Pretty Fly for a Nilgai
- Thread starter jt13
- Start date
JV842
Well-known member
Can’t ever get drawn for those; archery or rifle!!
Congrats
That bullet has some diameter to it
So let's go back to October…I'm on our annual grouse hunt with my wife. We have a brief conversation about keeping saving up money for next year's South African safari hunt. She takes off into the brush with the dogs, I stay behind at the truck with the kid. Just then, and I mean just then, I get service and some emails come through. Most are junk but one title catches my eye:
A South Texas National Wildlife Refuge Nilgai hunt… Holy shit….Dare I even ask after the conversation we just had? What do I do now?
Well with my heart in my throat I broached the subject, fully prepared for the reasonable response of “No”. But that's not what happened, she was at first shocked but then quickly settled into how we can arrange things to make it work. Have I told you guys that I love this woman? One thing did become clear - due to work and other obligations I would be going on this adventure alone.
A South Texas National Wildlife Refuge Nilgai hunt… Holy shit….Dare I even ask after the conversation we just had? What do I do now?
Well with my heart in my throat I broached the subject, fully prepared for the reasonable response of “No”. But that's not what happened, she was at first shocked but then quickly settled into how we can arrange things to make it work. Have I told you guys that I love this woman? One thing did become clear - due to work and other obligations I would be going on this adventure alone.
**Edit: Forgot to add this hunt is shotgun or muzzleloader only.**
About a week later the trials and tribulations of messing around with shotgun slugs started:
I started a thread titled “Sabot Slugs vs Nilgai”. We went through the zeroing and trial and error process of finding the best shooting slug out of my gun. How I left things on there is not what ended up being used on the hunt.
I tried, really tried, to get one of three rifled slug options to shoot consistently and accurately at 150-200 yards: Beretta ES100, Benelli M2, and a Browning A-Bolt. I spent over $350 on slugs for testing, zeroing, and the hunt. After a malfunction with my ES100, the Browning A-bolt got the nod. She shot best with the 385 gr. 2¾” Remington Accutips, performing pretty reliably to 150 yards, holding approximately 3-4” groups at that range.
After 150 yards, those big fat slow slugs are falling off a cliff. See my dope chart for the hunt:
About a week later the trials and tribulations of messing around with shotgun slugs started:
I started a thread titled “Sabot Slugs vs Nilgai”. We went through the zeroing and trial and error process of finding the best shooting slug out of my gun. How I left things on there is not what ended up being used on the hunt.
I tried, really tried, to get one of three rifled slug options to shoot consistently and accurately at 150-200 yards: Beretta ES100, Benelli M2, and a Browning A-Bolt. I spent over $350 on slugs for testing, zeroing, and the hunt. After a malfunction with my ES100, the Browning A-bolt got the nod. She shot best with the 385 gr. 2¾” Remington Accutips, performing pretty reliably to 150 yards, holding approximately 3-4” groups at that range.
After 150 yards, those big fat slow slugs are falling off a cliff. See my dope chart for the hunt:
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E-scouting, hunting forums, and more.
As I've done with all my DIY hunts I use what I can to shorten the learning curve. Being that this was such a low odds draw, less than 1%, people were pretty open to help and give information. The offers for help and support were amazing - I received phone calls about how to hunt nilgai and was sent maps and waypoints. I got local offers to use freezer space, borrow guns, and use gear. I was in awe of the generosity of the people down there.
If you're going to borrow gear from a guy on a nilgai hunt, it should be a guy who's garage looks like this:
As I've done with all my DIY hunts I use what I can to shorten the learning curve. Being that this was such a low odds draw, less than 1%, people were pretty open to help and give information. The offers for help and support were amazing - I received phone calls about how to hunt nilgai and was sent maps and waypoints. I got local offers to use freezer space, borrow guns, and use gear. I was in awe of the generosity of the people down there.
If you're going to borrow gear from a guy on a nilgai hunt, it should be a guy who's garage looks like this:
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Jumping forward to January. The trip down wasn't without excitement with a last minute flight cancelation. I ended up needing to drive to another airport a few hours away to make it all work out reasonably on time.
Airport beers:
Final descent:
Airport beers:
Final descent:
On these refuge hunts, you're generally allowed one day of scouting prior to the 3 day hunt from sunrise to sunset. I wanted to make the most of the experience, I did a lap pre-dawn and then was the first one through the gate. Being early put me in a great position to catch a ton of animals in the open, unpressured.
