Other than the resurgence of the Texags Outdoors Board Facebook page and my thread about the weekend duffle bag, this board's been a little slow lately so I thought I would recount my nilgai hunt from earlier this year.
I hunt on a 3,000-acre low fenced hunting lease just north of Raymondville, TX. The land straddles the Kenedy and Willacy County lines and lies between the Yturria Ranch and the Norias Division of the King Ranch. It has been in the same family for over 150 years. It is gently-rolling sandy terrain with some thick sections of brush and some areas of mesquite/blackbrush mottes. There are pothole lakes throughout the lease that hold varying amounts of water, depending on the rainfall, and there is at least one artesian well that flows during "wet" years. This place holds some great deer and supports a thriving herd of nilgai.
To those of you that live and/or hunt north of the Wild Horse Desert (or the Nueces River), nilgai are known as the "blue bull." They were introduced into the area by the King Ranch during the 20's and 30's and have adapted to this area. They freely roam on ranches along Hwy 77/83 from Brownsville to just south of Corpus Christi and have also been spotted west of Hwy 281 in the Linn/San Manual/McCook area and even west of Encino and up north to Falfurrias.
During the four years that I have been on this lease, I haven't actively hunted nilgai, mostly because I didn't have the help to load and field dress it, and partly because one hasn't walked within bow range. This year, I wanted that to change. After deer season, I invited some friends along to see if we could harvest a nilgai. Three of the four of us are Ags, and one of those Ags, like me, is a frequent OB lurker, and wishes to remain anonymous. The other hunter is a T-shirt Sip.
We met up at the Stripes in Raymondville on a foggy Friday morning and loaded up our coolers with beer and ice and picked up a few Laredo Taco Company breakfast tacos. Once everything was loaded and secured, we headed north.
At the main gate.
The other hunters on the lease hunt nilgai either from the blind or "safari style", which essentially means a booze cruise with guns hanging out the window. We decided to start off safari-style and see if we could jump one, so we loaded up in my 1991 GMC Suburban hunting rig and headed out with some Fightin' Texas Aggie Band music playing in the CD player. The temperature that morning was in the mid- 60's and there was a thick coastal fog that made everything damp, even the ground.
My friends brought rifles chambered in .308 and 30-06 for the hunt. The general consensus amongst most nilgai hunters is that you need at least a .30 caliber bullet and be ready for a quick follow shot, even if the nilgai drops immediately after the initial shot. I figured that since I was going to do most of the driving, I wouldn't bring a rifle, I just carried a .45 in a chest rig in case we had to track a wounded animal.
Halfway through our first loop through the north pasture, we spotted a nice-sized nilgai cow but she also spotted us and took off. I moved the 'Burban to a sendero that was just north of where we had spotted the cow and in the general direction she ran. Depending on the hunting pressure, nilgai are easily spooked and give you only a few seconds to make your shot before they bolt. I had barely stopped the 'Burban when the cow ran out into the sendero about 200 yards away from us. She paused just long enough for Hunter Number 1 to get out of the 'Burban, rest his rifle on the door frame, and take a shot. The bullet hit the ground just under the cow and the cow took off - a clear miss.
We loaded back up and continued our loop in the north pasture but we didn't see any more nilgai so we decided to head back to camp for a taco break. We went back to camp in a roundabout way and jumped two large nilgai bulls at a spot where the sendero made a "Y." The bulls immediately ducked into the brush, so I stopped the 'Burban and we all got out. Hunter Number 2 (the T-shirt Sip) got ready for the shot. About 10 seconds later and about 250 yards away, one of the bulls popped out from the brush and gave us a quick but good broadside shot opportunity. Hunter Number 2 took the shot. We heard the hit and saw the bull kick his hind legs up in the air. We walked down to where the bull had been standing and found some hair, some broken mesquite branches, and tracks, confirming the hit that we had heard, but no blood. We attempted to track the bull, but quickly lost its tracks among the various other nilgai and deer tracks in the pasture. We did not find any blood, indicating a high shot, nor any more busted branches. This part of the pasture had mesquite mottes so it was relatively wide open. Thicker brush could have helped the tracking by limiting the options for the nilgai to run. We eventually retraced our steps and formed a line and walked from the location of the initial tracks in the general direction of travel for about 2000 yards... With nilgai, and particularly the bulls, it's a vital shot or else it will likely live. Also, unlike whitetail, a nilgai will not typically bed down after being shot. The damp ground didn't help our tracking efforts either. We spent several hours looking for the bull with no luck. Other hunters on the lease drove the general area later that day and over the weekend and did not see any buzzards flying or any sign of a dead 700-800 lb. nilgai. We figured that the shot was high and towards the rear of the bull and likely only grazed its back.
