DIY Texas Aoudad hunt

[schmalzy]

No dice, but had an excellent week. Hunted hard, covered a lot of ground, and enjoyed a week of solitude in a rugged place. I would definitely go again. Can honestly say just the pursuit was a blast.

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[Miflatlander91]

Did you just not find one you were looking for? I've been really interested in doing almost exactly this for awhile now

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[Joshf303*]

Update.

Got the 300wm set up for 200 eldx. Perceived recoil is honestly about the same as tikka, which was a pleasant surprise. Planning on spending some more time at the range over next couple weeks.

Fitness is where I want, gear is pretty much set. Finalizing Binos, bringing a leica 62 televid for a spotter.

For those that have hunted this ranch, did you find a lot of opportunities glassing from truck?

Reading and searching more for tactics.

Thanks for following along, and big thanks to all that have reached out with advice and information.


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There is plenty of opportunity to glass from the truck on the Van Horn. Pretty slim chance of seeing much of the few places that hold sheep though.

 

[schmalzy]

Did you just not find one you were looking for? I've been really interested in doing almost exactly this for awhile now

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Didn’t see anything. Hunted hard, hiked hard, and spent a lot of time behind glass. I’m by no means a highly skilled, experienced guy but feel pretty comfortable. Just wasn’t in the cards. I found some beds and scat at the end, just couldn’t get on them. A couple crazy windy days and a few factors outside my control.

I’d go again, had a great time. At the end of the day it’s a DIY hunt for an elusive animal. Mike with WTHO was cool and easy to deal with.

There’s more than a few other roksliders that have done this hunt successfully.


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[Gdharmon1]

So there’s a cancellation this September for a DIY on the lower van horn. Am I a sucker to book it? Will the heat be rough? It says it’s a rut hunt but I’m guessing they will be bedded all day. Any thoughts on taking the hunt would be greatly appreciated.

 

[S-3 ranch]

So there’s a cancellation this September for a DIY on the lower van horn. Am I a sucker to book it? Will the heat be rough? It says it’s a rut hunt but I’m guessing they will be bedded all day. Any thoughts on taking the hunt would be greatly appreciated.

Yes it will be very hot , October-December is the rut, , glass The shady areas and them moving to water and shade, in September van horn area sunset is super late
its almost in the MTZ, so hunt zero dark 30 am and 5- dark 30

 

[Gdharmon1]

Yes it will be very hot , October-December is the rut, , glass The shady areas and them moving to water and shade, in September van horn area sunset is super late
its almost in the MTZ, so hunt zero dark 30 am and 5- dark 30

Do you want to hunt some time out there and take a new sheep hunter out and show him the ropes?

 

[schmalzy]

So there’s a cancellation this September for a DIY on the lower van horn. Am I a sucker to book it? Will the heat be rough? It says it’s a rut hunt but I’m guessing they will be bedded all day. Any thoughts on taking the hunt would be greatly appreciated.

I’d go. Can’t find them sitting at the house.


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[S-3 ranch]

Do you want to hunt some time out there and take a new sheep hunter out and show him the ropes?

I’m usually game for a hunt and enjoy meeting new friends
how much does that ranch charge for a diy ?
I know of a place that’s guided that’s very reasonable the cowboys know where they’re at usually
PM me

 

[S-3 ranch]

So there’s a cancellation this September for a DIY on the lower van horn. Am I a sucker to book it? Will the heat be rough? It says it’s a rut hunt but I’m guessing they will be bedded all day. Any thoughts on taking the hunt would be greatly appreciated.

You better book this quick, I see they only have one spot left for diy 2023

 

[tkat]

Shoot me a PM and I'll give you a full run down on the Van Horn-- hunted the Feb hunt there with two buddies.... there is quite a bit of ground to cover but I'll send you some spots that would be the first places I would check out because of concentrations, otherwise you could spend days hiking what looks like sheepy areas.

The terrain is tough but the vegetation isn't bad unless you're down in the river and that isn't where the sheep are.

I used a .257wby which did the job fine with a 131gr @ 3300fps--- whichever rifle you are comfortable with out to 400yds is what I would bring.

You will absolutely need the best spotter and binos you can bring-- if we hadn't had my Kowa 774 I don't think we would've succeeded.

As for the austerity, there certainly is not the option to run back into town if you forget something so have lots of potable water, ice, etc. Cell service is very spotty but doable on the daily.

 

[ckuhasz]

Originally I wanted to break this up into sections covering prep, gear, the hunt, and then review, but will play it by ear on how the thread goes.

Physical Preparation:


I’m in relatively decent shape, 5’11 180 but want to dial it up before the hunt.

Currently lifting MWF and doing run/ruck TThS, with casual bike on Sunday. Will transition to lifting twice a week and replacing the third day with rucks. I live in Houston with very few places to “hike” so most of rucking is flat. Considering getting a box to step work with.

Hunt preparation:

Mike, the outfitter with WTHO, sent a ton of maps and GPS points for the ranch along with some areas to get started with. Duckhunter175 reached out and offered a ton of good advice and pointers from his hunt, as a number of others on this thread.

I plugged everything into onX and started digging through ranch and getting more familiar with the roads and topography. Still working through it all and will be continuing.

Two months out, so have a little time but it’s creeping up quick.


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Fellow Houstonian here.

This is definitely a hunt I've been interested in myself. Any training pointers, specifically to Houston, that you thought helped you in your preparation that'd you be willing to share?

You happen to still be in Houston?

 

[schmalzy]

Fellow Houstonian here.

This is definitely a hunt I've been interested in myself. Any training pointers, specifically to Houston, that you thought helped you in your preparation that'd you be willing to share?

You happen to still be in Houston?

I think as long as you’re in reasonable cardio shape and get some rucking in you’ll be fine. It’s a physical hunt but not horrible.

Specific to Houston, I’d find some parking garages and stairwells and ruck with those.

I moved out west but still back in Houston about once a month. Shoot me a pm with any other questions.


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[tkat]

Shoot me a PM and I'll give you a full run down on the Van Horn-- hunted the Feb hunt there with two buddies.... there is quite a bit of ground to cover but I'll send you some spots that would be the first places I would check out because of concentrations, otherwise you could spend days hiking what looks like sheepy areas.

The terrain is tough but the vegetation isn't bad unless you're down in the river and that isn't where the sheep are.

I used a .257wby which did the job fine with a 131gr @ 3300fps--- whichever rifle you are comfortable with out to 400yds is what I would bring.

You will absolutely need the best spotter and binos you can bring-- if we hadn't had my Kowa 774 I don't think we would've succeeded.

As for the austerity, there certainly is not the option to run back into town if you forget something so have lots of potable water, ice, etc. Cell service is very spotty but doable on the daily.

Hey, I plan on doing this hunt next year in November and would appreciate any advice you have on that area and the animals there.