I'd been in TX for few days for work related training and once completed, I was looking for some entertainment to fill in time before heading home. I located a hog and exotic hunting ranch within a short drive, called the manager and arranged to be given a tour of the property.
Upon arrival at North Texas Outfitters, I knew right away that it was a well run, friendly operation and fell in love with the place. We rode around in the Suburban and saw alot of great animals. Aoudad, Sika deer, several species of rams, water buffalo, fallow deer, hogs and blackbuck were just a few of the critters seen.
My stay was short due to some ranch duties the manager, Don Wade, had to tend to, so I departed for my motel, though vowing to return for a hunt another day.
Well, I couldn't stay away long and on my last day before catching a plane home, I decided to go back to NTO. The plan was just to hang out with the manager but, since I was already there....yeah, right.
I tried Don's .41 mag new model Blackhawk pistol at the range, but couldn't even hit an 8x10 piece of paper at 30 yds with the iron sights. So, I took a rifle ( against my will, of course ) , a Rem. model 788 in 222 Rem. I'm sure the Ruger was fine, I'm just not practiced enough with open sighted handguns, I'd rather have a scope.
Don dropped me and two archery hunters off at our stands, and promised to pick us up in a couple hours. The bowhunters had gotten together later on and decided to do some spot and stalk hunting in search of deer. Along their route they spotted a nice group of rams and knowing that's what I was seeking, called me and offered to see if they could get me within range. Good idea, thanks Randy and Jerry!
We hiked a dry creek bed and made our way through some think underbrush before spotting the group. I was attempting to decide which one to try for when an awesome Corsican appeared and I didn't have to think much longer on this one!
He was a great full curled ram with nice thickness to his horns and I made the shot with the little ole 222, hitting the mark nicely. The ram tumbled over within just a few yards. The first ram in my quest for a Texas Ram Slam, which is an award or distinction given to those who have harvested a Mouflon, Texas Dall, Black Hawaiian, and Corsican rams.
I left my ram at the ranch to be mounted and shipped to me. The manager's wife, Melanie, is the on-site taxidermist and does great work as evidenced by the numerous mounts of all kinds in her shop and on the walls of the main lodge.
The evening of my hunt I sat in another stand overlooking a feeder just to see what showed up and take some photos. A beautiful Painted Desert ram with 3/4 curl's came within 10 yds, a terrific shot for a pistol and all I had was the Fugi!
