NM Oryx

SDHNTR

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Shot this big girl back in Feb on the WSMR. What a fun hunt! much more challenging that I thought.
 

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Sweet! That sounds like a fun hunt. Can you tell the difference between a male and female when your glassing? Do they pretty much look the same? Think I'll put in for the tag next year.
 
Once you get close enough you can tell. But you have to know what you are looking at and it can take a bit of time to make a distinction. The hunt is worth it for the meat alone. Best around!
 
Congrats on the Oryx, shes a beauty. I would love to go back and do that again. Looks like you guys were able to take your cameras on the range this year. I heard they were going to do that.
 
Really need to get to that part of my list. Nice pic.

..you mind elaborating about the taste? Compared to elk for instance?
 
Compared to elk? Way more mild. Even the round steaks are quite tender and there is not a hint of gaminess. The backstraps are like lean and tender beef. I cooked a big chunk of strap at camp while some other guys cooked up a tri tip. After tasting the oryx, the tri tip was a downer. I can't apply for the once in a lifetime hunts any more, but I'll darn sure apply for the broken horn hunts just for the meat.
 
Once you get over the ORYX!! part of the hunt, telling the difference isnt too hard. Cows horns are generally longer than bulls, but smaller around. Most bulls are not as sharp pointed and heavier. I love elk meat, but oryx is best game meat I have ever eaten.
 
GREAT!!! Congrats on a superb animal! They are among natures most beautiful and graceful animals!
I fully agree that the meat is excellent but have found they taste a little different based on where in RSA I took mine. The transplanted ones were not quite as tasty as the ones in their native habitat, the Kalahari, especially the liver. The area you hunted is much more akin to their native range than many locations you can now hunt them in RSA!
I have significant problem sexing them! As previously said, the females horns are often longer , more pointed and have smaller bases than the males but at a couple hundred yards or more that is difficult. Pinus sacks are almost invisible. Females may have a little more white on their faces.
 
Beats me! I dropped my first straight down with a 175gr NITREX Grand Slam with one shot from 7mmMag, chased my second,after hitting in almost same spot for 500 yds and took two more to finish with a .375RUM with 300gr Rems, My third and fourth were both hit in lungs and a bit of heart with the 7mmMag with TSX...one went fifty yds and dropped dead , other was chased for an hour and was 2 miles from shot and dropped just before second shot. My last was hit quartering taking lungs and damn near taking off side leg off....he had gone around 500 yds and stopped atop a dune and my friend put him down with a .22-250 55gr V-Max to the neck....all mine were RSA.
 
What's the minimun round they require?


Like anything, shot placement is everything and they have unusual, or suprising anatomy you have to account for. You may well hit heavy bone if simply shoot them like you would an elk, for example.

I would not rifle hunt them with less than a .300 caliber...but many folks do/have with sucessful results.

They are tough critters, IMO, having ben on a few hunts.
 
I agree the meat on those animals is some of the best there is. Mine was a tad tough, but flavor was excellent. I had most ground so the toughness was not a problem.
as far as guns to use, go big. heres one that left us scratching our heads. My friends bull had a festering sore on the shoulder. after skinning it I stick my finger into the sore and popped out a .270 cal bullet that was only under the hide about an inch. Perfect hit placement but how it only went in that far is something i never figured out. Bad hand load with half the powder not falling out of a thrower? mega long shot? who knows.
 
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Shot this one with a 30-06 from less than 100 yards. It was quartering away. Went in at the last rib, through the goodies, and lodged just under the skin of the off side shoulder. Went 40 yards and died on the run.
 
I will hunt the Stallion Range in February, on the 12th & 13th, and I am looking forward to a fun and different hunt. I have been and still am trying to do all the homework I can in preparation for the short 2 day hunt.

The Oryx seem to be known for a couple of characteristics. One of them is their toughness, and there are plenty of horror stories out there from guys who found that out the hard way. I intend to approach that issue with confidence by making sure that my 300RUM's and I are fine tuned to put a lotta hurt in the right place. The other thing is that everyone I know who has tasted the meat has good things to say about it. There is no shortage of volunteers to help me figure that one out first hand!

Which section of the range did you hunt on SDHNTR ?

I chose the Feb. hunt to fill in my post season regular hunting while hopefully still having some cool hunting weather. I hope that works out.

Got any tips outside of what the WSMR send out?

Thanks,
Jeff
 
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