I contacted Ronny Rogers at the MC Ranch and we talked about some of his animals that were still hard horned. I had caught a glimpse of some of the Aoudad he had at his Ranch when I was there last June, Ronny offered me a deal I couldn't pass up. The thought of taking an elusive giant Aoudad was exciting.

We arrived in Roosevelt, Texas on Wednesday evening March 10th, it was too late to hunt that night but the animals we seen on the drive in helped build the anticipation for the events of the next couple of days.

Thursday morning we were unable to get into the blind early because of a passing lighting storm. We decided to ride around the ranch and see what animals showed themselves. Before long we spotted a group of sheep crossing the road, I recognized two of the sheep from my previous hunt at the MC Ranch. A Corsican and a Black Hawaiian they were old rams each having at least two complete curls to their massive horns. Ruth immediately took a liking to the huge Corsican. The sheep disappeared quickly into the thick cedars. We continued looking around. We caught sight of a magnificent Black Buck with beautiful markings he looked to be 20-22 inches. We spent the rest of the day watching animals and relaxing on the big porch of our cabin.

Thursday evening we were ready, Ruth and I discussed some of the animals we had seen and she made it perfectly clear she wanted to try for the big Corsican. When driving out to the blind the same group of sheep including the Corsican crossed the road at the same point they did that morning, before Ruth could react they were gone. We arrived at the blind and settled in. Ronny, Ruth and I didn't have to wait long. White Tails started moving in, there must have been 40 deer, some with antlers but most had already shed. We were enjoying the show and each other?s company when Ruth?s group of sheep came running in to the feeder. Ruth quickly chambered a round in her Ruger .243, she was ready. The sheep were moving around amongst the deer not giving her a shot. Then Ronny said "Aoudad!" We knew Aoudad were hard to get a shot at so we quickly decided I would take this good Aoudad first and then we would find Ruth?s Sheep later. I got ready and lined my 25-06 up on the kill zone of this Aoudad. I squeezed off the shot, he didn't flinch. He just turned and ran off into the bush. The deer disappeared leaving the sheep looking around to see what had happened. Ruth quickly raised her rifle and shot. The big Corsican arched up and lurched about 10 feet dropping dead.

We waited about ten minutes, taking a quick look at the massive horns on the dead sheep and then going to the last seen location of the Aoudad. No blood! Nothing anywhere near were the Aoudad stood. We spent aprox. one and a half hours looking for sign and discussing the shot. We decided to get Ruth?s big sheep back to the lodge and call in a friend of Ronny's that had a recovery dog.

We took Ruth's Sheep up to Simmon Brothers beer joint/post office/cafe/store in Roosevelt, Clay Simmon would score her sheep. When Clay was done he announced the results. Ruth's sheep currently ranks 7th highest scoring Corsican Sheep of all time. He had 38 1/4(97.3cm) on one side. Total score 347.8. With out a doubt a Gold Medal Ram.

We were all pretty happy with the great ram Ruth killed but we still had a Aoudad to find. When we got back to the ranch it had started raining lightly and the dog handler and his Cur tracking dog were waiting to start the search. I was assured if there was a wounded or dead animal out there the dog would find it. I waited at the ranch a very long two hours for word from the dog handler. Finally they came back to the cabin, no sign of the animal. Either it was a clean miss or the rain was washing away the scent, nothing more we could do.

The next morning Ronny and I decided to head to the same blind hoping we would see an Aoudad. Again we seen many White Tail Deer, some nice Black Buck, Elk, and some long Bearded Turkeys, but no Aoudad. We spent the rest of the morning sitting on the porch smoking fine cigars, watching animals and listening to the light rain.

There was much anticipation concerning the evenings hunt. Ruth, Ronny and I settled into the blind around 5pm. Almost immediately animals began to arrive. Joining the White Tail and Black Buck was a large Axis Buck with a doe. This buck walked with a swagger like he owned the place. Ronny estimated his antlers went 36+ inches high and he was also very wide. He was definitely larger then the 32 inch buck I took here in June. This buck pushed around the other animals and then all of a sudden he let out a scream that was a cross between a bugle and a grunt, it was incredible. He started strolling off when the bull Elk showed up, the Axis was large but no match for the bull Elk.

A group of Fallow deer came in to feed, one was a pretty decent chocolate fallow with some height to his antlers. We sat watching all the animals as the sun started disappearing. I decided I would wait for an Aoudad as long as there was enough light, if I didn?t see one I would take the chocolate Fallow deer. I was running out of daylight so I lined up on the dark brown deer and shot. He didn?t move for about ten seconds, he started dipping his head side to side and then he crashed. There wouldn?t be any need to track this animal. Lighting and Thunder started so we decided to get out of there quick and get back to the lodge.

This Fallow wasn?t a Gold Medal but I was very happy with him. He has 13 points and some unique palms.

We needed to leave for home before noon on Saturday, but Ronny and I got back into the blind early to see if I could get an Axis Doe. We could hear the deer coming into the feeder and Ronny could make out a group of Axis making there way to the feeder from the brush line. This is where things got strange. I had a problem that couldn?t be ignored. I won?t go into detail besides saying all the game were spooked except a big old Dall Ram. The Ram finally ran off also. Ronnie was commenting ?I wish somebody would shoot that Ram? I told him let?s see if we can find him. We got out on a high ridge and this rams white pelt stood out. He was about 700yards down below, we took off to find him. After looking around for about an hour we caught a quick glimpse of him in some cedars. I tried for a shot but he ran around behind the cedars. I circled until I had a shot, no rest available so I tried an off-handed shot at about 75 yards. He didn?t show signs of a hit but he bolted off in the cedars. We went to where he was standing, Ronny was looking for a blood trail. No need I could see his bright white coat about 20 yards away behind a cedar breathing his last breath. One shot off handed through the lung/heart area. He was an old ram, full curl and lots of mass.

Our Thanks again go out to Ronny and Jennifer Rogers for the great accommodations. The animals were better then promised, and the food and lodging were great.

Another Gold Medal Hunt!