**Super Special - Guaranteed 170+ BC Whitetail Hunt Only - $4,950

3 Hunts left for 2011 with World Class Fishing and Hunting outfitters. Guranteed 170BC or better buck for only $4,950. No daily fees for this hunt! Ranch located in South TX approx 1 hr south of San Antonio. Over 40 exotics on the ranch. Hunting lodge located on the ranch which is 3000 acres. Other deer hunts available on this ranch but this one is a super special. This ranch has a few deer pushing 200BC. Check out our website for info and price list or give us a call or e-mail us.

Sorry, but this I never heard of before ... exotics in Texas to hunt ????
Buffaloes, zebra's, Kudu's ?
What's next ... a lake with great white sharks so you can hunt them with hand granates ?
It's my opinion that this is the worst form of canned hunting there is and I think it is just stupid ...

bee keeper...

Where have you been hiding...

The option of going to south Texas is available for hunters who do not have the means to travel to Africa...and yes it is a big state...drive across it some time it will take all day unless it is the panhandle...Ranches are very big...and some areas are set aside for wildlife and some times the entire ranch is set up for big game hunting....

You should try it some time....

Originally Posted by bee keeper

Sorry, but this I never heard of before ... exotics in Texas to hunt ????
Buffaloes, zebra's, Kudu's ?
What's next ... a lake with great white sharks so you can hunt them with hand granates ?
It's my opinion that this is the worst form of canned hunting there is and I think it is just stupid ...

Been hiding in the Netherlands
And my problem with it is not the size but the hunting of importing exotics in a strange environment just for the sake of hunting, just doesn't feel right ...

Bee Keeper there is lots of hunting all over the world that the animal are not from, there are Fallow Deer in South Africa they came from Europe and look at New Zealand do you really think that all of those animals came from New Zealand Nope they were Imported yes I to would rather hunt Blue Wildebeest in Africa in stead of Texas but I'm not going to nock the person that would rather hunt texas I've hunted them both and South Africa and Texas has a lot in common.

I don't knock anybody about what and where they want to hunt, and I can see that it is probably a lot cheaper.
I just find it strange and unnatural and if I had a head mount of a Kudu on the wall I shot here in the Netherlands it wouldn't feel safari-like.
And that, I think, should be for me the essential of going around the world to hunt the animals in there natural surroundings and the advenures that come with that.

This is a tuff one for me. I was always against high fence hunting. I could not see the sport in it. Now I am not one to hate on other people for their hunting methods or practices. As long as they are hunting legally. I find it funny how some hunters will knock other hunters for their methods(bow vs gun ect.). Are we not all hunters and outdoorsmen? Back to the high fence. The time leading up to my first hunt in Africa this bothered me. I knew it would be high fenced hunting. After hunting there for the first time I was very wrong. Theses animals wanted nothing to do with us at all. No different than hunting whitetail in southern Ohio. I was hooked. The bottom line is you are hunting the animal. Just a different setting. I also know that some of these ranches in Texas are the sole reason some animals exist in Asia. They are bread in Texas and shiped to Asia to help keep the population strong. I am not saying anyone is right or wrong just my 2 cents.

I totally agree with bee keeper. Predictably I suppose.

Originally Posted by bee keeper

it is probably a lot cheaper.

Not neccesarily, Here is a quote from 777 ranch (one of the oldest and most respected ranches)

Day rate $400
Blue Wildebeest $5500
Total 1 day hunt for Wildebeest $5900 plus airfare of likely several hundred dollars.

South africa Day rate $400
Blue Wildebeest $1000
Aitfare $2000
Ship/dip pack $1500
Total 1 day hunt in South africa $4900 all inclusive plus adding additional animals makes the difference in price skyrocket in South Africas favor. Not knocking Texas, just crunching mumbers.

Now try this one

777 ranch
Day rate $400
Thompsons gazelle $6000
Total 1 day hunt $6400 plus several hundered dollars airfare.

Safari in Tanzania
Minimum of maybe 30-40,000 dayrates
Thompsons gazelle $2000
Airfare $3000ish? plus charters
Total for minimum safari in Tanzania $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

You get the picture, for the most part common plains game is much cheaper in Africa but some animals normally only available on premium safaris is a good deal stateside. (some, not all. $35000 TF for Bongo for example)

From a hunters point of view I would also prefer to hunt in Africa for African game but in reality my only hope of ever taking something like a Thompsons gazelle is in Texas.

