Oryx Hunting New Mexico --The Malpai
For the second time in 2011, I made a trip to south central New Mexico to take on Oryx hunting. With the hopes of another successful hunt, I arrived in Albuquerque at a friends house the evening of November 7th after leaving Fairbanks Alaska that morning. Early on the 8th, my dad arrived with the truck loaded and ready to go. We headed south. Leaving Fairbanks a snowy winter wasteland, the low 70's temperature was most welcomed. We pulled into our camp (the same location as in January) and set up. With a couple hours left to kill before dark we put the rifle in the truck and went for a cruise on some dirt roads in the area to check for sign. The first official day of our hunt go underway at 3:00am on the 9th and we headed to the water hole in hopes of catching some oryx off guard but it quickly became apparent that with increased hunting pressure, the oryx had become well adjusted and were long gone by dawn. Fresh track littered the area indicating good numbers were there throughout the night mingling around. We headed back to camp and had a nice breakfast before hitting the dirt with the truck looking for gemsbok. We talked to a couple other hunters along the way and all seemed to think the Malpais were a good place to hunt but the terrain is vicious and unwelcoming. They are a place of legend in New Mexico, a place you generally try to avoid. Depending on who you talk to the name Malpai roughly translates to Badlands or Evil Country. Either way, its not a place where you generally go for a leisurely hike! We opted to keep to the water holes much like we did in January that proved productive. A couple more days went by and we found ourselves empty handed on Friday. It was time to mix it up a bit. My dad's friend and a friend of mine was coming down today so that's a bit more help and my dads friend has an Oryx tag to fill as well. We picked up camped and moved forty miles further east and met up with the two guys who came in and after some drinks and talk it was decided that we were going to go ahead and go into the Malpai to check it out. I looked up the area on a couple different websites and they were fairly similar. Both warned travelers of dangers and essentially frowned upon the idea. What I found interesting was what the Indians believed them to be and their history during the wild west days of America. According to Legends of America .com, "Navajo legend says that this lava is the blood of the great giant who was slain by the Twin War Gods in the Zuñi Mountains. Here in this area lies the remains of deserted pueblos, caves of perpetual ice, hideouts of Old West outlaws, and numerous tales of buried treasure". After three of us took a six mile hike into the Lava fields on Saturday the 12th, we understood exactly why, its incredibly easy to get turned around as you meander up and down, everything looks the same. It honestly reminded me much like hunting on the open tundra. There are no apparent land marks to visually mark your location. After a long first day in the Malpai with no Oryx sightings were not discouraged. All day long we had jumped deer and saw many signs of oryx moving around. They were in the Malpai but, it will proved difficult to find and approach any of them. We settled into camp for the night and planned on hitting the Malpai yet again the next day. Sunday morning rolled in and we were in the Badlands pre-dawn. We were gaining ground, I spooked a herd of twenty Oryx. They saw me 1/4 mile away and were gone in haze of gray moving against the sage covered flow of giants blood. We covered a good eight miles on foot before calling it a day and went back to camp for a hearty dinner. We were making progress, we have an area, albeit tough area, that oryx were currently in, it was just a matter of sticking to it until we got a good position on them. My friend left to head back to Albuquerque and my dad and his friend were exhausted but I kept up the talk of going back into the Lava fields and finally convinced them to go again early Monday morning. It had been seven days since I've showered last, I was getting a bit tired of looking at sharp black rock and yucca but I felt we were getting close. on our approach to the Malpai that morning, we spotted three nice bull oryx feeding near a small waterhole. The plan was that I would cut them off from behind by going into the Malpai in the dark and out flanking them. I thought I was doing well since I had gone in nearly a half mile before cutting over to the bulls but our plan backfired when I looked up and saw a juvenile Oryx a hundred yards in front of me. There were just three bulls but, a herd of fifty scattered around in the vicinity and this juvenile was in no inquisitive mood. He sounded the alarm for the herd by plowing down into the bunch running and the rest followed suit stampeding away from me. I watched them and they slowed to a walk about a half mile into the Malpai and I went to work. I toss the rifle sling over my shoulder and began to jog. I covered a couple miles on their flank out of sight and finally popped up in an area where I figured I could find a bull in the herd and finish this hunt off. The gods were against me because I spooked five white deer that were bedded down and they jumped up into view of the herd prancing away 
