“The red boulder they are standing next to is 976 yards away,” commented Craig Archer peering through his range-finder binos while pointing toward two aoudads three canyons away. I had spotted them while glassing a wide 3x3 mule deer just to the right of where the two fed. The buck’s antlers were impressive, so was his apparent lack of age. Body confirmation suggested he was likely only three years old.

“That buck is one I hope we see again in a couple of years!” I said knowing under the ranch’s wildlife management program only very few mature mule deer bucks are annually harvested on the Hargrove Ranches. Thus, there really was a good chance we could see him again in the future.

“We’ve got a growing population of aoudad on this ranch, and I would like to see their numbers reduced substantially. If you see one you would like to go after, we’ll do so. And, if we see aoudad at reasonable rifle range, I want you to shoot as well!” proclaimed Craig. I appreciated the invitation and instructions, however my goal on this hunt on the Hargrove Ranches was for mule deer. Two years ago I had taken a couple of whitetail bucks, including an ancient six-point, but now I was seriously looking to release another 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser, Hornady 140-grain SST round at an old mature mule deer.

“How about when I come back during the winter to call coyotes, we then hunt aoudads?” I asked of Craig. He nodded in agreement.

I dearly love hunting aoudad which is not unlike hunting desert bighorn sheep. Other than it is not nearly as expensive and there are a whole lot more aoudad and hunting opportunities than desert bighorns.

The aoudad, occasionally are called Barbary sheep even though they are not really true sheep. They are native to the arid mountains of northern Africa along the Barbary coast. Aoudad were introduced to Texas back in the 1930s, confined initially behind high fences. In time some escaped and others were relocated free range onto much of the Texas Hill Country, far western Texas known as the Trans Pecos and the Texas Panhandle. Today there are many more aoudad in Texas than in their native lands.

The aoudad can go without free-standing water and are a highly reproductive animal. They are considered “exotics” thus can be hunted year-round in Texas, requiring only a valid hunting license, and trespass permission from the landowner where they roam.

“It looks like those two are a long-horned ewe and a young ram with horns about 26-inches in length.” Said I, after evaluating the pair through my spotting scope. I noted neither appeared to have long manes or chaps, nor had they the darker reddish-brown color typical of old rams.

“We’ve got much bigger. I’ve seen some with horns that go 35-inches and longer. The bigger rams tend to roam the canyons up and down the river. We really need to plan a hunt for later in the winter. We’ve got a fair amount of wheat planted along the river bottom, that should draw and hold them on the property when anything green, becomes limited,” suggested Craig. “And I like your idea of another predator hunt as we did last year. I bet it won’t take much to talk Gary Roberson of Burnham Brothers and Eddie Stevenson from Trijicon into another hunt!” Smiling, I nodded in agreement.

We returned to hunting mule deer and aoudads were shelved for the time being.

We headed to another area to glass for mule deer. Sitting there, spurred by the aoudad sighting my mind drifted to an aoudad hunt I had done a couple of years earlier with Greg Simons’ of Wildlife Systems in the Texas Trans Pecos with guide, Jackie Murphy, who is truly an ace when it comes to aoudad.

For that hunt I had chosen to use the classic 300 H&H Mag round chambered in a Ruger №1, topped with a Trijicon 2.5–12.5x42 AccuPoint and shooting Hornady’s 180-grain InterBond. The combination is one I dearly love. It shoots extremely accurately, less than one-inch groups at 100 yards and hits with great authority.

Aoudad can be large of body, over 300 pounds live-weight, and be extremely tenacious and tough to bring down. Too, I knew there might be a necessity of taking a long shot. Aoudad have extremely acute eye-sight. They too, tend to live and travel in herds with many ever-watchful eyes looking for any potential danger.

In far western Texas the sparely vegetated, rocky, rugged terrain can make getting close to aoudad “iffy”.

Jackie Murphy and I spotted, stalked and turned down a goodly number of rams, including one bachelor herd containing over 60 rams. Those rams ranged in horn length from about 26 to just shy of 30-inches. Jackie had instructed me, “You are not shooting anything less than a fully mature ram with massive 30-inch horns!”

I simply replied, “Yes sir!” Among aoudad hunting circles Jackie Murphy is known as “Mr. Aoudad” for good reason. Jackie loves hunting aoudad, and when he speaks about them people listen as well they should. Guiding for Wildlife Systems on the best and finest aoudad habitat and the largest populations in western Texas, Jackie’s hunters annually take numerous rams in the 30 to over 35-inch range.

My chance at a big ram came late in the hunt. We were driving from one area to another when we spotted two rams near a dusting area where Jackie had frequently seen some outstanding rams. Aoudad frequently dust themselves.

Both rams bolted. I jumped out of the vehicle, loaded my 300 H&H Mag, then set up shooting sticks. With my AccuPoint cranked up to 10x I quickly scanned the two rams. Both were mature based on their long mane and chaps, as well as dark reddish-brown in color. They appeared to have horns over 30-inches (in years past I frequently hunted and also guided for aoudad). One of the rams ran behind a screening of junipers. I could see his head and part of his shoulder. A quick look at the horns told me he was old, based on the rather smooth surface of his horns, as opposed to those of a younger ram which would show a rougher horn surface. The Trijicon’s crosshairs settled a third of the way up from the brisket, immediately behind the shoulder of he smooth-horned ram. Releasing all breath, I gently tugged the trigger. At the shot the old ram shuddered but immediately turned to run up hill. Years of hunting with Ruger single-shots, I had taught myself to quickly reload. I tracked the quartering away ram through my scope and was just starting to pull the trigger when he fell. I kept my crosshairs on him until I was certain he would not again get up.

A few minutes later Jackie and I stood by my ram’s side. He was bigger in body and horn than the two of us had thought. “I think he’ll go 32-inches, but look at his mane and chap — fabulous!” I agreed. Today the ram stares down at me in my office beautifully and accurately mounted by Double Nickle Taxidermy.

Telling about that hunt has made me truly anxious to go on another aoudad hunt. Knowing Wildlife Systems is totally booked for aoudad, I think I will contact Craig Archer and see if I can set up a hunt in the next week or so…