JINKLE
AH member
Sep 2, 2023
Marfa, TX
Bergara 30-06 / 150gr Dupont Core-Lokt
83 degrees 5 mph wind
Marfa is an incredible place, located between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. West Texas is a special place in the world. It is one of the last frontiers tucked away that offers a unique part of Texas that most people have never even known about. The desert climate offered cool mornings and evenings while warming up the surroundings during the day. @gearhead7 invited some buddies and me to sheep hunt between Marfa and Alpine. The land consisted of multiple mountain ranges which is the perfect habitat for West Texas Barbary Sheep that TPWD introduced in 1957. It is the first day on the property, alarms were set for 6:30 am, and everyone took to the back porch for the sunrise and morning festivities. Once everyone was ready, we took the polaris to the first mountain side where we could start glassing the mountain. I was shooting a box of Dupont loaded Remington Core-Lokt that was almost twice as old as I was at the time. We had eyes on a herd of sheep but none that met the 30+ inch mark so we moved along to a different part of the range where the sun was just about to start touching. About 30 minutes later, we stumbled across another herd of aoudads that were heading over a shorter ridge line. @gearhead7 , @dchum , and I grabbed the shooting sticks and started our stalk. The aoudads were in pursuit of a warmer area of the property as they all quickly vanished. Now that the sun was completely up, we decided we would drive a good portion of the property to check out the beautiful scenery and endless mountain range views. As the time was approaching 10:00am, we had eyes on a new herd of sheep that were about halfway up the mountain slope grazing in the sun. All 5 of us glued to our binoculars looking for the perfect first sheep for me from 1200 yards out. We noticed two in the bottom of the herd that had potential. @gearhead7 , @dchum , and I were out and starting our stalk again. Slowing moving forward and hiding behind any trees the landscape had to offer, we made our way to the base of the mountain putting us 500 yards below our target. We then proceeded to move up the slope which sat at a 40 degree angle when a few of the sheep caught a glimpse of us and started moving up the mountain. We still had eyes on our target when @dchum spots a lonely aoudad lying by himself in the shade below a tree 250 yards to the right of the herd we were going after. We all noticed the size of this sheep was bigger than the two potentials we were going after so we switched directions and climbed another 260 yards vertically up the slope. We spooked off the main group in the process so it was left to one massive sheep still lying below the tree. At 240 yards below the sheep, we got him to stand around 11:15 am and walk directly into sunlight. I fired my first shot and made direct contact with his shoulder. Immediately, the aoudad turned and ran sideways across the mountain for about 60 yards and froze. I took one more shot that hit his shoulder right next to my first shot. The aoudad started collapsing down hill as it fell for another 15 yards to its stop. We proceeded to hike up the hill to examine our trophy. It measured 31 and 30.5 inches: The perfect first sheep. The rest of the weekend consisted of heading to Hip-O’s Taxidermy, visiting a gun show in Alpine, putting our other buddy on a sheep of his own, and non-stop staring at the beautiful landscape of Marfa.
Marfa, TX
Bergara 30-06 / 150gr Dupont Core-Lokt
83 degrees 5 mph wind
Marfa is an incredible place, located between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. West Texas is a special place in the world. It is one of the last frontiers tucked away that offers a unique part of Texas that most people have never even known about. The desert climate offered cool mornings and evenings while warming up the surroundings during the day. @gearhead7 invited some buddies and me to sheep hunt between Marfa and Alpine. The land consisted of multiple mountain ranges which is the perfect habitat for West Texas Barbary Sheep that TPWD introduced in 1957. It is the first day on the property, alarms were set for 6:30 am, and everyone took to the back porch for the sunrise and morning festivities. Once everyone was ready, we took the polaris to the first mountain side where we could start glassing the mountain. I was shooting a box of Dupont loaded Remington Core-Lokt that was almost twice as old as I was at the time. We had eyes on a herd of sheep but none that met the 30+ inch mark so we moved along to a different part of the range where the sun was just about to start touching. About 30 minutes later, we stumbled across another herd of aoudads that were heading over a shorter ridge line. @gearhead7 , @dchum , and I grabbed the shooting sticks and started our stalk. The aoudads were in pursuit of a warmer area of the property as they all quickly vanished. Now that the sun was completely up, we decided we would drive a good portion of the property to check out the beautiful scenery and endless mountain range views. As the time was approaching 10:00am, we had eyes on a new herd of sheep that were about halfway up the mountain slope grazing in the sun. All 5 of us glued to our binoculars looking for the perfect first sheep for me from 1200 yards out. We noticed two in the bottom of the herd that had potential. @gearhead7 , @dchum , and I were out and starting our stalk again. Slowing moving forward and hiding behind any trees the landscape had to offer, we made our way to the base of the mountain putting us 500 yards below our target. We then proceeded to move up the slope which sat at a 40 degree angle when a few of the sheep caught a glimpse of us and started moving up the mountain. We still had eyes on our target when @dchum spots a lonely aoudad lying by himself in the shade below a tree 250 yards to the right of the herd we were going after. We all noticed the size of this sheep was bigger than the two potentials we were going after so we switched directions and climbed another 260 yards vertically up the slope. We spooked off the main group in the process so it was left to one massive sheep still lying below the tree. At 240 yards below the sheep, we got him to stand around 11:15 am and walk directly into sunlight. I fired my first shot and made direct contact with his shoulder. Immediately, the aoudad turned and ran sideways across the mountain for about 60 yards and froze. I took one more shot that hit his shoulder right next to my first shot. The aoudad started collapsing down hill as it fell for another 15 yards to its stop. We proceeded to hike up the hill to examine our trophy. It measured 31 and 30.5 inches: The perfect first sheep. The rest of the weekend consisted of heading to Hip-O’s Taxidermy, visiting a gun show in Alpine, putting our other buddy on a sheep of his own, and non-stop staring at the beautiful landscape of Marfa.
