a little 30 incher if I did. Yes there were big bulls and cows in this group, but man were they hard to single out when they were bobbing and weaving amongst the others. Looking at them through the scope it was next to impossible to distinguish which was which.
The next morning we spotted some big cows right off the bat, which I also passed. We drove 10 miles to a place he hadn’t been and I spotted some in a valley about 1000 yards away. We doubled back and found a dirt road to drive up in hopes of cutting them off. We started walking once we kind of guessed where they would be heading and sure enough spotted them at about 800 yards pointed out way. This is where it got cool. They started moving quick towards us, so we just kneeled down in tall grass – and within 2 minutes, they had closed the distance to about 200 yards and started heading up the small hill right to us. When they reappeared at the top they were about 80 yards and broadside, I found the bull and got him. He went about 30 yards and was out in seconds.
He was 36 inches, but had some massive bases. They are literally as big as a beer bottle. I passed up a lot of trophies to get to him and I couldn’t be happier. Good hunt with the pops, and I even got to beat him at golf when we got back home.

Congrats! Thats a great bull and write up

Congrats!!!! Stud gems!!

How is forgetful pops liking his brand new bino's ...lol

Great bull and story! I can picture his responses and hear his voice in my head and can't help but laugh! Awesome that you got to share the hunt with him. Congratulations!!!

Great write up!

Congrats on a fine bull and a great hunt! I would have guessed him at close to 40 looking at your photos. Well done sir!

Yeah tell me about it, wouldn't have mattered anyway....I would have made him use mine. His are a 10 dollar pair from the seventies and he's too stubborn to upgrade.

Lol sounds like my pops...while he grabs mine. sounds like a good Christmas gift idea

Congrats again. I enter my wife every year.that's her number hit list animal she wants.

Not just stubborn too dang cheap!!

Congrats

Congrats on a neat hunt!

Well if you ever draw hit me up, I've now hunted all the areas they do hunts on and can lead you in the right direction no matter which area you draw.

Congratulations, Great story & Pictures!!

That's a promise I can easily keep

That is an outstanding bull. Well done.

Fantastic stuff Tatonka. Loved the pics and story. I LOVE hunting gemsbok, and love eating them even more. I really want to kill one here in the US to fill up the freezer. Congrats and thanks for posting.

Wow! Beautiful bull and a great hunt! Congrats!

Congrats, sounds like a great hunt.

Great write up. It's always fun hunting with the old man. There's a lot of wisdom in killing the animal that's the easiest to get out.

THE most beautiful gemsbok in the history of gemsbok is still walking around out there. She was at least 51" and standing broadside at 165 yards, 25 minutes into the hunt. Just standing there! With a "please shoot me now" look on her face!

My son made me walk my butt off just because he wanted bigger bases. It was all a plan to wear me out so he could beat me on his home golf course the next day.

He promised me if I gutted his trophy he'd share his pappy van winkle with me and he reneged on that as well!

If I hadn't drowned so many balls I'd have beat him on his own course. Truth is I let him win. My dad and him used to gang up on me (out of necessity since alone they were simply no match). Since dads gone, my son has struggled with self esteem issues, so I've softened up to hopefully improve his sense of self worth.

Based on his slightly distorted write up I'd say I've been quite successful...

Someone's too deep in my wallet for me to be a free spender!!! Stinkin landlords!!

Congrats on a fantastic gemsbok and a great write up as well.

therancher's reply made it ALL worth while !!!

Very nice.