South Texas Nilgai and Fishing

DesertRam

Director
Staff member
This hunt report was written for the site from which I learned about it and booked, to so there is some information specific to that setting. However, I thought it would be fun to post it here too.

South Texas Cast and Blast – Fishing and Nilgai
Hunt dates – July 16-18, 2021
Hunt location – Port Mansfield, TX
Guide – Tyler Hill (with help from his brother Nick)
Game seen – nilgai, wild hog, coyote, ducks, whitetail deer, hard heads (catfish), red fish
Game taken – coyote, nilgai, hard head, red fish
Firearms – For me a Winchester M70 .338 Win with Leupold 3.5-10 and handloaded 225 grain Barnes TSX; for my dad a Browning A-bolt .300 Win with Leupold 3.5-10 and handloaded 150 grain Barnes TTSX

Summary – I booked this hunt directly with Tyler after seeing it advertised here on AR by David Keith. I paid a deposit back in January and scheduled the hunt for a time that would work for both Dad and me. We did this mostly because COVID and Dad’s recent knee surgery prevented him from going on the caribou hunt he would like. This seemed like a good opportunity to do something fun during the “off” season. The chance to fish the ocean was what really sealed it for my dad. He loves to fish and hasn’t fished the ocean before. Overall, I would characterize the hunting as good, with nilgai sightings each outing. The fishing was awful.

We left southern NM on the afternoon of July 15 and stopped for the night in Kerrville, TX. We continued on the next morning, targeting our arrival in Port Mansfield for about 4:00 PM, our agreed upon check in time for the condo in which we would stay. We stopped in Raymondville for groceries and made it to Port Mansfield at about 3:00. We hit a local bait shop for non-resident hunting licenses to start that night. Tyler recommended that we buy daily fishing licenses prior to any fishing trips because of the lower cost. We did so. Tyler met us at the bait shop and led us to the condo. We were greeted by a small but comfy living room. Adjacent is a sparsely equipped kitchen, then a small bedroom and bath. Pretty decent overall.

NilgaiCondoLR1-L.jpg


NilgaiCondoLR2-L.jpg


We completed the typical waiver (one might call it a small contract…) and settled the bill. Tyler told us to be ready for our first outing that night at about 9:45. As advertised, hunting would be at night using thermal imaging to locate nilgai from the boat. Tyler met us that night along with his brother Nick, who would help out. We departed immediately to the boat ramp, launched the boat, and headed out into the bay. The wind was up and the water was pretty rough. We learned that the wind can really drive your chances for success on this hunt. After several miles, we reached the legal hunting area and slowed. Nick and Tyler scanned the shoreline with a thermal monocular, searching for a huntable bull. They spotted several nilgai, but none were reachable because of bad wind or terrain. Nick dropped Dad, Tyler, and me off on the downwind side of a large island for a walk. Our plan was to circle the island looking for nilgai that could be stalked. We dropped off the boat and slogged our way through marshland to relatively dry ground. Once on the leeward side of the island, the mosquitoes became fierce! Even with heavy DEET preventing most bites, they were so thick you almost breathed them in. We scanned our island and those nearby, but the only nilgai were over a mile away on a small hump of land we couldn’t access with the boat or on foot. We turned towards the pickup point. As we neared the shore, Tyler spotted a heat signature in the knee-high grass/brush and asked us to get ready. We snuck closer and bumped the critter from its bed – a coyote. With no nilgai around, Tyler asked if we wanted to try for the coyote. I almost never say no to doing some predator control, so I agreed and got ready. Tyler lip squeaked a little and the coyote came in. I couldn’t see him in the dark, but when Tyler asked if I was ready I responded in the affirmative. When he hit the light, the coyote started to trot away, but a couple barks stopped him at less than 100 yards and I dropped him where he stood.

Troy16Jul2021MaleCoyote-L.jpg


We made it back to the boat and headed back towards the port, scanning as we went. Nick spotted a bull working his way down the shore. We put into bank. Tyler told us that we would probably have to run him down. Dad bowed out of that, knowing that he couldn’t keep up, so Tyler and I gave it a try. The crosswind we had on the water wasn’t as “cross” on the bank, and the nilgai likely smelled our approach. He turned inland and made it out of the open hunting area. We returned to the boat and discussed options. We hoped to work up the coast in the other direction, but the wind had gotten bad enough that the open bay was potentially unsafe. We bagged it for the evening after a pretty short outing.

After a good night’s rest, breakfast, and an easy morning, the crew picked us up for some fishing. We hit the water and stopped at a bait shop for gas and fishing licenses. We then headed out into the bay to try our luck with sea trout and red fish. It was then that we got to see some of what we had hunted the night before. We also saw a few nilgai out browsing in a non-hunting area. This is the low-lying coastal scrub and shoreline we hunted.

NilgaiTerrain-L.jpg


NilgaiTerrain2-L.jpg


As for fishing, if it wasn’t for bad luck though, we would have had none at all. We tried several locations and methods, but the fish weren’t interested in our bait. We caught only a few hard heads, a type of saltwater catfish. They put up a nice fight, but these guys don’t keep them. Apparently they have enough clients get stabbed by the barbs that they’re a bit reluctant to let others handle them.

DadCatchingHardhead-L.jpg


Paul17Jul2021Hardhead-L.jpg


We left the water with nothing in the live well and agreed to meet up again at about 9:45 for more hunting, which we did. This night we headed up the shore to where we had not made it last night. Shortly after leaving, we spotted a large herd of nilgai in an area we could not hunt. Bummer. As we sped along, Nick spotted several others with the thermal, but none in favorable locations. We reached the end of our hunting area and turned around. Now we would be working into the wind, so we slowed and took our time to really scope out the beach and nearby inland areas. We soon spotted a lone bull and made landfall. We had barely gotten off the boat when Tyler informed us that he had spooked. We concluded that he had seen the boat in the relatively bright moonlight.

Onward. Not long after, we spotted another bull in the distance. This time we beached well downwind of him and started the stalk. We eased into the wind with the best of intentions, but the bull moved away faster than we could get to him. We did see a large hog in his wallow, but passed him up hoping for the nilgai. We signaled Nick, who brought the boat up to get us.

Off again, cruising and scanning. The guys spotted a group of nilgai way up ahead, and confirmed that at least one was a bull. They were acting nervous though, so we knew we’d have to move fast. With this in mind, Dad decided to send me on the stalk without him. Nick eased the boat into shore and Tyler bailed out on what looked like solid ground. It wasn’t. He immediately sank nearly to his waist. I wisely stayed on the boat while he doggedly slogged his way through the muck to the real shore, waving for Nick to back the boat out and move further up the shore toward the nilgai. We did, and I was able to bail off into only shin-deep water for a quick wade to shore. We took off at a trot, hoping to close the distance on this group of jumpy nilgai. After a half mile or so of run, stop, glass, run, stop, glass, etc., Tyler pulled up and told me to get ready. I set the Trigger Sticks and confirmed the approximate location of the nilgai (remember that I can’t see him in the dark). Previously, Tyler had said we would likely stalk in relatively close, with shots in the 60-70 yard range. With this in mind, I left my scope on 3.5x, thinking I could make the preferred neck shot at that power. When I told him I was ready, Tyler hit the spotlight and lit the bull up. I immediately found him in the scope, but he was much further than 60 yards and there was no way to make a neck shot on 3.5x! So I dropped the crosshairs low and forward on the chest and sent a bullet on the way. I heard the report of a solid hit, but ran the bolt and got ready, keeping the running bull in the scope while Tyler kept him lit up and whistled. The bull ran quartering to us and stopped at about 125 yards, so I hit him again in basically the same spot. He charged forward as I worked the bolt and got ready. As I watched him continue to run toward us through a large shallow pool, I saw him crash face first into the water. I told Tyler he was down and, after topping off the magazine, we rushed forward. The bull lay thrashing in shin-deep water, so Tyler had me put another round into his brisket through the vitals, which ceased all movement. Having heard the shots, Nick and Dad were already headed our way with the boat, so we signaled our location. They soon arrived and we all went to check out the bull. Both Tyler and Nick were impressed with his body size and horn length. To me he just looked cool; a little devilish.

Troy17Jul2021Nilgai-L.jpg


After a few pictures, we dragged the beast to the shore and loaded him in the boat.

Troy17Jul2021NilgaiBoat-L.jpg


With a full load, we headed in to take care of the meat. During skinning, we recovered two of the bullets. One was typical recovered Barnes, the other missing petals (it was the one fired at point blank range through the chest upwards and recovered next to the spine).

