This is a buck I shot a few days ago on the Jim Bean ranch 130 miles SE of El Paso. I passed on at least 3 bucks as good or better than this one including a very interesting 28" 4x3 that was heavily palmated on the 3 point side. So goes looking for the big one. The 2 guys directly following us and the last clients of the year miss a 250 yard standing shot at one of the monsters this ranch can produce.

For those interested in the details one 180 gr. TSX from my 30-06 center punched his heart at 347 yd. He literally did a nose dive into the dirt and did a complete somersault. I think I got minimal expansion with the TSX as the exit was only about the size of a dime. Regardless the bullet did its job and if it hit heavy bone I'm sure the exit would have been huge.

The ranch itself is 50,000 acres of some of the remotest country in TX. It has no game other than the indigenous TX species. There aren't even any feral hogs. They do have desert big horn as the ranch partly encompasses a piece of the Davis mountains. So they offer one of the very few opportunities in the country where you can buy a license and just go hunt for a desert big horn. There is a slight fee though.

Jim Bean and his sons know there business and offer a top notch and very personal experience. They have great equipment in new 4x4 trucks, late model 4x4 Polaris Rangers and all use Swarovski and Leica optics. The ranch house is huge with 7 bedrooms and private rooms and bath can be arranged. Food was very nice and ever effort was made to make us comfortable.

Anybody going on this hunt should have excellent optics, a very flat shooting rifle and be in fair physical condition.

In my estimation this is a good hunt for an experienced mule deer hunter or a person looking for an above average experience with real potential to shoot a 200 class deer.

I'm going back!

Regards,

Mark

Mark, that is a nice buck! Those Texas boys sure do look wide, any idea on the spread? Those folks look as happy as they ought to be! I hope you're one of those folks!

Thanks for sharing the pic.

Regards--D.

Fish

You caught me during my editing. This picture thing still gives me fits. As you can now read the happy couple is Sadie and I. To answer you question he is right at 28". 30" seems to be the upward end of what is avaialbe spread wise. A heavy 26"-28" would seem a reasonable expectation.

Mark

Very nice buck. That is awsome. I love mulies.

Nice buck, Mark. Where are you hunting exactly...close to Ft. Davis or Kent...Balmorrhea????

bwanarm

I always like to have it pointed out if I'm putting out bogus info. Thanks! After your question about where we hunted I picked up the Atlas and found we were a long ways from the Davis Mountains. In fact we where still in Hudspeth Co. We hunted that vast piece of nothing between Sierra Blanca and the border. Don't ask me where I got the Davis Mountain thing.

I guess the point is even if I don't know where I have been if a client can get himself or herself to ElPaso one of the Beans will pick you up and take you to the ranch.

Thanks again for straightening me out.

Mark

Mark,
The question wasn't a test...I've just hunted alot of that country over the years and have taken some super deer out of the area including the number eight non-typical in the Texas Big Game Awards. I just thought the Bean's might have country close to some I have hunted. I always enjoy the Trans-Pecos region and it's game. And I've met some Bean's from Ozona, Texas...guess I get around some.

Very nice buck, Mark.

DB

Nice deer Mark.

Bwana

No offense taken! Just glad you got me straight before before I stepped any deeper in the DO-Do.

Mark

Nice!

Reloader

Mark:

You wrote:

quote:

The ranch itself is 50,000 acres of some of the remotest country in TX. It has no game other than the indigenous TX species. There aren't even any feral hogs. They do have desert big horn as the ranch partly encompasses a piece of the Davis mountains. So they offer one of the very few opportunities in the country where you can buy a license and just go hunt for a desert big horn. There is a slight fee though.

I think you need to check your information. There is no way you can just "buy a license" and go KILL a desert bighorn in Texas. I suppose you could hunt one all you wanted to, but if you kill one without a special hunt permit, then you should plan on spending some additional time in Texas, staring out through vertical bars.

Very nice buck! Gato, I have been wrong before but believe there are an auction or two where you can in fact BUY, spell that with six figures for the big horn.

Muygrande:

True, but buying a special hunt WITH a permit to support the re-establishment of bighorns in Texas is hardly the same as simply buying a hunting license so you can go shoot a bighorn. There is also the special hunts auctions by Tx Parks and Wildlife that includes a bighorn hunt for the grand prize.

Gatogordo

What if I said the "appropriate paperwork" rather than just license since client, landowner and TX Parks & Wildlife all have to sign off on this. The point I was trying to make was that with sufficient finances a guy can hunt desert bighorn on this ranch with no draw or long waiting list to deal with since TX, P&W historically has allowed the Beans to kill 1 or 2 rams each year on their ranch. For someone wanting to finish out a grand slam without going to Mexico this hunt might be a viable option.

I'm assuming you were not implying that I would try to market something that was illegal or would be conducted by illegal means.

Merry Christmas,

Mark

Hey Mark I am a bit fuzzy today, but are you saying that the buck in the 2 pics is 28"?

Mark D

Mark, I believe he said he passed on a 28" -er.

Ok that would make sense

Mark D

I know what Gato is saying, you made it seem like its a walk in the park to come down and hunt a desert bighorn but thats not the case. There is a lot involved. As for the Beans ranch, it is beautiful and has some great sheep on the place. There is not another spot in TX I would rather hunt desert bighorn. I would probably pick the Beans ranch over Sonora as well and I have hunted some tremendous country down there. There is a member that frequents this site that is related to some of the landowners and I am sure that if anybody has questions about the bighorn permits he can answer any questions they might have. Like I said, they are great folks.

Drummond

Mr. Lindsey,

I'm not an expert on all things Texan but the point is from a client's stand point if you have a wallet of sufficient girth, you can make a deal, send a deposit and you will get to hunt desert sheep in the Diablo Mountains. I do know about aerial surveys in August, permits etc. I didn't think it was necessary to go through all the bureaucratic twists and turns just to say you could hunt sheep on Jim's ranch.

Regards,

Mark

MD

Yes! I am saying the extreme outside spread on the deer I shot is 28". You know I'd really have to be a fool to try and fudge those numbers here for the world to see.

Mark

quote:

So they offer one of the very few opportunities in the country where you can buy a license and just go hunt for a desert big horn.

You are not only buying a license but a permit as well and the permit is issued to the landowner and then transferred to the paying client. The way I read the above post was that you could just go down the the local Wal-Mart, buy a hunting license and head out to hunt a desert bighorn. I am not knocking you but clarifying for anybody that may have read your original post as I did and thought that a desert bighorn was a hunting license away. The permit and the license are seperate, the license will run a couple hundred bucks for a non-resident and the permit will be no less than $75,000 depending on the year.

quote:

I didn't think it was necessary to go through all the bureaucratic twists and turns just to say you could hunt sheep on Jim's ranch.

Its not bureaucratic twists and turns as you call it, its just the way that it is. I was merely clarifying your original post for you.

Regards,

Drummond

quote:

To answer you question he is right at 28".

Dober, you're right... sorry pard didn't see this. He's saying it's 28."

Drummond

Ok! You are significantly high on Jim's permit price though. I do understand that the Parks and Wildlife auctioned permit went for $125,000 on the area adjacent to Jim's.

Mark