A foggy sunrise:
My first poop pile:
The first nilgai I ever laid eyes on:
A bull with some cows:
Lord only knows how many statuesque bulls I drove right on by without seeing:
Tracks...tracks everywhere...:
A foggy sunrise:
My first poop pile:
The first nilgai I ever laid eyes on:
A bull with some cows:
Lord only knows how many statuesque bulls I drove right on by without seeing:
Tracks...tracks everywhere...:
What becomes immediately apparent is how tuned in these things are. As soon as anything unnatural moves they lock on to it and when they spook they run FOREVER. Also, while I was expecting pretty open terrain this place was something else. Knee high cactus filled grass, massive tidal salt marshes, patches of yucca "forests", and small swaths of the thickest and nastiest brush on the planet.
The open country:
The not-so-open country:
The open country:
The not-so-open country:
On the first day of the hunt I headed into the refuge at exactly 90 minutes before sunrise, as early as you're legally allowed to enter. I had an area picked out that was kind of the confluence of where I saw a number of nilgai run. Unfortunately, someone jumped the gun and entered the preserve early and was parked exactly where I was planning to go... Ah well, life goes on.
While it was still dark, I snuck out into a big flat where I saw a herd hanging out the day before. I tucked behind a bush and waited for daylight. In the earliest graylight I caught movement, the herd heading away from me. The wind was a little swirly and I edged pretty close to them and got caught.
Daylight came and I saw something a ways off around 400-500 yards, a brown silhouette tucked up against some mesquite. I look closer and it's a cow and a calf, the calf bedded and the cow feeding. There was a single bush between me and them about 300 yards out. I put the cover between me and them and walked straight at them. I got to the brush, ranged them at 169 yards and got ready for a shot. I went from prone to seated, sat my pack up, and got ready to shoot. However... that's where it ended. She caught me moving and ran over the horizon and out of my life.
While it was still dark, I snuck out into a big flat where I saw a herd hanging out the day before. I tucked behind a bush and waited for daylight. In the earliest graylight I caught movement, the herd heading away from me. The wind was a little swirly and I edged pretty close to them and got caught.
Daylight came and I saw something a ways off around 400-500 yards, a brown silhouette tucked up against some mesquite. I look closer and it's a cow and a calf, the calf bedded and the cow feeding. There was a single bush between me and them about 300 yards out. I put the cover between me and them and walked straight at them. I got to the brush, ranged them at 169 yards and got ready for a shot. I went from prone to seated, sat my pack up, and got ready to shoot. However... that's where it ended. She caught me moving and ran over the horizon and out of my life.
LostTexican
Active member
Uhhhh waiting for the rest of this man…..lol
After my first failed stalk ended in about a square mile of open salt flat. I felt pretty confident that all the animals in that particular section had moved on. I was about 3/4 mile from the truck at that point so I headed back and drove up to a different parking area. I utilized the cheapest 29" bicycle you can buy at Walmart to peddle myself back a couple miles to a long narrow thicket of brush with a pretty decent game trail down the center. The wind picks up and doesn't relent, 20-30mph sustained with gusts to 55mph.
The good: all that wind made a ton of noise.
The bad: Riding a bike, something I do not do often, in super high winds was comically difficult.
The ugly: A slug will drift a TON at 100-150 yards at that wind speed.
I get to the area I wanted to hunt with a strong north wind. I make a slow walk along the south edge, then back along the north edge:
Creeping along a game trail slowly, I catch the flick of a tail in the mesquite brush. I walked right up on a cow and calf! I shoulder my gun, she spins to run and I fire through some brush at about 20 yards, she crossed a big open area at about 50 yards and I fired a second time. She topped a sand dune and out across a huge flat. I came over behind her and watched her run for over 1000 yards without showing any signs of injury. I have a hard time believing I didn't connect with the first shot, but know I missed the second shot. I investigated the area for over an hour and found no blood, hair, or dead nilgai. Disheartened, I walked back to my bike and pedaled back to the truck.
