West Texas DIY Auodad Hunt

[Remington23]

Sitka subalpine is fine.
Yes it’s similar to mule deer a lot of spot and stalk so spotting scope and good Binos and good range finder. You’ll be hunting post rut so big rams will be harder to find. I’ve shot them with anything from 6.5 creedmore up to .338 lapua but I typically carry a .308. With the .308 I’ve shot them from 80yds to 700yds...average distance of 300...so know your dope...and how to read the wind.

Make sure you’ve got a spare tire/compressor for your UTV.

If it’s hot they’ll bed in the afternoons up high under a tree or on a shady cliff face and they bed up high usually on top at night. During the day you can find them anywhere sometimes low going to water sometimes on cliff faces or up on top grazing. They’ve got great senses so the wind will be huge in your approach.

When you shoot one, shoot it low through the front shoulder so at the very least you take out it’s running gear and it won’t go uphill. If you don’t get the vitals they will run forever so get as much lead in it as you can as fast as possible.

Here’s our last weekend haul of 30+” rams. Good luck!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just trying to add so I can post in classifieds

 

[Kountry Biscuit]

Good afternoon, Fellas.

I have the opportunity to hunt a several thousand acres of mixed desert/mountainous terrain in West Texas near Del Rio. I can go basically anytime between December 1 - late February. Here's the deal...

I've never hunted sheep before. There is a ton of information on here and I appreciate all of the advice that's been given. For anyone who has had success hunting auodad in this area, do you have any advice? I'll be running the same sitka subalpine gear I use for elk, so I'm not so concerned there. However......

• Should I hunt them like I would a mule deer or elk?
• When do they typically bed down? Should I hunt them on the move or bedded? When should I be active and when should I be glassing?
• I understand that sight and smell will get me busted. Any advice on navigation these?
• I expect most of my shots to be in the 200-500 yard range. I plan to use a 6.5 CM and 140 gr Nosler Accubond. This has done well on elk and mule deer, need I be worried? I can also run a 7mag at the expense of more weight.
• I will have access to a cabin and will be driving from Lubbock. I can load and take all the gear I want. I'll also take my UTV to handle the drive in/pack outs every day. Aside from the items below, can you recommend any other necessary equipment to help success/comfort?
  • 10x50 binos
  • Spotting Scope
  • Shooting sticks
  • Something to sit on
  • Day pack
• Thermals have always been the make it/break it for elk in Colorado and NM. Should I expect the same from sheep?

I'll take any and all advice you folks can give. I want to make this one count! Thank you ahead of time.

Can you provide feedback on your hunt? I hunt aoudad in West Texas every year. Curious about your experience.

 

[loadsandlattes]

Sure man, i'd be happy to!

It was a pretty awesome time, and about what I expected. We hunted hard for several days, arriving on a Thursday afternoon and leaving the following Monday afternoon. Couple of takeaways:

• I spent ~5 hours a day glassing. We saw sheep the first evening, and then not again until Monday morning. Tripod & 10x50's were my go-to and I'm glad I had the tripod, would have been miserable otherwise. That said, we did see a ridiculous amount of turkey and axis
• I need a glassing seat. Just a foam pad would have made a big difference
• Exo 3500 was perfect for the trip. We had a cabin, so that pack was the right size for our little day trips.
• SxS was the real MVP. We drove several miles a day from point to point, none of which would I have wanted to take my Tundra through. From there we would hike 1/4-2 miles in to various hot spots, glassing spots, bottoms, peaks, etc.
• Kennetek boots were also fantastic. I would recommend them to anyone who likes a higher top and stiff sole, but would strongly recommend breaking them in properly before anything adventurous
• I ended up going with 7mag

All in all, it was a great time. I learned a lot about that country and had a blast with my buddy glassing and just general BS'ing and drinking a couple of beers at camp. I ended up stumbling on a decent 27" ram the last morning of the hunt about an hour into the day while side-hilling.

He was headed up the hill opposite the ravine and I caught his movement. We stopped, got comfortable, and watched him make his way up for about 15 minutes. I had to decide if I was going to take him or not, but this was the last day of the hunt and being that I hadn't seen any other rams aside from him since three days previous, it was a pretty easy decision to make.

He ended up finding a small flat(ish) spot to bed down quartering away from us. We snuck around the hill to about 160 yards, sat down and sent it off some shooting sticks. Shot was about as good as it gets, went in behind the front shoulder and stopped inside against the other shoulder. He jumped up, took about 10 steps, went head first into a cedar tree and fell right back down to his bed.