After our unsuccessful track, we went back to camp to regroup. By then, the temps reached the 80's, making the timeframe for harvesting, field dressing, and quartering a large animal even more critical. It also meant that the nilgai would be looking for a shady spot to spend the afternoon. We decided to make a loop in the west pasture to see if we could jump anything. We headed towards a blind location that we call the "Low Condo." During deer season, we had quite a few nilgai sightings out of that blind. To get to the Low Condo, you have to drive through a large dry lake bed. As we were headed out of the lake bed and in sight of the Low Condo blind, I spotted two nilgai bulls at the 10:00 o'clock position, less than 100 yards from the truck, concealed between two large mesquite trees. Hunter Number 3 was in the passenger seat and quickly jumped out of the 'Burban and rested his rifle on a cooler in the rear basket and fired. The larger bull dropped immediately. The bullet (Federal Fusion 165 gr.) had busted through the very top of both lungs and clipped its spine, immobilizing the bull and causing him to die before we could even reach him on foot. While we took pictures of the bull, Hunter Number 2 set up just north of the dead bull to try for a shot on the other bull. He took a shot at that bull, but the only blood drawn was from the scope hitting his eye.
Nilgai down...
Hunter No. 2- 0, Nilgai- 1
After taking pictures, the four of us unsuccessfully attempted to load the bull onto the rear basket. We headed back to camp and hooked up a utility trailer with a ramp and the four of us were able to drag the bull up the ramp and onto the trailer without much trouble.
We went back to camp and started the long process of field dressing and quartering the bull. The bull's horns measured ~8" long and we estimated that it weighed between 700-750 lbs. In order to crank it up on the A-frame, we had to remove the bull's head. The hide around the bull's neck was roughly 1-in thick and a few havalon blades were broken in the process. We ended up cutting open the chest cavity while the bull was still on the trailer so that we didn't have to deal with the organs/guts getting in the way while the bull was hanging on the rack.
On the trailer
"Supervising"....
Once the bull was up on the rack, we finished field dressing and quartering it out so that the meat would fit in our seven ice chests. There was some talk early on about running the field dressed carcass to a processor in Raymondville, but that idea was quickly shot down by the more motivated members of our hunting party.
Are we done yet???
We are all experienced hunters with plenty of field dressing experience, and the whole field dressing and quartering process took us about 3.5 hours. Hunter Number 3 saved the head and the hide. He is currently working on a European mount for the head and sent the hide off to be tanned. The hide is allegedly going to be used as a honeymoon rug when he gets married...
The backbone...
The backstrap...
Cabeza de nilgai
Once all the meat was in the ice chests, we kicked back and enjoyed a beautiful South Texas evening by grilling some venison backstrap and baking pan de campo. Hunter Number 1 brought a bottle of sipping tequila that put a nice final touch on our successful day's hunt.
"Secret" family recipe.
The meat was kept in coolers for a week with ice replaced on a daily basis. We met up the following Saturday to bone-out the meat, package the roasts, and cut some steaks. We ended up with about 150 lbs. of nilgai scraps which was stored in separate bags to be ground into hamburger and sausage at a later date. A few weeks later, we spent an entire Saturday and most of Sunday grinding the scrap meat using two grinders and mixing it with pork carnitas using a 30% blend. We made hamburger, breakfast sausage (regular, hot, and Cajun), Italian sausage, and link sausage (kiolbassa, brats, polish). The link sausage was later smoked using hickory and apple wood chips. A few weeks later, our families met up at Hunter Number 3's house to grill some nilgai burgers and link sausage and split up the meat. Nilgai meat is tasty and not as gamey as whitetail. It's a great ground meat to use for many dishes. Even with just one bull, we were each able to fill a good part of our freezers with meat for the year.
Grinding meat!
Sausage fest...
The aftermath...
We estimate that the whole process took at least 150-man hours from the time the nilgai hit the ground to when we split up the meat. It was fun but a lot of work.
Good progress on the European mount.
Planning for next year's nilgai hunt is already in the works.
If you ever get an opportunity to go on a nilgai hunt, take it. It is a unique South Texas hunting experience. There was a thread a while back where an Ag was advertising nilgai hunts. He has a first-class ranch located near Arroyo City. I recommend that you give him a call.
No aoudad or mountain lions were harmed in the process and since we were having fun, none of us spoke of Doss at all. We did see MFBarnes fly by in a half Dallas Cowboy/ Texas Aggies helicopter though
Thanks for reading.
