Aoudad: Poor Man’s Sheep Hunt, I Disagree

Savage Marketing Director, Beth Shimanski had an opportunity to hunt aoudad, an elusive exotic sheep species, in Texas. Some people believe that hunting aoudad is the poor man's sheep hunt, but Shimanski disagrees with that sentiment after an unexpected and satisfying hunt. 

In February 2021, a group of four hunters departed for Dallas to start their aoudad adventure in West Texas. Aoudad, or barbary sheep, are native to North Africa and were introduced into Texas in the 1950s. Today their population is estimated at over 25,000 and are considered an exotic species. Hunters going after aoudad today are managing the population as they pose a threat to the growth of the desert bighorn sheep population in Texas. 

Before I left for Texas, I did what I do before most hunts that are new to me, I went to YouTube! Where else can you learn everything you need to know about what to expect on a hunt? These animals are majestic creatures, found along ridgelines, in valleys, and anywhere in between. The terrain we would be in was coated with cedars, and these animals can blend in quite well, making stalks sometimes impossible once you are on even ground with them.

After loading the gear, guns and hunters into the Suburban, we were off for the four hour drive to Miller Brothers Outfitters. We got settled into our seats, got a secret playlist going on Spotify, (quite possibly the most random mix of music assembled anywhere) and set off. Everyone in the car was excited, not knowing what the next three days would hold. We were four hunters, going after aoudad, a species that three of us had never encountered before. The pre-hunt excitement was ramping up!

We arrived at the lodge around 5pm, just in time to get our rifles unpacked, and give them a few shots at 100 yards, making sure that nothing was jostled too much in flight. I mean, airline baggage handlers ALWAYS treat gear with the utmost care, right? The all-new Savage Impulse rifles, paired with Federal ammo, and topped with each of our favorite optics, the set-ups were dialed in and ready to go for the first morning.

I had my preconceived notion that these aoudad would be everywhere. We would pull up to a ridge, glass for a little while, find one or many, and go stalk. Then repeat that process for all four shooters.  But as with any hunt, it’s never that easy. While it was supposed to be prime rut timing when we were hunting, the cold spell and massive storm that had hit the week prior had changed things for the aoudad. We saw plenty of ewes, but with no mature rams. When we finally did spot rams, we found a few together in a bachelor group. Not the behavior we were expecting to see. 

After a morning of seeing nothing, my hunting partner and I along with our guides relocated to a new ridgeline after lunch. That afternoon we spotted two great rams, both estimated over 30”, which is what the outfitters prefer to harvest. We nicknamed, or I did, the rams Chocolate and Toffee Bar, as their colors where quite distinct. We had two antsy hunters, and two beautiful rams…… so let’s go (My internal mindset).  The trek down to the rams was going to be nasty, and even worse would be the hike back up, especially if it happened after sunset. Our guides chose to have us sit still for the day, watch them bed down, and start right back here in the morning. To say that my patience was tested would be an understatement! But if I’ve learned one thing in my young hunting career, it’s to trust your guides.  So that’s what we did, watched them bed down, and set off for a night of anticipation of what the morning would bring.  Day One did not end how I thought it would. No hunter had even put a stalk on an aoudad, so the pressure was on for the next two days. 

The great thing about aoudad hunting is you do not have to be up before the sun.  This isn’t whitetail or waterfowl hunting. After a good breakfast, morning coffee and friendly banter about who was going to get the biggest ram, we split up our two groups and set off. Back on our ridgeline, we quickly spotted the two rams from the night before. Chocolate and Toffee Bar had not moved far, and were now up and feeding, but moving away from us. We continued to watch them for the next hour. In the meantime, one of our guides spotted a great ram to the left, and better yet, moving towards us. The guide stood up, said we were going after that ram, to send one shooter and the camera guy with him. Since I was the hostess of the hunt, I let my hunting partner, John Snow, go after this first ram. 

The group made their way down the ridge, and within 45 minutes was in position of the bedded down aoudad. Now it was a waiting game. Aoudads vision is their best sense. Smell and hearing are good, but their eyesight is what normally alerts them to threats first. Any movement and they will be gone. John and his team sat still and waited for their shot. Sidebar: While watching them stalk from up on the ridgeline, we did what anyone would do…. We made a bet on how long the ram would stay bedded down. The bet was over/under 15 minutes. Fortunately, after just 8 minutes, he stood up, and John was ready. His Savage Impulse Big Game in 6.5 Creedmoor didn’t disappoint. His first shot was perfect. The ram took off, John quickly reloaded, stayed on target and put one more round into the ram to ethically finish the hunt. 

