With most of the big game hunting behind us for the year, this would be a good time to share your hunting pictures for us all to enjoy.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who fills in the slow hunting times sneaking up and taking pictures of the various wildlife where I hunt.

Started hunting this high fenced, 5500 acre ranch in 2003. Inner fences are barbed wire enabling the several species of exotics and native game free range of entire ranch.

Zebra are pretty hard to get close to, especially in larger groups.


Blesbok are native to South Africa


The Wildebeest often called the "poor man's Cape Buffalo"
Usually found in herds, but these two bulls seemed to enjoy posing for a picture.


Gemsbok found in small groups. One of the best eating antelope IMO.

Slipped up to this cow w/twins and disturbed their mid-day nap.


The least of the exotics is the Springbok. These two rams were busy settling a dispute and allowed me to get pretty close.


Spent a lot of time getting up close to some pretty nice bucks on this ranch as well.

These two bucks obviously shared some jeans based on the double throat patch.

This buck was so sure he was invisible he let me get within 5' or so.

I let this one walk up within 10', he knew something was amis, but never spooked.


Now, let's see your favorite pictures.

Regards,
hm

Really good stuff. I look forward to others chiming in.

Those are some great photos and experiences. That’s really neat being able to see those types of non native species in a more natural, open habitat. Here, you only see those types of animals at the zoo.

I, too, was looking forward to others chiming in. Posted in the Big Game thread during the off seasons hoping to see others' favorite hunting pictures.

Thread is not limited to big game pictures, lets see whatcha got!
Heck, I'm in for some pretty sunrises & sunsets, etc.





Here's a few smaller critters that posed for me during slow spells while "hunting their bigger cousins".

Momma has these younguns trained pretty well.




Often pull out the calls when it really gets slow & its always a plus when a bobcat answers the call.


When I was a kid, we had tons of horned toads....not so many today
and this is one probable cause.


This pretty well covers this ranch. If we get some more interest, I'll see about rounding up pictures from the other two ranches I hunt which have some different exotics.



Regards,
hm

Thanks, Adam, it really is special. I've been truly blessed having access to three family owned ranches for a number of years and helping them with their predator problems to boot.

Regards,
hm

Raided some other hunt reports to repost these.

Great pics, Troy; thanks for sharing some of your stomping grounds.

Those Gambel's quail are really beautiful birds. Bob Whites are widespread here, with Blue Quail in some of the more arid areas.
Blues are really hard to flush, ya gotta really push them to make 'em fly. How are the Gambel's in that department. Is there a season on them?

Really hard to get a picture of a Gemsbok that is not looking at ya, isn't it? Only other pose is walking, or running away.

Just remembered a black mushroom I came across several years back. Have never seen another before or since. Anyone know what they are?




Regards,
hm

Our quail season runs November15 to February 15. Gambel's flush better then scaled quail, but not as readily as bobwhites.

Coastal Black Tail

Cool pictures, Tony, thanks for sharing.

Regards,
hm

C'mon folks, I know you are sitting on a bunch of great pictures of your hunting camps, etc., let's see them.

This is the sister ranch located about 60 miles east of the ranch in my first post. This ranch is also just under 6000 acres stocked with more of the same, plus a few different critters.

This herd of wildebeest showed up in a cloud of dust, following the bull on the left to surround the old Foxpro.



Had to wait a while for them to drift away to retrieve it.




More to follow.............

Sorry for interruption; having some difficulties w/picture links.

It is not uncommon to see herds of waterbuck visiting the various water holes on this ranch.
There are often two or more zebras accompanying the waterbuck.

This young bull didn't seem to appreciate the zebra's cold nose.

Now on the endangered list, the Addax was once plentiful in the Sahara desert, and is currently native only in Mauritania, Chad, and Niger. These seem to be quite content to call S. Texas home.


To be continued..........

About a dozen Nilgai antelope, native to India were released on the
King Ranch in south Texas when a circus went broke during the depression in the erly 1930's. These animals did well in the arid brush country and now are "native" over a large portion of the Rio Grande Valley.