TLDR version- we shot and processed a nilgai bull
I hunt on a 3,000-acre low fenced hunting lease just north of Raymondville, TX. The land straddles the Kenedy and Willacy County lines and lies between the Yturria Ranch and the Norias Division of the King Ranch. It has been in the same family for over 150 years. It is gently-rolling sandy terrain with some thick sections of brush and some areas of mesquite/blackbrush mottes. There are pothole lakes throughout the lease that hold varying amounts of water, depending on the rainfall, and there is at least one artesian well that flows during "wet" years. This place holds some great deer and supports a thriving herd of nilgai.
To those of you that live and/or hunt north of the Wild Horse Desert (or the Nueces River), nilgai are known as the "blue bull." They were introduced into the area by the King Ranch during the 20's and 30's and have adapted to this area. They freely roam on ranches along Hwy 77/83 from Brownsville to just south of Corpus Christi and have also been spotted west of Hwy 281 in the Linn/San Manual/McCook area and even west of Encino and up north to Falfurrias.
During the four years that I have been on this lease, I haven't actively hunted nilgai, mostly because I didn't have the help to load and field dress it, and partly because one hasn't walked within bow range. This year, I wanted that to change. After deer season, I invited some friends along to see if we could harvest a nilgai. Three of the four of us are Ags, and one of those Ags, like me, is a frequent OB lurker, and wishes to remain anonymous. The other hunter is a T-shirt Sip.
We met up at the Stripes in Raymondville on a foggy Friday morning and loaded up our coolers with beer and ice and picked up a few Laredo Taco Company breakfast tacos. Once everything was loaded and secured, we headed north.
At the main gate.
The other hunters on the lease hunt nilgai either from the blind or "safari style", which essentially means a booze cruise with guns hanging out the window. We decided to start off safari-style and see if we could jump one, so we loaded up in my 1991 GMC Suburban hunting rig and headed out with some Fightin' Texas Aggie Band music playing in the CD player. The temperature that morning was in the mid- 60's and there was a thick coastal fog that made everything damp, even the ground.
My friends brought rifles chambered in .308 and 30-06 for the hunt. The general consensus amongst most nilgai hunters is that you need at least a .30 caliber bullet and be ready for a quick follow shot, even if the nilgai drops immediately after the initial shot. I figured that since I was going to do most of the driving, I wouldn't bring a rifle, I just carried a .45 in a chest rig in case we had to track a wounded animal.
Halfway through our first loop through the north pasture, we spotted a nice-sized nilgai cow but she also spotted us and took off. I moved the 'Burban to a sendero that was just north of where we had spotted the cow and in the general direction she ran. Depending on the hunting pressure, nilgai are easily spooked and give you only a few seconds to make your shot before they bolt. I had barely stopped the 'Burban when the cow ran out into the sendero about 200 yards away from us. She paused just long enough for Hunter Number 1 to get out of the 'Burban, rest his rifle on the door frame, and take a shot. The bullet hit the ground just under the cow and the cow took off - a clear miss.
We loaded back up and continued our loop in the north pasture but we didn't see any more nilgai so we decided to head back to camp for a taco break. We went back to camp in a roundabout way and jumped two large nilgai bulls at a spot where the sendero made a "Y." The bulls immediately ducked into the brush, so I stopped the 'Burban and we all got out. Hunter Number 2 (the T-shirt Sip) got ready for the shot. About 10 seconds later and about 250 yards away, one of the bulls popped out from the brush and gave us a quick but good broadside shot opportunity. Hunter Number 2 took the shot. We heard the hit and saw the bull kick his hind legs up in the air. We walked down to where the bull had been standing and found some hair, some broken mesquite branches, and tracks, confirming the hit that we had heard, but no blood. We attempted to track the bull, but quickly lost its tracks among the various other nilgai and deer tracks in the pasture. We did not find any blood, indicating a high shot, nor any more busted branches. This part of the pasture had mesquite mottes so it was relatively wide open. Thicker brush could have helped the tracking by limiting the options for the nilgai to run. We eventually retraced our steps and formed a line and walked from the location of the initial tracks in the general direction of travel for about 2000 yards... With nilgai, and particularly the bulls, it's a vital shot or else it will likely live. Also, unlike whitetail, a nilgai will not typically bed down after being shot. The damp ground didn't help our tracking efforts either. We spent several hours looking for the bull with no luck. Other hunters on the lease drove the general area later that day and over the weekend and did not see any buzzards flying or any sign of a dead 700-800 lb. nilgai. We figured that the shot was high and towards the rear of the bull and likely only grazed its back.
