Semi-Live Oryx (Gemsbok) Hunt / McGregor Range

[scubasteven25]

We scored on a nice sized cow today. She measured 36.5" on the right side and 35 on the left side. Our internet connection is intermittent so we will post pictures and the story tomorrow or Tuesday. It was a physically demanding hunt and she was a well earned trophy. Now rest time.

[GARY]

Excellent start!!

[maglite]

CONGRATS on the BIG COW!! Good start to a great HUNT!!!

[Devin]

Great to hear, Steven.

Look forward to the recap & pics.

[Dr. D]

Congrats.....looking forward to the story and pics.

[kellyg]

Congrats Steve!! Are you going to mount her? That is some awesome eatin' right there!

[scubasteven25]

Some of the hunt pictures are below. I will let my brother tell the story when he arrives home tonight. Enjoy.

Before the real work begins.


36.5" right side, 35" left side, 5 3/4" bases


Some nice mule deer of several we saw on the hunt


The whole hunting gang

[Ted]

Beautiful animal!

[holdin4horns]

Good luck, hope you have plenty of stories upon your return!!

[Videographer]

Beautiful animal!

Are you talking about Brad?

[scubasteven25]

Okay, so here's my side of the story.

I had a successful weekend hunting down on the McGregor Range. The hunt was definitely physically demanding up on the mesa area I was frequenting. We saw a total of 13 Oryx while we were on the Range. Some really nice bulls and cows along with a couple of smaller ones.

Saturday started off very promising as we were on a nice bull first thing in the morning. He was unaware of our presence until my father pulled the truck a little too far forward and the bull saw it as my brother and I were trying to stalk in on him. As close as we could get was about 385 yards and that was a little beyond my comfort zone. He finally spotted us and started running in the complete opposite direction until he was clean out of sight. This was when we shifted gears and decided to go after a group of 4 cows and 2 calves that we had seen while going after the bull. They were real skittish and on full alert as they spotted us almost immediately the moment we stuck our heads up over the ridge to sneak a peek. At that instance we wer busted and they also made a break for the next county without even offering an opportunity. We spent most of the rest of the day driving around on the south side of the mesa. We spotted one more bull the rest of the day and he was a dandy. I would venture to say he was about 38-40". He never gave us a chance. He spotted the truck and almost instantly started running away from us. The high wind speeds probably didn't help this situation any. We tried to chase him, but he was long gone and never seen again. We decided at this point to make our way back and of course we end up having a flat tire. Now we are down to no spare tires and in some rough country. We decided to just back out and fix the tire and recharge for Sunday.

Sunday also started well with spotting another Oryx at a distance in the same location from the day before. We put a stalk on him and got to within 300 yards only to see he was broke off on one side about 10 inches from the base and his other horn was only about 18". It wasn't worth our effort so we let him walk. We started driving south down the edge of the mesa and I spotted an Oryx about 1500 yards away down a little canyon. One look through the binoculars said she was worth stalking. My brother and I got out and started walking down the road and finally realized there was actually 2 cows with 2 calves. We crept to the top of a little knoll overlooking them and realized the distance was still too great for me to feel comfortable shooting. So we backed down and crept up to the next little knoll. At this point we were low crawling and trying to keep from being skylined. The cows were at 360 yards and not getting any closer. I decided to shoot at the bigger of the two cows and once steadied, pulled the trigger on the Weatherby 7MM Magnum. I was using Federal Premium Vital-Shok 165 grain bullets. I missed. I reloaded as fast as I could and saw one still standing there. Problem is she was facing away from me and looking to bolt in the opposite direction. It was a less than practical shot, but I tried to hit her spine. I missed slightly at 375 yards and it hit her right in the rear flank and almost caught her spine. She was hit and this definitely slowed her down. My brother and I grabbed our stuff and sprinted for the ridge they were on. We never saw them exit above or down the canyon so we went straight up that ridge. There they were hiding in a little bowl. We were about 75 yards at this point. It was at this time I put three more shots in her chest that finally put her down for the count.

This old girl was the smaller of the two, but still plenty large enough for my first Oryx ever. She measured 36.5" on the right and 35" on the left with 5 3/4" bases. I would estimate the other cow was in the 39-40" range as she was noticeably larger.

I had a real enjoyable hunt even though it was a difficult and tiresome packing out job. I am thankful my brother and father were both there to witness this great hunt. Overall this is a hunting experience I will always cherish and hope to one day relive again. The hosts at McGregor Range were awesome and definitely help put on a great hunt. I also learned there are some nice sized antelope and mule deer on the range.