Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Trans Pecos Aoudad

So my buddy Big Al went on a hunt for big aoudad sheep in the rugged Davis Mountains of West Texas and I tagged along with him. The elevation won't kill you ( up to 6500' on this ranch), but the fact that you're stepping on unstable rock with most every step makes it tough going. IMO, free range aoudad are a spot and stalk hunter's dream. This sprawling ranch encompassed 400 sq miles, 250,000 acres. We put 170 miles on a polaris ranger, and 20 miles hiking/stalking in 4 days.....it was an absolutely awesome adventure.

First evening found us in t shirts and 82 degrees.....


By the evening of the next day it was 33degrees and snowing.....


Big Al was toting a Bergara B14 7mm08 in which I had loaded him up with 140 accubonds running 2810. I still cannot believe feral hogs inhabit this harsh, rocky, dry desert environment.


The spanish daggers were in full bloom.....the desert was stunningly beautiful in it's own way....and the aoudad love eating the flowers


But you better watch where you're going.....the catclaw will kick your asss, and the instability of the rocks with every step are a PITA....


There are other targets of opportunity though.......these guys have killed 16 lions on this property in the past year. We only saw a handful of mule deer over 4 days.


The sheep are there though, but you have to hunt hard and make good use of your glass.....


Snapped this through my Fury 5000 AB's....at 725 yds.


We finally located a really, really big ram that Big Al was interested in. We probably passed on 20, 30" rams. I gave Big Al the dope through the Fury AB's as the huge ram finally cleared a small group of sheep he was with. The 140 AB hammered home at 508yds, placed perfectly through the shoulder. The longest side was 34 1/2 inches......an absolute giant ram.