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Thanks to relationships developed through
TexasBowhunter.com, I have been fortunate enough to have an
opportunity to hunt Nilgai antelope on three previous occasions
before my hunt this past weekend. On each of the previous
trips, including one trip with Four Arrows outfitters on the
King Ranch in 1997 back when TexasBowhunter.com was still only
a conceptual idea that existed only in the back of Casey and my
collective brains, I was unable to get a shot at the elusive
“Blue Bull.” I had, however, determined that, contrary to
popular opinion, my best strategy for connecting might be to
still hunt and stalk rather than sitting in a stand waiting for
them to come to me. After all, I had seen only one small group
of Nilgai, from a considerable distance, while hunting from a
stand on my previous hunts, yet had seen quite a few while
walking.
I made my discovery almost by accident,
having left my release at camp on my first morning hunt in
September. I walked back to camp, seeing one Nilgai cow on my
way, and then several more on my return to the stand. I was
even able to stalk to within 60 yards of a cow before getting
busted by the sharp eyes of the magnificent critter.
I decided my strategy for the weekend hunt
would be to follow my same path from camp on the first morning,
easing my way along the fence until I reached the tripod stand,
where I would sit for awhile before making the return trip,
still hunting my way back. I knew the key to successfully
beating the razor sharp senses of these warry animals (I once
heard someone liken the Nilgai to a whitetail with a turkey on
its back!), would require spotting them before they spotted me,
a task that had proven easier said than done on my previous
hunts!
With a solid plan in place, I loaded my
fanny pack with the essentials for still hunting, while donning
my backpack loaded with camera equipment including a tripod,
head and camera arm, and started my walk along the fenceline. I
walked very slowly, taking time to inspect every clearing I came
across, and looking for fresh sign on the ground. As I
approached a large, wide open field I spotted the form of a
Nilgai cow about 200 yards away in the clearing! I knelt on the
ground, hidden by salt grass at the edge of the brush line, and
reached for my camera to get some footage of the cow. When I
turned on the camera, all I could see on the LCD screen was
constant flickering. I inspected the camera, looking for any
potential problem. Unfortunately, it appeared to be a
significant problem that I would be unable to fix! What a
setback on a hunt of this magnitude!
Without use of my camera, I decided to shed
the heavy weight of the backpack since I obviously wouldn’t need
the accessories. I kept the camera attached to my fanny pack in
the event that I discovered the problem, but turned my focus
into formulating a strategy to get closer to the cow. I figured
I could navigate the 40 yards, or so, of salt grass that
provided a buffer between the open field and the brush, but that
still left 150 or more yards of open space between me and the
cow. I worked my way to the edge of the salt grass and hoped
the cow would graze closer and present me with a shot
opportunity.
While I was watching, I spotted a huge,
black form coming over a ridge another 200 yards on the other
side of the cow. It was a mature bull! As he walked toward the
cow, I once again tried to get my camera to film, thinking I
might just catch them mating on camera! Still no luck. How
frustrating! The bull checked the cow, and then began grazing
with her. I watched for several more minutes, and then spotted
a second form following a similar path as the first bull, and
then a second coming from 200 yards to the left of the second
bull! What an incredible sight it was to see three mature bulls
at one time! The first bull spotted one of the other bulls, and
even though they were still 150 yards or more away, the first
bull was obviously less dominant and started running away from
the area, which meant that he was running right toward me! As
he approached, the bull veered to my right, never getting within
70 yards, before entering the brush behind me.
The second bull, in the meantime, worked
his way to the cow and began following her as she walked to
northward to my right. The pair was now at least 300 yards from
me, and the third bull was now entering the picture. The second
bull left the company of the cow and began walking toward the
other bull. Were they going to engage in a fight?! I made one
more unsuccessful attempt to record the episode with my camera,
before determining that it was a futile attempt. The bulls
passed each other, posturing but never engaging, before the less
dominant of the two relented and began walking toward me. The
dominant bull and the cow continued north before disappearing
from the area, while the remaining bull continued to work his
way directly to me! As he closed to within 100 yards, I thought
for sure the bull was going to walk right into range! At 80
yards, however, he turned to my left and began grazing in the
open field. I continued to watch as the bull grazed to the
south, then back to the north, and finally to the west, directly
away from my position in the grass.
As he walked farther away, I weighed my
options and decided that I could either attempt to stalk from
behind in hopes of getting close enough for a shot, or I could
simply watch as the bull disappeared on the other side of the
field, over 300 yards away. Though I figured it to be a near
impossible endeavor, attempting the stalk was my only option. I
had been watching the four different Nilgai for almost two
hours, but now was no time to continue to be patient. I decided
to make something happen, even if that meant getting busted by
the bull.
Complicating the effort was a pair of
whitetail bucks that had entered the field 100 yards to my
right. My fear was that I would spook the deer, who would in
turn cause the bull to get skittish and flee. I ducked low to
the ground and quickly moved 20 yards into the field before
dropping back to the ground in the knee-high grass. With the
bull still walking away, I cautiously but quickly worked my way
behind him, never closing to less than 80 yards, but maintaining
a distance around 100 yards. The dry grass crunched under my
feet, and I knew that getting to within shooting range would be
quite a challenge. I had set a 50 yard pin earlier in the
morning, and felt like that would be my maximum range.
