Nilgai Hunting

By Janis Ransom

My husband Ken has been applying for hunts in the Western States for many years. When I met him, he got me started applying also. One of the most interesting states to apply for hunts is Texas. They have a HUGE variety of hunts to apply for, and the application fees range from $6 to $10. For most of these hunts, you can apply as many times as you want – we always only apply once for each hunt.

These hunts run the gamut from guided hunts for bighorn sheep and scimitar-horned oryx, to mule deer, gator, feral hog and various exotic hunts. These are all public land hunts, and we have always been intrigued by the opportunity to hunt some of the exotics that escape from the ranches surrounding the public land areas. There are no limits on the number of exotics that you can shoot on these hunts – you just have to find them!

I first started applying for these Texas hunts in 2016. Given the number of applications, we knew we would have to be VERY lucky to get drawn. We put in for several of the hunts together, so if one of us is drawn, both of us would get to hunt. Much to our surprise, in October, 2022 we found out that we had been drawn for an exotic hunt! The license was $130 and allowed us to hunt unlimited Nilgai (either sex), unlimited feral hogs, and unlimited exotic mammals. Our hunt would take place January 26-29, 2023 with a three-day scouting period immediately before that.

We were excited about the opportunity to hunt Nilgai. Their name means “blue cow”. Mature bulls are a blue/gray color, but the juveniles and cows are orange to tawny. The females form groups of three to six, and the males can be found singly or in small groups. The Nilgai have a long face and neck similar to a horse, and are a bit smaller than an elk. They are active during the day, and in January in Texas, the weather was very pleasant, so we didn’t have to worry about heat affecting their movements.

We stayed in Raymondville (about 50 miles north of Brownsville, Texas) and hunted on a section of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The Teniente Tract is 4,000 acres “of South Texas brush” and there were only eight hunters during our hunt – most of the rest were locals.

We spent our scouting period becoming familiar with the area and walking a good deal of the 4,000 acres. We were told that the Nilgai often will defecate in the same area to mark their territory, so during our scouting we were marking all dung piles on our OnX map. The piles were often found along the trails. We were able to get a look at a mature male while driving the road on the north border of the area. He and a couple of other males were running parallel to us – it was a sight to see! We saw plenty of whitetails as well, and there was an archery whitetail hunt just before our hunt.

Most of the other hunters were focusing on the eastern portion of the hunt area, so we stayed more to the west portion. We found several likely areas to hunt. For our opening day hunt, Ken decided to use our pop-up blind, and I sat on a camp stool along a trail that had several dung piles along it.

Around 8 am, I saw an animal step onto the trail and stop. At first, I thought it was a whitetail deer, but quickly realized it was a Nilgai cow. Before I could get my rifle up to take a shot, she moved across the trail and into the brush. I got ready, remembering that the cows often travel in groups. Sure enough, another cow did the same thing – stepped from the brush onto the trail and stopped for a moment. I took the shot and she whirled around and headed back the way she came – so no opportunity for a second shot. I texted Ken, who had heard my shot. I walked up to where I thought she had entered the trail, but didn’t see any sign of her. Ken walked over and approached from the direction that the Nilgai had crossed the path. By this time, I was back at my camp stool, and I waved my arms when I thought that Ken had reached the spot where I had shot. He looked a bit confused, and when I reached him, I found out why! The cow had whirled around and taken one leap and then died. I just hadn’t walked far enough when I went to check on her. I felt good – a one shot kill and she died almost instantly.

We pulled her out of the prickly brush to take care of her. She definitely had the long face resembling a horse, and some white spots on her face as well. I marked my shot location and the kill location on my on-X map and measured the distance. The shot was 192 yards. When Ken went to pull the heart out, he didn’t have to cut anything. I had shot the top of the heart off, as well as the major blood vessels.

We continued to hunt the rest of our four-day hunt. The second day, I was sitting in the same spot, when a Nilgai cow appeared about 25 yards ahead of me on the trail. She spotted me right away, and took off, with three more cows running right behind her. I never had a chance at any of them, but it was amazing to see them so close! Unfortunately, Ken never even saw a Nilgai during our hunt, but we did get to bring one back with us. It was a fun and interesting hunt and it was great to accomplish it on our own. The three days scouting were as fun as the hunt itself. I highly recommend putting in for the Texas public land hunts. Just read the information and pick the ones that most appeal to you. Who knows, you may be going to Texas for an exotic hunt!