Two days of Nilgai hunting on the Norias Division of the King Ranch. I can’t think of a better way to spend Valentine’s Day.

My husband and I, along with another couple had been invited on this hunt through the generosity of another friend who has special status with King Ranch personnel. We could never have lodged on the ranch, if we had tried to book this hunt ourselves; we would have had to arrange accommodations in either Raymondsville (20-miles away) or Kingsville (about 50-miles away). At times like this, it’s nice to have bighearted friends.

We flew from central California into Corpus Christi via Continental Airlines’ torture chamber, the Embraer RJ145. We rented a vehicle and drove the 120-miles to the Norias Division. It was 4:00 P.M. by the time we arrived at cottages 11 & 12 and several large whitetail bucks were feeding on the lawn there. I was excited already. Our hunt would start the next morning, but right before dusk we did a short game viewing drive through the ranch headquarters’ area. The resident herd of impala and whitetail deer there were ready to bed down in the security of the assorted corrals, kennels, barns, houses, school, and church and out buildings. I couldn’t wait to see more in the morning.

Our guides, Gus and Justin, met us at the cottages at 6:30 A.M.. It was foggy! My husband and I hunted with Justin and the others hunted with Gus.

We drove for about an hour to reach the spot Justin thought we might find Nilgai out on the dunes for their early morning feeding. The ranch consists of 825,000 acres in Texas and spans from the Baffin Bay on the gulf inland for miles. There are no high fences on the King Ranch, just cattle fences. The areas that we saw consisted mainly of open sandy plains, undulating dunes, dormant grassy meadows, and marshes surrounded by scrub oaks, thickets and forests of live oak and other native trees. Although most the trees did not have leaves at this time of year, they were so thick, it would be impossible to penetrate them on foot. We were warned that during periods of over population, the Nilgai had been seriously hunted both by sports hunters and commercial meat operations. The animals know there is a “price on their heads” and won’t allow for indecision or hesitation. They are very spooky.

Our vision was still obscured by patchy fog out to about 150-yards. Once the road got too sandy to drive, we parked the truck and “camo’d up” . . . I was carrying Thelma, my trusty Pre 64 Win . . . 375 H&H custom-built Robar rifle, loaded with Trophy Bonded Bear Claw ammo in .300 gr. I chambered a round and had my safety on we headed off with the wind in our faces. We slowly walked down the sandy road in single file; Justin, me, my husband, and our friend’s wife. We had only gone about 50-yards before we spotted a very fresh set of tracks crossing the road. A good sign. Then off to our right, barely visible through the fog, a cow Nilgai ran from the sandy meadow into the oak thickets. We stalked another 100-yards and spotted what appeared to be a Nilgai bull feeding about 170-yards in front of us. Justin set up his shooting sticks and told me to get ready. First, however, we needed to assess trophy quality. Justin imitated a Nilgai’s natural bark and the animal lifted his head and looked in our direction. Then the bull returned to feeding, seemingly unable to see us. Justin whispered to me that he looked like a good one, but the decision was mine. I had never seen a Nilgai in the wild and I’m generally not a lucky hunter, so I try to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself. This being the first few minutes of the first day just doesn’t happen to me. (On a two-day hunt I didn’t want to be too picky especially since we would need lots of time to help my husband, who is nearly blind due to macular degeneration, complete his hunt.) So, without any hesitation, I whispered back to Justin that I wanted to go for it. I had a good steady rest at a standing position on the sticks. The Nilgai had fed off away from us and offered no shot. Again, Justin told me to get ready. He barked three times. The Nilgai quartered away from us, looking at us over his shoulder. Again he returned to feeding with his head down. Justin told me to take him when and if he gave me a shot. One more step and the bull presented enough of a quartering away heart shot as a target. I fired and the target dropped into deep grass. I ran the bolt to chamber another round, and prepared for another shot if necessary. Through the mist we could see his legs flailing in the air. We hurriedly closed the distance. Justin carried the shooting sticks and I trotted along with Thelma ready for an off hand shot if I had to. Once we got to within 20-feet of the bull we could tell he was finished. We climbed the pasture fence and walked up to where he lay. Justin excitedly announced that this bull was much better than he thought he would be. I could tell by his voice that he was surprised at the trophy quality. Nilgai bulls are oddly beautiful. The lower three quarters of his body was jet black and the other quarter running along his spine was blue gray. His body looked like a cross between a Sable and a Kudu, without the horns, of course. A Nilgai’s horns average 8-9 inches, this one’s turned out to be 10-2/8” x 9-5/8”. They are set on his head giving them an appearance resembling a characterization of Satan. We were told that the ranch cowboys refer to them as the devil’s horse. He was a beautiful trophy and now at 8:15 A.M. the first day of the hunt, he was mine.

We deposited my bull in the ranch’s refrigeration unit, and then trekked the rest of the afternoon in search of a Nilgai for my husband to no avail. We did see several small herds, but they were either 1000-yards away or they slipped into the thickets before we could get to them. However, over a water hole, he harvested a big, red wild boar late that afternoon.

The next day I hunted with Gus as a guide and my husband continued with Justin. During the course of the day we got to see lots of the King Ranch cattle pastures (blocks of 30,000+ acres). We saw many impressive whitetail bucks, turkeys, quail, hogs, and even a few waterbuck and a raccoon. I took my first javelina boar and a cow Nilgai.

And, at the eleventh hour of the hunt, after a few unsuccessful stalks, my husband reported that Murphy’s Law took hold. He made a 240-yard shot and dropped his Nilgai bull where he stood, of course, in the middle of a boggy marsh. It was a difficult retrieval and because of the late hour, the guys neglected to take photos.

We had a great Valentine’s Day and would whole heartedly recommend this hunt to anyone.

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