I came to figure out from talking to other hunters that this was a common experience. These things are tough, soak up lead, don't bleed, and run forever if you don't hit them perfectly. Their hide is incredibly thick, and for an animal of their size, have relatively small lungs located further forward than a deer or elk. Their vitals are also mostly covered by a very large and tough shoulder blade.
The good: all that wind made a ton of noise.
The bad: Riding a bike, something I do not do often, in super high winds was comically difficult.
The ugly: A slug will drift a TON at 100-150 yards at that wind speed.
I get to the area I wanted to hunt with a strong north wind. I make a slow walk along the south edge, then back along the north edge:
Creeping along a game trail slowly, I catch the flick of a tail in the mesquite brush. I walked right up on a cow and calf! I shoulder my gun, she spins to run and I fire through some brush at about 20 yards, she crossed a big open area at about 50 yards and I fired a second time. She topped a sand dune and out across a huge flat. I came over behind her and watched her run for over 1000 yards without showing any signs of injury. I have a hard time believing I didn't connect with the first shot, but know I missed the second shot. I investigated the area for over an hour and found no blood, hair, or dead nilgai. Disheartened, I walked back to my bike and pedaled back to the truck.
I came to figure out from talking to other hunters that this was a common experience. These things are tough, soak up lead, don't bleed, and run forever if you don't hit them perfectly. Their hide is incredibly thick, and for an animal of their size, have relatively small lungs located further forward than a deer or elk. Their vitals are also mostly covered by a very large and tough shoulder blade.
BrentD
Well-known member
Why are you using a shotgun? Is that a requirement?
It seems an odd choice for this. These things are big, right - like 3-400 lbs I would guess?
It seems an odd choice for this. These things are big, right - like 3-400 lbs I would guess?
Sorry, I failed to mention that. I'll edit it in somewhere up top. Shotgun and muzzleloader only hunt. Theyre more or less elk size - bulls are 350-550lbs on the hoof, cows are around 250-350.
For the evening of day one I headed to the most remote part of the unit. I hiked around it on the scouting day and liked what I saw. It burns a lot of boot leather but only one other guy and myself were dumb enough to hunt this section:
I got to where I wanted to be and sat on a water hole until dark. From this spot I could glass into 3 large open areas.
Pretty quickly I start picking up animals out in the distance. About a mile out there across a flat there was a herd of 10 cows and calves. A short while later, a lone cow comes out of out the brush to feed at around 400 yards to my right. I tried a very long low crawl to close distance but ran out of cover long before she was in range. I went back to my glassing spot and right before dark watched a string of at least 9 bulls walk into the brush 900 yards to my north.
That sighting coupled with a forecasted change in wind direction made that area my new target area for the morning.... just about as far from a parking area as you can possibly get without swimming into the Gulf of Mexico.
I got to where I wanted to be and sat on a water hole until dark. From this spot I could glass into 3 large open areas.
Pretty quickly I start picking up animals out in the distance. About a mile out there across a flat there was a herd of 10 cows and calves. A short while later, a lone cow comes out of out the brush to feed at around 400 yards to my right. I tried a very long low crawl to close distance but ran out of cover long before she was in range. I went back to my glassing spot and right before dark watched a string of at least 9 bulls walk into the brush 900 yards to my north.
That sighting coupled with a forecasted change in wind direction made that area my new target area for the morning.... just about as far from a parking area as you can possibly get without swimming into the Gulf of Mexico.
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jpcoll01
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2021
- Messages
- 503
Thread title of the year, perhaps??? At least top 5. Well done.
On the morning of hunting day 2 of 3 I get to the gate exactly 90 minutes before sunrise. I grab gear and Walmart bike and start to load up. The first hurdle of the day came early, as I've got a completely flat front tire. I whip out some tire Slime and the little portable pump I bought and got it going again but it cost me precious time to get way back to where I needed to go. I starting down the trail peddling my ass off and put down a good few miles between me and the gate. I'm sweating, out of breath, but I made it where I needed to go.
I stopped about a mile short of my target area and hopped off on foot. The moon was bright enough to discern where the trail was so I went without any kind of lights. Where I was headed was along the edge of a square mile flat, I was concerned that any light or noise would blow everything out. I crept along slowly as we approached the beginning of gray light, a good 10-15 minutes or so before shooting light.
