Killing a big free range ram is something I dreamed about for years and finally decided to make it happen. My dad and I went on a hunt with Mike Mckinney of WTHO outfitters last year and my dad laid down a great 34” ram. I saw several good rams but was unable to connect on one after three days of hard hunting we packed our bags and headed home After seeing Mike’s operation and the quality of animals he had it was an easy decision for me to book again for this year and continue my quest for a trophy ram.
This year I was going to be hunting and my dad was going to join me to experience the rugged country again . If you have never hunted in the Davis Mountains for aoudad you need to put it on your bucket list. It’s my favorite hunting in Texas due to the challenges the animals and terrain provide. We arrived back in San Antonio on Sunday night from our 10 day Colorado elk hunt and loaded the ranger up to head to the deer lease and fill feeders and cut some brush the next day. Spent all day getting the lease fixed up and drove back to San Antonio that night. We were supposed to be leaving around noon the next day but dad had some things come up at work and we didn’t get rolling towards El Paso until around 7 O’ clock that night. That drive down I-10 at night is long and boring to say the least but we pulled into the ranch around 3:45 a.m. and laid down for a short nap before the morning hunt.
The alarm clock might as well have not even been set as the anticipation of the hunt the next day left little room for sleep. (Though with the snoring from dad’s side of the cabin I’m not sure that would have been an option anyway.) We got up got dressed and with mandatory morning cup of coffee in hand got in the truck to head to our first glassing spot. The first few spots we glassed were unproductive but we located a herd around 8:00 of about 40 animals with 3 good rams in the bunch and 4 or 5 smaller ones. The sheep were spread out all the way from the flats to the base of the mountain. After glassing them for awhile they began to funnel into a cut and bed. At this point it was a waiting game for them all to get up in the cut where we could put a stalk on them without getting busted. After about an hour from what we could see they had all made it into the cut so with the wind in our favor we began the stalk.
It was about a mile to where we would be able to see into where we thought the herd was bedded. Anyone who has hunted this terrain up there knows it looks flat from a distance but in reality it is full of arroyos and the rocky terrain makes it difficult to be quite. We got about 500 yards from where we were wanting to be when 3 ewes popped over the ridge in front of us locked dead on us. WE knew that once they blew out of there they were bringing the whole herd with them over the mountain so we hustled to move up a few hundred yards and get closer. As we were making our move I see a ram come around the base of the ridge the ewes are standing on and I pointed him out to Mike. As soon as Mike put the binos on him the first word out of his mouth was “Shoot him!”. I dropped down and got my bog pod ready. At this point he was moving up the side of the ledge and Mike ranged him at 320 yards. He stopped for a split second and looked at us and I let him have it. He soaked that lead up and took off over the ridge. I managed to put another one in him as he was running away but he made it over the top of the ridge anyway.
All of this from spotting the ram coming around the ledge to the last shot was probably a total of 10-15 seconds. I was pumped to say the least!! We gave him about 30 minutes and started making our way over to the ridge he was on. When we were about halfway up Mike pointed out a horn to me sticking up off the top of the ridge and I knew he was down. That’s when the celebrating began!!!! As we made our way up to him I was beyond excited. When we got up to him he was everything I wanted and more. What a great animal!! He ended up stretching the tape at 32” with 16.5” bases. It was a long time coming and I had finally accomplished putting a big free range aoudad on the ground and having my dad there to share it with me made it that much better.
I can’t think Mike enough for the effort he put out on this hunt as well as the previous year. If you guys are looking for a great hunting experience on some big free ranging rams I would highly recommend giving Mike a call. Thanks for reading guys and I hope you enjoy the pics.
This year I was going to be hunting and my dad was going to join me to experience the rugged country again . If you have never hunted in the Davis Mountains for aoudad you need to put it on your bucket list. It’s my favorite hunting in Texas due to the challenges the animals and terrain provide. We arrived back in San Antonio on Sunday night from our 10 day Colorado elk hunt and loaded the ranger up to head to the deer lease and fill feeders and cut some brush the next day. Spent all day getting the lease fixed up and drove back to San Antonio that night. We were supposed to be leaving around noon the next day but dad had some things come up at work and we didn’t get rolling towards El Paso until around 7 O’ clock that night. That drive down I-10 at night is long and boring to say the least but we pulled into the ranch around 3:45 a.m. and laid down for a short nap before the morning hunt.
The alarm clock might as well have not even been set as the anticipation of the hunt the next day left little room for sleep. (Though with the snoring from dad’s side of the cabin I’m not sure that would have been an option anyway.) We got up got dressed and with mandatory morning cup of coffee in hand got in the truck to head to our first glassing spot. The first few spots we glassed were unproductive but we located a herd around 8:00 of about 40 animals with 3 good rams in the bunch and 4 or 5 smaller ones. The sheep were spread out all the way from the flats to the base of the mountain. After glassing them for awhile they began to funnel into a cut and bed. At this point it was a waiting game for them all to get up in the cut where we could put a stalk on them without getting busted. After about an hour from what we could see they had all made it into the cut so with the wind in our favor we began the stalk.
It was about a mile to where we would be able to see into where we thought the herd was bedded. Anyone who has hunted this terrain up there knows it looks flat from a distance but in reality it is full of arroyos and the rocky terrain makes it difficult to be quite. We got about 500 yards from where we were wanting to be when 3 ewes popped over the ridge in front of us locked dead on us. WE knew that once they blew out of there they were bringing the whole herd with them over the mountain so we hustled to move up a few hundred yards and get closer. As we were making our move I see a ram come around the base of the ridge the ewes are standing on and I pointed him out to Mike. As soon as Mike put the binos on him the first word out of his mouth was “Shoot him!”. I dropped down and got my bog pod ready. At this point he was moving up the side of the ledge and Mike ranged him at 320 yards. He stopped for a split second and looked at us and I let him have it. He soaked that lead up and took off over the ridge. I managed to put another one in him as he was running away but he made it over the top of the ridge anyway.
All of this from spotting the ram coming around the ledge to the last shot was probably a total of 10-15 seconds. I was pumped to say the least!! We gave him about 30 minutes and started making our way over to the ridge he was on. When we were about halfway up Mike pointed out a horn to me sticking up off the top of the ridge and I knew he was down. That’s when the celebrating began!!!! As we made our way up to him I was beyond excited. When we got up to him he was everything I wanted and more. What a great animal!! He ended up stretching the tape at 32” with 16.5” bases. It was a long time coming and I had finally accomplished putting a big free range aoudad on the ground and having my dad there to share it with me made it that much better.
I can’t think Mike enough for the effort he put out on this hunt as well as the previous year. If you guys are looking for a great hunting experience on some big free ranging rams I would highly recommend giving Mike a call. Thanks for reading guys and I hope you enjoy the pics.
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