Anyone have any exsperance with them or how many acres they have fenced ? I am not sure if I am ready for a fence hunt but if I ever want to get a Ibex it may be the place. But ponder how I would feel looking at a mount that may or may not be real free chase. Thanks Bill

Boy, billm, you sure could be opening a can of worms with your question.
I've not heard of white elk ranch, but a lot of game ranches in Texas have Ibex and other exotics.
Although I have not, and do not hunt on high fenced ranches, local custom in this part of Texas is to use spin cast feeders to attract deer.

However I think only you can answer that question about both spending the money on and looking at a mount that you didn't take a whole lot of pride in. I think that if the situation was such that the animals in question had limited food sources and had to frequent a feeder, and that they showed up at a certain time every day, and could be patterned, and you were in a blind and popped one at say 70 yds., that would be a situation, I personally would not take the kind of pride in my accomplishment that I would in a fair chase hunt. Consequently I might have the hide tanned, might do a European mount, would definitely keep the meat, but it sure wouldn't be for braggin' rights.
GWB

Check the web site it says right there it is High Fence. But it says they come no where near the fence. STILL HIGH FENCE

I just looked over the site, the Ibex in the picture were actually standing right in front of "the fence". Not my kind of hunt

Yep I looked also at there web site but I do believe they sell animals to different operations. So they may exsplain the close inclosures.

I have no connection to the White Elk Ranch, but I believe, if I am reading their website correctly, that they raise the animals in enclosures (like many exotics in Texas) then release them once they reach a certain size onto the ranch. Here's the quote from their website:

quote:

All of our animals are managed for maximum body size and horn growth. Only the best males with superior genetic traits are used for breeding. The males that don’t make the cut are place into our hunting program. Males and females with any undesirable traits are removed from the breeding program. Genetic lines are carefully monitored and new blood lines are added each year. From time to time we will offer surplus males and female for sale.

I think the pictures shown where you can see the animals next to the fence are the breeding pens. It makes sense to considering that ibex can interbreed as well as sheep. By keeping the breeding animals separate, the can ensure that they keep each species distinct instead of getting hybrids.


The thing I'm curious about is how are they able to hunt mountain goats and bighorn sheep without having to get a state tag? I'm assuming there are no bighorns or mountain goats in Nebraska so they are therefor an exotic ... right?

Like fishing in a pond.

$30K for a Dall? Wow.

I think that operation will appeal to a lot of people eager for an ego massage. People who want to kill a "book" animal or "record" to hang on their wall to impress their friends will spend the money required. My guess is that very little "effort" will be required.

I wouldn't be interested in what they have to offer. My feeling is that if a sheep is born and raised in Nebraska, it's not an "Alaskan" Dall Sheep, it's a Nebraska Dall Sheep, but that probably wouldn't impress the shooter's friends near as much.

The operation is a shooting zoo. It should have appeal to old, fat, wealthy people who want something they can't get, a fair-chase exotic.

To me the thrill is not so much that I shot the animal and have its head. (I was recently reading on another thread how you "honor" your victim by killing it and hanging its head on your wall. I had to laugh.) The thrill of hunting an exotic animal, is being able to hunt it in its native land.

I will never hunt most of the animals in the White Elk Zoo, and I'm OK with that. If I can't enjoy the whole hunt experience of hunting on that animal's home terrain, just travelling to Nebraska to kill one won't satisfy me.

If you give it a go, let us know your impression of what they have to offer.

Being born and raised in New Mexico, as a kid I was fascinated by the F&G Department when they imported Gemsbok to release on White Sands Missle Range. I dreamt of getting to hunt one. When I got out of my teens, my dreams got a little bigger. I wanted to hunt them in Africa, or I would do without. That is still my theory on hunting exotics. I won't pay a penny to hunt a high-fence Texas, Colorado, or Nebraska "exotic".