NILGAI BULL

KING RANCH - NORIAS

THE HUNT

Started around 6:00 a.m. on Saturday,  February 17, 2001 on the Norias Division of the King Ranch approximately fifty miles south of Kingsville, Texas. Richard and I had been up since four o'clock a.m. getting showered, having breakfast and making our way out to the Ranch. We left our home north of Dallas, Texas on Thursday evening after work. We drove to Corpus Christi and slept in the parking lot of Discount Tire from 4:00 am to 7:30 am waiting to replace a blown tire. Even with that our spirits were high, Richard is turning twenty-one the last day of February but he is a leap year baby and so we can celebrate when ever we want too. For years I was intrigued about the rumors of huge antelope from India on the King Ranch. They were imported in the 1930's from their native India and they thrive well on the King Ranch. An excellent source of information is  www.ultimateungulate.com/nilgai.html, click here to find out more.  After getting the tire replaced we made our way to Kingsville and checked out a couple of motels and bed and breakfasts. We then drove south to find the Norias gate and located it about twenty miles north of Raymondville on the east side of the highway. Since we were both dog tired we located a motel, grabbed a pizza buffet and found ourselves in bed at three in the afternoon. Around 9:00 pm we got up for a drink of water and slept in until four o'clock am.We met our guide Mr. Weathers at the gate at 6:00 am and waited until the other hunters arrived. At 6:15 am we were all together and on the way to the division headquarters to leave our personal vehicles and then we embarked in the ranch trucks. It looked like a Ford commercial, white,  one ton, 4X4 crew cabs, with high racks and winches on the back. They run three trucks with up to six hunters each day. The ranch opens for Nilgai hunting after deer season closes and coincides with the rut for the bull nilgai and they keep it open until April 1st. The other guides were Gus and Junior, Gus is fourth generation King Ranch but I did not catch their last names. Mr. Weathers has been guiding the King Ranch for over six years and was born in nearby Falfurrias. He advised me he enjoyed these Nilgai hunts better than any of the other hunts he guides, and I believe him. We saw hundreds of white tailed deer and turkey during our day on the King Ranch. To say the game is abundant is a gross understatement. We were hoping to harvest a feral hog in addition to the Nilgai bull, but their nocturnal habits kept them safe this trip. Early in the morning, we spotted a large bull in an stand of oak and Richard left the truck and stalked to a vantage point overlooking a break in the timber. The bull was wise as well as large and eluded Richards efforts. We cruised the pastures, and stalked the dunes and wind swept oak groves which lay next to the beautiful Laguna Madre. We saw many Nilgai cows and despite my encouragement Richard steadfastly refused to harvest one. In the late afternoon around 4:00 pm the Nilgai bulls begin to move and we were able to get in position for a shot as two bulls and a cow ran by us. Richard harvested the large bull with one shot. THE RIFLE, Richard used a Remington 700 BDL 338 Win Mag that Doc Jones glass bedded, tuned the trigger, added a PACHMAYR decelerator pad and a Gentry muzzle brake. The rifle has a bead blast Teflon finish and a composite stock making it a wonderful tool for this job.  Doc added a Nikon 5.5 X 16.5 scope with Redfield rings to finish out the package. THE CARTRIDGES were made up of Remington cases, 76.3 grains of H-4831SC, Primers, and 225 grain Barnes X bullets. CAUTION-DO NOT RELY ON THIS DATA-REFER TO YOUR LOADING MANUALS. These hand loads did a fantastic job and harvested the bull cleanly and effective and they are extremely accurate for me, but then so are all the rifles Doc Jones has worked on for me. I The Barnes X bullet expanded perfectly and traveled from the rear of the Nilgai to the front providing excellent penetration for what Mr. Weathers called the Texas Heart Shot. I know the next question is how much did it cost. I am a working class stiff and have four children, this is financial commitment for me but I can honestly say it was worth every penny. They charge $300 per day for the hunt, $300 to harvest a cow and $700 to harvest a bull. Look at this picture and I will tell you, these memories are priceless. Thanks to Doc Jones for all the assistance and advice and thanks to the King Ranch personnel for their outstanding contributions. 

God speed and Good Hunting.

Jack R. Bragg Jr. 

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