just giving anyone out there a quick heads up. i know a ranch owner that has about 1000 head of scimitar horned oryx, and some beautiful huge scimitar/gemsbock hybrids. they are running meat hunts which are females with a broken horn for 500 bucks, trophies i believe, are 1700 but they are huge, some near 50". it is as close to a guaranteed hunt as possible, they are doing this b/c of the texas drought and they badly need to reduce the herd. if ya want a tough hunt, go to the texana ranch, or ask them to hunt on foot here. but if ya'd like to give your pistol a try and get some outstanding meat, let me know and i'll put you in touch with them. they are in gail texas.

Sounds fun to me. Wish I could do it.

With pending CITES legislation, the Scimitar Horned Oryx cannot be hunted after December 31, 2011. Not so with the hybrids. They will get cheaper before the end of the month. We were at the YO ranch two weeks ago, and they were also having a fire sale on the remainder of their Oryx herd.

this crap is getting old, Oregon fought with the one and only exotic ranch we had for 15yrs until a federal judge told them to back off. They ended up making an endrun around the courts and fish and wildlife re classified his animals as Oregon Wildlife which included aisian buff, fallow, auodad, russian boar and sika. I may have missed one or two but now they are down to bison, feral hogs and turkeys.

How is this not a hunting topic?? Sorry, I'm a bit confused.

I wondered the same thing about my elk post when I posted all those pics of the elk and Gary said it was because it wasn't actually about "handgun" hunting.

Perhaps is meant more for hunting stories and such.

I believe so, as well as questions specific for hunting with a handgun

actually they said they were somehow exempt b/c of the age of the herd. not sure how that works but they said that it had something to do with some rule with how old and established the herd was.

Do they have a wed page? Interested in obtaining information on the hunt.

"...SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to revise the regulations that implement the Endangered Species Act (Act). This action would eliminate the exclusion of
U.S. captive-bred live wildlife and sport-hunted trophies of three endangered antelopes—scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), addax (Addax nasomaculatus), and dama gazelle (Gazella dama)—from certain prohibited activities, such as take and export, under the Act. This proposed change to the regulations is in response to a court order that found that the rule for these three species violated section 10(c) of the Act. These three antelope species remain listed as endangered under the Act, and a person would need to qualify for an exemption or obtain an
authorization under the current statutory and regulatory requirements to conduct any prohibited activities
..."
The latest information that I can find indicated that unless something extraordinary takes place, individuals wishing to hunt these animals will have to apply for permits on a case by case basis after 12/31/2011.

Who thunk that one up??? If they didn't breed them they wouldn't exist anyway so what is the difference if they slaughter and eat what they created. I see it as no different than if they were cattle. Just another case of some anti's finding a hole they could exploit.

They aren't even indiginous to this country and if it's like alot of these types of animals we have more of them in Texas than in their native country and if they aren't managed they will do what any animals does and start dieing from natural selection. With no predation and hunting the herd will eventually outgrow their high fence property and die off from disease. If we don't balance the numbers nature will.

That is exactly the point the USFWS is pushing to retain the status quo. The Blackbuck Antelope and Axis Deer from India, and Red Sheep from Iran were re-established in their native countries using breed stock raised on Texas Ranches.

PETA and Friends of Animals brought the underlying lawsuit to nix the exemption on the basis that Scimitar Horned Oryx are extinct in their native countries. Latest information suggests that might not be true. Rumor has it that some of the captive breeders in Africa turned their stock out into the wild, which resulted in the extinct population growing to over 1,000 overnight. It looks like this one will play out right down to the wire.

PETA is retarded. the ranchers in texas will most likely let them starve, turn them loose, but nothing will really help them. really we're coming down to that line in the sand and i really hope one day my home state here secedes. the idea is growing more and more popular.

I just got an update from the Exotic Wildlife Assn. (EWA) - the prohibition on shooting oryx after Dec 31 is a net rumor. The USFWS has not issued a ruling yet on the disposition (exemption) for allowing oryx to be hunting in Texas (and I assume other areas having a captive population).

i also got a good chance to discuss this with the ranchers and it seems that most if not all of their oryx are to some degree a hybrid as well. they have some that appear as a straight scimitar horned oryx but have some slight, difference in markings that i had not originally noticed. the animals range in the spectrum from appearing nearly pure scimitar horned to obvious dark grey and brick red hybrids. really really beautiful. they saw this coming a mile a way years ago and found a good way to circumvent this problem. the meat is great btw. my daughter shot hers with a .243 with barnes vortex loads to great effect, my son used a 375 HH. i finished my cousins with a 454 "hardcast" load, which i will show pics of under the thread title "when hardcasts fail" when i get the pics downloaded.

Final USFWS Ruling. Ruling will likely decimate the remaining stocks of these species in the U.S.

http://thecentershot.wordpress.com/tag/scimitar-horned-oryx/

yup, 60 minutes did a good positive hunting story on these and had the head of Friends of Animals on there. she flatly said that she'd rather them be extinct than exist to be hunted. unreal.

The ranch which we hunt every year (Y O Ranch)with our little handgun group has all of these in addition to many other species (including the barashingha). To my knowledge they have never been allowed to "hunt" a barashingha. However, a barasingha bull killed one of their employees a few years ago.

That attack did not happen in the "open" and the bull was not from that ranch. Rather it was in an unloading alley during their annual exotic wildlife sale and the bull had been hauled in by another person. The young man who was killed had guided on our annual hunt during the previous weekend.

