Laurel Ridge Farm: Texas Hunt - Phase 2

In previous posts, I described our first stop in Texas with First Shot Outfitters in Coleman. First Shot Outfitters Then I gave a quick summary of the outcome in Phase 2 with Hidden Creek Outfitters near Van Horn. Hidden Creek Aoudad In this post, I will pick up on the last afternoon in Coleman and cover the rest of the hunt in more detail.

Eric and I had met up in Springfield MO where we consolidated into his rig with the 5th wheel RV. My nephew Dave was travelling independently and we convinced him to stop for one night of hog hunting with us in Coleman. He did that, Eric and Dave sat in blinds over feeders while I spot and stalked with Mike.

It had gotten very warm that day and virtually nothing was moving at any of our three locations. No shots taken but we had a good meal and a fun chat around the campfire.

The next morning, we loaded up the rig and headed to Van Horn TX where we were to meet our guides. We considered driving the RV into camp but we got some indication that the road in might be rough. So Eric had made a reservation at an RV park in Van Horn and we dropped the rig there. We met up with the guides and our 4th hunter in camp, Casey. From there, we caravanned into camp. Here's a general orientation of the route.

You can see I-10 and Van Horn at the top. The blue dotted lines are all of our tracks during the hunt. There's a waypoint marking the camp and you can see the proximity to the Rio Grande and Mexico,

It was about 1.5 hours after we left the blacktop. The road started out in flat desert but it eventually started to get hilly. We went thru a few gates and then started into cuts and cliffs in the rocks.

Here' s a short video of some of the more interesting parts of the drive. Road to Camp The Tunnel

Eventually we went thru a tunnel cut in the rock and emerged into a huge valley surrounded by rim rock. We later learned that there was once an attempt to have a coal mine here and the tunnel was cut for a railroad. The ranch that we hunted is called Coal Mine Ranch and it has its own Google Pin. Coal Mine Ranch

We quickly unloaded at camp and grabbed our rifles to go to the range.

I used my 30-06 which I had left at about 2.5" high at 100 yards in Ohio. It was grouping nicely at 5" high here which I was assured was due to the altitude and atmospheric pressure. The guides said "you're good - it's zeroed at about 300 yards". I didn't hesitate to accept that but it started playing with my head about my hold over at various distances. I had my trajectory memorized for a 2" zero.

Dave and Casey headed out to hunt the late afternoon with Brett on the front part of the ranch. Eric and I headed with River in the opposite direction. River's normal Jeep was down getting a water pump replaced so we borrowed another guide's Jeep Liberty. This country is so tough that this outfitter chooses to buy old junker Jeeps for about $600 to use on the rough ranch roads.

We went to one of the standard glassing spots which I think is Horseshoe. Certain areas are better for afternoon sun and others for morning.

River first picked up a group of aoudad way out near the horizon (red arrow). He said that he has seen them there for a while but didn't have hunters who could hike that far. He was considering going after them in the morning by hiking up the cut represented by the green arrow.

About that time, he took a look further to the right and found another group wandering across the lip of a rim rock course. Time lapse video of glassing. Glassing

This group was "much more accessible" (red arrow) but it was getting late. River decided to come back in the morning and try to find them again.

As we were losing light, River heard via radio that one of the other hunters had a ram down. He didn't know any details and Eric and I assumed that it was Casey. We had to wait until they came into camp after dark to learn that it was Dave.

It turns out that Brett spotted a ram while driving around. It was only 500 yards away and they piled out of the Jeep. Dave got the nod for the first shot and Brett and Dave put on a stalk. They went only 100 yards when Brett said "this is as close as we can get." Dave is an OH/MI whitetail hunter who hasn't shot anything beyond about 100 yards. He was carrying a 300WM on its first hunt. This is a video from when glassing the area near where Dave shot his ram - just terrain. Terrain

Anyway, he made the shot and put the ram down at 400 yards. As we had heard (and learned), these animals are incredibly difficult to kill. As they closed the distance toward the ram, he kept trying to get up and several "insurance shots" were necessary.

