Just wondering how tough these animals are and how strong their will to live is? What size rifle recommendations? Will be pursuing them for my 1st time ever.

Just bring your normal deer rifle. Shoulder shoot them to anchor. They can soak up some lead and will run with lung shots, sometimes far.

But they die just like anything else. They are not mythical....

Agree with GregW. I killed my biggest one so far with a 6.8spc and a 90 gr. bullet. He went 70 yards.
Shot one with a .30-06 and a light 150 grain load went straight down.
Shot another with a .275 Rigby. He went 10 feet.

Hit them in the right place with whatever you shoot deer with and you are golden.

I've used a 30-06 and 270 wsm. I would feel comfortable with a 260, 6.5, 7mm-08, etc. with a good bullet. Do your part with bullet placement and it'll be fine

Have killed more than a few with a .243, 100 gr. SGK or 105 gr. Scenar, shoot them in the front half. Rio7

I've only shot one aoudad. That was on my first hunt with my .300 Weatherby. My guide kept telling me how hard aoudads were to kill, and told me to anchor him by shooting him through his hips. I put a 168 grain Barnes TSX bullet through his shoulders and he simply dropped dead where he was standing.

My guide then said "You don't listen to your guide, do you?" I just smiled and answered "No."

I shot one with my 7mm Rem. 160 Sierra SBT 250 yds. though shoulders. Down right there but gave him another insurance shot as he was on the rim of a "hell hole canyon"

Of course we know Sierras don't work very well.

Lefty

Anything, have killed a half dozen with my bow, half dozen with a 223, at least a dozen with whatever deer rifle I had with me. I’ve never lost one so far. I shoulder shoot em. We shoot everyone we see, as big a pest as pigs.

I think their reputation for toughness stems from being a herd animal and their strong will to stay with the group. They will immediately take off at the shot and run till they drop dead in order to keep up with the herd.

Any deer-appropriate caliber will easily put them down and I've killed a bunch with 7mm-08 and .308.

Don't overthink it.

Saw one a few weeks ago make it a pretty good ways after a 143eldx punched through its lungs (complete pass through). Climbed vertical pretty well with a couple of holes in the lungs. He was dead, just didn't know it.

660yd shot. I was watching through a spotter. The rest were fairly uneventful.

They SOB’s can jump higher and farther than a Whitetail. They have rockets in their asses.

I"ve culled over 100 of the darn things from rancher/friends that hated the darn things and wanted them gone in the Trans Pecos region of W TX. Primarily used 7mag, 7-08, and even a 30/30 several times just to see how well it worked. As GregW and Ingwe said, any good bullet in the right spot takes care of business, just like any other animal. Their mythical "toughness" reputation, just like other African plains game I've shot, was greatly exaggerated.

And no offense Johnny but no one can embellish a tough reputation like a Texan. You'd think all the critters in your state wore kevlar to listen to most guys...

Oh, and size is another thing..I'm the only person who hunts Texas that doesn't regularly shoot 450 pound pigs apparently, or kill elk that yield a clean 800 pounds of meat...

Texas is known for tall tales, we call them “telling a stretcher”.

My son killed one with a .22 once. Shot it right in the forehead from over 50 yards on a run. I was a proud Dad! We've mostly killed them with our regular deer rifles. Shoot them right in the shoulder and they go down.

I couldn't agree more Tom. I've heard it all my life.

Is Craig boddington texan??? Fuuck everything is tough to kill for him, 1500 lb Roosevelt’s elk!!! 😂😂

Kinda funny how things work out, once you’ve got a buncha experience.. 👍

That should be some kind of new world record, ANNY elk approaching 1000 pounds is pushing the upper limit...

Johnny Im headed down in May to hunt Nilgai, which Ive been told are virtually bullet proof. Many guides, as you know, require at LEAST a .300 mag, some require more...a .338 or a .375

I shot my last one with a .30-06..DRT

And luckily my outfitter knows me and hasn't asked, cause Im using the .275 this time.

I'm probably a little less concerned about it than your guide is . If you can't haul all that meat home in the back of that PT cruiser let me know........I'll lighten your load a little pardner! Sounds like fun.

Haha, good one....

Well, if I have to struggle under the load, I'll call you first

Meanwhile I figured Ive killed a few elk, and a truckload of elk sized African game with the 7x57 ( aka .275) so I have no hesitation using it with a good bullet on Nilgai.

I just got done aoudad hunting with two pards.

We took three rams, all over 30". 6.5 Creed Eldx ram took two through the boiler and died in 40 yards. Dead in 10 seconds. Second was to keep from cliff diving. 220 yards.



My ram, .280 Ackley with 168 VLD right behind the shoulder. Ram took two bounds and rolled. Dead quick. 270 yards.



