My wife and I were lucky to draw the hunt from Friday 10 to Monday 13. We left Rockwall Thursday morning in the sleet and snow and made our way out to the park around 4 pm. Friday morning, we had orientation and drew unit 14. That afternoon was pretty uneventful until around 4 pm when we sat on a rock outcrop overlooking a canyon. After sitting there for about 3-4 minutes, an Aoudad busted out right underneath us. I wasn't able to get a shot at him. Then another bigger aoudad came running out, but I missed the running shot on him. Saturday morning, we spotted three more aoudads walking up a sunny side of the canyon.
Two of these were big rams. By the time we got in position to shoot, the bigger rams had made it to the top, and we could not get a shot on them, but we got the third ram that ended up way down in a canyon. We bumped two more rams that day in heavy cover and never got a view of them. We were pretty beat up and soar Sunday but managed to walk several ridges and canyons with no luck. Sunday evening, we decided to go back to the opposite side of the canyon. We sat on Friday evening when we bumped those rams to see the canyon's sunny side. Boy, this paid off big time. We got set up around 1-130p, and at 3:30P, five Aoudad rams started walking up the ridge. We let them get up towards the top, and I was able to get 4 of the 5 rams down. I don't think they could tell where the shots were coming from because of the canyon. We did not hunt Monday morning, so we slept in and went to the river before leaving at around 11 pm. When we left, I think 27 Aoudads had been killed and three hogs. No one saw elk on this trip. The staff at the park and the Game Warden were awesome. It is a tough hunt, for sure. I feel like I've been run over by a truck today. It is an amazing place, and I would go back in a heartbeat.
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Two of these were big rams. By the time we got in position to shoot, the bigger rams had made it to the top, and we could not get a shot on them, but we got the third ram that ended up way down in a canyon. We bumped two more rams that day in heavy cover and never got a view of them. We were pretty beat up and soar Sunday but managed to walk several ridges and canyons with no luck. Sunday evening, we decided to go back to the opposite side of the canyon. We sat on Friday evening when we bumped those rams to see the canyon's sunny side. Boy, this paid off big time. We got set up around 1-130p, and at 3:30P, five Aoudad rams started walking up the ridge. We let them get up towards the top, and I was able to get 4 of the 5 rams down. I don't think they could tell where the shots were coming from because of the canyon. We did not hunt Monday morning, so we slept in and went to the river before leaving at around 11 pm. When we left, I think 27 Aoudads had been killed and three hogs. No one saw elk on this trip. The staff at the park and the Game Warden were awesome. It is a tough hunt, for sure. I feel like I've been run over by a truck today. It is an amazing place, and I would go back in a heartbeat.
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