I have been a hunter my entire life. Shortly after I was born in April, my Dad had a successful turkey hunt and he came home to get me, just a newborn, to celebrate with him.
He’s the reason I started hunting. He’s been a major influence, teaching me to shoot starting with a pop gun, which led to a BB gun, and so on. By the time I was 5, he’d taken me along as he hunted pheasant, ducks, geese, and deer. He taught me, my younger sister Claire, and my brother Alec about the ethics and importance of hunting.
Ever since those early years with Dad, I’ve loved to hunt. I’ve hunted pheasant, ducks, geese, deer, antelope, turkeys, and I’ve been blessed go on both a Dall sheep hunt and black bear hunt. I want to hunt whenever I get the opportunity.
All this led me to New Mexico in January to hunt oryx, an exotic and unique species that was introduced in the U.S. in the ’60s and ’70s from their native Africa. To increase big-game hunting opportunities, the New Mexico Game and Fish Department released oryx in the southern part of the state. Since then, oryx numbers have increased into the thousands. This animal, the hunt, and the environment were something I’d never experienced, so I was extremely excited when I drew the tag.
While playing college volleyball at Concordia University in Nebraska, I could only hunt over Christmas and spring break. This August I’ll start an RN program closer to home, which will allow me to see my family and hunt on weekends.
I should mention that WTA TAGS was extremely helpful through this whole process. I’ve been with WTA TAGS for about seven years and I’ve gone on WTA hunts before, but this was my first true WTA TAGS hunt. Due to my crazy school schedule, I had them apply for the one free week I had and God smiled on me…I drew the tag!
To prepare for the hunt, I practiced shooting my Gunwerks 6.5 PRC rifle at different distances from a bench, with shooting sticks, lying prone. Plus, I studied oryx, specifically its anatomy and where I should aim.
Dad and I traveled to New Mexico and met with our cameraman, Justin, and our two guides, Mike and Beau. That night for dinner we met Mike’s Dad, Tim, and his friend, Don, all of whom figure into the hunt. The weather was beautiful, sunny, and warm, way better than Nebraska in January. On the drive to the hotel we saw our first oryx, and Dad and I both started to get excited.
The next morning we left the hotel around 5 a.m. and had a 2-hour drive to our hunting area. Mike, Beau, Justin, Dad, and I rode in one vehicle, with Tim and Don in another. After arriving, we put on the rest of our gear (hunter orange and binoculars) and hiked up a hill for a better view of the land. We spotted three oryx but they were miles away. We didn’t pursue these oryx because they were too far and walking away from us.
At the same time, Mike and Don took a different route to glass more ground. We continued to drive and around 8 a.m., we spotted our next oryx only about 100 yards away. We sneaked up as a practice stalk, but decided to pass because it was our first day of hunting. We spent the rest of the day covering ground and glassing; we spotted a pregnant cow, some brownies (which is what they call baby oryx), and sub-adults. We also saw mule deer and Barbary sheep, another import from Africa also known as aoudad. It was really cool because a western Nebraska girl doesn’t see those every day. Our first day involved a lot of driving and glassing.
The next day was another 5 a.m. departure. Glassing at higher elevation, we spotted more oryx, which were more jumpy and nervous. We spotted two cows far away, one with a horn in the shape of a zero. On the other side of the road, we saw a group of javelina.
Later in the day we met up with Tim and Don. They mentioned that they had spotted a nice bull and we agreed to go check him out. After we located the bull, we all decided he was the one.
Here are some things I learned about oryx. To determine whether an oryx is male or female, look at the thickness of the horns. Females have more slender horns. To determine between a sub-adult and adult, look for sub-adults to have a more gray color on their horns due to a sheath. Adults have rings on their horns and the deeper and farther apart the rings, the larger the oryx. Another judge of a good oryx is if the horns reach above the shoulder hump when it’s grazing with its head down.
Anyway, the oryx was bedded down about 500 yards away with only his horns showing, so I got set in a solid prone position to take a shot. The oryx got up and walked forward, then back, hidden by brush. We waited an hour for him to move into the open, which would have been only a step or two if he would have walked in one direction.
It was a tense waiting game. I was extremely nervous because the oryx could take that step into the open at any moment, but he continued to walk back and forth, always behind cover. Eventually, he bedded down and we decided to see if we could get a better shot if we were a little more elevated. We gained some elevation and reset. I was in the prone position for another two hours before he finally stood up. But when he stood, something startled him and he sprinted about 200 yards, then stopped.
We were shocked, I got nervous but quickly readjusted. He was in the wide open and I put him in my scope and squeezed the trigger. I jacked in another round and stayed on the bull until I knew he was down. He was down for good and I was so relieved. I had tears of joy and gave my Dad a big hug while everybody congratulated me. I was glad I had put in so much practice. It was a 675-yard shot with my Gunwerks 6.5 PRC.
Waiting three hours was extremely hard and nerve-wracking. I could feel my adrenaline flowing and my entire body shaking as we waited. Making a good shot is important because oryx are so tough and strong. I knew it was a long shot but I was prone and had a bipod on my rifle and a backpack under the stock so I was rock solid.
Walking up to my oryx gave me a special sense of accomplishment. I was thankful to be given the opportunity. WTA made the logistics easy and the guides, the outfitter, and everyone did an amazing job. They made the experience fun and were very knowledgeable about the land and the animals we saw. I was overwhelmed with joy and excitement when I picked up the bull’s horns and saw how long they were and how beautiful the animal was.
It was extremely cool to hunt an African animal in the United States. Not everyone gets the opportunity to see an exotic animal like an oryx, let alone hunt one. Because I live in western Nebraska, the entire experience was new and special. I had never seen a landscape so dry, yet so full of vegetation and wildlife. I had never seen an oryx, aoudad, or javelina before. The whole experience was memorable. This was such a special hunt and life experience with my Dad.
