At the first annual TFO team Texas banquet in 2024, TFO supporter Dan ****** purchased a 4-person Nilgai hunt / Fishing trip during the live auction. Busy schedules pushed the trip back slightly over one year, but the day finally arrived.
DAY 1:
Dan, along with longtime hunting buddies Will & Bobby and Big Steve aka FSGuide (TFO Team TX northern region pro-staff) arrived in far south Texas on Thursday afternoon and settled into our AirBnB. That evening at 8pm, we met Team TX pro-staff Tony Medina of HickSpic Outfitters https://www.instagram.com/hickspic_outfitters/ and his son Hunter at the boat ramp and we all headed out on his airboat to catch bait. We then sat up and threw out a bunch of lines to fish while we scanned for Nilgai with the thermal scopes. We caught a couple Redfish and then a Nilgai showed up and headed into our hunt area. Tony took Will and Dan out into the marsh for the stalk. A few moments later two things happened at the exact same time. Bobby's fishing pole got hit hard with the drag screaming and a shot rang out in the distance as Will dropped a nice Nilgai bull with a frontal chest shot from about 150 yards. Bobby fought what we could tell was a big fish for about 10-12 minutes and when he finally got it to the boat, it was a huge Gar. It was way too big for the net, so Hunter jumped into the water and tied a rope on its tail and that is how we landed the fish onto the boat. It measured exactly 60" long. After that, the fishermen headed into the marsh to help quarter up the bull and then we all returned to the boat for more fishing and scanning. Couple hours later another Nilgai showed up and was walking the exact same path as the bull from earlier. Tony, Steve and Bobby headed out for the stalk and about 10 minutes later Bobby dropped a nice sized Nilgai cow with a shot of about 125 yards. This was an awesome night for Bobby because before this trip all he had ever hunted was birds and he had never caught a fish over 5Lbs. It was 3am by the time we got the 2nd Nilgai on ice in the boat so we headed back to boat ramp and got back to the AirBnB around 4:45am for some much needed sleep.
DAY 2:
We met Tony & Hunter at the boat ramp around 7pm and caught more bait, then headed to the hunt area where we started the process of fishing and scanning. On this night the fish that decided to come play were one Redfish and then a Cownose Ray, several catfish and a Stingray. Later a Nilgai showed up and seemed to be walking the same path as the two from the previous night. Tony & Dan headed out for the stalk and moments later Dan dropped a cow with a shot through the shoulder at 150 yards. Not too long after we got that one quartered and into the cooler on the boat another Nilgai showed up on the same path, like they knew what the assignment was . Tony and Steve went out for the stalk but this animal ended up turning onto a different path before they could get set up and the shot ended up being 340 yards and unfortunately, Steve missed and the Nilgai disappeared before a follow up shot could be made. We fished and scanned until 3am then headed to the boat ramp but we went slow and bow-fished along the way. We also had an escort of three adult dolphins and one very curious baby dolphin almost all the way to the boat ramp. We got back to the AirBnB about 5:30am and slept like rocks.
DAY 3:
We met Tony and his buddy Robin at the boat ramp around 7:15pm and they had already been out catching bait, so we headed directly to the same hunting area from the previous days. It was very windy on this night, and we fished and scanned for 2-3 hours. The only fish that wanted to play on this night were catfish and the wind seemed to be keeping the Nilgai bedded down. After about 3 hours we spotted a couple of Nilgai on the opposite side of the water and Tony devised a plan to pull in the anchor and let the wind silently drift us across the water and then he would take Steve on the stalk. This plan worked out almost flawlessly except the wind died so we ended up having to use the motor for the last several yards. The noise of the airboat caused the Nilgai to walk over the top of a giant berm and out of sight. Tony & Steve stalked down to where they had crossed over and then they climbed to the top of the berm and spotted one of them in the distance, steadily walking away. They opted to quickly go prone for this shot instead of using the tripod but they soon found out that they were lying in a bed of ants that were asking them to leave in the only way ants know how to ask you to leave. So after much flapping of clothes and bad words flying around the stalk continued. This Nilgai had finally stopped walking but she had bedded down in the brush. Tony got Steve set up on the tripod and after 8-10 minutes of watching her through the thermal she finally stood. Steve squeezed the trigger of Tony's 6.8 Western and sent the round 300 yards, right into the boiler room of a nice Nilgai cow who ran about 50 yards after the shot before crashing. Steve, Tony and Robin went to the animal and Will came from the boat with the sled to haul the meat back. When Will got about 10 yards from us he discovered a Rattlesnake that Tony quicky killed with his pistol. Tony & Robin made quick work of quartering this animal and we headed back to the boat and then took off for the boat ramp. We got back to the AirBnB around 1:30am and had a few drinks before racking out.
Day 4:
We met Tony around 9am to get the Bull's frozen cape and head from him, then we headed back to the Dallas area, making one side excursion to have a late lunch at Black's BBQ in Lockhart, TX. We all made it home by sunset with lots of new memories and stories.