These cows are content to graze across a dry laguna bed with their two calves in tow.

While the bull checks out another cow nearby.

Ostrich hen with her chicks take a stroll down a roadway after a morning shower


This young female nilgai shares one of the many waterholes with some native wildlife



Your turn now! Dig up those favorite pictures and share them with us.


Regards,
hm

If I saw any of those critters in my stomping grounds I'd be drunk. And I don't even drink liquor!

C'mon now, Gary, dig out some of those fantastic pictures of your stompin' grounds that you've posted before and share them with us. Always enjoy seeing the terrain others enjoy hunting.

Regards,
Clarence

The original headquarters of this family owned ranch, established in the mid 1800's is located on this last ranch, consisting of 12,000 acres and is home for the widest assortment of exotics of the three.

Sable antelope, native of southern Africa


Kudu, Eastern and Southern Africa


Scimitar Horned Oryx, endangered in native Sahara desert but thrives in south Texas arid brush country



Roan antelope widespread across south africa


Lechwe antelope native to south central wetlands of Africa



Nyala antelope, from southeastern Africa. These were the toughest to get decent picture as they like to hang out in the thickest brush.


And the largest Antelope in the world, the Eland, another African Antelope. The Bulls can weigh up to 2000#.



Blackbuck antelope, India


There are numerous nilgai herds, native to India on this ranch. These two nilgai bulls provided some 45 minutes of entertainment as they fought to stake their claim on an unseen nilgai cow. It all began when the two began to walk in a large circle, giving their opponent the evil eye.


The circle slowly tightened


As the bulls approached even closer



Then they raised their tails straight up, like a battle flag and the battle was joined


Talk about the stink eye...

Then, more suddenly than it had begun, the loser broke off the engagement and walked off into the brush, leaving the victor to strut in celebration of his victory.

Neither seemed any worse for the wear.

Lets see your favorite game pics now.

Regards,
hm

some phone pics.

Great pics everyone!

Good stuff!

I never look in this forum, but the title just happened to catch my eye as I was scrolling by so I clicked in to check it out. Glad I did!

Different subject, but I think we should consolidate some of these forums so more people will actually see some of these posts. They are too easy to miss when they are in a subforum someone doesn't usually (or ever) look in.

- DAA

Some of mine. But don't get me started. I have too many of these..





















- DAA

Start, please start!

Gorgeous pictures, Dave; keep 'em coming, please.

Regards,
hm

I'm a sucker for peer pressure...





















- DAA

Dave, your photos are next level. The coyote ones are especially well composed. Suitable for framing. I am going show some of these to my wife.

I use to have a pic of wild horses running one direction and pronghorn antelope another direction all in the same frame that I took on a hunt with Kerry Carver and a few other members in Northern Nevada/ southern Idaho over a decadeago. Of course it was uploaded to photobucket thinking it would be safe there. Now all I have is the memory of it.

What a shame! I lost a bunch too, as did a lot of us.

A couple of my favorite whitetail pics.


Regards,
hm

Something different...

Don't know how I missed your post, [beeep]?? Nice pics, is that an owl? Looks cold!



Nice turn, Gary. Like to see where others hunt as well as what you hunt.

Regards,
hm

Good Grief Dave, you always have fantastic pics

Some more...
























- DAA

Thanks again, Dave, for sharing your wonderful pictures. Always look forward to your posts!

As stated at the outset of this thread, I have been blessed to have been able to hunt these three ranches totaling some 23,000 acres in three counties for the past 20 years. Currently owned by the 5th generation, the ranches trace their history back to 1858 and are all working cattle ranches. The current owners have concentrated on wildlife management as well, including introduction of the many species of exotics previously shown.

20 years ago, deer season, running from November thru mid January, was my favorite time of year; in later years, not so much.

The rut starts around Christmas and is usually accompanied by heavy fog shrouding the brush almost daily before sunrise, adding to the suspense of what is to soon be revealed.



