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Devils river del norte aoudad #8085448 12/11/20 07:26 PM
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Hunter307 Offline OP
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I drew a devils river exotic hunt for this coming January. I drew and shot a decent ram at PD canyon in 2017. I Also live and hunt in Wyoming (native Texan) so I usually hunt spot and stalk in the west.

Is there any advice those who have been on this hunt would care to provide? Feel free to private message me. Anything like how much fuel you brought, water etc. I've already reserved a camping spot (bringing a canvas tent)

I called the and spoke with staff on site already, but I'm trying to gather as much info as possible.



Also if anyone wants advice for PD canyon feel free to PM me.

Last edited by Hunter307; 12/11/20 07:54 PM.
Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8085552 12/11/20 08:44 PM
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Call the WMA and reserve a bunk in bunkhouse. Full amenities kitchen to cook in and hot showers. Get I the rough country and stay all day. I killed 4 aoudad a d 2 Corsican there on a hunt. One hunter scored a 33” beast.

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8086009 12/12/20 01:23 AM
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Agree 100% with wtjim. It gets cold and you will be more comfortable in bunkhouse. I don’t think there are any bad units. We shot 2 auodads the first day right when we started and right off the road. Bring everything you will need and don’t plan on leaving the unit until the hunt is over. You won the lottery. Definitely one of the best draw hunts. Aoudads move all day too


Jason
Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8086035 12/12/20 01:40 AM
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Hunter307 Offline OP
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How cold are we talking? Certainly not below zero right?

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8086652 12/12/20 05:19 PM
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MarkE Offline
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Which hunt? I drew the January 15th hunt.

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8086850 12/12/20 08:48 PM
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I believe our hunt dates are 22-25th, we're getting there a day early since we're driving from Wyoming (time to rest)

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8087358 12/13/20 04:21 AM
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Lookup the McKenna Ranch for lodging. Its within 20-30 mins away of the park. That's where I'll be staying during my hunt. I've never been there, but it looks like a nice place; beats primitive camping anyway.
I've bow hunted a neighboring ranch and have shot a handful of ewes. There are a TON of aoudad in that country.

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: MarkE] #8087455 12/13/20 12:56 PM
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Oh, bunkhouse has been closed and will remain closed due to covid.

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8087855 12/13/20 06:40 PM
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Not too worried about camping. Heck at least we're going to be able to bring more gear than what we can carry on our backs, which is usually how I hunt. It will be pretty luxurious.

Glad to hear sheep numbers are high. From what I understand the axis deer are almost nonexistent

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8087867 12/13/20 06:55 PM
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Congratulations on the draw. Never been so no help.

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8088098 12/13/20 10:26 PM
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Good luck sir

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: MarkE] #8096321 12/20/20 03:28 AM
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Originally Posted by MarkE
Oh, bunkhouse has been closed and will remain closed due to covid.

That sucks, they could have let the first group that called use it at least. Its desert, dry air, it gets cold at night but nothing ridiculous and might be 80 degrees by 3pm the next day.

Last edited by Lone_Wolf; 12/20/20 03:30 AM.
Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Lone_Wolf] #8125773 01/12/21 02:01 AM
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Did anyone get drawn for this weekend's hunt? I did a little scouting a couple weeks ago and found 3 groups; about 30 total. One group had a nice ram or two I didn't see anything else other than whitetail. The road to the park is just as rough as advertised.

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: MarkE] #8133221 01/18/21 04:47 AM
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Originally Posted by MarkE
Did anyone get drawn for this weekend's hunt? I did a little scouting a couple weeks ago and found 3 groups; about 30 total. One group had a nice ram or two I didn't see anything else other than whitetail. The road to the park is just as rough as advertised.


Scouting is kinda pointless since they won't let you choose your compartment

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Lone_Wolf] #8134071 01/18/21 09:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Lone_Wolf
Originally Posted by MarkE
Did anyone get drawn for this weekend's hunt? I did a little scouting a couple weeks ago and found 3 groups; about 30 total. One group had a nice ram or two I didn't see anything else other than whitetail. The road to the park is just as rough as advertised.