777 Ranch Inc. (Hondo, Texas) White-tailed deer hunting, large-mouth bass fishing, dove hunting and hunt 50 species of exotic plains game

just the facts:
pound for pound I am certain that the whitetail buck that will score above 170 is the most expensive animal to hunt right now. I have seen it done (and have done it) every which way you can think of and when you factor time, actual out of pocket costs contrasted against a rather meager success rate coupled with all the effort put forth the numbers just speak for themselves.

And remember, we bait them, we manage them and we coddle them (like through the current drought) and still those 170's are real hard to come by. High fence, baited deer, canned hunt. Right.

Any of you Northern nimrods that would like to come down and show me how to make this easier or more sporting I am all ears. Drop me a line, throw down a wager and I am all over that one.

I'll turn off the feeders for a month, put you in a pasture with a high fence and then a week later you can tell me all about all the big deer you saw. Might take about 15 seconds because you won't see any. Canned hunts , right!

Please remember, hunting, like life, takes place in context. I can't hunt elk in Utah like I hunt whitetails in S. Texas or mule deer in the Trans-Pecos and to criticize one methodology versus another without considering the context is a fools errand.

There are actually quite a few ranches in Texas with exotic's to hunt. You'd think the prices would be a little better. Arriving at night and driving through a portion of it the first day I was out on the hunt and we started off into the country I said wow this looks like Texas. We logged about 2800 km in the truck and I saw different parts of SA which looked like the Dakota Badlands, and parts of Arizona. I'd have to agree that it is the hunt of the animal, and the challenges they present, not to mention the weather and the fact that they are behind a high fence in South Africa or Texas really does not matter they are still a challenge.

I'm thinking this is one of those subjects that has basically two schools of thought; The one that doesn't care where the animal is as long as I get one, and the one that wants to go where that animal normally resides in that its as much about that, as it is the taking of that animal.

One of the most enjoyable days I have spent in Africa
was a day trip from my Limpopo hunting camp up to the border of RSA, Zim and Botswana, on the Limpopo River. Mapungebwe Park in norhern RSA. Fantastic place, loved seeing the river and enjoyed the drive and seeing a bit of the country. Nothing to do with an animal.

I think it's a great price for a whitetail hunt in Texas! Wish I was going !

Nice post good to hear about all those African animals in the US.

Not only do we have Fallow deer in South Africa to hunt you can also shoot - Bison , indian blackbuck ,Arabian Oryx, Scimitar-horned Oryx , Barbary sheep and more ... oh yes if you have a big wallet $$$ :-)

cheers owen

Guaranteed animals of certain trophy minimum size is not why I hunt. I hunt because I like the hunting part more than the shooting part. But that is me, others hunt for the wall and the wall alone. Far be it from me to judge, but when I look at my trophies, and they are all trophies though none come close to most definitions of trophy, I have great experiences to talk about beyond the size of the antlers/horns.

Bee Keeper,
You've obviously have never been to Texas. If you had you'd know that S TX is a LOT like S Africa. When I went to S Africa it looked identical to S TX. The only difference was in SA you have Africans and thatched huts and S TX we have Mexicans and stucco homes.
Texas has also been responsible for keeping several African species thriving. Blackbucks are one. Aoudad are another. Axis deer which originally came from India thrive here such that it's becoming more and more common to see them all over Texas.

And Diamondhitch,
You hit the nail on the head.

Something that should be taken into consideration here is the fact that in Africa you can't stuff your deep freeze "at home" with Wildebeest, Kudu, Impala, etc. etc. I got to endulge in these on my trip, but, how nice would it have been to have taken 1300 lbs of African plains game meat home with me. Personally I would rather walk on African soil to harvest African game, to breath the air of Africa, the sensory overload of Africa. But, to have a freezer full of meat would be nice too, so there is an advantage to hunting south Texas, plus if you are on a Whitetail hunt and score on a big buck right away, you have a couple of days left, why not put some lead into a nice Kudu or something else you don't have on the wall. We can all have our own opinion's on hunting and what is ethical or not, but, I don't and won't knock someone for hunting a "canned hunt" or not, because we don't know their history, might be a guy who only has 4-5 days a year to hunt, and the "canned hunt" maybe the way he likes to hunt. I am fortunate to have the time I have hunt, but, it may not always be.

Just for the record, blackbucks are from Asia....(mostly India I think)