Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Is hunting exotic’s in the US worth a run ?

How about sitting in a stand on a no fence ranch where axis have been there for 50 years free range?

GreggH

Nope

Sitting a box blind for a non native critter does nothing for me. I will stick to the mountains and my deer and elk.

Well then, perhaps you should be posting on the deer and elk hunting forums and quit trolling this one.

Nilgai is on the list for me.

Some may not know this but elk and deer are considered big game and this is the big game forum so that box is checked.

The OP asked if hunting exotics were worth a run, I stated my opinion that for me it was not. Next box checked.

Carry on.

i like the pictures and someday maybe even next winter want to go hunt Nilgai and maybe a few other neat animals too . i sit in a so called box blind for deer now and shoot some very nice Whitetail bucks . thanks for posting the pictures. Pete53

Perhaps I should have said "thread" instead of forum. My bad.


GFY

LOL

The Santa Rosa ranch down in Kenedy county was doing the same thing to Nilgai because of the tick fever. They were using choppers. I put down a young bull suspected of having tick fever this past season. He was a really sick fellow. Poor guy.

Nilgai took a pretty big hit in South Texas during last years hard freeze but still a very huntable population. They are not only on high fence ranches but since the majority of Texas is private property, you will still have to pay for most hunts. Our hunter's favorite meal is not beef ribeye night but nilgai and axis hamburger night.

Not to thread jump but I need to hear about that drop tine whitetail in the back!

The good thing about exotics in TX is you can hunt them year round. So if you want to go hunting and the season is closed in your state you can hunt in TX and you don't have to buy the regular non-resident license. If you want to test bullets or loads on game rather than paper TX has that covered. And you can make it as hard or as easy as you want. Yes there are high fenced places with blinds but you can also go for things like aoudad in the Davis Mountains and that is some really rugged country. I grew up in Co and hunted mule deer and elk yearly and also pulled a bighorn and mountain goat tag. The Davis Mountains are every bit as tough to hunt as the Rockies, they just aren't as high and don't get much in the way of snow.

TX provides opportunities to hunt that most states do not.

I gotta disagree with you Hanco. My buddy shot an Aoudad this year and it was some of the finest meat I’ve ever eaten in my life. Even my picky wife and daughter thought it was incredibly delicious. They won’t even eat venison anymore. I think a lot of it had to do with field preparation?

I've hunted exotics several times. My largest trophy was a 355 lb red stag with 12 points on antlers. I've also hunted fallow stag and a female Pere' David deer (meat hunt). All these hunts took place on ranches well over 400 acres. I chose to hunt with my 30-30 carbine to make it more challenging to have a good shot within reasonable distance. I had a great time and brought home much meat. Sometimes discounted hunts are available for animals with broken antlers from fighting during the rut. It doesn't hurt to ask.

I have admired axis deer for many years but never hunted them. They're very numerous in Florida.

Sherwood

Maybe so, damn few people eat them. Are you sure it was an Aoudad?

Hanco-

I agree. A rancher asked me to shoot any Aoudad I saw. Shot 2 nanny's about to pop out a kid. Wasn't fit to eat even for tacos. Tried to give them away and the all the locals said they would pass and smiled. They didn't taste like anything edible. Someone suggested grinding into sausage. Maybe that works. I'm happy for those that have had good ones to eat. I'd like to know what those critters were eating. Maybe sweet feed?

Several boys on deer lease have tried, even small Dads, they gave up! Maybe we don’t know cshit about cooking???

LOL, yes I’m sure. I think people repeat things they hear over and over without any real experience of it themselves. Not saying that’s the case with you but maybe others who’ve heard it and never actually tried it just parroting what they’ve heard from others.

Also, I bet the majority who have tried it and gotten bad results didn’t really put a lot of thought into prepping the carcass immediately after the shot. Doesn’t take meat long to spoil in the southwest sun.

Well, I've killed over 100 aoudad, culling as many as I possibly could from friend's places who hated them with a passion. They told us to kill all of them if we could (no way possible) so we tried. That was over a 20 year period. I've tried every way possible and I've personally never found one remotely close to what I'd call good eating.

What can I tell you? Completely different experience here and at my buddy’s place. He’s got two young girls and a wife and they had the same results there. No hint of a “gamey” flavor and honestly as I said before some of the finest meat of any kind I’ve ever tasted. No strong flavor to it at all. And I’m saying this with a wife and kid that don’t even like oryx. I found I liked it better than oryx myself.

Maybe he lucked out and shot the one magic unicorn-Aoudad on earth that tastes good? Lol

I seriously doubt it though and I’m gonna try my damndest to get one of my own from now on. So by all means you guys please keep telling anyone who’ll listen how shiddy they taste. It’ll keep the competition down… 🤣