At one point while I was moving through the
brush, I saw the bull begin to raise his head, and I dropped
quickly to the ground as he turned to look back. He looked
briefly at the two curious bucks, who had now stalked to within
30 yards of me as I followed the bull. Confident that they
posed no danger, the bull continued his stroll to the west.
When I was about 150 yards into my stalk, I noticed that the
bull was heading toward a small ridge that ran
southeast-northwest, and I knew that if the bull crossed the
ridge, I would be concealed enough to have a fighting chance to
close to within shooting range. Things were beginning to fall
into place perfectly, but I knew that things could change in a
moment’s notice. I decided that with the bull at 100 yards, I’d
let him cross the ridge before continuing my stalk. The bull
did just as expected, so I quickly moved to the nearest edge of
the ridge to the south, and then worked my way quietly to where
the bull had crossed. I peered slowly over the ridge, hoping to
see the bull before he spotted me. Initially, I didn’t see
anything as I scanned the other side, but then spotted a black
figure in the brush right at a saddle in the ridge, only 35
yards away! I quickly knelt down and reached for my
rangefinder, then decided that he was close enough that I didn’t
need to range him. I drew back on the string and then rose
slowly back to see the bull still in position, quartering
sharply with his head behind a bush. I decided to bracket the
bull with my 30 yard and 50 yard pins above and below his last
rib, and tripped the release! I watched the white fletched
Epsilon sail toward the bull and watched it slam just in front
of his right flank, several inches left of where I had been
aiming. The bull ran to the west as I felt my heart sink
knowing that I had paunch shot the bull. I watched the bull
gallop away, and noted that he didn’t act as if he knew he had
even been hit. I knelt to the ground as the bull circled and
began to look back. I hoped the bull would stop and look for
awhile to let the arrow do its work, and didn’t want to risk the
bull seeing me and spooking, causing it to run faster. Indeed,
the bull stopped and began looking for the source of danger. I
looked on, thinking that this was going to be a difficult
tracking job, when suddenly, the bull dropped straight to the
ground, feet flying into the air and then disappearing in the
salt grass! He was down!
There’s absolutely no way I can describe
what I felt at that moment! I had just shot a Nilgai bull, and
watched him go down! I reached for my phone and called Mike
Mireles to tell him the news. He said he knew exactly where I
was, and would be there after he finished changing the oil in
his wife’s truck. I then called Casey, who was still in a
meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He was scheduled to fly
back during the afternoon, then would make the trip down to join
us on the hunt! I left a message on his voicemail telling him
that I had shot a Nilgai and that he needed to skip the rest of
his meetings.
After waiting 10 minutes, and calling
everybody on my phone list, I walked to the bull to inspect my
prize. What an incredible feeling to see walk up on him in the
grass! I had finally met one of my longest-standing bowhunting
goals! I called Jerry Gonzalez, who would also be joining us on
the hunt later in the afternoon, to tell him the news. Over the
next 45 minutes while I waited for Mike, I called and shared my
excitement with many of my friends, who sounded as enthused as I
was! I could not have been more excited about what had
transpired over the previous two hours! I reflected on the
entire morning, and thanked God for the opportunity and for
providing me with the delicacy of Nilgai steaks!
Mike arrived and was as excited about my
success as I was! We celebrated with a beer, took some
pictures, and then Mike made quick work of the field dressing
chores (hey, I had no idea where to even start!) He and I
loaded the big bull onto the rack of the truck and transported
it to the cooler, then spent the rest of the morning, and the
rest of the trip, basking in the excitement of the morning! As
each of the other hunters returned to camp, I retold my story
until they were probably sick of hearing it! I spent the rest
of the weekend as a camera man, with somebody else’s camera, of
course, and drifting around on “Cloud 9” replaying the
incredible hunt in my mind. As I reflect on the hunt, I realize
how absolutely incredible the way things seemed to fall
perfectly into place to allow me to get into position to make
the shot. I feel incredibly fortunate and blessed to have had
the opportunity at such a unique hunt and am thankful that I was
able to take advantage of the opportunity!
I count this hunt among my most gratifying
and exciting accomplishments of my bowhunting career, and can’t
begin to say how much I appreciate Mike Mireles for his
friendship and his generosity for inviting me on multiple trips,
and for working so hard to help me achieve a goal. Mike is one
of the most genuine people I know, and I always enjoy spending
time with him.
I also had the pleasure to spend the
weekend with another fine collection of bowhunters and friends
like Jerry Gonzalez, Breck Nolen, Bob Gilbert and Casey Morris,
and the opportunity to meet accomplished bowhunters Rick Espino,
Ken Witt and Jerry’s brother, Gonzalo and Mike’s friend, Joe, in
addition to Mike’s neighbor, Manuel. Each of those hunters had
successful hunts of their own, and stories to share. Thanks guys
for an awesome weekend!
Here's a photo to illustrate the size of
this magnificent animal!
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