What was that movement, caught out of the corner of my eye....and then another wave of fog rolls in. Seems like an eternity until it clears enough to tell...and then, as if magically, the fog thins and reveals....


Deer hunting doesn't hold the shine it did back then. My interest slowly shifted to predator hunting and an occasional exotic when the freezer runs low. While the ranches are high fenced, they are large enough and the inner low fences allow all game free range within the outer fences, each species offers slightly different challenges to the hunter, IMO.

Springtime is always announced with the first bloom on the Spanish Daggers dotting the landscape.


Badgers are few and far between, this young pair reluctantly yielded the right of way on a two track. I believe they were siblings, the male, on the left seems to have lost his right eye, the 2nd one was a bit smaller and I believe a female. The male was rather aggressive.




Another, albeit not so welcome sign of spring are the mosquitoes. One evening just before dark, I heard a faint buzzing sound in my electronic ear muffs. First thought it was an electrical buzzing, but looking up, realized a huge swarm of mosquitoes were swarming about 6-8 ft above my head. Didn't realize the flash was not muted on my camera and snapped a picture. It was dusk and the sky was still a dark blue, but the auto focus apparently closed the shutter down resulting in this interesting picture.


Late Summer and fall, the native coyotillo berries ripen, adding some color to the brush country. Coyotillo is poisonous to man or beast, but coyotes seem to be immune to the toxin.


Armadillos also seem to be more active in warmer months.


I love to take Bobcat pictures. A couple of favorites.





Not able to get up to the ranch nearly as much as I once did, but these pictures always put a smile on my face in between trips, as do all the pictures of others' stomping grounds, so ya'll keep them coming!

Regards,
hm

hm1996, you sure have been blessed to have access to these ranches. I knew there were exotic animal in Texas, just not that many different ones. And the endangered one, that seem to thrive there. Again thank for sharing the picture and the write up along with them.

DAA, it is always great to see your picture. Clear crisp and beautiful. The amount of time to watch, and have a camera ready and click. Thanks for sharing your pictures with there story.

C'mon guys, gonna be a while until hunting seasons open again and I'm close to the bottom of the barrel. Help me out with some of your hunting pictures!!

I didn't have many mature nilgai bulls in previous posts. The younger bulls and cows are reddish brown, but fully mature bulls are dark grey or black. This one is in his prime.

This one's curiosity got the best of him when he heard my coyote call and approached cautiously.
He never saw me, but when he got close to the decoy, he spooked. His poor condition is the result of a severe three year drought.


This days old Gemsbock calf was left to fend for itself while mom went grocery shopping

As was this young whitetail fawn

And this Scimitar Horned Oryx calf, born in chest high grass, was only minutes old when I inadvertently intruded. Notice afterbirth. Mama coaxed the youngster into the brush while I carefully retreated after snapping this picture.


Addax bull making good use of nature's own back scratcher

Slipped up on this decent Eland Bull

Well this is a hunting thread, so maybe we should include some pictures of harvested game.
(Not the same bull pictured above, this one required a low boy trailer to haul out of the brush. live weight estimated close to 2000#)


We found we needed some mechanical assistance in handling some of the larger animals. Left to right was first attempt, which worked fine until this larger than normal nilgai cow bent the schedule 80 1 1/2" steel pipe.

As it turned out, the bend was perfect when pipe was rotated 180* making the lift straight up the pole.
And that same rig worked great on the jeep....until it didn't. Truck mount used a frame mounted receiver hitch, but the receiver hitch on the jeep was bumper mount and a failed bumper bolt on the jeep required moving boom closer to bumper to reduce mechanical advantage of original setup (again, viewed from left to right).



Almost forgot a few hogs


Now c'mon, lets see your pictures of your quarry, as they say, dead or alive.

Regards,
hm

Well, since you started with nilgai.

Above pictures are a peek into the Missouri Ozark's...

That's a nice nilgai bull, Troy! I can't imagine trying to haul that sucker into a boat.



Some really pretty scenery, Gary. Almost overlooked the snake in the rocks. Is that a timber rattler?

Thanks, guys for sharing your pictures. Keep 'em coming.

