West Texas Aoudad with Ahrens Ranch & Wildlife

[inkedspot]

Just finished a spot and stalk Aoudad hunt around Shafter, TX with Ahrens Ranch and Wildlife. I will probably never be lucky enough to draw a bighorn tag (which hasn't stopped me from spending money on the attempts) but the itch of sheep hunts has taken hold and has to be scratched. I tried out Aoudad hunting before but it was a terrible experience with minimal sheep on a ranch and primarily hunting from a truck.

This hunt was a lot of driving into an area, glassing, and then hiking in to get into position to make an attempt on a sheep. Both myself and my hunting buddy were successful. It was good terrain with of mountain/hill/canyons with just enough chollo, tasajillo, ocatillo, prickly pear and other thorny vegetation to ensure you really better pay attention to where you were walking, crawling, or sitting. We got to enjoy seeing a lot of sheep and hiking up and down hills etc to sink the hook and want to go back.

Have a goat hunt in a couple of years, but this was definitely a great introduction into sheep hunting and definitely enough to want to start making more trips to chase after them. We saw a great big toad of a sheep on our last evening while looking at some new country - hopefully he will be there still the next chance I have to go back.

I have hunted with Calan before and his hunting style of spot and stalk really lines up if you want to chase after something outside of a truck seat. He made a huge effort to take care of us and make sure we were taken care of. Hopefully if somebody is looking for a good opportunity here in Texas this will be of use to you!

 

[CRJR45]

Nice ! Cool pictures , thanks for sharing .

 

[Scottf270]

Always good to hear about a good hunt and a quality outfitter.

 

[SCHUNTER73]

That looks like a great animal! Congrats. I’m headed to w Texas in Feb to chase them for the first time. I’m real excited about it.

 

[inkedspot]

That looks like a great animal! Congrats. I’m headed to w Texas in Feb to chase them for the first time. I’m real excited about it.

Good luck!! They sure do blend in out there. I am sure you will have a great time.

 

[inkedspot]

Second time I have hunted with him. Mid November will be much nicer temperature wise. I’m assuming you are going to the Livingston Ranch? Make sure you have trekking poles, good boots and gloves. Everything has a thorn on it. Good gaiters are a plus and or by then something like KUIU brush pants would be comfortable. Calan wore them while we were there but it was still pretty warm outside. I always have knee pads hunting and a sitting pad or kneeling pad. It will save you a lot of discomfort when you sneak in to an area and are glassing or waiting on a ram.

As long as you can still see your sheep, keep shooting. Two extra shots in the ass as it’s running away will save you a lot of work. I put 2 in mine back to back and as soon as he fell down put one more in for insurance. That was all inside 20 yards and we never had to go look for him. My buddy made one shot and watched him run off into the brush. We never saw him come out so we waited and walked down to search. It came back to life out of the brush and rocks and then 4 running shots later it finally went down.

 

[aoudad]

Beautiful country congratulations

 

[Marine4life]

Such a cool animal. Congratulations.


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[elkguide]

Beautiful. Congratulations.

 

[MikeSommers]

Looks like an awesome hunt. Congrats!

 

[Mike D Texas]

This is creeping up in my must do list.

Thanks for the info and congrats on a great sheep.


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[keller]

Have you tried the meat? I was I west texas last year and brought meat home

 

[TxxAgg]

Alright!

 

[ThatDUDE]

Thanks for the write up. This is one of my bucket list hunts.