Troy17Jul2021NilgaiButcher-L.jpg

Bullets-L.jpg


We broke the bull down to his parts and put all the meat on ice. The cape was off to the freezer pending a decision on what to do with it. Because it was such a late night (or early morning?), we agreed to try fishing again at 3:00 the next afternoon. We would fish until dark and then switch to hunting to find Dad’s bull. Those were well laid plans, but as you all know, plans often go awry. We learned the next day that all of our close-in action had sucked enough grit into the boat engine’s water pump to kill it. The only one available on a Sunday was in Corpus Christi, a long round trip journey from Port Mansfield. Tyler made the trip, got the pump and replaced it in time for the night hunt, but it cost us the afternoon fishing trip. Instead, we cruised around and looked at the area and the returned to the condo for a dinner highlighting fresh nilgai tenderloin. The condo has a nice yard and patio equipped with a great charcoal grill/smoker and outdoor dining area. We put these to good use.

CondoYard-L.jpg


NilgaiTLGrill-L.jpg


NilgaiTLDinner-L.jpg


Plan B was to kill a bull early and then fish the next morning. Again with the plans… The fellas came ‘round again about 9:45 and we headed out into the bay. They knew of other hunters working the area we hunted on the first night, so we headed back towards the area where I killed my bull. There wasn’t a lot of activity this night. We spotted one bull that we tried to put a sneak on, but he moved faster than us and was gone before we could get on him. While cruising slowly back to port, Nick spotted a lone cow very near the bank not far from the boat. We were already pretty close to her, and there just wasn’t a way to put into shore and make a stalk. We tried, but she buggered out. Tyler touched base with the boys on the other end of the bay to see if they were finding any, but they reported even less activity than what we had on our end. With no real opportunity left, we called it a night and planned for an early morning of fishing. We hoped to at least round out the trip with some red fish.

The next morning we were on the water at sunrise, and flailing away for redfish shortly thereafter. We gave it the ol’ college try for about five hours, but were rewarded with only one small redfish that did not meet the minimum length to be a keeper.

MansfieldHarborSunrise-L.jpg


Paul19Jul2021Redfish-L.jpg


With our time up, we reeled in the baits and headed to shore. We had time to ice the meat good, load up the truck, and clean up before hitting the road back to New Mexico.
 
Originally Posted By: DesertRamThis hunt report was written for the site from which I learned about it and booked, to so there is some information specific to that setting. However, I thought it would be fun to post it here too.

South Texas Cast and Blast – Fishing and Nilgai
Hunt dates – July 16-18, 2021
Hunt location – Port Mansfield, TX
Guide – Tyler Hill (with help from his brother Nick)
Game seen – nilgai, wild hog, coyote, ducks, whitetail deer, hard heads (catfish), red fish
Game taken – coyote, nilgai, hard head, red fish
Firearms – For me a Winchester M70 .338 Win with Leupold 3.5-10 and handloaded 225 grain Barnes TSX; for my dad a Browning A-bolt .300 Win with Leupold 3.5-10 and handloaded 150 grain Barnes TTSX

Summary – I booked this hunt directly with Tyler after seeing it advertised here on AR by David Keith. I paid a deposit back in January and scheduled the hunt for a time that would work for both Dad and me. We did this mostly because COVID and Dad’s recent knee surgery prevented him from going on the caribou hunt he would like. This seemed like a good opportunity to do something fun during the “off” season. The chance to fish the ocean was what really sealed it for my dad. He loves to fish and hasn’t fished the ocean before. Overall, I would characterize the hunting as good, with nilgai sightings each outing. The fishing was awful.

We left southern NM on the afternoon of July 15 and stopped for the night in Kerrville, TX. We continued on the next morning, targeting our arrival in Port Mansfield for about 4:00 PM, our agreed upon check in time for the condo in which we would stay. We stopped in Raymondville for groceries and made it to Port Mansfield at about 3:00. We hit a local bait shop for non-resident hunting licenses to start that night. Tyler recommended that we buy daily fishing licenses prior to any fishing trips because of the lower cost. We did so. Tyler met us at the bait shop and led us to the condo. We were greeted by a small but comfy living room. Adjacent is a sparsely equipped kitchen, then a small bedroom and bath. Pretty decent overall.