We had a fireball shot waiting for everything to settle down, then made our way downhill across the ravine, and back up the next hill. Its was much steeper than we anticipated and dense with brush, and miserable to get to. Took us about 45 minutes to cape him out and get back on the trail for the 1.5 mile hike back to the UTV.

 

[Kountry Biscuit]

Sure man, i'd be happy to!

It was a pretty awesome time, and about what I expected. We hunted hard for several days, arriving on a Thursday afternoon and leaving the following Monday afternoon. Couple of takeaways:

• I spent ~5 hours a day glassing. We saw sheep the first evening, and then not again until Monday morning. Tripod & 10x50's were my go-to and I'm glad I had the tripod, would have been miserable otherwise. That said, we did see a ridiculous amount of turkey and axis
• I need a glassing seat. Just a foam pad would have made a big difference
• Exo 3500 was perfect for the trip. We had a cabin, so that pack was the right size for our little day trips.
• SxS was the real MVP. We drove several miles a day from point to point, none of which would I have wanted to take my Tundra through. From there we would hike 1/4-2 miles in to various hot spots, glassing spots, bottoms, peaks, etc.
• Kennetek boots were also fantastic. I would recommend them to anyone who likes a higher top and stiff sole, but would strongly recommend breaking them in properly before anything adventurous
• I ended up going with 7mag

All in all, it was a great time. I learned a lot about that country and had a blast with my buddy glassing and just general BS'ing and drinking a couple of beers at camp. I ended up stumbling on a decent 27" ram the last morning of the hunt about an hour into the day while side-hilling.

He was headed up the hill opposite the ravine and I caught his movement. We stopped, got comfortable, and watched him make his way up for about 15 minutes. I had to decide if I was going to take him or not, but this was the last day of the hunt and being that I hadn't seen any other rams aside from him since three days previous, it was a pretty easy decision to make.

He ended up finding a small flat(ish) spot to bed down quartering away from us. We snuck around the hill to about 160 yards, sat down and sent it off some shooting sticks. Shot was about as good as it gets, went in behind the front shoulder and stopped inside against the other shoulder. He jumped up, took about 10 steps, went head first into a cedar tree and fell right back down to his bed.

We had a fireball shot waiting for everything to settle down, then made our way downhill across the ravine, and back up the next hill. Its was much steeper than we anticipated and dense with brush, and miserable to get to. Took us about 45 minutes to cape him out and get back on the trail for the 1.5 mile hike back to the UTV.

That's awesome man. Congrats on your first one, they are one of my favorite to hunt. It sounds like you got the full experience. I recommend going a little further West on your next hunt if at all possible. It gets much more mountainous and adds some more flavor to the hunt. I'll post some of my pictures of aoudad we have taken on our place. Cheers

 

[Kountry Biscuit]

Here are a few over the last couple years. My dad killed his in 2019. Hiked his 70 year old behind up that mountain to help me cape it.

 

[Kountry Biscuit]

Here is my first aoudad from about 10 years ago. It was right around 30" on one side and 28" on the other.

My dads was 31" and 30".

 

[Kountry Biscuit]

My brother missed out on this guy this past year.

 

[loadsandlattes]

That's fantastic, man. Good looking sheep too!!

 

[wyosteve]

I got back late Monday from a West Texas guided free range hunt. Impressive country. Anything that lives there is tough. Had a great time and I was the only one of 4 who didn't get a ram. I let my partner take the first shot since he had to leave a day early and after that we couldn't find the bigger rams. We ended up with a 30, 31 1/2 and 32 3/4. The 31 1/2 had virtually no teeth left so was on his last days. My biggest tip/takeaway is take the best glass you can afford. At 1100 yds., the sheep still looked like ants with 10 x 42 EL's. I won't make the mistake of leaving my spotter home again, even though my guide had his.

 

[Kountry Biscuit]

I got back late Monday from a West Texas guided free range hunt. Impressive country. Anything that lives there is tough. Had a great time and I was the only one of 4 who didn't get a ram. I let my partner take the first shot since he had to leave a day early and after that we couldn't find the bigger rams. We ended up with a 30, 31 1/2 and 32 3/4. The 31 1/2 had virtually no teeth left so was on his last days. My biggest tip/takeaway is take the best glass you can afford. At 1100 yds., the sheep still looked like ants with 10 x 42 EL's. I won't make the mistake of leaving my spotter home again, even though my guide had his.

Oh yeah. That country is much bigger than you would expect. Picking apart a mountain with just binos can be difficult. Also sizing at 1000+ is difficult.