By using my binos to look across the expanse, I'm able to see just well enough to make out two nilgai silhouettes. They were a few hundred yards out, but just off the trail I was on and I had a bit of cover. Finally, I was in a position where I had the advantage! I got low and made the best time I could to cut distance. I crawled about 100 yards, as close as I could get quietly. I sat right in the trail, sat my pack up, rested the gun up, and looked at my phone for the time - 6:51am. Two minutes after legal light.
Looking through my Leupold 2-7X33 I was able to make out torso, legs, and head but really stretching the capability of that optic in low light. They start working away from me towards a wall of thick brush, seemingly not comfortable out in the wide open with impending daylight. I lose the lead animal to the brush and the second one is headed to do the same. There was a cactus covered berm I needed to get over to stay on the remaining nilgai. I crawled up on it, cactus be damned, and there he was broadside. No time to range him, but I knew he was closer than 150 yards. I settled the crosshairs, squeezed the trigger, and fired.
The distinct sound of a solid impact was easy to make out. It knocked him flat down. I chambered another round and watched for him to get back up. He starting grunting, thrashing, and I could see the obvious signs of a spined animal. I ran as fast as I could through knee high salt grass towards the commotion. At about 50 yards out, I could see he was trying to get his legs back under him so I fired again. A third shot at point blank range brought an end to the struggle. A young nilgai bull lay at my feet.
Success....
More to come...
I stopped about a mile short of my target area and hopped off on foot. The moon was bright enough to discern where the trail was so I went without any kind of lights. Where I was headed was along the edge of a square mile flat, I was concerned that any light or noise would blow everything out. I crept along slowly as we approached the beginning of gray light, a good 10-15 minutes or so before shooting light.
By using my binos to look across the expanse, I'm able to see just well enough to make out two nilgai silhouettes. They were a few hundred yards out, but just off the trail I was on and I had a bit of cover. Finally, I was in a position where I had the advantage! I got low and made the best time I could to cut distance. I crawled about 100 yards, as close as I could get quietly. I sat right in the trail, sat my pack up, rested the gun up, and looked at my phone for the time - 6:51am. Two minutes after legal light.
Looking through my Leupold 2-7X33 I was able to make out torso, legs, and head but really stretching the capability of that optic in low light. They start working away from me towards a wall of thick brush, seemingly not comfortable out in the wide open with impending daylight. I lose the lead animal to the brush and the second one is headed to do the same. There was a cactus covered berm I needed to get over to stay on the remaining nilgai. I crawled up on it, cactus be damned, and there he was broadside. No time to range him, but I knew he was closer than 150 yards. I settled the crosshairs, squeezed the trigger, and fired.
The distinct sound of a solid impact was easy to make out. It knocked him flat down. I chambered another round and watched for him to get back up. He starting grunting, thrashing, and I could see the obvious signs of a spined animal. I ran as fast as I could through knee high salt grass towards the commotion. At about 50 yards out, I could see he was trying to get his legs back under him so I fired again. A third shot at point blank range brought an end to the struggle. A young nilgai bull lay at my feet.
Success....
More to come...
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I carried quarters out to the trail and got them tied up in a tree. It's 75 degrees outside and temps are rising. Thankfully that coastal Texas wind is keeping the bugs down and helping cool the meat.
Meat tree:
From there it was 3.2 miles back to the truck. I went back to where I left Walmart
bike and rode it to the meat tree. My first plan of attack was to load it all up in my pack and pedal it out.
Yeah, that doesn't work lol.
New plan I devised was to load my pack on the bike and walk it out. It took some trial and error but eventually figured out a way to stack stuff do l so that I coyote l could roll it all out in one go. I'd brought along a roll of kevlar kite string en lieu of 550 cord. I used that to bundle everything together for stability.
3 quarters, pack, and head.
4 quarters, bag, head, gun, and gear:
Meat tree:
From there it was 3.2 miles back to the truck. I went back to where I left Walmart
bike and rode it to the meat tree. My first plan of attack was to load it all up in my pack and pedal it out.
Yeah, that doesn't work lol.
New plan I devised was to load my pack on the bike and walk it out. It took some trial and error but eventually figured out a way to stack stuff do l so that I coyote l could roll it all out in one go. I'd brought along a roll of kevlar kite string en lieu of 550 cord. I used that to bundle everything together for stability.
3 quarters, pack, and head.
4 quarters, bag, head, gun, and gear:
