1997 was a slow year. It was time to try something new and exotic! I was intrigued by a swap hunt offer by Tom Prihoda in the beautiful hillcountry of Texas. I had never even seen or heard of many of the species we'd conversed about and was as excited about this hunt as any I'd ever been on. We would be hunting several of Thompson Temple's 3,000 to 20,000 acre leases near Kerrville, Texas. By late January my cabin fever would be heating up and I'd be bouncing off the walls. What better way to relieve the "off-season blues", but to go big game hunting! Tom assured me that I'd view an array and abundance of critters from around the globe. Many, such as the blackbuck and auodad are endangered in their homelands and are prospering in the Texas hillcountry. It would be quite a chore selecting just one or two that interested me. When In route from San Antonio to Kerrville we passed several high fenced game ranches with an abundance of animals. We also stopped at a couple taxidermy studios so I could get a glimpse of good representatives of the different species. I was particularly impressed with both auodad and blackbuck mounts. Their markings and horn configurations were incredible. We were ready to get on with the hunt!

Tom and I woke early and drove from Thompson's bunkhouse in Ingram about 30 miles northwest to the Blackbull Ranch. In route there was wildlife everywhere. Several flocks of wild turkeys were strung across the road. We viewed countless whitetails and even a couple stray axis deer. My adrenaline was flowing as we drove through the 10,000 acre Blackbull entrance gate. I elected to start things off hunting blackbuck antelope. Blackbuck are native to India where they currently are endangered. The contrasting black and white body color and elegant spiralling, twisted horns really got me excited about hunting them. Mature males weigh about 80 lbs and have jet black and white face markings, while smaller males and females tip the scales at 60 lbs and carry yellowish coats. Blackbuck prefer the sparse flat country, much like that of the pronghorn. Another characteristic that got me excited about the critter is it's uncanny, rutting behaviour. Just like pronghorn, the mature bucks have their own heroms that they continually defend for dominance.

It didn't take long to spot our first exotics. We were greeted at the ranch house by a giant emu and saw several bachelor groups of velvet-clad axis bucks. Talk about a magnifcant animal! It was late January and most of the axis bucks carried velvet antlers. I guess their cycle is a bit mixed up being native to countries on the other side of the hemisphere. We drove a bit farther and I saw my first blackbuck. Tom tried to calm me and said we'd probably see better. A good blackbuck has at least 3 1/2 curls and a jet black face. This one only had a couple curls and hadn't yet gotten the dark cape of a mature antelope. We wound our way down a rocky road when out popped several whitetails. The ranch hadn't been whitetail hunted for several years and it was evident. We saw an abundance of 6 to 10 pointers everywhere! About another 1/2 mile down the rough road we saw several white and chocolate colored critters. What the heck are they? I put the spotting scope on them. There were a couple dandy fallow and sika deer huddled behind some brush. As we got back in the truck I wondered what we would see next....an elephant or maybe zebra? I guess anything is possible in Texas!

By noon I'd looked over a dozen mature blackbucks and probably 10 different big game species. My trigger finger was starting to get antsy! As we rounded a bend I saw the jet black and white coat of a mature antelope chasing a lessor buck from his girls. We watched from a distance for over an hour waiting for him to make a mistake so we could attempt a stalk. He looked pretty good through the spotting scope, so we planned a strategy...Texas style! We would angle towards him in the truck and hope for the best. Well, the first attempt didn't work as he fled for the other corner of the ranch. We tried again, this time it worked! He and his adversary stood broadside at 300 yards. Suddenly a group of Texas longhorn steers decided they wanted a handout and swarmed the truck. I calmly "shewed" them away while the bucks continued eyeballing us. I got a good rest and...CABOOM! At the blast, the yellowish buck next to mine leaped 5' straight up in the air and sprung off toward the opposite corner of the ranch. Mine ran 100 yards and dropped. My first exotic...was I ever excited! As I approached him, I couldn't believe how gorgeous he was. He had 3 1/2 curls and 18" long horns. WOW!

