I was graciously invited for a tour of the Wendy Lou Classic Game Reserve near Hico, TX. To say I am impressed by this beautiful piece of ground would be the understatement of the century. The owner, who is from South Africa, took me on a 4 hour drive around the property yesterday. We were able to share stories and talk about hunting….while glassing the various species of African game present on the ranch.

They are doing things in a very different manner on this property than most. The ranch consists of 4,500 acres of mostly open grassland separated by creek bottoms, pecan groves, and a few mesquite and oak flats. There are no feeders of any kind on the ranch, and the animals are completely self-sustaining with large breeding herds of all the species. They focus mainly on African species (namely Blesbok, Springbok, Impala, Gemsbok, Waterbuck, and Eland) but also have a few of the more common exotic species (Axis, Blackbuck, and Fallow). They also have one of the finest herds of Red Deer I have ever seen (estimated at 400-500 animals). I even saw quite a few Whitetails, of which two were easily over 150”!!

I will say this….I have personally set foot on somewhere between 50 and 100 high fenced game ranches in Texas, and never before have I honestly felt like I was on another continent until my visit to Wendy Lou. It was a truly incredible experience. Seeing huge herds of African animals that were legitimately wild, unhabituated to humans, and wanted nothing to do with the vehicle was refreshing.

I would like to say a huge “thank you” to the owner, Graham, for the opportunity to visit his property. He was a wonderful host, and I look forward to visiting with him again. I will definitely return soon, but next time with rifle in hand.

I also was able to capture some amazing photos, which I hope you all enjoy.

For more information about hunting Wendy Lou Classic Game Reserve, visit their website: http://www.wendyloureserve.com/

Nice pics! Looks like a tough hunt.....

quote:

Originally posted by JGRaider:
Nice pics! Looks like a tough hunt.....

It take it you're being sarcastic...

My camera has a 55-300mm lens...and many of these photos were taken at over 100 yards. This place offers as fair chase a hunting experience as you could want. The animals are very wild.

Wade,

Those fallow deer look big. You sees lots of them are those a lot better than normal.

BigB

Great photos. Thanks!

Looked at their price list. I don't understand why someone would pay those prices to hunt common plains game in TX. Even with airfare, I can go back to RSA or Namibia and hunt the same game for a lot less. $200 an day guide fee and $250 a day room and board comes to $450 a day with trophy fees averaging over $2000 per animal. 5 animals would cost you over $11,000 for things like Kudu, Springbok, Blesbok, Impala, Waterbuck, Gemsbok and Eland.

I'll pass.

My wife & I hunted for an eland cow @ Wendy Lou about 3 years ago. We'd been to Namibia a few months earler and tasted about 6 or 7 different game meats. As soon as I got home I googled "eland Texas" and Wendy Lou was easily my #1 choice. Mike Odell, the ranch manager, is a great guy, top notch. Although I chose to do my own lodging and go on a "meat" hunt, it was 100% hunting. It took us all morning to even find eland, and then another few hours to find and shoot a broken-horned cow (at a deeply discounted rate). Wendy lou would be a great place for a family hunt, for a 1st time taste of "safari" hunting, or any other reason. (South Africa has ranches a LOT smaller than this one!). I'll be going back for certain: My wife loves red deer steaks and there's room in the freezer.

quote:

Originally posted by Pirate's Life:
Looked at their price list. I don't understand why someone would pay those prices to hunt common plains game in TX. Even with airfare, I can go back to RSA or Namibia and hunt the same game for a lot less. $200 an day guide fee and $250 a day room and board comes to $450 a day with trophy fees averaging over $2000 per animal. 5 animals would cost you over $11,000 for things like Kudu, Springbok, Blesbok, Impala, Waterbuck, Gemsbok and Eland.

I'll pass.

Pirate,

There is a whole host of reasons to hunt at a place like this. The main focus of these places is not to be a "substitute" for a safari. Joester outlined one of the reasons in his post above....which is the fact you get to keep all the meat for yourself.

Another is for the gentleman who, perhaps, only wants to hunt one or two animals. In that case, it really is not cost-effective to go to Africa.

There's no doubt hunting plains game in Africa is affordable, but let's be honest....you're not going to get out of the trip for under $10,000....even on the "cheap" 7 day/5 animal packages. Flights, dip/pack, etc... can quickly turn those $4,000-$5,000 packages into $10,000+ affairs. In the end, not everyone is willing and/or able to spend that much at one time. A place like this appeals to me because you can make numerous trips over an extended period of time....(and it is only a 3.5 hour drive from my home).

Then there is the conservation aspect of things....

Africa is becoming more and more volatile all the time....and who knows where things will be with African hunting in 10 years?? None of us know. In a decade or two, Texas may very well be the last reasonable place to hunt some of these animals. I hope that is not the case, because I fully intend to hunt Africa multiple times in my life. I doubt I will hunt Impala, Blesbok, or Springbok on Wendy Lou Reserve since I plan to go to Africa at some point in the near future....but I will seriously consider hunting Waterbuck and Eland there because their prices are not much more than what you'd pay in Africa.

Personally, I hope many more landowners here in Texas will take it upon themselves to do just what the owner of Wendy Lou Reserve is doing....and start raising larger, self-sustaining herds of these animals here. That will ensure better genetic diversity in the long run and hopefully drive overall prices down as well. You may not be aware, but the prices at Wendy Lou are actually quite a bit lower than the industry standard for a few species (Impala, Blesbok, and Springbok....which often cost $4,500+ in Texas).