Hunt the Cheap Sheep
The Texas sun was
still a promise of warmth as it crept over the Davis Mountains. I was sitting
on the valley floor, nestled as comfortably as I could be into the scrub brush
and cholla cactus, my binoculars glued to my eye sockets. High above, perched
on the basalt columns, were several Barbary sheep, their shaggy manes blowing
in the morning breeze.
Better known as
aoudad, these North African transplants have taken up a comfortable residence
in the arid Chihuahuan Desert. The difficulty in stalking aoudad in such rugged
country, along with their heavy, sweeping horns, makes hunting them an
affordable alternative to expensive trips for spiral-horned sheep. A D.I.Y.
aoudad hunt will set you back about $2,000, and a guided hunt costs around
$5,000—both a fraction of the price of a mountain sheep hunt, yet still wildly
adventurous.
I spent the rest
of that first day—and several that followed—picking my way up and down those
stark, ragged remnants of ancient volcanoes, trying to crawl my way within
range of a ram. By the end of the week, my muscles ached and my elbows and
knees were prickled with cactus needles. I never did pull the trigger, but I
promised to return, something made possible thanks to the money I’d saved.
Back in the 1930s
and ’40s, a big-game hunter named Grancel Fitz became the first man to take all
28 Boone and Crockett species. He did it with a bolt-action .30/06. Nothing has
changed. If you’d like to go everywhere and shoot everything, Mr. Fitz’s choice
of caliber should be yours. In the hands of a good shot, there’s nothing the
’06 can’t drop. His rifle, however, was wood-stocked and iron-sighted, and
there we part company. The rifle I’d select today is the Tikka T3 Lite
Stainless (tikka.fi/rifles). It’s a very light, all-stainless,
synthetic-stocked gun that carries a guarantee of 1-inch MOA accuracy and will
usually beat that by a good bit. It’s unstoppable, unbreakable, and rustproof
given minimum maintenance. At under $700 (street price) you’ll have money left
over for a superior scope. —D.E.P.
1. Stock
Synthetic. Neither
snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night nor a horse rolling on it can disturb
it.
2. Action
A glassy-smooth
stainless action you don’t often encounter in rifles in this price bracket.
3. Trigger
Excellent pull and
adjustable down to 2 pounds. Leave it at 3.
4. Magazine
A detachable box,
so you can load and unload in a hurry if necessary.
5. Scope and
binoculars
The Meopta MeoStar
R2 1.7–10x42 RD ($1,450; meoptasportsoptics.com) has the perfect power range
for all big-game hunting. The optics are first class, take your best compact binoculars, the adjustments are
fine, and the illuminated reticle is a big help. It ain’t cheap. So what?
6. Barrel
Stainless steel.
Hunt in the rain for a week. Or two. The rifle will not care.
7. Sling
The Murray Leather
A-1 Quick Set Rifle Sling ($75; murraycustomleather.com) is the best I know
of—dead simple, and given a dose of vegetable oil once in a while, it will last
forever.
Mounts
Get Tikka rings
and its Picatinny rail, which offers huge latitude in fore and aft adjustment.
Weight
About 71⁄2 pounds
with scope. Not too much to carry, and enough to hold steady when your heart is
going pitter-patter.
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