One aoudad tag punched, three more tags to go. And we knew where Toffee Bar and Chocolate were hanging out. After John had stalked through that same area for his ram, I got a new hunting partner, Skip Knowles, and we decided to go glass another ridge for the afternoon and let the two rams get settled back into their feeding area. While we saw a few shooter rams that afternoon, they were either too far to stalk, or off our huntable land. Our hopes rested back on the spot we’d spent almost a full day glassing so far. As if my competitiveness was not high enough, we learned that the other hunter in our group had started a stalk on our rams. I say this in jest, I am all for team hunting, we all succeed together, but I did have to razz the guide for letting them stalk one of the rams we had spotted and been watching.  Unfortunately, or fortunately I guess, they got started too late in the day, and lost light before they could get in range of Toffee Bar. Chocolate had moved on already and was nowhere to be seen. The three hunters would have to rest their hopes on a strong final day of the hunt.

The last morning was here, and we were ready to go before the sun, knowing we would have a long day ahead of us. It was decided that Skip and I would go back to where we had glassed the previous afternoon, where there were more rams, hoping they had moved into stalking range and onto land we had permission to hunt.  Our other hunter would get to try and find Chocolate and Toffee Bar, hoping he could get a stalk on one of them that morning. But as things usually do on a hunt, plans change. My guide decided we could not drive by the ridgeline that we first found the two rams from, without going to take a “peek”.  So that’s what we did. First ones on the ridge have squatters’ rights, right? Within 15 minutes, the second group was with us, and we were all glassing. And wouldn’t you know it, guess who we found.

Grazing 850 yards away were the same two rams we had watched for the two previous days and stalked once unsuccessfully. Now it was decision time. Like I said upfront, I trust the guides, and I guess since I nicknamed the Chocolate ram, the decision was made that I would get a shot at him, and Skip would be with me and set up try to and take Toffee Bar. Yep, we were going to try and double up, something the outfitters had never done. We were more than up for the challenge. 

Packs loaded, rifles ready, we picked our ridge that we thought would give us a clear shot of the rams. The challenge is that when you get lower into the basin, the cedar and brush gets taller and the rams are difficult to find. We marked where they were along a fence line and the bush they were under and set off.   Steep, rocky terrain, thick brush, a couple dried up creek beds, and we were down. Now the stalk was on.  We reached the ridge we were aiming for but could not spot the rams from the location. We repositioned ourselves about 25 yards to the left and were able to get eyes on the rams. They had bed down, so now it was a waiting game.

While we waited, my guide made the call to move me further to the left, so that when Chocolate stood up, we had a clear shot. That would leave Skip and his guide where we were positioned now to watch Toffee Bar and hopefully get a shot as it moved towards them, in a perfect world. As we crawled along a rock face, Chocolate stood up, and my guide froze.  He thought the ram had spotted our movement, as his eyes were locked in our direction.  We stayed motionless for the next five minutes. The ram never broke his stare in our direction, but luckily our position was not given away. Over the next ten minutes, we slowly moved behind a cedar, got the tripod set up with the rifle, and when the ram turned his head, I moved into shooting position. Could this really be happening? The ram we saw on day one, and day two, is now in my optic, 225 yards away? 

Chocolate was behind a cedar tree. I was told that when he stepped out and I had a shot, to take him. Skip and his guide would be set up and ready on the second ram. This was go time! Then it happened. He stepped out, turned facing me, lowered his head to show the thick set of horns he had, and then finally took one last step, giving me a perfect broadside shot.  The Savage and Federal combo did it again. One shot, and Chocolate was down. Now, it was Skip’s turn, and we had a front row seat to it all. 

We watched Toffee Bar run towards Skip, but then turn and return to where Chocolate had fallen. We would have had a perfect shot as the ram stood there for a few minutes, but Skip didn’t have the shot.  But his patience paid off. When Toffee Bar moved away, he gave Skip the perfect alley to take his shot, just under 200 yards. We had done it, we had taken both rams, and completed the double. 

That feeling you get when you recover an animal after a successful hunt is indescribable to those who have never experienced it. There is some sadness for taking a life, but also a sense of pride knowing you are doing what is needed. Either filling a freezer with meat, or on this hunt, helping manage the population of the species. As we approached my ram, my guide turned to me with wide eyes and said “holy ____”! As we admired the animal, he said that he had never laid his hands on a ram with the bases like Chocolate had. How truly blessed was I to get to partake in this hunt, but then to take a mature, beautiful ram on top of it.  The guides estimated that my ram was at least fifteen years old. Taking this mature ram now allows for the younger rams to come in and take over populating the future of the flock.

Unfortunately, our fourth hunter was never able to put a stalk on a ram. 75% is not a bad success rate for a hunt like this, but you always want to give everyone a shot if you can.  But the stories and memories from the hunt will fill all of us with joy as we prepare to head home.  Heading home with new hunting buddies, new appreciation for an elusive species, and a hunger for what comes next. The adventures continue.