Drew Off Range Oryx Looking for advice
Hogs
Well with the New Mexico Draw just out, I was lucky enough to draw an off range state wide Oryx tag for Dec.1-31 this year. Now the research begins, Anyone that has been on that hunt or can offer advice or a good place to start, I sure would appreciate any help.
Thanks!
Shawn
Your going to need a hell of a lot of luck. A friend of mine lives there and it was every weekend and after school and he lucked into a stupid one that got lost.
Used to guide those hunts on WSMR and Holliman in the early 90's. Know'em like the back of my hand. I would start near Carrizozo (upper ne corner of WSMR). Took some beauts up there and someone was always cutting the fence. First priority.
Second, try Aguirre Springs area and around the Organ Mts on the Las Cruces side. Don't be concerned about standing water, they don't need it. Search for big creosote and mesquite patches...thicker the better and you'll find Oryx. They don't have any problem with coming near I-70 near dark.
third, Holliman had surprisingly good numbers of Oryx so also be looking for opportunity's in and around Alamogordo and Tularosa.....some private land there and a couple always get around the fence.
4th, look to get just off the range near Oro Grande. Wide open and easy to glass. maybe some private property butting the range there.
Good luck and don't hitem in the neck....they'll run forever......low and tight against the elbow will put em down quick.
Good Luck!!!!! best hunt ever......
one other thing Shawn, don't fool around with expandables or 3 -4 blade heads. Absolutely Go with a heavy Magnus Stinger 2 BLADE!!!, axis or full metal jacket shaft and feathers to keep all the weight in the front of the arrow. If you go with a regular Axis, foot the front of the arrow with some aluminum (1" or so will give you about 10 grains to augment the weight of the broadhead). You'll thank me later if you run into a 500 lber. Oryx are INCREDIBLY durable, their bone structure is different than North American game (especially in the neck area) and make North American game seem easy to kill in comparison. When injured, they can get real nasty, may charge, and go a loooong distance even shot fatally....keep your wits about you when tracking and remember, they've no need for standing water usually, but may go for it if wounded. watch the vultures and you'll find your animal...... experience speaking here......:)
I wouldn't be married to your bow. I known this is bowsite, but that tag is hard to come by and that meat is too good to pass up. I killed one off-range last year. My schedule was so crazy I could only afford to dedicate one day fo the hunt, so picking up my rifle was an easy choice. If you've got the time I wish you tons of luck with the bow. If time is running out, there is no shame in killing a NM oryx with a rifle. If you haven't eaten oryx before, by the first bite your weapon choice will be temporarily forgotten. Also, as boothill indicated, these animals are tough! Off range oryx are often not too far from being back on range. If a wounded animal re-enters the range consider it a loss. Do not, under any circumstances, cross that fence without a military escort. Chances of getting permission to enter the range to recover an animal hover real close to a zero percent chance. With all that said, hunt however you prefer and have a blast. Hopefully you'll be able to fill your freezer with a wonderful wild game delicacy.
One other thing every one of them looks wounded when they run off. I have a MacGregor tag for Dec and will hunt with a rifle. I have been blessed with a Rhodes canyon and a Jornado tag and 2 off range tags. These are some of the best eating there is. My family will eat an oryx burger mixed with ranch dressing over anything else.
I hunted off-range oryx last year in August, and I wanted to reflect much of the sentiment that is expressed by the others here. It can be a very difficult and frustrating hunt (especially if you don't have a lot of time to pour into it), but it is also extremely rewarding. It took me 11 days to finally get mine (this was my first time hunting oryx). In that time, I saw 42 oryx, and only two of those were on my side of the fence. Yup, just two. I was blessed that the two I did see on the right side weren't broken, and I was able to harvest one of them. Only about 8 of the 42 that I saw weren't broken on at least one side, and most of them only had about 8 inches of horn on both sides.
I also agree with the thought that you should probably forgoe using the bow on this one. Oryx have excellent eyesight and can cover ground crazy fast just at a walking pace, and most of the area I hunted them in didn't have enough cover to get within bow range. You may only get one shot at one, and you don't want to blow your one chance by trying to do it with a bow. At the very least, take a rifle with you so if he starts getting close to the fence, you can let him have it before he's gone for good.