Timber rattler in the gravel road. Cottonmouth on the bluff rocks. We have Copperheads also but I don't have any decent pictures of one.

Rattlers and coral snakes are only poisonous snakes in the area, we don't have timber rattlers, copperheads or mocasins fortunately. This is a picture of a good Indigo on the wall in our camp kitchen (don't know who took it).

I'm not a fan of snakes but rather like this 6 footer than hangs around camp.

Saw this track two years in a row near a small lake. Ran between the water and a brush pile. Had to be either an Indigo or Rattler as no other snakes reach this size.

This is one of the largest I've killed on this ranch. Didn't measure it but shot one on another ranch years ago that hung at least 1 ft. off both ends of the tailgate on my Silverado; it would have to have been 6' or better.

My son does not share my philosophy regarding poisonous snakes and left this 4 footer in good health after taking this picture. I don't know where I went wrong.


Regards,
hm

I don't dislike snakes and will let all non-venomous snakes pass and sometimes even venomous types unless they are near the house or someplace where the wife or grandkids might get bitten.

Same here, except that I don't give poisonous snakes a pass anywhere.

Haven't said much about the peccaries and feral hogs on these ranches, but would like to clear up the notion that javelina are apt to attack you. First of all, they have extremely poor eyesight, thus, when startled, they are apt to scatter in all directions to escape. If you happen to be in the path of their escape, it would be easy to mistake the escape as an attack, as stated in video:


Walked up on this mama and her younguns one morning and she gently escorted them to safety. Had she felt cornered, she would not have hesitated to defend the youngsters, of course.

This old boar had an impressive set of dentures


A sure sign that feral hogs are on the property is the mud plastered on mesquite trees surrounding the waterholes

stakeouts on these waterholes are usually productive

In the heat of south Texas summers hogs usually return to water holes every few hours

to visit what they consider to be hog heaven

They come in all shapes, and sizes, but "woke" has not yet reached the animal kingdom, as best I've been able to determine, only the two original genders.

They do come in various colors, however.



Thanks to all who have contributed your pictures/memories; really enjoy peeking into others' outdoor ventures. Please keep them coming!

Regards,
hm

In our back pasture during the day ............

IMG_1030 2 by John Doe, on Flickr

And then ...... Sleeping in the front yard about 20 feet from the street

IMG_1032 by John Doe, on Flickr

That must be hard on the wife's flowers! Nice scenery, though, thanks for sharing, Hidalgo.

Regards,
hm

Nobody in our vicinity has anything that deer are attracted to. That's an exercise in futility and a waste of money here. We have deer around the homes almost every night.

That big fellow there is definitely the most mature buck that we have. He always has a girlfriend every year too.

C'mon guys, gonna be a while until hunting seasons open again and I'm close to the bottom of the barrel. Help me out with some of your hunting pictures!!

Kinda neglected the birds that frequent the south Texas brush country. Long lenses don't fit in my hunting gear, so please excuse poor quality of these pics.

Sandhill Cranes migrate south each winter, joining those which are native to the area.

Whistler ducks spend the entire year here, nesting mostly in hollow trees. Strange looking critters when they perch on wires.


Chachalaca are very rare in the ranch country; since they seldom fly, the coyotes & bobcats probably work over the population.

Whitewing and mourning dove are native to the area (sorry, no pictures) but the ring-neck dove is a relatively new-comer to the area, but expanding rapidly.

Not much of a bird hunter of late, but the Bobwhite is a favorite


My son shot this turkey with his 416 Rem. while hunting an exotic. Believe it or not perfect shot placement at base of neck where it joins the body resulted in no loss of meat.



Then there is the old familiar roadrunner

and owls


Funny story about owls. In the 20 some years I've hunted these ranches, never had an owl attack my decoy until one day had three or four different owls steal, or attempt to steal my topper.
Owls Steal Decoy Topper

White Ibis


Hawks


Cara Cara or Mexican Eagles on a waterbuck (IIRC) carcass

And a couple of smaller, more colorful song birds