Hi everyone, it's been a minute since I've posted on here. I'm just returning home from the King Ranch for a Nilgai hunt. This has a bit of a story to it. For starters, last year was a very chaotic year with the loss of two very important family members, estate business, and all of that fun stuff. My uncle that passed was a life long hunter and someone I always enjoyed hunting with, along with my dad. He had been excited for my Nilgai hunt and would frequently send me things he felt i would need on the hunt, for better or worse hahah. Prior to all of that happening, I had booked a hunt almost 2 years ago with my good hunting buddy, Caleb, for Nilgai at King Ranch in Texas on 3/24/23 and 3/25/23. After the events of last year, what a welcome relief this trip was! We decided to drive down from Pennsylvania, with a small trailer in tow. We were bound and determined to have a successful hunt and return home with the highly praised Nilgai meat. We left at midnight on 3/22 to make the 25 hour drive to Texas. Our drive down was thankfully uneventful! We settled into the hotel room and were ready to hunt hard over the next two days. We flipped a coin and Caleb won the toss for hunting first. We met our guide, Jimmy at the gate of Norias division bright and early Friday morning. We were immediately taken aback by the sheer size of this part of the ranch. We took the long ride back to HQ to fill out paperwork. The day started overcast, and not too hot. We got our gear around, I brought my Mauser M12 in 338 win mag loaded with 225gr Barnes TTSX's for the hunt. I've been looking forward to getting that rifle out in the field. We hopped into the truck and were off. We saw several javelina, wild hog, and several Nilgai on our way back to the first area we were going to work.
I was completely amazed by the size of the Nilga, and by how "switched on" they always seemed to be. We hopped out of the truck and started to take a walk and see what we could see. We bumped a couple cows and coyotes, but that was about it. We made several more stalks, but to no avail. Jimmy worked his tail off for us and we regrouped before lunch. He sat us down at a watering hole to try to catch one coming in to drink in the sweltering midday sun. The breeze had died off and it was around 99 degrees. We saw two scimitar horned oryx come in to drink and a few hogs wallowing, but no nilgai other than a small bull we booted coming up to the watering hole.
We broke for lunch, and us northern boys were really starting to feel the heat. After lunch we came up with a plan for the afternoon. We headed to an area that they did a controlled burn on to see what we could see. We saw a large bull milling about in the middle of the road around 300 yards away as he made his way into the brush. We stopped the truck to make a stalk. We crept through the sparse brush for about an hour in hopes of catching up with the bull. The wind was minimal, but was in our favor. We were really feeling the collective effects of the heat at this point. We were in a pretty open field with some brush cover about 100 yards in front of us when seemingly out of the blue, a very large bull stepped out. Jimmy had us drop down low as he set up the sticks for Caleb. The nilgai seemed to be curious as he slowly was walking towards us. Caleb took careful aim and broke his shot on the bull. It reared up and fell over stone dead. We were ecstatic that the bull was anchored right there. Upon approaching the bull, we realized Caleb shot a monster, old bull with 9" horns approaching, if not at 500 pounds.
Caleb and his bull.
Jimmy brought the truck back and we hopped in to get cooled down and get some much needed water. We field dressed the bull and got it loaded into the truck to take back to camp. This was around 4:00 and we still had plenty of daylight left. Jimmy let us get started on hunting for my bull. After the hard hunting of the morning and afternoon, I wasn't sure how much gas I had left in the tank, but after Caleb's bull, I was pumped up and ready to go. After gorging on some more water, we headed back out in the truck. The temp was coming down a bit to the low 90's and boy what a difference that was! We were heading to a different area when Jimmy spotted a nice bull grazing in a field 200 yards ahead. We did not startle the bull, so we backed off around a bend, got out, and started a stalk. We had the wind perfect for our approach. Jimmy set me up on the sticks at about 100 yards. The bull was behind some scrub brush so I had plenty of time to prepare for the shot. Then we notice another bull, about 100 yards behind the first one staring us down. I was nervous we would get busted, but he could not figure out what the heck we were with the cover around us. A third, smaller bull came out and was milling about as well. Jimmy said the one bull behind the bush was older, and the one that was behind him was younger, but a little bigger. I opted to take the older, mature warrior. After what felt like an eternity of this bull milling about behind the brush, he finally stepped out. As i was preparing to take the shot, the small bull stepped right behind the bull I was after. More waiting. Once the young bull cleared, I settled into the rifle, snicked the safety off and prepared to squeeze the trigger. The shot broke and hit the bull broadside right on the shoulder. He dropped like he was hit by lightning and did not take a single step. I reloaded and stayed on the bull until Jimmy gave the all clear. We were in awe (and very thankful) that both bulls dropped immediately with no tracking required. We approached my bull and i was overjoyed. I have no doubts my uncle gave me some help from above on this one, then again he was probably having a good laugh at my expense in the sweltering heat
.
