Had anyone archery hunted aoudad? Tonight I went to a FNAWS banquet and I won a 5 day free range hunt in Texas. I'm trying to decide rifle or archery. I'd love archery but I don't want to come home empty handed. Sent from iPhone
Dude! I'm envious as hell. I "think" I remember hearing that the Texas free range hunts were tough. Not 100% though. Personally, I would go pose the question on Bowsite. I'm sure you'll get everything you need over there. Need someone to help pack your camp in?? Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2
I honestly can't believe it. I still don't know a lot of details I have to call the outfitter that donated the hunt on Monday. I didn't even buy a raffle ticket. It was just for members of our chapter. Sent from iPhone
Ask. The outfitter what to expect as far as shot opportunities the last time I was in Texas huntin hogs on a free range ranch I had tons of shot ops on Aoudad under 30 yds
That is awesome! Get us more details! Very jealous. I think I saw a free range audad hunt in Texas one time on the Outdoor Channel. If I remember correctly it was a pretty difficult hunt. Like Backcounty said, head over to bowsite. I have found that to be the best forum for local stuff.
good luck and congrats! you may come up empty handed no matter what you decide to use, they can pick up predators and see like an eagle...they blend in unbelievably and are like a mountain goat. they are very cool animals and i hope you get one, but they are one of the toughest animals out there to hunt....especially with a bow. but honestly, if it were me, i would take my bow...i dont think rifle hunting is for me...not a challenge in the same respect as archery(although audad probably would be)...but i am a bowhunter to the core, and the only thing i will hunt with a rifle is coyotes...everything else i have killed has been with my bows...i have killed yotes with my bow, but only because they were in range deer hunting...but i have killed squirrel, groundhogs, rabbits, crows, deer, and a few pigs...but i would use the hoyt. good luck either way you decide, and i hope you put one in the freezer and on the wall, put one down!
you were definately the exception, they are usually very hard to even get in rifle range...maybe he can hunt where you were! lol.
I'd take the bow. If they can't get you a shot opportunity in 5 days I'd say it's the guide's fault. At that point it won't matter who's to blame, you'll still be going home empty. Just make sure you're ready, don't take the bow if you're not practiced and confident with it. So for me it would come down to two questions, do you trust your guide to put you on the sheep?? and Do you trust yourself to make the shot?? If both of those answers are yes, I'd take the bow. If either of those answers is no, I'd go with the gun.
Buddy have you ever even been to the Mts in west Texas? Do you have any idea what free range sheep hunting entails???? Sure doesn't sound it if you think it would be your guilds fault for not getting a BOW shot on a 5 day hunt in rugged arid region. The idea that you can be blaming you guide before a hunt even takes place baffles me, 95+% of guilds will work their asses off so you am get a shot...better to think like that going into a hunt until your proven otherwise. If its a free range hunt in the western most part of the state, trans pecos region expect a rugged mt hunt, with good not great numbers of sheep. A 5 day rifle hunt I would say you should have a very good chance of killing a Ram, a bow hunt WILL do able be much harder in that area. All of the Above applying to free range sheep!! If its in a ranch fenced then we are talking about a whole diffident animal and experience that I know little about. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
What is keeping you from bringing both? I imagine you have someone else tagging along with you besides the guide.
I'm just operating under the assumption that, that's the guides job. You pay the outfitter 100s if not 1000s of dollars to put you on the animal you're hunting. Yeah it's still free chase hunting so **** happens but if a guide can't get people on the animals they're paying good money to see then I daresay he won't be a guide very long. So, like I said, do you trust your guide to put you on the sheep and do you think you can make the shot when he does?
Take both. Try with your bow for a few days and if your not getting shot opportunities get out the gun. Good luck and hunt how you want to hunt!
please take no offence to what i say next... but that is quitting in my book. if you are going to start with the bow, finish with the bow! afterall...bowhunters are a breed all our own, we dont do anything easy, and we dont give up...that is why we hunt with archery gear, it is a challenge. not saying rifle hunting is easy, but for the most part(if you are good with a rifle), if you can see it, you can kill it(unless it is obviously past 1200 yards or so, and i went to a long range shooting school, so it is not hard if you have the ability and equipt.)....with a bow, not the case. bowhunters bowhunt for the challenge, and the purity...not just to get the kill...because bowhunting is about the journey, not the destination...right? i think getting your sheep is obviously the goal, and of course you want to succeed...but even the best guides in the world WILL NOT guarentee you will get anything. i agree that it is the guides job to do everything in their abilities to get you on an animal...but to say if you dont get on, or even see any animals that you should blame it on the guide, is ignorant and arrogant. they want their clients to succeed as much, if not more than the client(or hunter) does...afterall it is THEIR name and reputation on the line....and free ranging audad are among the hardest animals in the states to kill, the only thing harder, would probably be the mountain goats and mountain living sheep like the stone sheep and such...so again, good luck....and be prepared for a VERY hard hunt. if your not in excellent shape, get in excellent shape...throw sixty pounds of weight in your hunting pack...and start running the steepest nastiest hills you can find. the better shape, and better prepared you are for this hunt....the more successful you are going to be, and success does not always mean killing something. good luck.
I hunted aoudad in Hill Country Texas at a free range place. They hit feeders like everything else out there so it's no different in that respect, but they do seem to be way spookier than deer and also much less reliable at coming in. Initially I tried to do it with bow, but just wasn't getting stuff in range. Saw nice groups of 5-15 of them hanging out on the rocky hills. Finally took one with a rifle. I don't think it's quitting to switch from bow to rifle. It's hunting and everyone has a specific way that they want to do it. There are some old ewes that have great length, but are smaller at the bases...just in case a suitable ram doesn't come along. Future hunt will be to do West Texas aoudad!
Using the rifle after an attempt with the bow wouldnt be quitting. This is a once in a lifetime hunt, why not try to assure your bringing that trophy back?
Having not talked to the outfitter yet, I have done some serious research. This hunt is in mountainous terrain, and I'm to be in "Sheep Shape". I was also told if I get in bow range on the rocks that a guy would name his first son after me haha. I am going to bring both my bow and rifle though and assess it when I get there.
