This past weekend I went to southern NM with my friend and his 15 year old daughter that drew her once in lifetime oryx tag. �Long story short, on opening morning we drive for quite a ways to get away from the crowds and we get way back on this ridge that runs for 6 miles or so. �We were the first ones back there and we pull up and park, get our gear ready and start to walk up to a glassing knob when another truck pulls in right next to us and parks. �One kid jumps out and literally races to the top of the hill trying to beat us to the glassing spot while the guide says "looks like y'all have the same idea we did". �I was PISSED! �There is a ton of areas to glass, there is nobody else in the area and this guy wants to race somebody to get to a spot? It was ridiculous, there's over half a million acres to hunt. �Anyway, we all get there and start glassing and immediately find oryx. �There are 2 groups of oryx on the flat and the right way to hunt them is to let them filter towards the hill we were sitting on. �

The other guide walks down 50 yards to us and wants to know our plan, we told him that we wanted to wait and glass the oryx before we made a plan as the oryx weren't committed to anything yet. He said that's fine, we are bailing off the hill and that his spotter would be sitting on the next hill over from us. �He said he was going after the group that was 800 yards or so to the north of the other group.�

As I was sitting there fuming that this guy would even consider parking right next to us, much less bail off the hill and into the oryx we were hunting I am realizing that he looks pretty familiar. �I asked his name and he said "George, what's your names?". Yep! �George freaking Taulman was bending us over the proverbial barrel. �The guy we were with told him that the right thing for him to do would be to drive a mile or so in either direction and pick another glassing knob as we were already there and there was a ton of country for him to look over that didn't have anybody there. �He said it was a public hunt and he was bailing off right there in front of us. �He knew the hunter was a 15 year old girl but it didn't phase that a$$hole one bit, he piled off there right in front of us.

We decided to make the best of it and continued to sit there, we spent an hour getting there, might as well hunt it out and see what happens. �If the group of oryx on the left hadn't moved south a couple hundred yards George would have spooked them but he didn't so we continued to sit there.

Sure enough, the oryx started moving our way just like we hoped they would and started to come up a draw that would lead them right under us and allow for a 250 yard shot. �They are coming our way when they stop and look directly below us, we couldn't figure out what was up with that as we were not skyline and tucked into some cover. �No way they had seen us. �They stand there and stare when we look 200 yards below us and to our right and see Taulmans spotter running down the hill to try to spoon the oryx back to Taulman who was now down on the flat and glassing back our way. �I yelled at the kid to sit the F down and quit moving, which he did, but it was too late. �The oryx were bumped out from underneath us. �I was so mad I couldn't see straight! �I thought we would see him again and I knew it wouldn't be a good experience if I did but we never crossed paths again the rest of the hunt.

George Taulman and United States Outfitters are as bad as I've heard, I've seen it first hand. �He would knowingly screw up a kids hunt up out of nothing more that greed and selfishness. Half a million acres and a bunch of areas within a couple miles to be able to glass from and they do that. �Simply shameful. �

This story does have a very happy ending, to be continued.....