I've heard tales of free-ranging nilgai living on the north shore of Copano Bay, and as of late I've been flying pipeline patrol in Refugio and Aransas Counties. I was returning to Refugio from Copano Bay on Monday, flying along very low because of the low clouds and visibility, and come upon a mature, nilgai bull on a caliche road adding to a dung pile. The location was a low fenced ranch about 5 miles ESE of Refugio.

I wonder if they have made it to Aransas NWR yet. Powderhorn WMA, Guadalupe Delta WMA, Mad Island all could be populated next. I'm not sure what the environmental impact would be but I would be excited to have some hunting opportunities. Hopefully they won't bring in the helicopters like the Feds did at LANWR.

I live on the South side of Copano Bay, I've never heard of them in our area but if I ever see one on my ground the freezer's gonna get packed. I've seen them free ranging South of me plenty, but never this far North. Awesome.

A biologist with the State, not TPWD, asked me to watch for them knowing that my occupation would put me in a good position to eventually see them. I suspect that if they arrived on the Aransas NWR, they would be killed from helicopters. It seems that this area is about as far north as they can survive. The occasional severe winter will kill them. It is rumored that large low fence ranches have released them, but I don't buy it.

First and foremost, Refugio County is beef country, and the large landowners are not going to do anything to jeopardize what they consider as their way of life. I'm more inclined to believe they came up the intercoastal. I've spent a lot of low altitude time in the air from the Aransas NWR all the way down to the Port of Brownsville, since, 1975, and I would not be able to count the times I've seen these critters swimming between the mainland and the various barrier islands. I've also seen plenty of whitetails and coyotes doing the same, buy far the nilgai have challenged the largest water gaps with coyotes second. I've seen nilgai in the water as far north as Flour Bluff.

For the Aransas hunters, it remains completely saturated with water, with many of the roads used in the hunting season underwater. It is at a point that a ¼" of rain will put a thousand acres or better underwater. Same can be said for Refugio County east of US77. It is going to be a heck of a year for mosquitos!