Dave's trophy measured an incredible 33". Our young guy who trains for and runs marathons got the 100 yard stalk. It just isn't fair. But, even though he was tagged out, he stuck around and covered all of the same ground that I did over the next few days.

Below is the OnX trace of the country that we covered over these 3.5 days. You can see the purple waypoint in the middle - that's camp.

The camp itself is a one bathroom basic ranch house. There's an additional outhouse outback. The hunter's get the two bedrooms which have bunks in them. The guides sleep on the porch out front. We all ate Charles' fine meals in here and there was satellite tv and Wi-Fi.

There were several other outbuildings. The rancher was living in one.

This country is rough and tough. There is very little water. The rocks are sharp and loose. Every plant has some kind of needle or pricker. You just have to be resigned to the fact that you're going to get stabbed and torn up a bit.

So in the first full day, River got his regular Jeep back with the new water pump and we headed out to the spot where we saw aoudad the night before. River travels with a JBL speaker and the hunt is set to his playlist.

We got about 30 minutes out when it overheated again. We abandoned it and moved into Brett's "Bomber". Brett nursed it back into camp.

The Bomber is a classic - and it is a special Levi's Edition.

Anyway, we still got to the spotting grounds as the sun was beaking.

Levi's Edition interior. Eric got the only shot on our last hunt, so I was up first on this one.

Just as River predicted, we spotted that same group up on the rimrock grazing right to left. It was cold in the morning (30ish) but once the sun came up, it warmed quickly. Highs around 60.

River predicted where they would graze to, planned a stalk that would put us up there in front of them, and we headed out.

We drove down to near the base and started the climb up.

Even in the shade of the cliff, it started getting warm quickly.

Frequent stops required.

Still a long way to go.

I made a good last minute decision to add this pack pocket for my rifle and to bring my walking sticks.

It's hard to get the steepness perspective in photos but this gives you some idea.

This prickly pear cactus is everywhere and is apparently the primary food of the aoudad - this one has been nibbled.

As you get closer to the rim rock, it's steeper and rougher. Notice that I've peeled layers.

So it's taken an hour or so and we're approaching the point where we can look over the rimrock and see if the animals did what was predicted.

River gets up for a look and spots them still coming towards us but a couple hundred yards back from the rim.

The marked up photo below shows what our morning entailed. The light blue trace is what I have described so far. I will refer to the colors and the points A, B, and C

Here's the OnX trace with the three waypoints representing where I took shots.

So we crested the rim rock on the blue trace and we're approaching point A.

River spots them, tells Eric and Dave to wait here.

River and I do a 100 yard sprint across open ground and get to a rock outcropping. This is point A (blue). There is a group of 10 or so aoudad at 190 yards from this point. They don't know we're here. River's stalk plan was perfect.

He waves me up, I set up with my rifle on the rock. He talks me thru isolating which animal, I draw a bead on it, he says "Wait". There's another rock 6' in front of me - probably in line of fire but not showing in the scope. I move to the right side of the rock and brace against a vertical rockface, 190 yards. I'm zeroed for 300. I aim a few inches low and shoot. Everything scatters, I attempt to reload and don't eject cleanly. I rack a new round in on top of the spent. They're gone.

Apparently a complete miss. This is the view of where they went. No time for analysis - let's get on them. So we take off across the top trying to figure out where they went. We're now on the red trace and we're hiking back along their original grazing path.

River goes ahead to the edge of the rim rock and looks over. He says they're right down below us. They went down the cut and looped backwards at the base. Get up here right on the edge and get ready to shoot straight down.

