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Thread: Public Land Nilgai Bull - DIY - Texas Parks and Wildlife Draw Hunt

  1. #1
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    Default Public Land Nilgai Bull - DIY - Texas Parks and Wildlife Draw Hunt

    Back in October I was on a New Mexico elk hunt without any cell service. I finally found some service on the top of a ridge. I took out my phone and checked my email. I found out that I had drawn a Nilgai hunt down in South Texas on a Wildlife Refuge. This was a huge surprise because draw odds are only around 1%. I did all the research I could, but honestly its not a normal western hunt. The ground is incredibly flat and thick. So e-scouting wasn't a ton of help other then just learning where the roads were and looking at the outline of the property. I talked to the guy over all the hunts to get some pointers. He told me there were plenty of Nilgai if you could find them. He said the best way he new to hunt them was to try to find an active trail that had a scat pile with fresh scat because Nilgai will consistently poop in the same area over and over. I arrived a day early to scout. I covered about 8 miles that day. I saw lots of trails and lots of scat piles. However, it is very dry down there and it was super tough to tell how fresh trails are unless you find fresh scat. I finally found a very very good area. Even though I was told to hunt trails I found an area that the Nilgai were feeding consistently. They were mowing down the green grass and there was fresh scat there. Growing up as a whitetail hunter I know that food is king. Everything has to eat. I set up a ground blind and brushed it in with grass. I decided I would sit all day. When I go on a hunting trip I hunt. You can't kill anything sitting in the truck or taking a nap. On day one I saw 2 Nilgai cows and 2 calves. I missed the cow with my 45-70. It was 250 yards. I've never shot that gun that far. I wasn't expecting them to come out at that distance. I aimed high, but I'm guessing that I missed low. I immediately went back to the truck and got my 7mm08. I'm very comfortable with that gun out to 400. That night I saw 2 fantastic whitetail bucks, but I couldn't shoot whitetails . Day 2 was really slow. I saw 5 moo cows and 5 whitetail does right before dark. I knew there was at least one bull in the area because I found fresh scat on a scat pile on the walk back to the truck the previous night. Day 3 was slow until 12:45pm. I just happened to be looking down my lane instead of at my book when I caught some movement down the lane. A big Nilgai bull was moving into the lane from the right. He wasn't coming out to feed, he was just crossing the lane. I did the never failing whitetail bleat to make him stop. I leveled the crosshairs behind his shoulder at 150yds. I knew I had hit him hard. The shot felt perfect. The bull bucked and he kicked hard. After 30 minutes I headed down to the area. After 10-15 minutes I found the bull the 140gr accubond performed perfectly. He ran about 150yds and piled up.

    I spent 32 hours in the blind and it was worth it in the end. Very few people draw this tag and even fewer kill a good bull. I'm proud to be able to say I killed a mature Nilgai bull DIY on public land. Someone has to draw and maybe it'll end up being a hunt you'll never forget.

    IMG_3302.jpgIMG_3306.jpgIMG_3326.jpgIMG_3266.JPG
    Last edited by sdcourtnay; 02-15-2020 at 08:30 PM.

  2. #2
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    That’s pretty cool.

  3. #3
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    Great pictures and story. I'd heard they were hard as heck to kill. Good job!
    Hunting outside the box

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    Very cool, Congratulations! I have a buddy down in South Texas who hunts them at night on a bunch of private lands he has access to. They are some neat animals, and really good eating. He said watermelon farmers love to see them gone, because they love to eat young tender watermelon plants. Said they are as bad as hogs as amount of destruction they can do in one night.

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    trophy room filling up fast! Congrats Stan

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    The Devil’s Horse- good work!
    Never confuse enthusiasm for capability

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    Quote Originally Posted by BEAR View Post
    Very cool, Congratulations! I have a buddy down in South Texas who hunts them at night on a bunch of private lands he has access to. They are some neat animals, and really good eating. He said watermelon farmers love to see them gone, because they love to eat young tender watermelon plants. Said they are as bad as hogs as amount of destruction they can do in one night.
    Yeah down there you can hunt them on private a lot of places. Very few places to chase them on public

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    Quote Originally Posted by holdin down the fort View Post
    trophy room filling up fast! Congrats Stan
    Thanks man

  9. #9
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    Beautiful blue bull, that is definitely on my bucket list.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Beachbird View Post
    Beautiful blue bull, that is definitely on my bucket list.
    They’re really cool animals.

  11. #11
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    The meat is great. Congrats.

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    That’s awesome, congrats on the trophy and doing all yourself. Something to definitely be proud about.
    Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn't go so far as to call a dog filthy but they're definitely dirty. But, a dog's got personality. Personality goes a long way.


    You might take out a dozen before they drag you from your home and skull fuck you to death. Marsh Chicken 6/21/2013

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    Go Stan!

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    I will admit, I didn’t even know what a Nilgai looked like...

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    Quite a beast. Great job!
    .
    Foothills Golden Retriever Rescue
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    "Keep your powder dry, Boys!"
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rodney View Post
    Go Stan!
    Thanks man

  17. #17
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    Congrats. I’ve got a buddy that lives in Texas that loves to hunt them.

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    Our guys in TX prefer the hogs to the Nilgai. Nilgai meat is delicious which is one selling point. However, a Hog can't push fence over.. Nilgai can. I watched a big bull soak up three shots from a 338 Win Mag one afternoon last month. They are tough. Beautiful animals. The hides make nice area rugs.
    F**K Cancer

    Just Damn.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by sdcourtnay View Post
    They’re really cool animals.
    Yes they are .. Congrats on a dandy. I will be shooting another one late this year. Larger than most people understand.
    F**K Cancer

    Just Damn.

  20. #20
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    That is Awesome. Thanks for sharing the story!

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