NilgaiCondoLR1-L.jpg


NilgaiCondoLR2-L.jpg


We completed the typical waiver (one might call it a small contract…) and settled the bill. Tyler told us to be ready for our first outing that night at about 9:45. As advertised, hunting would be at night using thermal imaging to locate nilgai from the boat. Tyler met us that night along with his brother Nick, who would help out. We departed immediately to the boat ramp, launched the boat, and headed out into the bay. The wind was up and the water was pretty rough. We learned that the wind can really drive your chances for success on this hunt. After several miles, we reached the legal hunting area and slowed. Nick and Tyler scanned the shoreline with a thermal monocular, searching for a huntable bull. They spotted several nilgai, but none were reachable because of bad wind or terrain. Nick dropped Dad, Tyler, and me off on the downwind side of a large island for a walk. Our plan was to circle the island looking for nilgai that could be stalked. We dropped off the boat and slogged our way through marshland to relatively dry ground. Once on the leeward side of the island, the mosquitoes became fierce! Even with heavy DEET preventing most bites, they were so thick you almost breathed them in. We scanned our island and those nearby, but the only nilgai were over a mile away on a small hump of land we couldn’t access with the boat or on foot. We turned towards the pickup point. As we neared the shore, Tyler spotted a heat signature in the knee-high grass/brush and asked us to get ready. We snuck closer and bumped the critter from its bed – a coyote. With no nilgai around, Tyler asked if we wanted to try for the coyote. I almost never say no to doing some predator control, so I agreed and got ready. Tyler lip squeaked a little and the coyote came in. I couldn’t see him in the dark, but when Tyler asked if I was ready I responded in the affirmative. When he hit the light, the coyote started to trot away, but a couple barks stopped him at less than 100 yards and I dropped him where he stood.

Troy16Jul2021MaleCoyote-L.jpg


We made it back to the boat and headed back towards the port, scanning as we went. Nick spotted a bull working his way down the shore. We put into bank. Tyler told us that we would probably have to run him down. Dad bowed out of that, knowing that he couldn’t keep up, so Tyler and I gave it a try. The crosswind we had on the water wasn’t as “cross” on the bank, and the nilgai likely smelled our approach. He turned inland and made it out of the open hunting area. We returned to the boat and discussed options. We hoped to work up the coast in the other direction, but the wind had gotten bad enough that the open bay was potentially unsafe. We bagged it for the evening after a pretty short outing.

After a good night’s rest, breakfast, and an easy morning, the crew picked us up for some fishing. We hit the water and stopped at a bait shop for gas and fishing licenses. We then headed out into the bay to try our luck with sea trout and red fish. It was then that we got to see some of what we had hunted the night before. We also saw a few nilgai out browsing in a non-hunting area. This is the low-lying coastal scrub and shoreline we hunted.

NilgaiTerrain-L.jpg


NilgaiTerrain2-L.jpg


As for fishing, if it wasn’t for bad luck though, we would have had none at all. We tried several locations and methods, but the fish weren’t interested in our bait. We caught only a few hard heads, a type of saltwater catfish. They put up a nice fight, but these guys don’t keep them. Apparently they have enough clients get stabbed by the barbs that they’re a bit reluctant to let others handle them.

DadCatchingHardhead-L.jpg


Paul17Jul2021Hardhead-L.jpg


We left the water with nothing in the live well and agreed to meet up again at about 9:45 for more hunting, which we did. This night we headed up the shore to where we had not made it last night. Shortly after leaving, we spotted a large herd of nilgai in an area we could not hunt. Bummer. As we sped along, Nick spotted several others with the thermal, but none in favorable locations. We reached the end of our hunting area and turned around. Now we would be working into the wind, so we slowed and took our time to really scope out the beach and nearby inland areas. We soon spotted a lone bull and made landfall. We had barely gotten off the boat when Tyler informed us that he had spooked. We concluded that he had seen the boat in the relatively bright moonlight.

Onward. Not long after, we spotted another bull in the distance. This time we beached well downwind of him and started the stalk. We eased into the wind with the best of intentions, but the bull moved away faster than we could get to him. We did see a large hog in his wallow, but passed him up hoping for the nilgai. We signaled Nick, who brought the boat up to get us.