which startled the oryx and in a matter of seconds I found myself another half mile away. I was already a good four miles in for the morning and made the decision to head back to the truck to get water before I went after them again. I made it back to the truck and found that my dad and his friend were not there but I noticed footprints headed into the Malpai. I grabbed my pack and slowly worked my way back in. I found them about a mile in and we split up to cover more ground and also spook oryx to eachother. We must have covered in excess of eight miles and saw a good half dozen oryx but none were worth taking. We never did see that herd of fifty that day. We got back to the truck around 3:00pm and we started to head out back to camp and low and behold going forty miles an hour down a lonely stretch of road I spotted a decent oryx, blatantly standing in the desert. It was good enough to fill at least one of the two tags and we made quick work of the situation and thirty minutes later we were driving along with the second tagged oryx of 2011. I have to say, the malpai is a good place to hunt but I also say this as a warning, it is NOT a friendly place to be. GPS, and an abundance of water is absolutely recommended. Also something to think about... you can not access them with a vehicle or even a motorcycle. if you shoot an oryx or deer 5 fives in there, you will be hard pressed to get the meat out without covering some ground with a heavy pack and those bull oryx are probably a good 400 lbs gutted out. Anyway, a quick and dirty trip report. below is what the White Sands Missile Range had to say about the Mapais: "The malpais or "Bad Lands" are lava beds of relatively recent geological origin which flank White Sands Missile Range´s northern area. These beds are found both in the Jornada del Muerto on the range´s west boundary and east of the Sierra Oscura Mountains which are close to the range´s eastern boundary. The black broken and rough lava streams remain much as they were at the time formed. They are aptly described as "rivers of black basalt." According to Indian lore, the lava beds are the blood and bones of monsters from the Age of the Gods, an era in Indian pre-history in which all living creatures were believed to be giants. The malpais pose a thorny problem for White Sands Missile Range recovery crews bringing out missiles impacting in the rough terrain. Due to the nature of the lava streams, ordinary ground access is impossible. Deep crevasses appear to the eye as narrow fissures, and the lips of a crevasse are often crusts of volcanic ash which give way under a man´s weight. Therefore, missiles that impact in the lava beds are sought out by helicopter. Then, recovery crews fly in and harness the missile parts to the helicopter which flies both crew and missile parts to headquarters area." --http://www.wsmr.army.mil/PAO/WSHist/RegionalHist/Pages/TheMalpaisandAreaForts.aspx
For the second time in 2011, I made a trip to south central New Mexico to take on Oryx hunting. With the hopes of another successful hunt, I arrived in Albuquerque at a friends house the evening of November 7th after leaving Fairbanks Alaska that morning. Early on the 8th, my dad arrived with the truck loaded and ready to go. We headed south. Leaving Fairbanks a snowy winter wasteland, the low 70's temperature was most welcomed. We pulled into our camp (the same location as in January) and set up. With a couple hours left to kill before dark we put the rifle in the truck and went for a cruise on some dirt roads in the area to check for sign. The first official day of our hunt go underway at 3:00am on the 9th and we headed to the water hole in hopes of catching some oryx off guard but it quickly became apparent that with increased hunting pressure, the oryx had become well adjusted and were long gone by dawn. Fresh track littered the area indicating good numbers were there throughout the night mingling around. We headed back to camp and had a nice breakfast before hitting the dirt with the truck looking for gemsbok. We talked to a couple other hunters along the way and all seemed to think the Malpais were a good place to hunt but the terrain is vicious and unwelcoming. They are a place of legend in New Mexico, a place you generally try to avoid. Depending on who you talk to the name Malpai roughly translates to Badlands or Evil Country. Either way, its not a place where you generally go for a leisurely hike! We opted to keep to the water holes much like we did in January that proved productive. A couple more days went by and we found ourselves empty handed on Friday. It was time to mix it up a bit. My dad's friend and a friend of mine was coming down today so that's a bit more help and my dads friend has an Oryx tag to fill as well. We picked up camped and moved forty miles further east and met up with the two guys who came in and after some drinks and talk it was decided that we were going to go ahead and go into the Malpai to check it out. I looked up the area on a couple different websites and they were fairly similar. Both warned travelers of dangers and essentially frowned upon the idea. What I found interesting was what the Indians believed them to be and their history during the wild west days of America. According to Legends of America .com, "Navajo legend says that this lava is the blood of the great giant who was slain by the Twin War Gods in the Zuñi Mountains. Here in this area lies the remains of deserted pueblos, caves of perpetual ice, hideouts of Old West outlaws, and numerous tales of buried treasure". After three of us took a six mile hike into the Lava fields on Saturday the 12th, we understood exactly