Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Texas nilgai hunting report

This is a tad long and might oughta be better placed in another forum, but I figured this one is full of hunters who might take an interest in our nilgai hunt this weekend.

We hunted the Z Ranch in Raymondville, TX this weekend. Raymondville is about a half hour south of the King Ranch and is only about 20 minutes from the Laguna Madre. Prime fishing and south Texas hunting territory. We hooked up on this hunt basically through word of mouth, or should I say word of internet forum, and after just one phone call with the ranch manager, I told my wife we were gonna need a deep freeze!
Five of us from Houston, Dallas, Austin, and Menard (Texas) all rolled down on Friday and got into Raymondville a little early to relax before Saturday�s hunt. The ranch manager, John Martinez, called me up and offered for us to come on by to check it out, scout around, and even start hunting. Hell yeah, so we loaded up not long after getting everything into the hotel rooms and headed out to the ranch, about 15 minutes away. The area outside Raymondville is primarily cotton fields and wind turbine farms. I�ve seen wind turbines up in north Texas plenty, but I�ve never been close to one. Pretty dang huge. Anyway, we show up at the ranch, and John lets us in the gate. We do the meet and greet thing, and then he tells us �Let�s load up and go kill some nilgai�. [bleep], we were all still trying to shake off the 6 hour drive, but we loaded up and headed to the stands.

I hunted with my uncle in a double blind on the edge of a clearing with about a 1/4 acre tank. The clearing was a good 275 yards across to the other tree line, but we weren't sure if it was 250, 300, or 350. We sat for about an hour, and then a few bulls moved in along the far treeline to graze. Holy shee-it, those things were big! About as big as a damn horse with a neck like a giraffe. We glassed them and just kinda watched. Not knowing the range really made us nervous, because at the time all we could think was that it takes an absolutely perfect shot to down one of them and hitting one too far back or too low could end our weekend before it even started. Gradually over about 20 minutes, a herd of 40 or so moved in to graze. All sizes of cows, which were notably smaller and had brown/white markings versus the dark gray/�blue� that the bulls have. The herd moved down to the tank to drink, and I just sat looking through my scope. I spotted one cow around 500 lbs that I was very tempted to shoot, but again, not knowing the distance made me hold up on taking a shot. Big ass 160+ class whitetail bucks still in velvet and a few does also joined the herd in grazing. It was an awesome sight, but unfortunately, my camera didn�t have good enough zoom to take a decent pic or video. After a while, something spooked one of the bulls, and the entire herd boogied. We saw another group of 8 cows come in about an hour later, and my uncle missed at about 125yds using an open sighted M1903 30-06.

We all headed back in to the camp house around dark, and the ranch manager had nilgai backstrap steaks, nilgai sausage, and some chicken waiting for us. Nothing better than kicking off a hunt with some good eating, especially when it�s the species you�re hunting. They took us riding around that evening to spotlight, and one guy in our group knocked down a medium sized cow at 25 yards with a Ruger #1 30-06. Not sure of the ammo, but he hit her in the neck, and she went straight down. It took 4 of us to get her in the bed of the pickup, and two ranch hands skinned and quartered her lickety split. The rest of us wanted to hunt and not spotlight, so nobody else shot on Friday.

Saturday, we hit the stands right at first daylight. The stands included 3 that were positioned at crossings (in full freaking sun), the double blind at the tank, a ground position at the edge of a larger open field, and one other in a mixed terrain area. I took the ground spot at the edge of the field. The max distance shot was around 325, and although my 375 Ruger was sighted in to only be 6� low at 300, I was really only comfortable out to about 200. I�d never hunted with it, and had only practiced enough to get to know the recoil and to confirm that it was sighted in properly. I positioned myself behind a brush pile, and after about an hour, 4 bulls moved into the field out of the brush to graze. I watched them through the brush, and when I raised my rifle to get a better look through the scope, they busted me cold from around 150yds. One thing about nilgai, they are not as cautious as a whitetail when they move in, but they aren�t the least bit curious when they think something�s up. They just haul ass, and that�s exactly what the bulls did. I was pretty impressed with their alertness and ability to skedaddle for such a large animal. Right after they took off, my uncle texted me to share the joyful news that he�d sat in an antpile, which was not his favorite way to start the morning. My wife also sent me a �good luck today� message, and as I was responding back to her, I looked up, and there were 5 cows just looking at me. Busted again. But this time, I knew what to expect, and as they did an about-face to take off, I put the crosshairs of my Vortex Viper 2x7x32 on the shoulder of the trailing cow and squeezed. I certainly didn�t feel the recoil of that big ol� 300gr Sierra Game King, but dammit it was loud. Maybe the short 20� barrel? I remember my ears ringing and actually seeing the impact of the bullet smack the cow. I knew I�d made a good shot, but she just turned and galloped off with the rest of them. About 50 yards into her retreat, her front end went all wobbly, and down she went. Success! I put another round in the chamber even though I knew she wasn�t getting up and went to check her out. She certainly wasn�t as big as the 500lb cow I�d seen the day before, but she was still a good 300lbs easy. The bullet impacted right behind the shoulder about mid way up, and the exit wound was really not much bigger. No meat wasted, and a clean kill overall.