Ram bleeding from mouth after first bound.





Chris's ram soaked up 3 rounds of 195 EOL from a 28 Nosler from 10 to 250 yards. Two were perfect lung shots. Ram went 600 yards and needed a 4th follow-up. The blood trail for 600 yards I could follow no issue with 8 power bins across the canyon. Never seen anything like it.



Couple of interesting things I noticed.

All bullets exited. Every one. The rams did not bleed out of the wound but through the mouth. All of them.

They are about the funnest thing I've hunted. Watching them bed inside caves and interacting was great.

They stink.

If you asked this question on ANY other forum...

Just unbelievable.... probably why “guides” aren’t really “guides” most of the the time, but rather a “body”... grin

Pretty amazing pics Greg, can’t believe the Berger’s worked!! Grin

Only animal I've ever gutted that made me gag.

They work on elk too. And even exit....






Recovered bullet near back ham as he was on his knees. I sped his dying up.

I think I’ve seen that euro mount in person?? 😂😂

Ya Berger’s somehow work, that’s for sure. 👍

I have only shot one and it fell to a 7mm Mag. He dropped to the shot.

Great rams in some great country Greg. Love the pics. Yes, they are an absolute blast to hunt....a spot and stalk hunter's dream, and a badasss creature for sure. The wetback's ranch dogs wouldn't even eat some of them we shot.

I have yet to see one up close so my opinion is about worthless but based on their track size and my observations of them I really wouldn't have an issue hunting them with a .223 Rem, or anything else for that matter. That isn't a cartridge recommendation, just an observation of their size.
OP, if you're going guided then this shouldn't be an issue but if you're planning a DIY hunt, do some research in judging the darn things. I could have shot several in NM last Feb but just never found one that I really confidently thought was a ram, despite looking through a lot of manuals and watching a lot of videos.

Unless you're hunting feeders, I'd leave the .223 at home, no offense.

None taken, at ALL, especially since I have such little experience with them. I am not totally recommending it, just saying I wouldn't have an issue with using it, and I have that much confidence in the round. Aoudad just are not big critters. The ewes looked not much bigger than antelope to me. Whatever works for deer, should work for them.

Most likely I’ll be taking my 30-06 but I could possibly get the itch to grab my Creedmoor ... that’s mainly why I was asking.

With a good bullet and well placed shot I’m sure either would suffice. Just wanted to hear from folks with experience hunting them and their thoughts.

If that's the case (and again, bear in mind my very limited experience with aoudad) I'd think more about the 250+ yard confidence you have in the rifles more than anything else. Keep in mind the wind possible in aoudad country too.

You already answered your own question to my post. Wind and distance in West TX aoudad country is the reason I choose otherwise. No doubt you can kill them with a good .223 bullet in close. Big rams will weigh near 300 lbs or so, mature ewes about 150-175 IME.

My own question? I didn't ask one.

300 lbs is about what I figured big rams weigh. About like mule deer.
They're fun critters to chase, no doubt. I can't wait to draw in NM again but if it takes as long for the second tag as it did the first, I may as well do a west Texas hunt instead. It'd probably cheaper all things considered.

This is what I was referring to as a "question". Sorry for the confusion.

I kind of figured that, but have had a couple of beers. I whacked my 100th ptarmigan of the winter yesterday, plus my first white-tailed ptarmigan (damn things live in sheep country) so I have dug into the brewskis and probably am not making a whole hell of a lot of sense.

It's all good!

I have Aoudad on my deer lease that I can shoot at will. I've killed with 26 Nosler, 6.5 PRC, 7 mag, 308 Win, 30-06 and 9.3 x 62

142 to 250 Gr, Bullets.

The only one I've lost was a stud. Here is one of a sequence of game camp photos taken two years before I had the opportunity to take a shot at this guy!




IIRC I ranged him at 408 yds. Shot him cross canyon with at 150 Gr. Accubond out of a 308 Win. Felt good about the shot. Saw him hunch up at the shot, and run straight down the side of the hill. It was an hour before dark and I had no marker as to point of impact. I did not find him that night, or the next couple days, and I spent hours looking. I continued to look for the hide or horns for a couple months to no avail.

IMHO, I can't imagine why a hunter that may pay $4,500 to hunt an Aoudad Ram would choose anything less than a 6.5 mm. Chances are, if you draw blood you're paying for the animal. If it were me, I'd go heavy!

ya!

GWB

Come on my man....you've been around the block enough to know that's very possibly a gut shot.
We've all done it. It sucks ass but it does happen and if so, an -06 wouldn't have changed the outcome.

I took my 6.5x284 to New Mexico but I just never had the right opportunity. It was a hell of a fun hunt though.

