Anyone been on a King Ranch Nilgai hunt? How are the animals hunted? Advice?

Never been on a hunt but I have spent some time down there. I have a friend that was born/raised there on the ranch. The Nilgai that I have seen down there were close to the bay and running in groups through the dunes.
Those suckers are fast.

the meat is tasty

I was down there a few years on a cull buck hunt and my guide had this to say about hunting nilgai:

"If you can put a bullet through the driver side window of a station wagon going 40mph, I'll think about letting you shoot one."

my uncle killed one with a bow down there several years ago, not super hard to kill if your patient and know what your doin.

From what I have learned, they are over run with the beasts. Typically hunted from vehicles engaged in a high-speed land chase. I once worked with a guy who participated in a group hunt that yielded about 2 dozen in one day.

The blue bull is said to be a very crafty and wiley beast.

The son's of the guy who manages them, went to A&M.

3-4 times a years they have to cull the herd with helicopter hunts. AR's and head shots.

[This message has been edited by Deats (edited 1/15/2009 1:38p).]

I've bowhunted them before and I can tell you that they will pick you up in a tree before you know they're there. Pop-up blinds don't seem to bother them nearly as much.

A friend of mine killed one near Hebronville last weekend. That reminds me I need to e-mail him for pics.

I hunted nilgai several times down along the lower Laguna Madre back in the late eighties and early nineties. We would haul four wheelers down there on boats and off load them in the Land Cut. We would usually stalk them going from dune to dune. You can also wait them out if you can find their poop pile. The bulls always poop in the same place.

My dad and I hunted on the king for 9 years. We went damn near every weekend of the year. The part of the ranch we hunted was mostly Oakmonts we figured out that the best way to hunt them was by walking the roads really slow. Bow hunting was best over water or piles of dung(they poop in the same spots.

tell them what you killed jboyd, I mean its only a state record

pics please mr boyd

I got to hunt them on the Kennedy ranch about 3 years ago. Be sure to take extra shells. If you are in heavy cover, you will probably have to take pop shots at them from a distance. Funny thing is, we jumped a group right out of the camp first thing. We didn't even have our rifles ready on the easiest chance of the day. Our guide got off a quick shot and dropped a yearling. If we would have been ready all 3 of us could have pretty easily dropped a good size cow or bull within 1 minute of leaving the camp house. Most we saw were 200 yards out or more and running like the wind. We were hesitant about shooting quickly but our guide said to just unload on them if we saw them because they needed to kill off about 60 head on their 7,000 acre portion of the ranch that they leased.

A friend of mine guides for them on the King Ranch. If you want his name/number e-mail me roperjoe@yahoo.com.

several years ago, I got invited to hunt the Kenedy for 2 seasons. Awesome experience.

One of those times, we were stalking whitetail and we walked up on a "grey ghost" bull and cow within 30 yards in an oak mott! The hunting buddy I was with was so shook up....he missed that bastage point blank with a 30-06!

We got back to camp and no one believed we got so close to them rascals.....believe me, it wasn't skill but flat out luck!

I hunted nilgai on a place just south of the King a few years ago. Money Game is right - a gas powered (quieter) F350 with two rows of seats in the bed. Once you see 'em, hold on. Driver hauls ass until you get in range, then he slams the breaks. Shoot until they all stop or are out of range. Mind you, this was after deer season was over and I was invited down as an alternative to them opening up the place for day hunters. Their biologists determined the guys on the lease hadn't taken enough off that year for both the nilgai and the cattle to have enough grazing room.

I've been told a more traditional way to hunt them was to find a pile of dung, sit back, and wait. They always squat in the same place.

This is one hunt I will be doing in the next several years. Something about those blue beasts that I like.