DAY 1:
Dan, along with longtime hunting buddies Will & Bobby and Big Steve aka FSGuide (TFO Team TX northern region pro-staff) arrived in far south Texas on Thursday afternoon and settled into our AirBnB. That evening at 8pm, we met Team TX pro-staff Tony Medina of HickSpic Outfitters https://www.instagram.com/hickspic_outfitters/ and his son Hunter at the boat ramp and we all headed out on his airboat to catch bait. We then sat up and threw out a bunch of lines to fish while we scanned for Nilgai with the thermal scopes. We caught a couple Redfish and then a Nilgai showed up and headed into our hunt area. Tony took Will and Dan out into the marsh for the stalk. A few moments later two things happened at the exact same time. Bobby's fishing pole got hit hard with the drag screaming and a shot rang out in the distance as Will dropped a nice Nilgai bull with a frontal chest shot from about 150 yards. Bobby fought what we could tell was a big fish for about 10-12 minutes and when he finally got it to the boat, it was a huge Gar. It was way too big for the net, so Hunter jumped into the water and tied a rope on its tail and that is how we landed the fish onto the boat. It measured exactly 60" long. After that, the fishermen headed into the marsh to help quarter up the bull and then we all returned to the boat for more fishing and scanning. Couple hours later another Nilgai showed up and was walking the exact same path as the bull from earlier. Tony, Steve and Bobby headed out for the stalk and about 10 minutes later Bobby dropped a nice sized Nilgai cow with a shot of about 125 yards. This was an awesome night for Bobby because before this trip all he had ever hunted was birds and he had never caught a fish over 5Lbs. It was 3am by the time we got the 2nd Nilgai on ice in the boat so we headed back to boat ramp and got back to the AirBnB around 4:45am for some much needed sleep.
DAY 2:
We met Tony & Hunter at the boat ramp around 7pm and caught more bait, then headed to the hunt area where we started the process of fishing and scanning. On this night the fish that decided to come play were one Redfish and then a Cownose Ray, several catfish and a Stingray. Later a Nilgai showed up and seemed to be walking the same path as the two from the previous night. Tony & Dan headed out for the stalk and moments later Dan dropped a cow with a shot through the shoulder at 150 yards. Not too long after we got that one quartered and into the cooler on the boat another Nilgai showed up on the same path, like they knew what the assignment was . Tony and Steve went out for the stalk but this animal ended up turning onto a different path before they could get set up and the shot ended up being 340 yards and unfortunately, Steve missed and the Nilgai disappeared before a follow up shot could be made. We fished and scanned until 3am then headed to the boat ramp but we went slow and bow-fished along the way. We also had an escort of three adult dolphins and one very curious baby dolphin almost all the way to the boat ramp. We got back to the AirBnB about 5:30am and slept like rocks.
DAY 3:
We met Tony and his buddy Robin at the boat ramp around 7:15pm and they had already been out catching bait, so we headed directly to the same hunting area from the previous days. It was very windy on this night, and we fished and scanned for 2-3 hours. The only fish that wanted to play on this night were catfish and the wind seemed to be keeping the Nilgai bedded down. After about 3 hours we spotted a couple of Nilgai on the opposite side of the water and Tony devised a plan to pull in the anchor and let the wind silently drift us across the water and then he would take Steve on the stalk. This plan worked out almost flawlessly except the wind died so we ended up having to use the motor for the last several yards. The noise of the airboat caused the Nilgai to walk over the top of a giant berm and out of sight. Tony & Steve stalked down to where they had crossed over and then they climbed to the top of the berm and spotted one of them in the distance, steadily walking away. They opted to quickly go prone for this shot instead of using the tripod but they soon found out that they were lying in a bed of ants that were asking them to leave in the only way ants know how to ask you to leave. So after much flapping of clothes and bad words flying around the stalk continued. This Nilgai had finally stopped walking but she had bedded down in the brush. Tony got Steve set up on the tripod and after 8-10 minutes of watching her through the thermal she finally stood. Steve squeezed the trigger of Tony's 6.8 Western and sent the round 300 yards, right into the boiler room of a nice Nilgai cow who ran about 50 yards after the shot before crashing. Steve, Tony and Robin went to the animal and Will came from the boat with the sled to haul the meat back. When Will got about 10 yards from us he discovered a Rattlesnake that Tony quicky killed with his pistol. Tony & Robin made quick work of quartering this animal and we headed back to the boat and then took off for the boat ramp. We got back to the AirBnB around 1:30am and had a few drinks before racking out.
Day 4:
We met Tony around 9am to get the Bull's frozen cape and head from him, then we headed back to the Dallas area, making one side excursion to have a late lunch at Black's BBQ in Lockhart, TX. We all made it home by sunset with lots of new memories and stories.