I reluctantly get right up with my body wrapped around a rock right on the edge (red point B). They are nervous and milling around right below us at about 90 yards. I know that I'm 5" high at 100 and shooting a very steep angle. River gets me on the right animal, I lean over the edge and shoot. They all start moving and I try to get follow up shots. The animal I was shooting at splits from the group, goes uphill and into dense cover. I've emptied my magazine and River says reload and watch that spot. I eject my empty magazine, fumble it, and drop it off the cliff. Luckily, I have a loaded spare magazine which I put in and watch the heavy cover where the ram went.

And I watch. Nothing. Video of Watching for Him After 15 minutes, River says, "he may be hit and in that cover." We have to go flush him out. But that cut is steep and slippery. He may jump out at any time. You have to be prepared to put him down if he does.

So now we are on the green trace headed to point C.

He wasn't lying. It was steep. The footing was all loose rock. Straight side hill at the base of the cliff. The cover is thick but it is all cactus and spiny stuff that stabs you. It's a long way down and when you turn up a rock, it doesn't stop rolling.

We get over to where we last saw him - green point C. River sets up Eric and I looking across the thick cover that he disappeared into. River climbs up to the base of the cliff and starts throwing rocks into the cover - nothing.

My butt is kicked. Dave stays with me as Eric and River make a pass thru the area to try to flush him. Nothing. They continue around the point of the cliff to try and see the group (purple trace). Nothing. No sign. Nothing. River thoroughly checks every piece of cover in the area and emerges covered in hitchhikers, burrs and thorns. Nothing. Eric finds a 5 peso coin up at the base of this cliff.

We begin the long, steep, slippery descent back to the road and the vehicle. And it's only about 12:30. I'm kicking myself for goobering up a perfectly planned stalk and missing what should have been "chip shots."

We get to the vehicles, load up and decide to drive around the point to look up into the next drainage (where they seem to have been headed). As we're driving, Dave sees animals in front of us low and in the flat.

We hit the brakes, pile out of the Jeep, and range a large group of aoudad running out of sight at about 320 yards. River parks Eric and Dave and we head off alone on their trail.

We only go about 100 yards and the ground drops off into an unexpected drainage. We look thru the valley and see the group of 25 or so coming up out of the drainage on the other side. River finds me a rock to set up on. They are all moving. He picks me a specific animal and I get on it. Range - 400 yards. I take the shot, a clear miss and they are gone.

Now all the self-criticism descends. How could I miss on 3 setups - two of them "chip shots". Did it have to do with my zero? What in the world happened? River must be going nuts after such a perfect stalk and setup. He wasn't saying much but I think that first animal was "A Toad". I didn't sleep much that night replaying those things.

So we got back to camp and Casey had taken a ram. And a damn nice one. It sounded like it was a bit of a rodeo with a nonfatal first shot, follow up shots slicing the back, hitting a hoof, and going thru a horn. But eventually the job got done and the animal was recovered.

For me, it was a pretty physically demanding day. The watch had me at 14,000 steps and 50 flights of stairs but it was all basically done before lunch. Turns out it was about 1/2 of what Eric would do for the next two days.

Some general info about the ranch - I failed to get a photo of the beacon that some government agency erected in the valley. It's just a 10' tall tower with a blue beacon on top. At it's base, it has a button to press if you are in need of help. It was apparently erected for illegal immigrants who get to US soil and can go no farther due to lack of food, water or transport. The "coyote" guides apparently abandon helpless people in the area and this is a way for them to get rescued. On our drive out from the ranch at the end of the hunt, we had a nice chat with a border patrol agent who was just doing "courtesy stops".

Eric found that 5 peso coin in the most remote and obscure place at the base of a cliff. The other photo above is a campsite inside a small cave that has been used by migrants. From the ranch, we could see across to the mountains in Mexico.

This 1/2 body mount was inside the ranch house - Dave is considering one of these for his trophy.

The ranch also has an interesting story due to an F-18 crashing on property. There are remnant pieces of the plane laying around.

End of Day 1 - Dave and Casey's aoudads and a javelina taken by Casey.