Scouting is kinda pointless since they won't let you choose your compartment


I don't know if Devils River allows it, but most of the drawn hunts will let you request a compartment change after the first day. I have killed trophy exotics on two past drawn hunts this way. One I requested a move to a compartment I had spent two days scouting and shot my ram right were I saw him during my scouting days. The other kill I had actually made two compartment moves as compartments came open due to other hunters going home. It finally got me into the area where I knew most of my target animals were located. Even if you only get to see the lay of the land, the habitat, how the animals move on the area, what they are feeding on, gear you need for the hunt that you would not have thought of otherwise, etc. scouting will increase your success greatly even if they give you a different compartment. Less so if hunt is by assigned blind of course. I got nothing for you Hunter, but sounds like your doing it right. Good luck.

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Sniper John] #8134505 01/19/21 02:39 AM
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Originally Posted by Sniper John
Even if you only get to see the lay of the land, the habitat, how the animals move on the area, what they are feeding on, gear you need for the hunt that you would not have thought of otherwise, etc. scouting will increase your success greatly even if they give you a different compartment. Less so if hunt is by assigned blind of course. I got nothing for you Hunter, but sounds like your doing it right. Good luck.


Ditto.

I didn't choose my compartment, but I learned a lot scouting and learning the area better. I ended up taking 11 ewes and 6 rams. The biggest was 29".

Last edited by MarkE; 01/19/21 02:41 AM.
Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: MarkE] #8135806 01/20/21 01:02 AM
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Originally Posted by MarkE
Originally Posted by Sniper John
Even if you only get to see the lay of the land, the habitat, how the animals move on the area, what they are feeding on, gear you need for the hunt that you would not have thought of otherwise, etc. scouting will increase your success greatly even if they give you a different compartment. Less so if hunt is by assigned blind of course. I got nothing for you Hunter, but sounds like your doing it right. Good luck.


Ditto.

I didn't choose my compartment, but I learned a lot scouting and learning the area better. I ended up taking 11 ewes and 6 rams. The biggest was 29".


Thanks for the update. Sounds like you did great, congratulations!

I'm doing final packing now, and heading out tomorrow morning...its a long drive from Wyoming. Double what we did for PD canyon. But I want a 30" ram bad! Lol

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8135858 01/20/21 01:34 AM
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There were two 30"+ rams taken during the prior hunt.

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8144265 01/26/21 07:24 PM
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We had a great hunt. We hunted every chance we could, caught some bad breaks with the weather on the two full days of hunting (fogged in until 10am Saturday and mist and fog until 3pm sunday). The two guys that hunted with me shot a 30" and 29" rams (I'll take credit for spotting them lol) both at about 660yds. I missed a decent ram (guessing 26ish) the last morning at 500....about 4 inches right over his back.

All together we killed 5 rams and 3 ewes.

I'd suggest using 12 power binoculars and definitely have a spotting scope. I used tract toric 12.5x50 binos, my buddies had swaro 12x binos and swaro 65mm spotter, vortex razor 10x binos and a razor spotter. We were heavy on glass and it proved to be worth it. Also we were lucky enough to draw a great compartment, but I think there are good rams in every compartment.

If anyone has questions or needs advice from logistics to hunt strategy pm me.

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8144478 01/26/21 10:03 PM
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Please post pictures! 30" rams are awesome.

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8145593 01/27/21 05:49 PM
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What unit did you hunt? I hunted unit 7.

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8145854 01/27/21 09:05 PM
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11 and 9

Just had some aoudad tacos, tasted great

Last edited by Hunter307; 01/27/21 09:11 PM.
Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Hunter307] #8150509 02/01/21 12:00 AM
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Originally Posted by Hunter307
11 and 9

Just had some aoudad tacos, tasted great


Did you crock pot the meat ? I hear it’s tough

Re: Devils river del norte aoudad [Re: Biscuit] #8150604 02/01/21 01:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Biscuit
Originally Posted by Hunter307
11 and 9

Just had some aoudad tacos, tasted great


Did you crock pot the meat ? I hear it’s tough


Nope, just cooked it on the pellet grill on high. Had a steak last night, amazingly tender and delicious.

I think most folks write the meat off as nasty because they don't want to deal with it.

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