Lol. Amen....

100%,



Here is a pix. The two juveniles that are in the pix are pretty much at the same spot that I shot the ram. You can see the nature of the terrain. I want a bullet with enough velocity and mass and construction, that if I make a foul hit, I get two leaky holes and a blood trail a blind man can wade in, should I be able to find the point of impact.

Ya!

GWB

Well that answers my question then, looks like I’m definitely sticking with my good ol 30-06 for this hunt!

I think the issue is less about toughness and more about placing a bullet or broadhead in the vitals. Like many African game and wild hogs, their vitals are lower and farther forward than a whitetails. If you try to center punch lungs back from the shoulder like you do with whitetails, you’re going to more often catch liver-guts. Shoulder shoot them with any big game rifle and they won’t go far. My last archery kill went 15 yds after taking the top of the heart off....

Sorry, but behind the shoulder shots with good bullets kills the crap out of 'em, easily. Their lungs are huge, and they don't tolerate holes any better than any other animal.

To me just think moose. In a smaller way. Easy to kill. Just sometimes takes em a while to realize they are dead. a hole in both lungs almost always kills the animal.

Hunting pard killed one with. .380 Ruger LCP.

Ok. They walked up on it after it had been in a fight with another ram. He was pretty bunged up. Eyeball hanging out and all.

Old son had a big one about 50 yards from him past Saturday evening while hog hunting. Eatin’ the hell outta prickly pear. 😁

Doesn’t the chaps on the Rams carry all the way down the front legs? Figured this would be enough to make a positive identification.

A few years ago a friend went on a free-range aoudad hunt in West Texas. The guide/outiftter recommended a .375 H&H., but my friend had a nifty custom-made .250 Savage that shot extremely well with 100-grain Ballistic Tips, and he REALLY wanted to use it on something.. Somebody told him it would work. The shot was around 200-250 yards, and he put the bullet close behind the shoulder. The ram ran 50 yards and fell over dead.

I believe so, but that'd be more of a Greg/JGRaider/GDub question. I think only the really big, mature rams have the chaps and their neck beard fully "connected" if that's what you mean by "carry all the way down the front legs".

Been on one Aoudad hunt. Took a 300 Win Mag to be prepared for 400 yd shots. Was climbing a cliff and had to rest. While sitting there a 29" stuck his head over the edge to see where all the heavy breathing was coming from. 180 gr Partition at 50 yds in the neck finished him quickly.

I'm kinda like Hanco, We shoot Aoudad on site, i usually carry a .243 in my jeep so that's what i use, if i was looking to hunt for a trophy Aoudad, and paying for the hunt i would use something a little heavier than a 6mm, But very few get to trophy size here. Rio7

So what are you considering trophy size? Curious

I think the consensus is 30 inch +

Auodad are the new elk!! 🤭🤭😎

Gonna need a minimum 338 Win Mag, better to use a 340 Wby to knock these guys down.

I’m thinkin your right!! And shoot through the hips like the guide recommended!! 😂😂

I was looking at an outfitted hunt a few years ago. The outfitter wanted nothing smaller than 7mm mag with 30 mag being better.

They all say that as their average clientele can't hike or shoot.

I mean hell, guides here recommend a 7mm of some sort to shoot a 90 pound deer....

Aoudad and pig guns are about like the perception of elk and bear guns, for some reason the further the hunter travels the larger the caliber required.

I mean hell, guides here recommend a 7mm of some sort to shoot a 90 pound deer....[/quote]

They must be getting easier to kill, used to be Lazz warbirds, outdoorsman 30-378s and Miller/Echols 300 weathebys.

Killed this little one with a bow

Another little SOB. I was gonna let him go until he ran all the deer off.

This is about the best one I’ve killed, still ain’t all that as Aoudads go.

Looks like great mass on him!

I have used the 243 to a 375 but for a hunt in rough country I would go bigger. A guide friend says 270 Win. or larger, this for me would also include the 6.5s as well or even a 25-06. The 6mm's will be for hill country hunts usually at a feeder out of a box blind. Any bullet that works for deer will do but I would tend to go for a tougher bullet you could put through both shoulders if needed.

Post up about your hunt please.

When it comes to Aoudad hunters are talking a lot like Elk Hunters, everyone knows Elk are bullet proof, a least if you manage to kill a Elk, they are usually good eating, Aoudad Not so much, most dogs won't eat a Aoudad. Rio7

Aoudad taste fine.

I don’t know how you measure an aoudad, curious what this one would have measured, just for curiosity’s sake. The Dad I killed with a bow weighed 200 lbs, this one was bigger.

Dang nice ram hanco.