why, its incredibly easy to get turned around as you meander up and down, everything looks the same. It honestly reminded me much like hunting on the open tundra. There are no apparent land marks to visually mark your location. After a long first day in the Malpai with no Oryx sightings were not discouraged. All day long we had jumped deer and saw many signs of oryx moving around. They were in the Malpai but, it will proved difficult to find and approach any of them. We settled into camp for the night and planned on hitting the Malpai yet again the next day. Sunday morning rolled in and we were in the Badlands pre-dawn. We were gaining ground, I spooked a herd of twenty Oryx. They saw me 1/4 mile away and were gone in haze of gray moving against the sage covered flow of giants blood. We covered a good eight miles on foot before calling it a day and went back to camp for a hearty dinner. We were making progress, we have an area, albeit tough area, that oryx were currently in, it was just a matter of sticking to it until we got a good position on them. My friend left to head back to Albuquerque and my dad and his friend were exhausted but I kept up the talk of going back into the Lava fields and finally convinced them to go again early Monday morning. It had been seven days since I've showered last, I was getting a bit tired of looking at sharp black rock and yucca but I felt we were getting close. on our approach to the Malpai that morning, we spotted three nice bull oryx feeding near a small waterhole. The plan was that I would cut them off from behind by going into the Malpai in the dark and out flanking them. I thought I was doing well since I had gone in nearly a half mile before cutting over to the bulls but our plan backfired when I looked up and saw a juvenile Oryx a hundred yards in front of me. There were just three bulls but, a herd of fifty scattered around in the vicinity and this juvenile was in no inquisitive mood. He sounded the alarm for the herd by plowing down into the bunch running and the rest followed suit stampeding away from me. I watched them and they slowed to a walk about a half mile into the Malpai and I went to work. I toss the rifle sling over my shoulder and began to jog. I covered a couple miles on their flank out of sight and finally popped up in an area where I figured I could find a bull in the herd and finish this hunt off. The gods were against me because I spooked five white deer that were bedded down and they jumped up into view of the herd prancing away 
which startled the oryx and in a matter of seconds I found myself another half mile away. I was already a good four miles in for the morning and made the decision to head back to the truck to get water before I went after them again. I made it back to the truck and found that my dad and his friend were not there but I noticed footprints headed into the Malpai. I grabbed my pack and slowly worked my way back in. I found them about a mile in and we split up to cover more ground and also spook oryx to eachother. We must have covered in excess of eight miles and saw a good half dozen oryx but none were worth taking. We never did see that herd of fifty that day. We got back to the truck around 3:00pm and we started to head out back to camp and low and behold going forty miles an hour down a lonely stretch of road I spotted a decent oryx, blatantly standing in the desert. It was good enough to fill at least one of the two tags and we made quick work of the situation and thirty minutes later we were driving along with the second tagged oryx of 2011. I have to say, the malpai is a good place to hunt but I also say this as a warning, it is NOT a friendly place to be. GPS, and an abundance of water is absolutely recommended. Also something to think about... you can not access them with a vehicle or even a motorcycle. if you shoot an oryx or deer 5 fives in there, you will be hard pressed to get the meat out without covering some ground with a heavy pack and those bull oryx are probably a good 400 lbs gutted out. Anyway, a quick and dirty trip report. below is what the White Sands Missile Range had to say about the Mapais: "The malpais or "Bad Lands" are lava beds of relatively recent geological origin which flank White Sands Missile Range´s northern area. These beds are found both in the Jornada del Muerto on the range´s west boundary and east of the Sierra Oscura Mountains which are close to the range´s eastern boundary. The black broken and rough lava streams remain much as they were at the time formed. They are aptly described as "rivers of black basalt." According to Indian lore, the lava beds are the blood and bones of monsters from the Age of the Gods, an era in Indian pre-history in which all living creatures were believed to be giants. The malpais pose a thorny problem for White Sands Missile Range recovery crews bringing out missiles impacting in the rough terrain. Due to the nature of the lava streams, ordinary ground access is impossible. Deep crevasses appear to the eye as narrow fissures, and the lips of a crevasse are often crusts of volcanic ash which give way under a man´s weight. Therefore, missiles that impact in the lava beds are sought out by helicopter. Then, recovery crews fly in and harness the missile parts to the helicopter which flies both crew and missile parts to headquarters area." --http://www.wsmr.army.mil/PAO/WSHist/RegionalHist/Pages/TheMalpaisandAreaForts.aspx
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