The next critter on my list was the elusive auodad sheep, native and endangered in it's homeland North Africa. Everything I'd heard about them intrigued me. I'd been told they are the most difficult of all exotics to hunt. Not only are they warry, but inhabit the most rugged, thick country they can find. They often don't show themselves until after dark. I would love such a challenge! Tom took me to the 2,500 acre High Hatch Ranch for this hunt. Even though it was smaller, it didn't mean it would be easier. By 2:00 in the afternoon the only auodad we had seen was a yearling runt I'd stalked to 20 feet. We were starting to wonder if there were any monster auodads on the ranch. Thompson assured us that there was a monarch ram on the ranch, we'd just have to be patient and find him. It seemed like we'd covered every corner of the ranch 4 or 5 times without luck. It was time to try another strategy. I had a feeling the smart ole ram was running circles around us and confining himself to the thickest cover on the ranch. Well, we made 2 drives through the thickest brush and still no sign. It was almost dark before we decided to call it a day and headed back to the truck.

Through the corner of my eye I noticed something out of place beneath a couple trees. A closer look through my binocs reveiled the gigantic heart-shaped horns of a monster auodad. I instantly lowered myself to the ground and slung 300 Weatherby over my backpack. The ram was laying down facing straight at us with his head stretched glat on the ground. This is probably why we didn't see a flash of him all day. What a cagey ole fellow! WIth his head in front of his body I really didn't have much of a clean shot to the vitals. The only shot I had was through the hole in his horns back into his chest. He was over 200 yards and there was little room for error. One slight twitch to any side and I'd blow off his massive horn. I thought to myself, "I may never see him again", so I put the duplex's on the mark and squeezed off a shot. With the blast, the giant ram raised to his feet and then crumbled! Wow, what a ram! At the shot, Tom's mouth dropped! He couldn't believe I had put the shot through the ram's horn and harvested the huge aoudad. When we got over to the ram he was everything I dreamed of and more! He had 31" horns, 13 1/2" bases, and carried the mass all the way to the tips. He also had an incredible beard and chaps. This was a day I'll never forget!

I still had a couple days, so decided to see what other species might interest me. Tom and I would try different tactics for this part of the hunt. I've never been one to sit in a blind for days on end, but thought I'd give it a try. It would be a great way to view many species and possibly get some great photos and video footage. This would be about the only way to effectively hunt the ranch due to how density of the cover. Tom and I arrived at one of the Cowboy Ranche's many blinds well before daylight. Immediately we could see shapes and hear footsteps. At daylight we saw several nice whitetail bucks feeding along a shooting lane. An hour passed and here came a group of corsican rams. They grazed their way to spitting range, but I really didn't see anything that struck my eye. Another hour passed and 2 giant mouflan rams came out of the thick stuff. They really got my heart pounding, but the pricetag to harvest one of those bruisers was a bit out of my league. Thompson had told us there were some monster New Zealand billies on the ranch, some of which would break 40" spread. I was really excited about harvesting one of those angora coated monsters with my trusty 54 caliber Hawkin muzzleloader. If I lucked into one it would rank in the top 20 of the muzzleloader Records of Exotics Book. By late afternoon we hadn't seen a wooly New Zealand critter, so Tom decided to follow the fenceline to catch site of one. Two hours later he arrived back at the blind and said he saw a flash of a group of Zealanders. Darkness was quickly coming when all of a sudden out popped a dozen ibex and 8 Zealanders. Boy, choosing one billy out of the crowd was tough. They all looked good! I picked out the widest spread billie and squeezed off a shot. "Plink!!" Nothing happened! Moisture from the early morning drizzle must have ruined the shot. Goats and ibex went scurrying off in every direction. It was too dark now for another chance so we'd have to try again in the morning.

I want to thank Tom Prihoda and Thompson Temple for their sincere, Texas hospitality! Anyone wanted any detailed information on Texas exotics, waterfowl, or giant Russian hogs can contact Tom Prihoda at: prihodat@uthscsa.edu

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