Off again, cruising and scanning. The guys spotted a group of nilgai way up ahead, and confirmed that at least one was a bull. They were acting nervous though, so we knew we’d have to move fast. With this in mind, Dad decided to send me on the stalk without him. Nick eased the boat into shore and Tyler bailed out on what looked like solid ground. It wasn’t. He immediately sank nearly to his waist. I wisely stayed on the boat while he doggedly slogged his way through the muck to the real shore, waving for Nick to back the boat out and move further up the shore toward the nilgai. We did, and I was able to bail off into only shin-deep water for a quick wade to shore. We took off at a trot, hoping to close the distance on this group of jumpy nilgai. After a half mile or so of run, stop, glass, run, stop, glass, etc., Tyler pulled up and told me to get ready. I set the Trigger Sticks and confirmed the approximate location of the nilgai (remember that I can’t see him in the dark). Previously, Tyler had said we would likely stalk in relatively close, with shots in the 60-70 yard range. With this in mind, I left my scope on 3.5x, thinking I could make the preferred neck shot at that power. When I told him I was ready, Tyler hit the spotlight and lit the bull up. I immediately found him in the scope, but he was much further than 60 yards and there was no way to make a neck shot on 3.5x! So I dropped the crosshairs low and forward on the chest and sent a bullet on the way. I heard the report of a solid hit, but ran the bolt and got ready, keeping the running bull in the scope while Tyler kept him lit up and whistled. The bull ran quartering to us and stopped at about 125 yards, so I hit him again in basically the same spot. He charged forward as I worked the bolt and got ready. As I watched him continue to run toward us through a large shallow pool, I saw him crash face first into the water. I told Tyler he was down and, after topping off the magazine, we rushed forward. The bull lay thrashing in shin-deep water, so Tyler had me put another round into his brisket through the vitals, which ceased all movement. Having heard the shots, Nick and Dad were already headed our way with the boat, so we signaled our location. They soon arrived and we all went to check out the bull. Both Tyler and Nick were impressed with his body size and horn length. To me he just looked cool; a little devilish.

Troy17Jul2021Nilgai-L.jpg


After a few pictures, we dragged the beast to the shore and loaded him in the boat.

Troy17Jul2021NilgaiBoat-L.jpg


With a full load, we headed in to take care of the meat. During skinning, we recovered two of the bullets. One was typical recovered Barnes, the other missing petals (it was the one fired at point blank range through the chest upwards and recovered next to the spine).

Troy17Jul2021NilgaiButcher-L.jpg

Bullets-L.jpg


We broke the bull down to his parts and put all the meat on ice. The cape was off to the freezer pending a decision on what to do with it. Because it was such a late night (or early morning?), we agreed to try fishing again at 3:00 the next afternoon. We would fish until dark and then switch to hunting to find Dad’s bull. Those were well laid plans, but as you all know, plans often go awry. We learned the next day that all of our close-in action had sucked enough grit into the boat engine’s water pump to kill it. The only one available on a Sunday was in Corpus Christi, a long round trip journey from Port Mansfield. Tyler made the trip, got the pump and replaced it in time for the night hunt, but it cost us the afternoon fishing trip. Instead, we cruised around and looked at the area and the returned to the condo for a dinner highlighting fresh nilgai tenderloin. The condo has a nice yard and patio equipped with a great charcoal grill/smoker and outdoor dining area. We put these to good use.

CondoYard-L.jpg


NilgaiTLGrill-L.jpg


NilgaiTLDinner-L.jpg


Plan B was to kill a bull early and then fish the next morning. Again with the plans… The fellas came ‘round again about 9:45 and we headed out into the bay. They knew of other hunters working the area we hunted on the first night, so we headed back towards the area where I killed my bull. There wasn’t a lot of activity this night. We spotted one bull that we tried to put a sneak on, but he moved faster than us and was gone before we could get on him. While cruising slowly back to port, Nick spotted a lone cow very near the bank not far from the boat. We were already pretty close to her, and there just wasn’t a way to put into shore and make a stalk. We tried, but she buggered out. Tyler touched base with the boys on the other end of the bay to see if they were finding any, but they reported even less activity than what we had on our end. With no real opportunity left, we called it a night and planned for an early morning of fishing. We hoped to at least round out the trip with some red fish.

The next morning we were on the water at sunrise, and flailing away for redfish shortly thereafter. We gave it the ol’ college try for about five hours, but were rewarded with only one small redfish that did not meet the minimum length to be a keeper. In college, I was fond of fishing, and I often didn't have enough time for my hobby. However, this https://essaylab.com/cheap_essays service helped me with my studies. Perhaps students here will be able to use it to their advantage.

MansfieldHarborSunrise-L.jpg


Paul19Jul2021Redfish-L.jpg


With our time up, we reeled in the baits and headed to shore. We had time to ice the meat good, load up the truck, and clean up before hitting the road back to New Mexico.
Thank you for sharing!
 
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