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If you’re in want of a hunt rom Barbary sheep to Native American pottery hen Clint Beckham’s your guy. Definitely.
Beckham looks like adventure. It’s displayed on his wiry and rugged frame. A frame that conveys an enthusiastic and optimistic confidence. Hard to believe he spent several years in the foodservice industry. Of course, that was to support his rodeoing habit. At least initially. And now, the varied landscapes of Texas fittingly serve as his workplace. Beckham’s outdoor work life began when he secured a job as a government trapper in Comstock which quickly morphed into a lucrative hunting guide gig. “They (the government) said, ‘What do you want to do? Do you want to be an outfitter or do you want to be a government trapper?’” he sardonically commented. Eventually, Beckham commenced guiding on a remote ranch in the Van Horn area as well where he had a memorable survival experience. After running out of water, with daylight decreasing, he and the client lost their way. They had to slog their way through treacherous terrain to the polluted Rio Grande. Surrounded by feral hog feces, they drew the border water into a LifeStraw and consumed it. Literally crawling, the duo made it back to their vehicle. His signature animal is the aoudad. He’s one of the premier aoudad guides in Texas. (Pronounced awe-dad). What is the aoudad? It’s from the goat/antelope family and is native to North Africa. It was introduced to Texas in the late 1940s. Beckham, who is trained in wilderness first-aid, also offers axis, whitetail deer and hog hunts. Known for his aoudad skills 57 of his clients have registered kills e ironically, has never attempted to bring one down. But that’s about to change. SilencerCo, a gun-suppressor manufacturer, filmed a Beckham aoudad hunt with MMA fighter Chad Mendes ho lost to Conor McGregor in a 2015 UFC main event bout in Las Vegas hich proved to be successful and now want to film Beckham hunting an aoudad. “They think that it was interesting…they just think that it’s weird that I haven’t killed one…Hopefully, I won’t miss,” he kidded. More recently, Beckham has received attention for his foray into commercial artifact digs. He had always been a keen collector and forager of well-crafted Native American arrowheads and after attending several digs organized by a particular man an entrepreneurial itch developed. He had observed a multitude of arrowheads on ranches where he conducted hunts. “I’ve been to a bunch of his and I was paying two to three-hundred dollars a day…and then one day I thought, ‘You know what? If he can do it…I can do that.’” He started a camp in Tarpley, Texas that contained a wealth of artifacts, even a well-preserved tablet with symbols and colors that resembled the rock art in Seminole Canyon. Rumor has it the Smithsonian is interested in the piece. Beckham said the digger who found it sold it for $17,000 to another person who then flipped it for $50,000. At his digs, what you find is what you keep. His business services up to 34 collecting enthusiasts a day. Locally, he conducted a commercial dig at a ranch in Comstock that was rich in historical items. “It was awesome. We found a lot of stuff,” he said. “We dug for like two months. It was a huge site. And now we’re doing cave digs out there.” At one site, located on Mason Creek outside of Bandera, where pterodactyl claws had been discovered, 22 people found between 100-200 arrowheads each. Beckham said there are only four to five commercial diggers in Texas and he’s probably the most-respected one. “People have realized that I’m the most honest…I’ve got them coming from Montana, Idaho, Louisiana.” www.aoudadadventures.com www.facebook.com/AoudadAdventures |
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