Source: Courtesy King Ranch
Can a Return to Hunting Change How America Eats?
A hunt for nilgai in Texas reveals how the appetite for wild meat is reshaping conservation, culture and the business of invasive species.
We had been hunting for almost 12 hours when we saw her. As the nilgai walked across the clearing to the watering hole, the hunter locked the animal into her rifle sight. This was what we had been waiting for, stalking since the predawn hours across the King Ranch in the Rio Grande Valley: the chance to make a kill shot.
Even from 100 yards away, the animal was huge — the size of an angus cow, but with legs as long and slender as a deer. She looked out of place, ripped from the pages of National Geographic. Too exotic for Texas.