The Challenge

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HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hunting Articles"><U><B>Back to Hunting articles</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Andys Photo Album"><U><B>Back to Andy's photo album</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="08a07073.jpg"> <div> <I>The Challenge</I></div> <div> Published in "The Ultimate Bowhunter" magazine November / December 1998</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="2432c860.jpg" border=0 width="556" height="390" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Challenge</B></div> <div> <B>By Andy Milam</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>After five or six roaring barks, at last I detected the faint form of the beast shattering the late morning calm with his alarm.  Standing tall in the catclaw and mesquite thicket, barely visible was the object of my pursuit, a Nalgai Antelope Bull.  Once again, I had been caught creeping through the brush and he was letting all within hearing distance know that danger lurked.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>For many years I'd heard, and occasionally witnessed, the incredible elusiveness of this magnificent animal.  Far from their original homeland in India, the Nalgai have found a new home on the Norias Division of the King Ranch.  This area now holds the largest population of free ranging Nalgai in the world.  Stocking Nalgai on the King Ranch appears to have begun in the late 1920's, but early efforts seem to have failed.  It was not until 1941 when 8 cows and 4 bulls were released after a short time in a holding pen that the Nalgai took hold and found a permanent home.  These animals adapted well to the tropical climate and thick cover provided by this vast expanse of South Texas Coastline.  The herd has grown to an estimated 4500 animals living primarily on about 350,000 acres.  Their wary ways have made them famous as one of the most difficult big game animals to harvest.  They come to no bait of any type and are almost totally unpredictable in their travels.  A hunter can sit on a fence crossing, water hole or dung pile for days waiting for a trophy bull (one of their predictable traits is to re-use existing dung piles).  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Wayne Peeples, owner and manager of Four Arrows Outfitters, has for years tried to convince me to try my hand at hunting Nalgai.  I was unwilling to invest precious time away from work on an animal with such small horns, even if they were the size of a horse.  Over the years, I began to hear more and more from fellow bowhunters about what a rewarding experience it was to harvest one of these magnificent animals.  My only sightings of them had come riding the pastures with Wayne when we were preparing blinds for his clients and they were often seen loping away through the brush.  I also inadvertently came upon one feeding directly away from me on my way in from a turkey hunt one morning.  Immediately, I dropped down behind some thick brush and knocked an arrow.  The wind was in my favor and the bull was feeding peacefully on catclaw 60 yards away.  There was no way for him to detect my presence.  With an arrow ready, I slowly peered around the edge of  a bush only to find him staring directly at me.  Some sixth sense alerted him to my presence and upon eye contact, he bolted for parts unknown.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>During the summer of `97, I received an invitation to attend a distinguished event.  The First Annual Nalgai Challenge Invitational Hunt hosted by Four Arrows Outfitters.  It was a surprise to see my name among the list of some of the most famous bowhunters of our day.   I vowed not to miss this opportunity and looked forward to sharing the experience with such an interesting and committed group of bowhunters. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Prior to the hunt, I consulted Pat Ley, a Kingsville, Texas resident with over a dozen bow harvested Nalgai to his credit..  Pat advised that most successful techniques vary with the time of the year and weather conditions.  Stand Hunting over waterhole's during the hot summer months or overlooking active trails could provide bowhunters the required shot opportunity.  However, Pat's favorite method was stalking and still-hunting on windy days which are fairly common in this coastline region.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Due to a busy work schedule, I didn't arrive at the Ranch until the evening of January 13th, the end of the first days hunt.  Everyone present was excited about game sightings but no animals were taken the first day.  After an exceptional meal, highlighting Nalgai Steaks, we had the opportunity to visit and discuss hunting techniques.  Wayne Peeples, like Pat Ley, recommend stand hunting as the best bet for a clean shot opportunity but advised that if the wind cooperated, still hunting and stalking could be especially good during the peak Nalgai Rut.  This sounded like the route for me as I had about all the sitting I could withstand during deer season.  With full bellies, we bedded down to a restless night, anticipating the morning hunt.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Early the next morning, I was dropped off at the south end of the pasture assigned and spent the morning easing into the wind.  I lost count of how many Nalgai I jumped or were caught by.  As the day warmed, sightings increased, but the wind had decreased.  This, combined with the drying of the nights dew, made stalking increasingly difficult.  I sat for a break around 11:00 and checked my Eagle GPS .  To my dismay,  I found that camp and the lunch waiting there was still a couple of miles away.  I hadn't realized what a large pasture I would be hunting and had not packed snacks to tide me through the day.  I started off again, checking my compass, to assure that as I eased through the woods, I headed in the direction of camp.  Close to noon I spotted a feeding cow in the distance and sat against an old oak on a ridge-top watching to see if a Bull would show.  The bark mentioned earlier, signaled not only the Bull's arrival but the end of another close encounter.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Once again,  I began traveling in the direction of camp.  Around 1:00 p.m., I spotted movement and froze.  A huge Bull was quartering away through the brush to my right.  I spotted an opening at 45 yards and drew back the 74# High Country Ultra Force.  He walked through the opening so quickly that I couldn't get lined up and was into the brush again.  I spotted another opening in the direction he was headed and still at full draw ran forward ten yards to get a clear shot.  I noticed the wind had picked up again, preventing the bull from hearing me and knew I had a chance.  Once again however, the opening was too tight and I just couldn't line up fast enough.  I spotted a final opening before the bull made it to impenetrable brush and again at full draw I ran forward another ten yards to keep the shot within 45 yards.  As the bull walked through the opening, I saw that I would have to drop the arrow in right over a mesquite limb growing horizontally..  It was my last chance.  I lined up and sent the WASP tipped ACC on the way..  I lost sight of the arrow as it dropped in over the mesquite limb.  I heard a loud crack and wasn't sure If I had hit the bull or the tree.  The huge bull crashed away through the brush and seconds later I thought I heard a distant moan.  Could that have been my Bull?  Unsure,  I crept to where the bull was walking and found tracks in the sand where he bolted.  Unknown, until I found the tracks, the bull was walking down one of the sandy ranch roads.  I found blood almost immediately.  As I sat calming the shakes produced by the brief encounter, I pulled out my GPS and discovered that the road he was on led directly to camp only 7/10ths of a mile away.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Due to the size of the animal and my limited experience with Nalgai, it seemed the best action would be to head for camp, eat lunch and then come back to track him.  I laid my gear at the side of the road and started off.  50 yards down the road lay the surprise of my life!!!  Apparently the bull ran into the brush on the left side of the road, curved back across the road and ran head first into a massive mesquite limb.  The force of the impact, flipped him back where he expired with his nose 3 feet from the road.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I was like a kid jumping up and down and thanking the Lord for such luck.  I quickly made it back to camp where the rest of the hunters were finishing lunch.  Of course I started “rubbing it in” right away about how everyone was in camp when the animals were moving.  Ha! I'd rather be lucky than good any day.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I continued to hunt the remainder of the trip between processing my prize and even crept within range of two bulls squared off  to fight the next morning.  I missed that opportunity, unable to successfully snake an arrow through the obstacle coarse between us.  (In other words I hit a limb).</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The last morning the wind was up and I couldn't help trying to stalk a bull again, though I wasn't sure I wanted to clean another.  Sure enough, I ended up within 15 yards of a mature bull feeding in thick cover.  I opted to video rather than arrow.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>What an exciting hunt!  I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys bowhunting to give the Blue Bulls of South Texas a try.  You will be hooked on the challenge for life....for better or worse....</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>