After our unsuccessful track, we went back to camp to regroup. By then, the temps reached the 80's, making the timeframe for harvesting, field dressing, and quartering a large animal even more critical. It also meant that the nilgai would be looking for a shady spot to spend the afternoon. We decided to make a loop in the west pasture to see if we could jump anything. We headed towards a blind location that we call the "Low Condo." During deer season, we had quite a few nilgai sightings out of that blind. To get to the Low Condo, you have to drive through a large dry lake bed. As we were headed out of the lake bed and in sight of the Low Condo blind, I spotted two nilgai bulls at the 10:00 o'clock position, less than 100 yards from the truck, concealed between two large mesquite trees. Hunter Number 3 was in the passenger seat and quickly jumped out of the 'Burban and rested his rifle on a cooler in the rear basket and fired. The larger bull dropped immediately. The bullet (Federal Fusion 165 gr.) had busted through the very top of both lungs and clipped its spine, immobilizing the bull and causing him to die before we could even reach him on foot. While we took pictures of the bull, Hunter Number 2 set up just north of the dead bull to try for a shot on the other bull. He took a shot at that bull, but the only blood drawn was from the scope hitting his eye.
Nilgai down...
Hunter No. 2- 0, Nilgai- 1
After taking pictures, the four of us unsuccessfully attempted to load the bull onto the rear basket. We headed back to camp and hooked up a utility trailer with a ramp and the four of us were able to drag the bull up the ramp and onto the trailer without much trouble.
We went back to camp and started the long process of field dressing and quartering the bull. The bull's horns measured ~8" long and we estimated that it weighed between 700-750 lbs. In order to crank it up on the A-frame, we had to remove the bull's head. The hide around the bull's neck was roughly 1-in thick and a few havalon blades were broken in the process. We ended up cutting open the chest cavity while the bull was still on the trailer so that we didn't have to deal with the organs/guts getting in the way while the bull was hanging on the rack.
On the trailer
"Supervising"....
Once the bull was up on the rack, we finished field dressing and quartering it out so that the meat would fit in our seven ice chests. There was some talk early on about running the field dressed carcass to a processor in Raymondville, but that idea was quickly shot down by the more motivated members of our hunting party.
Are we done yet???
We are all experienced hunters with plenty of field dressing experience, and the whole field dressing and quartering process took us about 3.5 hours. Hunter Number 3 saved the head and the hide. He is currently working on a European mount for the head and sent the hide off to be tanned. The hide is allegedly going to be used as a honeymoon rug when he gets married...
The backbone...
The backstrap...
Cabeza de nilgai
Once all the meat was in the ice chests, we kicked back and enjoyed a beautiful South Texas evening by grilling some venison backstrap and baking pan de campo. Hunter Number 1 brought a bottle of sipping tequila that put a nice final touch on our successful day's hunt.
"Secret" family recipe.
The meat was kept in coolers for a week with ice replaced on a daily basis. We met up the following Saturday to bone-out the meat, package the roasts, and cut some steaks. We ended up with about 150 lbs. of nilgai scraps which was stored in separate bags to be ground into hamburger and sausage at a later date. A few weeks later, we spent an entire Saturday and most of Sunday grinding the scrap meat using two grinders and mixing it with pork carnitas using a 30% blend. We made hamburger, breakfast sausage (regular, hot, and Cajun), Italian sausage, and link sausage (kiolbassa, brats, polish). The link sausage was later smoked using hickory and apple wood chips. A few weeks later, our families met up at Hunter Number 3's house to grill some nilgai burgers and link sausage and split up the meat. Nilgai meat is tasty and not as gamey as whitetail. It's a great ground meat to use for many dishes. Even with just one bull, we were each able to fill a good part of our freezers with meat for the year.
Grinding meat!
Sausage fest...
The aftermath...
We estimate that the whole process took at least 150-man hours from the time the nilgai hit the ground to when we split up the meat. It was fun but a lot of work.
Good progress on the European mount.
Planning for next year's nilgai hunt is already in the works.
If you ever get an opportunity to go on a nilgai hunt, take it. It is a unique South Texas hunting experience. There was a thread a while back where an Ag was advertising nilgai hunts. He has a first-class ranch located near Arroyo City. I recommend that you give him a call.
No aoudad or mountain lions were harmed in the process and since we were having fun, none of us spoke of Doss at all. We did see MFBarnes fly by in a half Dallas Cowboy/ Texas Aggies helicopter though
Thanks for reading.
TLDR version- we shot and processed a nilgai bull