It is a shame that many have no common sense when animals are involved. The "do gooders" may cause the death of more animals than do the hunters.

After I read the above, I called Debbie at the Y O to confirm. She said, "Yes, after April 4, no more hunting of these species without a federal permit." She also said, "We are shooting h*** out of them now. Wanna come down & get one?" Apparently the ranch is inundated with hunters for them. Debbie told me that one gentleman had called and asked if they would shoot one for him. He could not get away to come & hunt himself, but he would pay the trophy fee if one of the employees would go shoot one. He wanted the cape.

Debbie forwarded to me the "60 minute segment" that trademark cited. If anyone would like to see it, link is below.

60 minutes

So are there really good deals right now, or coming up?

Clayton,

With the current demand for the oryx at the Y O, I doubt that the price for a real trophy would be discounted. However, you might give Debbie a call & talk to her --- phone 1-800- YORANCH.

Nothing on their website indicates special pricing at the moment. Those with broken horns are usually significantly discounted, & Woodbury can fix them.

There was a significant discount on Scimitar Horned Oryx when we were at the YO in December, but there have been quite a few killed since then, so troper may be correct about the current status. As he said, call and ask.

Sawfish,

When we were there in Sept, one could deal with them on the oryx. My cousin took a broken horn bull at a very reasonable (cheap) price. Since I am in the middle of tax season & cannot go now, I did not push Debbie about the prices. (I did not want to be too tempted). If I had, she would have leveled with me. Because I have assumed the coordination of our little group (by default) and she has been moved out of tourism, we have become pretty good friends over the past couple of years or so. However, I also understand that she does not make the "hard" decisions. LOL In the right situation, a lot of things have "discounts."

I presume that you were there with the handgun group. I have been told that that group might not go back. Any thoughts on that subject?

the thing that the ranch i go to did, by mistake, and at the time they were upset, now it's a saving grace, is that they had a few gemsbock bulls in the mix about 15 years ago which completely interbred, some are brown and dark, some still have distinct scimitar horned characteristics. as they put it, we want to shoot the heck out of the "white" ones but they are in the process of getting the whole herd certified as mixed so hopefully the restrictions won't apply. there may be some court challenges as well in the future b/c there's issues with private stock etc. but we'll just have to see. the ace in the hole is while they can't be hunted they can be turned loose. once theres thousands running around the state, and nothing in the wilds of texas kills these things, it'll be a state vs feds issue which is never cut and dried in texas as it is in many other states. it will be very interesting to see how this finally plays itself out.

It is not ok to let an exotic animal loose.

yup but it's not also ok to tell a land owner that they have to feed, take care of, and look after these animals when they can do nothing with them. i'm not trying to justify it but it's a natural consequence of govt intervention into the business' of land owners private stock so to speak. sometime drive at night through the hill country of texas, there's herds of hundreds of axis that will cross the road infront of you, sometimes oryx, sometimes elk, sometimes things cross i'm not sure what they are. they run free here and escape at times. there was a hurricane that hit years ago and destroyed many of the fences and the animals got out. the govt program to help landowners put up the fences was cancelled and many were never ever repaired. heck, i got an elk on my game cam this year 50 miles south of lubbock, had an oryx and a few other animals on there that aren't supposed to be here.

it may seem wrong, and i understand that but imho it pales in comparison to the cobras, pythons and other very very deadly venomous things running around florida.

i was just led to this link, it appears to be relatively good news

http://www.fws.gov/international/DMA_DSA/pdf/USFWSThreeAntelope-MythsandFacts.pdf

Bureaucratic rat-bastards and anti hunting PETA and HSUS penis-lacking agitators have thoroughly fugged up a real conservation success story. With no intent to criticize your view, I see no "relatively good news" about it.
Harsh? If this wasn't a public forum, I'd tell you what I really think!

That same argument can be made about any animal. Dogs, cats, pigs, pythons. Look where that has got us. I hate seeing dogs and cats in the woods. I wish I could shoot them. They have no place. Same with hogs but I have never actually seen one.

the good news is that it appears it won't be very expensive for a landowner to get an exception and it seems to be relatively easy to keep hunting going for them per land owner, and yes i'm pissed at any bunny huggers getting the feds to interfere at all in this type of thing.

The thing that jumps out at me on the publication meant to ease concerns is that it is no different than what the current administration is doing to small business all over. Yes, it looks like the cost is not substancial. Yes, it looks like the time period for review/acceptance is reasonable. But this is the government, and how hard would it be to think that at some point the fees will go up, and the time lag will get crazy. It would not take an act of congress for these to happen "administratively".

What I see is that anyone with a population is likely to play along, and see how it goes. Anyone thinking of getting into this business, they are going to see red tape and uncertainty and have to factor this into any decision. That light might just be a train.....

Craig

I am glad that 60 minutes got the anti person saying that they would rather have them wiped out... hopefully more than a few people took notice. Its sad that some stupid decision like that has to basically be a death sentence to the species.

A little different context, but larger scale, look at Kenya, once it closed its doors to hunting in 1970 the animals did not have any value to people so poaching sky- rocketed. sad to say, but people in this day and age have to see a value in wildlife in order to not wipe them or their habitat out.

I don't blame the oryx owners, it is just a stupid law that should not have made it to the books.

Re Kenya:
When terrorist Jomo Kenyatta got out of prison and became Kenya's 1st president, his wife and daughter Margaret RAN the elephant poaching and sale of poached ivory from Kenya!

and isn't that twisted! geez...