The guide and one of our guys came to assist in loading her up after I field dressed. Skinned and quartered her back at the camp house, and she fit perfectly (ribs, neck, shoulders, rear quarters, both tenders, and backstraps) into a 120 quart cooler. I sent my wife the good news, and she surprised me with a reply message �Is that all you�re going to shoot?�. That�s all I�d budgeted for, but she told me to go ahead and bust another one if I thought we�d actually eat it. Woohoo!

The rest of the morning was hard hunting for the rest of the guys in our group. They either weren�t seeing anything or were only getting split second shot opportunities on animals at a dead run in partial cover. The heat and humidity royally kicked our butts. A couple guys went back to the hotel to recharge, change, and rest up for the afternoon hunt. My uncle and I stayed back at the ranch and stalk hunted with the ranch manager through the afternoon until we were blessed with a thunderstorm that knocked about 15 degrees off the sweltering heat. The boys came back mid afternoon, and we headed back out. Everyone switched stands, and my uncle and I continued to ride around and spot/stalk. Nothing for a long time.

Finally we saw a group off in the distance about 150 yards, and I jumped out of the truck bed and raced into the brush. The herd of about 20 was already on the move, so I dropped to a knee, picked a cow and pulled the trigger. Nothing. Dang! Surprisingly, one of the trailing cows stopped and looked confused. She actually changed direction, and before she could get moving again, I sent off another round and dropped her cold. When I went to check on her, I saw that I�d hit her high. It wasn�t until we cleaned her that I discovered the bullet had hit and severed the spine. On this cow (about 350-375lbs), the bullet did experience core/jacket separation, which from what I�ve read online is pretty typical for Sierra Game Kings. I didn�t hot rod them in my handloads, only about 2450fps muzzle velocity from my 20� Hawkeye Alaskan (lefty, that is). Anyway, it killed the hell out of the cow, so I�m not bugged by it and will continue to use Game Kings in the 375.



After getting my second and final cow in the cooler, I hung out at the camp house and shot the breeze with Jeffrey, who�d gotten his nilgai on Friday night. We didn�t hear diddly squat for a long time. Finally we heard a shot followed by another a few minutes later. Another nilgai cow came in, shot by a hunter not in our group. The guy told us he hit her using a Tikka T3 270. Broke her back leg, which put her on the ground. His second shot was to the head. He said he wasn�t comfortable with a shoulder shot and was only going for neck or head shots, so I assume she was on the move and he just didn�t lead his first shot enough. No other shots for a long time. I don�t even remember hearing the shot, but another hour went by, and my uncle came in with a nice cow. He�d caught her in some brush facing him, and he dropped her using a TC ProHunter 30-06 he�d borrowed from the ranch manager with 150gr Winchester Ballistic Tips. Shot was square in the chest, and she dropped without even attempting to turn and run. This bullet also experienced core/jacket separation, but again with a bang-flop, who gives a damn.

That left Dan and his son John, who after only seeing a handful of cows the entire time had basically given up and were working to tag-team one. Not long after my uncle came in with his cow, we here 6 shots in rapid succession and were clearly able to distinguish between 2 hits and 4 misses. It went all quiet, and we didn�t see or hear from them or the ranch manager for a good hour after the shooting stopped. Finally, they came in with a beautiful giant of a bull, well over 600lbs. Dark blue with a huge muscular neck and shoulders. Dan had made a fantastic shot at over 400 yards with a 7mag and had initially dropped the bull with a single 175gr bullet to the shoulder. However, the bull immediately began getting back up, and they unloaded on it trying to anchor it. With John�s last 30-06 round in his possession, he scored a doozy of a shot, also at 400+, and put one in the bull�s neck. They definitely had the hardest hunt out of the entire group, but they got a beautiful trophy out of it.