Me with my bull and our guide Jimmy after a long, hard day of hunting.
We got my bull field dressed and loaded into the truck to head back to camp at around 6:30. We had another day of hunting to take hogs or any other species we wanted, but thankfully the pressure was off for Nilgai. On our way back to camp, we spotted a good sized javelina on the side of the road. We stopped, got out of the truck, and Caleb made a quick stalk and dropped the hammer on a 60 pound javelina
We loaded the javelina, hopped back in the truck, and talked about wanting to take some wild hogs if possible as well. As luck would have it, we drove another few hundred yards and Jimmy spotted a large hot in a field at around 70 yards. I hopped out of the truck, rested across the hood and took a quartering away shot and dropped him stone dead. He has some great cutters on him and will make a spectacular euro mount.
Our luck had changed dramatically from the morning, to pretty much tagging out in the span of 3 hours! We decided to take the next day (Saturday) to process our Nilgai, javelina, and hog in preparation for our journey back home. We met in the morning and got to work. We got everything caped, boned out, and in our coolers by 1:30. We decided to make the 25 hour drive for home that afternoon, rather than waiting till Sunday morning and boy am I glad we made that call.... We got the bill squared up with Jimmy and made the long drive to the front gate and 25 hours north to home. We were back home by 6:00 on Sunday and took Monday to process and grind our nilgai. I cannot wait to taste the nilgai steaks and tenderloins! We also made a good portion for burger, and got a couple roasts. My dad has hunted deer all his life and was amazed by the size of these animals and the handful upon handful of meat we pulled from our game bags hahah. Now I have the time to sit down and type this. This was an outstanding experience at King Ranch and Jimmy was a rockstar of a guide to have. I had high hopes, but realistic expectations for this hunt but they were all exceeded in every way. After a fantastic trip full of memories, I'm not quite ready to go back to work tomorrow!! Thanks for stopping by and reading my hunting story!
Voodoo
I was completely amazed by the size of the Nilga, and by how "switched on" they always seemed to be. We hopped out of the truck and started to take a walk and see what we could see. We bumped a couple cows and coyotes, but that was about it. We made several more stalks, but to no avail. Jimmy worked his tail off for us and we regrouped before lunch. He sat us down at a watering hole to try to catch one coming in to drink in the sweltering midday sun. The breeze had died off and it was around 99 degrees. We saw two scimitar horned oryx come in to drink and a few hogs wallowing, but no nilgai other than a small bull we booted coming up to the watering hole.
We broke for lunch, and us northern boys were really starting to feel the heat. After lunch we came up with a plan for the afternoon. We headed to an area that they did a controlled burn on to see what we could see. We saw a large bull milling about in the middle of the road around 300 yards away as he made his way into the brush. We stopped the truck to make a stalk. We crept through the sparse brush for about an hour in hopes of catching up with the bull. The wind was minimal, but was in our favor. We were really feeling the collective effects of the heat at this point. We were in a pretty open field with some brush cover about 100 yards in front of us when seemingly out of the blue, a very large bull stepped out. Jimmy had us drop down low as he set up the sticks for Caleb. The nilgai seemed to be curious as he slowly was walking towards us. Caleb took careful aim and broke his shot on the bull. It reared up and fell over stone dead. We were ecstatic that the bull was anchored right there. Upon approaching the bull, we realized Caleb shot a monster, old bull with 9" horns approaching, if not at 500 pounds.