Just to save you some time, headaches, and fuel, I would avoid the Carrizozo area. I got the gate code and went through the process of getting into that area, and it was a bust. I would trek 20+ miles down in there, and find nothing. I was told by a nice rancher in the area that he used to see herds of 30-40 of them way down in that area, but he hadn't seen any in 3 years, and I believe him because it was desolate. I drove about five miles of the NE edge of the WSMR fence on the south end of that area and didn't cut a single track new or old. I thought that if I just tried harder and glassed harder I would find one, but I didn't. I believe it was good in the past, but it is not worth your time now.
So as to not discourage you too much, you will most likely work very hard for the one you get, and you will feel extremely gratified once you do get one because you earned it. The are beautiful mounted on the wall, and their meat is excellent.
Bottom line: Take a rifle, take as much time off as you can because you'll need it, and stick with it. The animals are there, you just have to hit it really hard and burn a lot of gas to find them.
Good luck. Post some pictures if you get one.
Use a rifle. Most country is rather open and more condusive to gun hunting.
It's surprising to find so many broken ones in New Mexico. They are virtually never broken in Africa. In all of the shows I've watched, and all the Oryx I've seem myself in Africa, I've never seen one with a broken horn. One New Mexico biologist was surprised to hear that when I told him. He wondered if inbreeding has caused their horns to be so brittle, since they originally started with a fairly small population.
lots of really good advice on this thread. lots of it. I echo all of the above x 10. I do however find it discouraging to hear that the Carrizozo area has declined. It was once my go to spot. Oh well, all changes-sometimes not for the best. FYI Many broken horns are from the miles and miles of fences, they don't mix with 36" straight clown stabbers. You may also find wicked scars on the legs from the same thing. When they get hung up, they really make a mess of things.....maybe not as much fencing in Africa, but I don't know.....
Get on a high point and glass,glass,glass till you can't glass anymore and then glass some more. We are doing a shoulder mount for a customer that has a broken horn imbedded from another Oryx from fighting.
Regarding the high # of broken horns, I keep hearing that is due to a severe cold snap we had about 3 years ago (like -10 degrees or even below). Basically their horn cores got frostbite, along with their ears. I shot an off-range bull this year that was broke off about 18" above his skull, but saw lots that only had 1-3" of horns. He was also missing about half his ears, looked like you just snipped the top half off with scissors, I'll see if I can find a pic later.
I don't know about the severe cold causing the horns to break easy , we have mounted some that had an ear that has frozen off about half way. Also my son shot a broken horn in 2001, every time we have hunted on WSMR have seen lots of broken horned Oryx.
High broken horns on the WSMR: A lot of trophy hunters these days and would not dare disgrace themselves by shooting anything less than a "booner"
Fewer broken horns in Africa: Much higher predation. A broken horn oryx is easy picking for a pack of lions or other big four legged mammal with claws and teeth.
You want less broken horns? Stop trophy hunting for a minimum of 5 years and significantly increase the broken horn tags and hunts for the same time period.
It is not rocket science.
Archer-
drive WSMR fences as much as possible and look for fence crossings - they go under them and pretty obvious when they do. Be very consistent and persistent in an area, especially when you see sign. They move around all day, and yes, they do move around at night. Check water tanks - they do drink water, but can go for several days without doing so provided the vegetation has the moisture content they need. Let your vehicle and optics do the hunting for you. Drive and stop every 200 - 300 yards and glass standing up in the bed of your truck. My experience over the past years off-range hunting is that you will average an opportunity about every 1 1/2 to 2 days.
I don't know what it is like today, but when I guided for Oryx on WSMR (at that time) we had specific hunts when you could only shoot a one horn or broken horn animal. Anyone know if that is still the case? Meat is meat......Id take a broken horn any day.....
They still have broken horn hunts, the draw odds are still pretty bad. But if you've already done your OIL hunt it is an option.
Crazy thing is for the most part broken horn oryx BHO hunt odds are worse odds than trophy tags! Both are pretty dismal odds at best.
Thanks for all of the information guys, I really appreciate your help and thoughts!
HDE:
In speaking with range biologists it is my understanding that in Africa the low temps do not drop anywhere near what we can get here in NM & damage from cold to the horn tissue inside the sheath is the main reason for brittle & deformed horns here in NM.
The last hunt I helped on range (Stallion a year ago) I estimated only 15-15% of the oryx we saw had both horns unbroken. Lots of animals had frost-bitten ears too.
The tremendous cold snaps we had the past couple of winters really did a number on their horns. Lots and lots of broken & double-broken horned animals. Finding trophy animals is currently a lot harder than it used to be before the cold snaps.
Don't think that it is due to trophy hunting.
This makes me want a broken horn tag. My only option since...
