Well, 223 Works on NM Barbary, Too!

[Kenny Hart]

Florida Man here who drew his first western hunting tag for Aoudad / Barbary Sheep in NM, I just got back last weekend.

A LOT of footwork put me into some sheep over the course of the week, and I shot my ram the morning of the 5th day of the hunt, 7th day I was out there.

Glassed up a couple rams about a mile away closer to what I estimate to be the 25" mark a couple days earlier, but they were cruising with a band of smaller rams across a small portion of public. Went after them but I lost them in some draws and just couldn't catch up for a shot before they crossed the property line. Those suckers are fast when they have somewhere they wanna be, they just cruise at what looked to be a pretty brisk human walking pace!

For an east coaster flying out west solo to brand new game, topography, and environment, I couldn't be happier. Especially since I was finally able to squeeze a 3/4" cactus spine out of my left knee last night that's been plaguing me since the first morning

 

[Edge]

Congratulations, well done!

 

[Fatcamp]

Very nice!

Cactus is the great equalizer.

 

[AZ_Hunter]

Awesome. Nice work.

77 TMK? What range and how did he react?

It’s Rokslide, we need details! Haha

 

[dwhite0622]

Sweet ram. Congrats! Looks like the weather was pretty decent for the hunt.

 

[Kenny Hart]

Congratulations, well done!

Thank you, sir!

 

[Kenny Hart]

Very nice!

Cactus is the great equalizer.

You're not kidding! We have it here in FL, but not nearly as much and grows much closer to the ground.

I brought a pair of Listo snake gaiters and wore them 100% of the time just for cactus, though they come in handy for all the pygmies and cottonmouths we have at home. Expensive, but aside from my phone and rifle, probably the most clutch piece of gear I had!

 

[Kenny Hart]

Now if I gave all the deets up front, you guys would have no reason to respond in the convo

Yes, 77gr TMK, I shot him at 285 across the draw. He basically bailed off the rocks he was standing on to the ones a level below him and stood there all wobbly and unable to run. He was finished and about ready to topple, but I'm a believer in follow-up shots when offered, and put another one in at the base of his neck on his opposite side and he crumpled.

The second ram actually trotted about 40 yards, stopped and looked around, then at the second shot trotted all the way around and stood broadside 50 yards in front of me for a minute before deciding it was time to head out. I started hunting suppressed a decade ago and at this point would never hunt without one.

I wipe off blood with wet wipes and clean up my trophy pics, but you can see the little blood spot on the shoulder where the bullet hit. Here's what the entry wound into the chest cavity looked like once I took the front shoulder off:



I've been using TMKs for whitetail the past couple seasons, and my 7yo daughter killed her first buck in December with one. I'm absolutely a convert and believer, having hunted the previous 15 years with bonded 308's. The bullet is just devastating to internal organs. There's definitely a reduction in impact force, but the wound channel through the body cavity is similar.

My daughter's buck sprinted to the treeline and crashed another 30 yards down the side of the mountain, leaving a blood and running trail that she was able to follow entirely unaided at near-walking pace in the dark right up to him.

 

[NWBLKTAIL]

that sounds like it was a good hunt, nice work and setup

 

[Kenny Hart]

Sweet ram. Congrats! Looks like the weather was pretty decent for the hunt.

Appreciate it!

It was much nicer than anticipated. Got pretty cold at night, so I slept like a baby in my tent. After the weekend was actually fairly warm in the middle of the day, in the 80's. Nice and sunny, no nasty weather or crazy wind.

Not sure if I got lucky, or that's just typical NM in February.