USA: Texas Aoudad At Rockin G Ranch

Patton63

AH veteran
Joined
Oct 24, 2016
Messages
140
Reaction score
222
Location
North America
Media
18
Hunting reports
Africa
2
USA/Canada
1
Christmas came early for me in the form of a three day father/son Aoudad hunt at the Rockin G Ranch. This was my first hunt with Erik, but surely won’t be my last.

There are a lot of factors that go into whether a hunt is successful or not. For me, that includes principally the people with whom I hunt. It was instantly clear that Erik and Justin - his lead guide - are good people. They treat you like family and, inportantly to me, took time and great care in talking with my son. They are true professionals who are committed to the hunt and giving their clients the best chance possible to get on an animal.

The ranch where you stay is very comfortable. The food is delicious and plentiful, and neither Erik nor Justin will leave you wanting for anything.

The hunt itself was hard. The terrain consists of rolling hills bisected by a series of draws and ravines. If you are going after Aoudad, you spend your days trekking up and down those draws and covering miles of ground. We had a number of stalks where we would see ewes but no shooters. We had a few stalks where we chased rams over long distances, but either lost them or decided that they were not what we were looking for. (Erik and Justin will not push you to take an animal. It has to be mature and has to fit within what the hunter is looking for).

On day one, we had winds in the 25-30 mph range, so most animals were bedded down out of the wind. We spent the day putting on some miles to get a sense of the property and see what we could find. We had a fleeting glimpse of a massive Aoudad Ram as he busted out of a draw. So, we knew they shooters were there.

On the afternoon of the second day, my son and I split up. Erik and I were glassing a draw and came across one of the two hogs that he has been looking to take off the ranch for a couple years. Always willing to perform a public service, I was happy to help remove the pig.

2DE8A945-E2A7-4369-ABCB-C86BCACF5C41.jpeg


Later that afternoon, my Justin and my son tracked down a group of shooter rams and put on a successful stalk. My son ended up taking his first auoudad Ram. The shot was 237 yards off of shooting sticks 12” bases and 33” in length - a pure monster.
D97CFB66-5706-48E4-A754-BC440709E4EF.jpeg
I could not be more proud of what he and Justin were able to get done.

The pressure was now on me to get it done. The morning of day 3 passed without a shot. At one point, I had a Ram in my scope, but Justin pulled me off, thinking we could do better. We pushed through the day and, as it so often happens, we’re facing the last hour of the last day. We had glasses and stalked the draws on one side of the property for hours. Trusting their gut, Erik and Justin decided we should move to the other side of the property and see if we could push something. As we drove into the area, we spotted a group of Aoudad ewes and rams. We stalked in slowly, saw some shooters, and the chase was on - literally. The sheep busted us and took off. We ended up sprinting after them, finding them in clearings, having them move on, and running after them again. After about a mile, we found the group coming up the side of a draw. I was able to get on the sticks and heard Jusitin say - “the middle one - take him.” Beautiful words indeed. So, with my heart pounding, trying to catch my breath, and hoping not to screw up all of the hard work we had just put in, I settled the crosshairs and took a shot.

46646B7D-0948-4195-B493-5CE45C47993A.jpeg


I could not have asked for a better experience. Three days with my son and two great guys, who I now consider friends. The hunt was hard, fair, and exactly what I hoped we would get.

Happy holidays to everyone. Thank you for indulging a proud dad and his story.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Some hellacious trophies and fun hunting with your son to boot. Congrats on your "Santa" provided hunt. That pig is no slouch either.
 
Thank y’all so much. We had an absolute blast and we are honored to have had the opportunity to hunt with y’all and call y’all our friends.
Y’all I gotta give a shout out to both he and Mason. These guys came prepared and ready to work. We put in A hellava lot of miles and these dudes worked their butts off. They also put in all the trigger time needed before hand and are absolutely excellent marksmen.
 
gizmo, and what else would you expect from an AH member?? Nice guys & good shots, that is what this forum is all about!!!
True that
 
Great hunt at a very special place as you got to experience! Congratulations to all & Merry Christmas
 
Always nice when a plan comes together.
 
Congrats to all.
 
I don't know about the good shots but there are some real good guys on this site MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
 
Oh wow, congrats and thanks for sharing!
 
Father and son hunt...awesome!
Dad, you should be proud of that son doing so well...237 yards off sticks...excellent!
And son, your “old man” did great as well! A fine example for you to follow!
May you two have many many more adventures together!

Thanks for sharing a grand Texas hunt!
 
Thanks for sharing your hunt with us. Looks like some excellent trophies. Good shooting too. Its a lot of fun to be able to hunt with your son. Congrats
Bruce
 
Well done on both sides.

One day . . .
 
Patton..................thanks for the report................enjoyed it very much. You said so many nice things about Erik that I'm afraid the man I know has been replaced by a body-double:LOL:............very nice aoudad in the pics....hard to go wrong at the Rockin G.......FWB
 
Congratulations on a successful hunt, They broke the mold when they created Gizmo, a good guy for sure and the G is a great place!
 
Patton..................thanks for the report................enjoyed it very much. You said so many nice things about Erik that I'm afraid the man I know has been replaced by a body-double:LOL:............very nice aoudad in the pics....hard to go wrong at the Rockin G.......FWB
Bill, I think you may be right. :ROFLMAO: Erick, it seems like things are coming together with your second career. Happy for you my friend.
 
Thank you for all the kind words. Y’all are making me blush and going to give people the wrong impression that I’m a nice guy. :X3:
 

Forum statistics

Threads
53,619
Messages
1,131,301
Members
92,675
Latest member
jhonmark007
 

 

 

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Impact shots from the last hunt

Early morning Impala hunt, previous link was wrong video

Headshot on jackal this morning

Mature Eland Bull taken in Tanzania, at 100 yards, with 375 H&H, 300gr, Federal Premium Expanding bullet.

20231012_145809~2.jpg
 
Top