So, on day 2, Eric is the designated shooter. River got his Jeep back - coolant reservoir just wasn't completely full.

We head out with the assistance of Brett in the bomber and try to glass up some animals.

We get a call on the radio that Kyle has seen some back closer to the camp.

We spend all morning and well into the afternoon glassing and moving without luck.

Here's a video of the Bomber climbing a rough spot. Bomber Climb

Late in the afternoon, we decide to move back to the general area where I had hunted.

And Dave picks up some animals moving along the rim rock at the top of a drainage. Brett, Dave and I stay at this vantage point as River and Eric race over to get on these animals before dark.

We sat here on the glass and watched the animals as Eric and River climbed this face and found a cut in the rim rock to get on top.

As light was starting to fade, they got to the top and we saw the animals start to move as if they were busted. River got them to a high spot, got Eric on a rock, and he had one quick look at a ram at 365 yards as it paused on its way out. Eric didn't feel steady and he didn't take the shot (after all that work to get there).

Now the sun was down, light was fading, and they had to make a hairy descent. Dave, Brett and I were watching thru spotting scopes as they went thru the steepest part of the cut in the rim rock. I watched them stop and roll boulders that seemed to fall off the edge of the earth. I told Dave "I'm glad his mother can't see this." I later learned that they were trying to clear cactus out of the steepest/hairiest part of the descent. Anyway, in about 1.5 hours they covered about the same ground that I had the day before and they finished it in the dark.

Day 3 - last chance. Eric and I both need an animal. River decides to take me and Dave comes along. Brett takes Eric and Gus goes along. We head in opposite directions.

River decides to go up to "the nursery" and glass down on the valley where Kyle had spotted some yesterday. River and Dave immediately go right to the edge of these cliffs to glass - I hang back.

We glass the south and west side of these cliffs and spot only mule deer. Some pretty nice ones.

Eventually, River's intuition tells him to look off the east side and he does it from the absolute point of this structure. He sees aoudad directly below.

In the photo below, River is standing on the absolute point and that is the exact spot that I shot from. He picked out the animal, got me on it, I shot and it went straight down. Joy, redemption, jubilation. The shot was 134 yards.

I was sure it was over but River was reluctant to start on the recovery until he was absolutely sure the animal was done. We watched for a considerable time and he finally said "put another one in him". He was nestled behind a rock at that point and it took two to be sure.

So now we had to walk down the edge of the rimrock to find a cut. We did and it was steep as hell but I made it. Then we had to sidehill back below the cliff to the animal. I went slow but eventually got there.

He was piled up and you can get a sense of the sidehill here. Some of the other shots look flat.

The point of the cliff over my right shoulder is the spot where I shot.

I think that I tried River's patience more than a bit.

But we eventually got it done.

River caped him out and carried it out on his back.

Back up that steep drainage cut in the face (under blue arrow).

Radio contact with Brett indicated they had been on animals, chasing a herd, and Eric had one 400 yard miss. 1/2 day left to go. Here's the OnX trace for my shot and recovery.

After we dropped my cape off at the camp, we headed out to glass animals in case Eric and Brett were having trouble finding them. We went to a spot around the point from my shot and found ourselves surrounded by them.

We just sat down and watched - and let Brett know that we were on them.

It sounded like Eric and Brett were in a marathon chasing a group all over the ranch. Meanwhile, we had one ram walk within 20 yards of us. Watching for ram at 20 Group at 150

We eventually got word that Eric had one down. Not quite "last day - last light" but getting close. They were a long way from the camp and would take a long time to get back in.

Eric said they chased a group around most of the day, had several stalks, and the one miss at 400 yards. Eventually they got back on them and stalked into 400 again. Eric said lets get closer. They got in to 350 and he said lets keep going. Eventually they got in to 285, found a steady rest, took the shot and got him. As with all of these amazing critters, insurance follow up shots were required.