I am one week away from my once in a lifetime Oryx hunt on WSMR. I will be hunting the Stallion range. I loaded up some hot loads for my 06 using 180 grain hornady interlocks, pushing them at 2700 FPS. I have been shooting out to 400 yards on the range but won't shoot over 350 on the hunt to be ethical. I am really excited about this hunt after 16 years of applying. I will post pix when I get home. I am hoping for a cow over 35 or a bull over 33. Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats but don't over think how much gun or bullet you need. Study their vitals also. Vitals are further forward and spine runs lower

Thanks BOBO, I actually turned down an offer to use a friends 300 Win. mag, because I am way more accurate with the 06. Bullet placement is EVERYTHING.

Awesome, I did mine last year and killed it at 320 yards with a 25-06. So do whatever gun you are comfortable with. I did a badge hunt so got the bad unit (small missile range) and still got a nice 39 inch cow the first day. I hunted the stallion with a friend 2 years ago and saw over 130 oryx that day. Should be a blast and you will definitely see some. I am jealous, have never drawn the once in a lifetime tag. When you drive in to the gate, take your first right and head out that way. Then you have to take a left once you hit the end and the entire way for miles is loaded with oryx. We saw about a 40 inch bull 1/4 mile from the post that first day and kept running into herds the entire day. Haha and make sure you fill up your truck, we drove about 230 miles both times I went.

Thanks for post this TT!!!! Power of thf taking care of each other!!!! Love it!!!

good luck, sounds like it should be a true adventure

Thanks TT that is just the kind of information I need. I did not know to head East, West, or South from the gate.

So it kinda depends on where they do their briefing the day of the hunt from. We did ours from entering at the tularosa gate entrance. From there you would head north (that would be the right at the entrance once you are inside). Then you would head west at the end of that road towards the stallion range....but if you do your orientation from the stallion range itself (that would be the road between san antonio and carrizozo) you would head east from that point. They love power lines and draws, and you may see them in the wide open if you are lucky, but what was crazy was how much they like to hang out in the brush, and a lot of times a lot closer than you would be looking. In reality they are all over the place, i would keep away from the group of people and find your own spot - have to remember, people dont get to scout these things on the range, so they are just as clueless where to go as you will be. One last thing, dont shoot the first one you see unless you know it is a monster. They are hard to judge if they by themselves, but in a group you can get a feel of which ones are the biggest. You should see a lot, so you can kinda be picky. Hope that helps some.

My girlfriend and I just drove south of White Sands this morning and saw a group of probably 15-20 gemsbok out grazing. We had to whip a U-turn and go back to park and watch them for a while. There was a good mis of young and mature animals. Good luck!

Thanks again TT, I will be getting the briefing at the Stallion gate. So this gives me a better idea of where to go. I did not know about them liking cover, figured them to be out in the open like the pronghorn I have hunted.

Congrats! Have friend who went on it. 170yd thru the heart with a 7mm mag Vanguard.

Shoot me low and thru the shoulder. Check africahunting.com for more on that.

Good luck.

Where are the pics!!!!!

As Bobo said be careful with the shot placement. They are though animals. I killed two and both of them went more than 200 yards with perfect shot placements.Also try to kill a male, their horns are shorter but bases are thicker and and overall have more character.
Good Luck

I got back last night at 9 PM from my hunt on White Sands missile range. My buddy and I "you are allowed to take up to 3 guests I just took one" got to the Stallion gate at 9:30 AM on Friday the 10th for the 10 AM briefing. After 1 1/2 hours of checking every ones license and vehicle information and the mandatory vehicle search we were cut loose to hunt at ~ 11:30 AM. The bad thing about this is that it turns into the Oryx 500 as everyone takes off at the same time. I had a plan to hunt a group of hills 40 miles south of the gate where I had gone years ago with my son and a co-worker who both killed Oryx on the opening day. On the way south, traveling with a group of 6 other trucks we spotted a group of Oryx with one good cow, but one hunter already bailed out and was trying to get a shot so we just kept on driving. We got to where we planned to hunt and saddled up for the 1/2 mile hike back to the canyon where my son had taken his years ago. The Oryx on range get enough pressure that you don't find them near roads and have to be prepared to walk to find them. Unfortunately we did not see any, but did see plenty of sign. By the time we got back to the truck it was 2 PM. We decided to go further back in the hills thinking the Oryx might be further back and did find 2 big herds of 20 to 30 animals. But too many eyes busted me and the closest I could get was 450 yards and with a 20 mile an hour wind I passed on the shot. We started back to the gate, by now an hour and half drive, we did see one bunch of cows and brownies "young ones" which I did attempt a stock on, but a another hunter decided to stop on the road and watch the action and they were not going to set still for that and headed out. That was the end of day one. When we checked out we were told that only 5 Oryx had been checked out of a total of 60 tags "45 trophy and 15 broken horn". After a good nights sleep we were back at the gate at 6:15 AM waiting for the gate to open at 6:30. The Oryx we much harder to find second day. We finally found a lone cow and even though she was broke on both sides about half way up, I decided not to eat tag soup as you guys know Oryx is awesome, and the Pronghorn I had in the freezer from a hunt in October was running out. I decided to take her and got within 200 yards before she saw me and ran. I got one shot off and hit her right behind the shoulder "which is not the right place for an Oryx". Luckily as she was running away she gave me a quartering shot at 300 yards and I managed to put one in the boiler room and she went down immediately. I could have hunted one more day but winds were forecast to hit 50 miles per hour and as I live about 80 miles north of White Sand I can tell you that winds are hitting 40 MPH as I write this. Overall a great adventure I will apply again for the off range, and depredation hunts, as I would like to get one with 2 good horns. The game warden did tell me that the severe cold we had in 2011 caused many of the Oryx horns to get brittle and break off. Also the ears on many were frost bitten and they lost all or part of their ears. They call them Shrek Oryx and my cow did have part of both ears missing. All in all a great time. Now time to get ready for a Barbary sheep hunt "Aoudad in Texas but the same animal" coming up next month.

Great write up. Congrates on a successful hunt.

A free range Gemsbok is on my bucket list. I've been in the draw for too many years to count and never been drawn. The odds for non residents are terrible but I keep trying. Congrats on some fine table fare! Baker

Get with Mulie Mike. I went with him last year and got a dandy. This way you don't have to mess with the draw.

Thanks For the lead Erny

Cool hunt.

Great story! Thanks

I like your term, "Oryx 500." Years ago, when I drew in Rhodes Canyon, the jailbreak at the opening bell had to be seen to be believed.

Got a 35" male on the second day. Fun hunt!

Congrats! Beautiful animal