I believe the Z Ranch is only 500 acres, but it hunts like its at least 2000. The two open fields with shots out past 300 yards offer good opportunities for more planned stable shots, and the dense brush and prickly pear cover provide an awesome and very challenging spot/stalk style hunt. It is hotter than all get out, so even hunting from a blind is somewhat physically strenuous. Through the end of August, the ranch is trying to reduce its herd by another 50 nilgai, so they are running a special of $350 per cow and $1000 per bull. Come September 1st, it goes back up to 700 for cows and 1500 for bulls. There are no daily or mandatory guide or cleaning fees, but you really should plan to tip well with all the work the ranch manager, John Martinez, and his two hired hands put into it.

The last thing I�ll mention is that the La Quinta in Raymondville was totally awesome. They allowed us to commandeer their luggage carts to move all the coolers to and from the trucks, and they let us use their kitchen to store the coolers overnight. The night manager even checked our coolers and topped them off with ice to prevent the meat from spoiling. The hotel is pretty much new, very affordable, and the staff were all used to and cool with hunters and fishermen that come to Raymondville for nilgai and fishing.

Last night I pulled one of the backstraps from the cooler, wrapped it in bacon, and cooked it over a mesquite fire. My wife absolutely loved it, which was a bit of a relief seeing as how we have about 200 pounds of meat. The kiddos ate it right up too. Nilgai has a milder flavor than venison, and is very lean but not dry. I imagine it�ll take us a year to eat it, but it certainly won�t be going to waste.

If you�d like to look into a hunt, give John Martinez a call at 956-832-9063. The King Ranch and others in the area also run affordable nilgai hunts, but I don�t think you�ll get a better experience for the money than what John is offering for the next month and a half.

Here's a quick vid to give you an idea of the country and blazing sun we hunted in.

Thanks for the write up. Been wanting to do this.

Sounds like an awesome time.

nice write-up, enjoyed reading it

nice write-up, enjoyed reading it

Oh boy. So close I might not be able to resist.

Thanks

Congrats on your hunt.I saw that about a month ago and figured they probably were sold out.That's a once in a lifetime deal at that price.

Awesome write up. Ill have to go when I make it back home.

Very nice! I really want to go after one of those. Thanks for the recount and pictures.

Butchered the hind quarter last night. 16lbs of clean roasts, steaks, and cube meat, and another 7lbs for burger/sausage. Tenderloins are the size of a whitetail backstrap.

Nilgai are my favorite animal to hunt in South Texas. Fortunately, I can do it for almost free on a 4000 acre ranch just west of where you were hunting. I use my 7x57 or a .280 generally and a Swift A-frame or Nosler Partition bullet. Excellent eating! Nice write-up.

Thanks for posting. I have a yen for a Nilgai hunt but it would be a big time commitment to drive a trailer and freezer all the way down and back. GRF

Thanks for the write up and pics!

Congrats. Nice report.

Sounds like a good time. Ive been aching to kill an Axis buck for a few years. Maybe sometime in the near future. Your hunt sure gets the blood flowing.

Joseph

GRE: why not fly down from Calgary, and rent a car. BET it's a lot cheaper to do than you'd think , and the airlines will, a lot of the time, allow you to ship the meat back in boxes, maybe even a well taped chest, for not a lot of money.. call and ask'em. Got a godson who wants to learn to hunt, and this might be a deal and a half to take him on.. what's the nearest airport to this place..?

I think Corpus Christi might be your best bet. It's about 2 hours south of Corpus Christi. Any of you fellas coming in from out of town might as well just make a trip of it, because you might as well fish the Laguna Madre while you're down there. Absolutely beautiful and some of the best trout and redfish fishing Texas has to offer...Not to mention offshore charters as well.

nilgai can be some really great meat!

50 more cows off 500 acres sounds like overharvest for sure, but depends on how much the surrounding ranches hunt too.

Down there 500 acres is about right for the harvest of one mature whitetail. Maybe.

I have a lot of interest in a Nilgai hunt but mainly later in the year (like Jan) and wouldn't have any interest in hunting 500 acres especially if the place was high fenced.

Not knocking your hunt and or trying to start up a slam fest about it but was this place high fenced?

Side note, the meat sounds like it's gonna be great and I can't wait.

Dober

Meat is great. And FWIW it would be hard to fence in a nilgai. Thats why THICK King ranch wire was developed and it still won't hold em in if they want through or out...

At least the wild ones.

FWIW, the King Ranch net wire fences were designed to last 50 years and to contain the big Santa Gertrudis bulls that Bob Kleberg bred and loved. I spent several years on the Norias Division studying nilgai. They moved from pasture to pasture frequently. Virtually all of this movement was by going under the fences. Feral hogs would find a place where there was a dip or drainage under the bottom strand and root out a passage. The nilgai find these passages and squeeze under the fences, enlarging the passage in the process. They readily drop to their "knees" (actually the carpal joint) and push themselves under obstacles. They don't jump very well at all.