I don’t know what a Trophy aoudad looks like and not likely to hunt the stinking things. But I guaronfuggintee you they ain’t tougher than a .300 Weatherby loaded with a TTSX. Oil light on instantly....

I kill them with a bow, so I think a 300 Weatherby would do the job. I have a couple, but haven’t had a Dad come out while was hunting with one. Shot one with a 300 Win mag and a 165 TTSX. DRT

I don’t know much about them but I would be tickled to have that one on my wall. Hanco do you have any other pics of him?
GreggH

so do these Aoudad taste ok or are they not fit to eat ? i suppose Aoudads to hunt a person needs to go thru a guide service ?

I have heard repeatedly the young ewes are good. My only experience was with old rams.We cooked up a fresh backstrap from one I killed and it tasted OK, but was chewy as hell. Ive had a couple varieties of sausage made out of them and it was good.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...ntthread/Board/2/main/694490/type/thread

thanks for the answer on the taste of Aoudads , i guess its coyote meat. if i go hopefully i can kill a nilgai too i know a nilgai taste great .

You might pm geedubya before you throw one away. He has his made into sausage.

We have used a .243, 7-08, .270, and .300 Savage to kill a good number of them without drama. We shoot them on site like Feral pigs. Like Feral pigs once you have them it is damn near impossible to get rid of them. I digress. Anyway if I was paying for a hunt I would prefer something 6.5mm or larger.

As far as eating the young ewes are not bad. On the rams the only way I personally think they are edible is ground and made into sausage. I do clean them and run the meat through my grinder and if I don't make sausage it gets fed to my dogs. They like it fine.

He's not much of a guide if he's telling you to shoot an animal through the 'hips'.

No sir, that’s the only one I took that day.

They taste fine, but if you're a lazy fat f uck say you wouldn't feed one to yer dog........that makes it so......

The issue is people think corn fed beef is what meat tastes like. Truth is, that doesn't taste like anything. I've eaten steaks off of 5 or so aoudad. It tastes like meat. Same as pronghorn, mule deer, whitetail, elk, sage grouse, sharptail....whatever.

Yeah, right. When a guy goes on a meat hunt it ain't never, ever for an aoudad.

The outfitter that we booked with said in all his years of hunting and shooting a bunch of aoudad that only a very few have decided to keep the meat. He told us we can do as we please but he didn’t suggest it on the old Rams he hopes to put us on. He said the younger ones are a little different story. I’m still debating what I want to do. I figure I can put just about anything into a sausage and make it taste halfway decent.

I’m with JG... I’ve only shot one - a 13 year old ram in the Devil’s River area. I was bound and determined to at least take some backstraps home despite the consensus of the group. I lost all will and desire upon smelling him - no way was I attempting it.

Another ram shot during the hunt was located by smell. Our “mark” on where he went down was lost as we climbed the big ridge. Once we got up there, all of the brush looked the same. I ended up going to the very top of the ridge and walked it until I smelled him. Then we got the group on the line and walked upwind until we walked right into him. He was about 75 yards from me upon smelling him.

I would like to try a young ewe, though...

You can smell them if the wind is right, they can smell as good as a deer also, gone if they smell you.

I'm much more of a meat hunter than a trophy hunter, and Aoudad are a target of opportunity that can be taken year round.



Here is a juvenile I took last spring.



I have the meat made into boudin, snack stix.




summer sausage and smoked link sausage.

My latest favorite is Green Onion/Pepper Jack smoked links.


ya!


GWB

If you wish to eat Aoudad, it's fine with me, I just feel there are to many other critters that I don't have to hide in sausage to make it eatable, and some of them are also great in sausage. We are not going to run out of Aoudad, any time soon, the Buzzards and Worms got to eat to. Rio7

What's the old saying.....
there's room for all god's creatures........ right next to the mashed potatos.

Anywho, there are numerous critters at which I'd draw the line.




I enjoy taking game and making meat. I'm fortunate that I can do so with reasonable expenditure of time and money.





I give quite a bit away,





it seems most folks appreciate it.





of all the stuff I have processed or smoke,





or turn into jerky




use in beans and soup





or stew





Alligator jerky is probably my least favorite





followed closely by Javelina!


ya!


GWB

Shot my first Aoudad a few months ago. Took along my M70 7mm08 shooting 140 Accubonds. Worked perfectly, as one should expect. Not sure why some outfitters want 300 Mags and larger used. I’d use anything from the 6.5 and up with a quality bullet.

I was hoping to see some Dad’s this weekend, but no luck. I did clip a couple pigs.

Obviously pretty tough, you guys have been killing them for about two weeks now! 😁😁😁

I’m not a guide, but I would never recommend a hip shot. Seems like unnecessary suffering for the animal. I always make shoulder or heart shots when possible.