Well it seems to be that time of year... I am trying to plan a hunt for '08 for my wife and I, she has informed me our wall is decidely barren when it comes to whitetails and one from Texas might be in order.

What I am looking for is a reccomendation for a guide/ ranch that will offer whitetail hunt, lodging, meals, etc. Spot and stalk or stand hunting is ok, but no dogs.

Thanks in advance.

John

There are a couple of folks here on AR that might chime in & be able to accommodate you with their services. If not, try Trans-Pecos Guide Service. A google search should give you all of their info.

Now I must inquire: Why the reference to "no dogs"?

We don't hunt deer with dogs in TX.

BBB, might look up King Ranch and Duval County Ranch on the computer. Both are expensive and nice.

Hunting deer with dogs in Texas has been illegal for quite some time.

What size whitetail will you be happy with? Package hunts usually are priced according to the quality of deer in the area. Let us know the price range you have in mind and we can narrow it down for you.

Get ready to write a check if you are looking for big deer in Texas. That said, there are some very, very nice deer here.

You might want to check out the Hidden Springs Ranch.

I know that they have a special package this year as they are trying to remove some deer off the ranch.

They are listing two 8 point bucks for 4K including lodging and meals.

Only dates open are in October of 2007.

Here is the link if you are interested.

http://www.texashiddenspringsranch.com/about.htm

I know of a couple of places depending on your budget I can recomend. PM me if interested.

Thanks for the replies. As for budget, since there are two of us going, I am looking to spend $4k-$5k ea. The size of the animal is probably less of a concern than the people running the hunt. It is important to have things to do when not hunting that the Mrs can enjoy as well.

Thanks again!!!

quote:

You might want to check out the Hidden Springs Ranch.

I cannot recommend Texas Hidden Springs.

Hunter-

Please elaborate.

thanks

quote:

Now I must inquire: Why the reference to "no dogs"?

We don't hunt deer with dogs in TX.

Glad to hear no dog hunts in TX wasn't sure of the game laws. Just not into hunting driving anything other than upland game with dogs.

John

IMHO there are two good places to look. If you go the south Texas route, Look to pay 4000-10000 a head. I think that is a little steep. More than likely you will kill a good deer though. Just get on the net and you will find a hundred, or get with an outfitter everyone has a "great south texas hunt".

The other rec I can give you is northwest Texas.
I grew up there and it is great country. The people are nice and you can Kill a great buck, and sometimes for a little less money (hey nothing is cheep for a guided hunt!) Check out the www.nail-ranch.com or you could call Mike Sheedy at the Spike Box ranch 940-549-3581 (I hope he is still the wildlife manager.). My company had a goose lease out there and the deer populations were very good.
If these ave turn up dry. PM me and I'll help you out with a few more I know about. These are larger operations. My family has had a farm and ranch in the area since 1899. The deer have gotten better every year.

Good luck in your search!

505ED

Bobby Tomek,

You have a PM.

quote:

Originally posted by 505ED:
IMHO there are two good places to look. If you go the south Texas route, Look to pay 4000-10000 a head. I think that is a little steep. More than likely you will kill a good deer though. Just get on the net and you will find a hundred, or get with an outfitter everyone has a "great south texas hunt".

The other rec I can give you is northwest Texas.
I grew up there and it is great country. The people are nice and you can Kill a great buck, and sometimes for a little less money (hey nothing is cheep for a guided hunt!) Check out the www.nail-ranch.com or you could call Mike Sheedy at the Spike Box ranch 940-549-3581 (I hope he is still the wildlife manager.). My company had a goose lease out there and the deer populations were very good.
If these ave turn up dry. PM me and I'll help you out with a few more I know about. These are larger operations. My family has had a farm and ranch in the area since 1899. The deer have gotten better every year.

Good luck in your search!

505ED

In addition to the Nail there is the Cook Ranch and the Pitchfork but I am not sure if any of them will have openings at this point. I would be happy to hunt with any of them but have not done so.

There are a lot of other places around. I may know of a couple of places that would work for your budget but would have to check.

You might want to check out San Miguel Hunting Ranches. I've never hunted with them personally, but I have talked to several people who have and all had wonderful things to say about them. They hunt on over 38,000 acres in South Texas for Whitetail.

Another place I would recommend is the Retamosa Ranch owned by Hefner Appling. Unfortunately I can't find his website. The Retamosa is 5,000 acres high fenced, but it's DEFINITELY not an easy hunt. It's almost all thick brush. He has some truly monster bucks. There have been many bucks in the 18's-190's killed and at least one, killed by Mr. Apling himself, that scored a tad bit over 200"!! The prices are quite reasonable when compared to other whitetail operations. Last time I checked, the price was $5,500 for the hunt (I believe 4-5 days, meals, lodging, guide, etc...) and that includes any buck scoring up to 170". If the buck scores over 170", then the trophy fee is an additional $2,000. No sliding scale. I will keep looking for his website and/or contact info and if I find it, I'll post it. Hope this helps.

Here's the only thing I can find for the Retamosa Ranch. This is the contact info for Hefner Appling, Jr. I'm not sure if it is still accurate or not:

Address: P.O. BOX 1364 EL CAMPO, TX 77437 USA
Voice: 1-409-543-7951 Fax: 1-409-543-2920

I think the website was shut down.

Here's another place in South Texas that seems to be reasonably priced: Brush Country Outfitters. Apparently their South Texas hunts are $3,500. The hunt on nearly 100,000 acres in various counties in South Texas.

While I never hunted there, I have never heard anything bad about the Nail Ranch out of Albany. It has many good recomendations, and you should be able to see bucks in the 150-180 range.

quote:

Originally posted by joe25/06:
While I never hunted there, I have never heard anything bad about the Nail Ranch out of Albany. It has many good recomendations, and you should be able to see bucks in the 150-180 range.

135-150 is probably a reasonable expectation. Maybe they take 1 or 2 that are 160 or better each year.

But I do agree that it is a good ranch and a good option to consider. Just don't expect a huge Deer.

Jerry Huffaker mounts a lot of the deer from here. He would know just aobut as much as anyone about the Nail.

I believe on the Nail or Cook you will have a good hunt, but the quality does fluctuate with anual rainfall. Last year was a hard year. This year ought to be great!

Wendell is correct. Shackelford County does produce some 170+ deer but they are not common and I am not sure that you would necessarily see one from the county every year -- I have not checked the records lately. Properly managed, that is great whitetail country and can be very fun to hunt.

quote:

Originally posted by Eland Slayer:
Here's the only thing I can find for the Retamosa Ranch. This is the contact info for Hefner Appling, Jr. I'm not sure if it is still accurate or not:

Address: P.O. BOX 1364 EL CAMPO, TX 77437 USA
Voice: 1-409-543-7951 Fax: 1-409-543-2920

I think the website was shut down.

If you're interested in this one, use 979 not 409 as the area code.

For those who did not already know, William Hefner Appling, Sr. passed away late last week.

R.I.P.

Charles,

No, I did not hear that. That is too bad. The man really knew how to manage trophy deer.