USA: TEXAS - PREMIER AOUDAD HUNT

While the season is technically open year-round, best success for these specific trophy Aoudad hunts in Texas has proved to be late winter, spanning from mid-February to mid-March. This time of year is less foggy, offering better visibility, and sees the Aoudad in bachelor groups, allowing to best locate the oldest animals.

-Additional Aoudad: MAY be taken as targets of opportunity for a flat rate trophy fee – quota dependant.
-Javelina: Can be taken as targets of opportunity for a flat rate trophy fee, if encountered.
-Texas Desert Bighorn: Very limited and must be booked as the priority species.

Wake up in the pre-dawn, enjoy a quick light breakfast, pack a lunch and then hit the slopes for dawn. Part of the ranches can be driven, assisted by 4x4 or side by side, and the rest must be hiked. This Aoudad hunt in Texas is generally relaxed. Short climbs to strategic vantage points and begin glassing the vast landscape in search of sheep. As morning light shifts, it exposes new canyons and crevasses that Aoudad can hold up in. Visit several key glassing spots each day, day after day as needed in search for big mature rams until one is located. The energy then changes with a game plan devised on how best to close inside of shooting range. Careful maneuvering along the jagged mountains is exciting as you creep your way to a big Aoudad. Long range shooting confidence is an ally helping boost odds connecting with these wary sheep. It’s a true mountain sheep hunt, but still caters to hunters with a range of physical abilities.

High-end custom Gunwerks rifles are always available in camp at no charge for clients, chambered in proven hard hitting calibers like 7mm mag, 28 Nosler, 300 win mag or PRC. For any clients wishing to bring their own rifles, 7mm calibers or bigger are recommended. Typical shot ranges are around 300 yards, but for proficient long-range shooters, further is certainly possible!

Archery Aoudad hunting in Texas is welcomed, if requested from serious or experienced archery hunters. The terrain and quarry make bow hunting extremely challenging. While the weather is still quite hot, the October rut might offer the best archery hunting opportunities.

The Chihuahuan desert of Southwest Texas is a harsh and rugged landscape. An obscure corner of the continental US that many don’t explore or experience. Numerous jagged, lower elevation mountains provide ideal habitat for Aoudad, in addition to the indigenous wildlife line-up including Desert Bighorn Sheep and Mule Deer, Pumas, Mexican Black Bears, Grey Foxes, Javelina, Golden Eagles, Kangaroo Rats, Scaled Quail and Road Runners. Once on the mountain the terrain is a sloped combination of rim rock, ridge tops and undulating spiers full of nooks and crannies. Vegetation is sparse, with the dominant plants being Yuccas. Prickly Pear, Ocotillo and some Cholla Cactus also fill in the gaps. The low country gives rise to Mesquite washes and creosote flats.

A dry desert environment, temperatures here range throughout the year. Winters are often mild and rarely dip below freezing. Mornings are crisp but the sun warms the landscape as temperatures rise throughout the day. Some afternoons can get quite warm while Aoudad hunting in Texas. Hunters tend to start the day in a sweater and end it in a T-shirt.

To best experience trophy Aoudad hunting in Texas, stay in an old traditional hacienda stone house, set picturesquely amidst a canyon peak overlooking the main wash that carves its way through the valley floor of the ranch. Rugged mountain slopes on either side allow hunters to start and end each day by glassing Aoudad from camp, if desired. The lodge has running water, flushing toilets, a shower, and generator-powered electricity allowing for light, cooking and Wi-Fi. Enjoy all the local artifacts collected by the owner over a lifetime of living on the ranch. The main bedroom has 4 beds, comfortably housing hunters.

Breakfasts are quick and simple to get hunters in the field bright and early. Toast, eggs, sausages, fruit, cereal, and coffee most days. Pack a lunch to stay out and hunt all day. Water, Gatorade, fruit, sandwiches, jerky, cookies, and candy are provided. Once back for the night, the lodge has a large wrap around porch complete with open fire mesquite grills. Cook like a cowboy under the stars. Enjoy bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers, grilled chicken, pork chops or Texas steaks, and more, with potatoes, rice, or veggies on the side.

Destination City: Unless driving from home, hunters are asked to arrive at either the Midland or El Paso airports in SW Texas. It is encouraged to rent a vehicle and drive the approximate 3.5 hours south to the hunting area the day before the hunt commences. A pin, GPS point, or detailed directions are provided to hunters in advance, who are greeted at either the ranch gates, or a prominent intersection/general store near the ranch.

Travel Suggestions: Unless choosing to drive from home, Midland or El Paso are both easily reached by various North American airlines. Either on direct flights, or with connections typically in either Denver or Dallas.

After successfully Aoudad hunting in Texas, the rams are carefully skinned and promptly frozen. The outfitter then delivers all his clients’ trophies to a capable local taxidermist. The taxidermists can then either do the complete work, or prep, certify, crate, and deliver trophies to an expeditor, to then be shipped internationally. Turnaround time can range from 6-12 months.

• Texas Desert Bighorn Sheep Hunt
• Mexico Desert Bighorn Sheep Hunt
• Mexico Desert Mule Deer Hunt
• Hawaii Black Sheep Hunt
• CZ Mouflon Hunt