I have a friend looking for a 3 -5 day hog hunt within driving distance of Dallas. He is looking at February or March time frame. If anyone has anyone suggestions I would appreciate it.

Call Alen at the Camp Cooley Ranch, near Centerville, TX. I've hunted there several times, not just for hogs (although I did shoot 2 meat hogs while on my Eland hunt), but they have LOTS of hogs and they have BIG hogs. I've personally seen at least a half dozen over 300 lbs. in 4 or 5 trips to the ranch. The ranch is 11,000 acres with about 1,000 acres high fenced for exotics and the rest being cattle country, but has LOTS of pigs and quite a few deer as well. One of my good friends used to be the wildlife manager there and he shot a boar that weighed 358 lbs.

Here's their hunting website:

Camp Cooley Ranch

Contact info:

Alen Merdzo
979-324-8722
or
888-770-2706

Prices:
$150/day for guide & lodging (meals not included)
+
$100 per hog (I believe that is regardless of size)

Reasonable prices, and a hell of a ranch. Give Alen a call and he'll treat you right. I'm not a booking agent or anything, just a satisfied customer.

Thanks Eland Slayer. I've passed this onfo on to my friend.

Good prices on that site, but I'm not sure about hunting with an outfit that mispells sika deer, and suggests elk don't like dense wooded areas lol Every elk I've killed or been a part of killing...has been in pretty thick woods.

Still, good prices on some meat hunts!

quote:

Originally posted by MileHighShooter:
Good prices on that site, but I'm not sure about hunting with an outfit that mispells sika deer, and suggests elk don't like dense wooded areas lol Every elk I've killed or been a part of killing...has been in pretty thick woods.

Most places I've seen Elk were in Dark Timber as well, but I think back in the "old days", elk were more plains dwelling animals then heavy Timber animals. I've read that in a few history books.

Well I guess to be fair, my hunts are always late season post-rut. There are plenty of open areas where I hunt, but I've never seen elk in them. Maybe they like the open areas during rut season?

Well, since I've been there, I can speak from my experiences. The high fenced area is about 1,000 acres and they have approx. 120 elk. About 75% of the time when I've seen the elk, they've been in the open and 25% in the timber. That's just what I've seen from 5 or so trips to the ranch.

As far as the mis-spellings go.....I think Alen designed the website. Alen is not from America (I believe he is from Bosnia) and speaks broken English. He understands it just fine, but has a little trouble speaking perfect English sometimes. He is easy to talk to however, it really doesn't hinder the comunication very much. Hope that helps explain things a little.

Eland Slayer -- when is the last time you were there?

The last time I visited the ranch was in December of 2007.

quote:

Originally posted by Eland Slayer:
The last time I visited the ranch was in December of 2007.

Thanks. There have been a number of changes since I first heard of the ranch so I was curious.

Hearts Bluff is an excellent operation with good people and lots of pigs.

Also, Ryan Campbell who posts here a lot guides for hogs as well and is a fine gentlemen to hunt with.

LWD

Thanks for the correction Eland Slayer

Prices sure are good though, I'd like to go down and get a couple of the doe/female tags for some meat!

LWD,
Thank you for the kind words. I promise that if you come hunting with me I'll try not to scare the hell out of you and only talk a very limited amount of trash...I'll also try not to belittle you and your friends choice of gear....the first day....haha.
Seriously, I can do it if you'd like to come down Feb or March.