Patocazador said:
Scimitars are excellent table fare, right up there with prime beef, Eland and Nilgai.
Since they are herd animals, usually forming groups of 40 or so and up to 100 animals, they are quite challenging to hunt. Stalking within a couple hundred yards with up to 200 eyes watching can be a lot of fun, but be prepared to get “busted” with great regularity. Not only is their eyesight excellent, their nose and ears are not far behind.
I had one female Oryx on the ticket and we drove to hunting camp w/jeep in tow. On the way to camp, we drove past a herd that approached 100 animals which surprisingly lounged in the shade and watched us pass without spooking. Surprising, since these had been hunted for the past month, they usually see a vehicle and take off for heavy cover.
We proceeded to camp, unloaded the jeep off the trailer and settled our gear into the bunk house.
An hour or so later we headed back out and were surprised to find the herd had not spotted the jeep and was just beginning to stir from their mid-day “siesta”.
Unfortunately, I had left my camera at home, so most pictures were taken either before or after this hunt.
In the picture below, the Oryx had been bedded in the shade of the mott of mesquite on the left, (indicated in white) past the cattle guard (fence visible just past the right hand curve in road). My first thought had been, if I could slip up to the cattle guard which ranged 290 yards from our position, I might be able to get a shot, but the herd ranged 590 yards and that would put me 300 yards from the closest animal; a bit farther than I would like.
They were just starting to move to the right (strung out along the yellow dotted line), toward a stand of weesatche trees on the flat across the road. (Weesatche is a favorite browse of the Oryx.) The green dot indicates the end of a strip of brush which could provide cover we could use to approach (hopefully undetected) within 150 yards of the herd from the downwind side. All we would have to do is back up and drive a 3 - 4 mile circle to get on the downwind side of the herd, that is if the Oryx continued on their present course and everything else worked as planned. (Blue arrow indicates wind direction in above picture.) All a big if, but it was the best we had.
While a 300 yard shot is not beyond my comfort zone, determining the sex of an Oryx at that distance w/10x binoculars is! I am uncomfortable with anything beyond 200 yards and prefer to get closer than that, as the only reliable way to be sure if the animal is a bull or a cow is to get a look at the plumbing. Don't strain your eyes looking if grass or weeds are more than 12-15" tall!
To illustrate the degree of difficulty, the front animal in the picture below is a bull (can you see the plumbing? Hint, it is right above the right ear of the smaller animal just behind him.) and the one on the right happens to be a cow.
This picture also illustrates the fact that the bull’s horns are usually heavier than the cow’s, but I don’t trust this to be a reliable method of determining sex.
So, ruling out the possibility of a direct approach, I chose to back up and drive the three or four miles around the herd and try an approach from behind the tree line beyond, indicated by the green dot seen at upper right hand corner of the first photo. This would also have the benefit of being in the (current) direction of movement of the herd. An added benefit is that it was directly downwind of the herd. Lots of if’s, but it just might work.
Twenty or thirty minutes later, we parked the jeep and started easing through the brush to see if our herd was still on course. It was! The leading edge of the herd was also within my comfort zone of our mott as predicted, thanks to the rangefinder. Now, all we need to do is ease through the brush to a point which will provide an opening through which we can shoot and then identify a cow.
We thought we had been spotted twice by the herd bull when he stood and stared in our direction. Each time he raised his head and stared, at least 15-20 others would followed suite. Fortunately, when we froze, his attention would wander and the herd would eventually go back to grazing.
I finally reached a tree surrounded by ground cover which opened a 15* field of fire (after quietly breaking off a couple of small limbs). Did I mention that Oryx sight is outstanding and their nose and ears are not too shabby, either?
One problem with working a herd that large is getting the proper sex in the clear as there is almost always one or more animals in line with the one you have chosen. After identifying the cow that I wanted, the trick was to get a clear shot at her as she was in front of three other animals and others were moving up in a manner that would block the shot.
Just as I though I would have to find another candidate, she stepped clear and the 200 gr. NST from my .338 Win. Mag. did its job; a fitting climax to a memorable hunt that played out exactly as planned.
Regards,
hps