Caleb and his bull.
Jimmy brought the truck back and we hopped in to get cooled down and get some much needed water. We field dressed the bull and got it loaded into the truck to take back to camp. This was around 4:00 and we still had plenty of daylight left. Jimmy let us get started on hunting for my bull. After the hard hunting of the morning and afternoon, I wasn't sure how much gas I had left in the tank, but after Caleb's bull, I was pumped up and ready to go. After gorging on some more water, we headed back out in the truck. The temp was coming down a bit to the low 90's and boy what a difference that was! We were heading to a different area when Jimmy spotted a nice bull grazing in a field 200 yards ahead. We did not startle the bull, so we backed off around a bend, got out, and started a stalk. We had the wind perfect for our approach. Jimmy set me up on the sticks at about 100 yards. The bull was behind some scrub brush so I had plenty of time to prepare for the shot. Then we notice another bull, about 100 yards behind the first one staring us down. I was nervous we would get busted, but he could not figure out what the heck we were with the cover around us. A third, smaller bull came out and was milling about as well. Jimmy said the one bull behind the bush was older, and the one that was behind him was younger, but a little bigger. I opted to take the older, mature warrior. After what felt like an eternity of this bull milling about behind the brush, he finally stepped out. As i was preparing to take the shot, the small bull stepped right behind the bull I was after. More waiting. Once the young bull cleared, I settled into the rifle, snicked the safety off and prepared to squeeze the trigger. The shot broke and hit the bull broadside right on the shoulder. He dropped like he was hit by lightning and did not take a single step. I reloaded and stayed on the bull until Jimmy gave the all clear. We were in awe (and very thankful) that both bulls dropped immediately with no tracking required. We approached my bull and i was overjoyed. I have no doubts my uncle gave me some help from above on this one, then again he was probably having a good laugh at my expense in the sweltering heat
. Me with my bull and our guide Jimmy after a long, hard day of hunting.
We got my bull field dressed and loaded into the truck to head back to camp at around 6:30. We had another day of hunting to take hogs or any other species we wanted, but thankfully the pressure was off for Nilgai. On our way back to camp, we spotted a good sized javelina on the side of the road. We stopped, got out of the truck, and Caleb made a quick stalk and dropped the hammer on a 60 pound javelina
We loaded the javelina, hopped back in the truck, and talked about wanting to take some wild hogs if possible as well. As luck would have it, we drove another few hundred yards and Jimmy spotted a large hot in a field at around 70 yards. I hopped out of the truck, rested across the hood and took a quartering away shot and dropped him stone dead. He has some great cutters on him and will make a spectacular euro mount.
Our luck had changed dramatically from the morning, to pretty much tagging out in the span of 3 hours! We decided to take the next day (Saturday) to process our Nilgai, javelina, and hog in preparation for our journey back home. We met in the morning and got to work. We got everything caped, boned out, and in our coolers by 1:30. We decided to make the 25 hour drive for home that afternoon, rather than waiting till Sunday morning and boy am I glad we made that call.... We got the bill squared up with Jimmy and made the long drive to the front gate and 25 hours north to home. We were back home by 6:00 on Sunday and took Monday to process and grind our nilgai. I cannot wait to taste the nilgai steaks and tenderloins! We also made a good portion for burger, and got a couple roasts. My dad has hunted deer all his life and was amazed by the size of these animals and the handful upon handful of meat we pulled from our game bags hahah. Now I have the time to sit down and type this. This was an outstanding experience at King Ranch and Jimmy was a rockstar of a guide to have. I had high hopes, but realistic expectations for this hunt but they were all exceeded in every way. After a fantastic trip full of memories, I'm not quite ready to go back to work tomorrow!! Thanks for stopping by and reading my hunting story!
Voodoo
