Never thought about doing this but I have heard there are ranches in Texas and other places that have african animals. Looked at a Gemsbok mount and another long horned antelope. They were great.
Since I can't afford africa, I was thinking about a Texas ranch hunt. How muc h would this set a guy back ?

It will all depend on how you feel about hunting behind a high fence.

Recently I saw an add for eland hunts at $3500.00.

The sky is the limit here in Texas when it comes to exotics.

The problem as you will probably found out with this question is other peoples attitudes.

If you have no problem paying the $$$$ and taking the shot, then go for it.

Is it hunting in Africa, No.

Do you get a good trophy, plus the meat to take home, Yes.

Will some folks label you as anything but a hunter, You Betcha.

There are some really good operations here in Texas for both African and Asian Hoofstock, it will all depend on your personal attitude toward the situation.

Aside from a long flight and the expense of a plane ticket, and not getting the meat, I believe Africa is still cheaper. The trophy fees for Texas exotics, mainly African Plainsgame that I looked at were double or better, my buddy hunted gemsbok, auodad, and blackbuck,and said he would rather do Africa again, it just wasn't the same. This ranch located North west of San Antonio, was quite small compared to those in the Limpopo, and he stated they just don't have the options of various game species as they do in Africa. But it was a lesson learned...The bottom line, Its just not AFRICA!!!!

Yep, in most instances,you can fly to Africa, take the animal you want, and fly home for less than you can take one behind a high fence here.

Here is a link to one gemsbok hunt: Texas Gemsbok Hunt Link
It is $250 per day plus a $5,000 trophy fee.

Save up and go to Africa for your hunt. It just takes setting the goal, saving your money, and a lot of research. The key is to set your goal and start saving today!!

......at least I had to save up.

......and, it is not going to get any cheaper.

Bob

Dreams do come true if we make the effort.

I am a booking agent selling hunting and fishing trips worldwide, but I also outfit whitetail and exotic hunts in Texas. I can sell you a gemsbok hunt in Texas and show you a great time. However, I would highly recommend doing it in Africa over Texas unless you just can't justify going or, like a few of my clients, refuse to sit on a plane for 18 hours.

There are a lot more folks who know they'll never go to Africa than there are that know they will, so exotic hunting on a ranch will always have a place for someone.

The economics are close if you want multiple trophies on one life-time hunt in Africa but going for a few of the right animals locally is much cheaper than trip to Africa.

The trick is to do your homework. There are many contributing factors to fees, not the least of which is over population on a particular ranch. If you aren't picky, ask what the fee is for a female. Male Gemsbock sell for $4000 -$5000 but if there are too many females they'll go for half that. Scimitar-horned Oryx females go for $1500 or so, female Eland as little as $1500.

Common exotics (axis, blackbuck, auodad, fallow, etc) can go for $1200 to $1900 depending on quality. A lot of ranches will let you shoot pigs/coyotes and like for free after you've taken a real full-price trophy animal.

If you're not in a hurry, wait for the price of oil to crash. Surplus cash is driving the prices up right now but tht will change, like all else.

I hunted with the DRSS on a Ranch in Texas for wild pigs and eland.

I hunted a cow eland with my 450 No2 double rifle. We hunted on foot and had a blast.
I "worked" harder for this eland than many of the animals I have taken in Zimbabwe.

The Trophy fee was $700.00 and I got to take the meat home.

Was it Africa, no, but it was a fun challenging hunt, and a weekend spent with a bunch of great guys.

"Exotic" game hunts are what you make of them.

Done right thay are a lot of fun and can be a challange. PLUS you get to keep the meat.

What I have found with the exotic hunts in Texas, and yes I went once, is that I had a great time,BUT a very short time. You get a couple of days on a Texas ranch and it's over with. If you can shoot, you can get your game. On that basis it just doesn't seem like it's worth the effort. I drove to Texas because I wanted to, but I can fly to Africa in about the same time. Added more time hunting pigs, eating good Bar-B-Que, absorbing the Alamo, oggling the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame in Waco etc. That being said, I'm tinkering with a combo hunt for some kind of big ass antelope, more pigs, and an alligator. Plus more barbeque. I love Montana but these damn Yankees can't cook barbeque or Mexican food.

The question was not about hunting exotics, it was about african hoof stock...........big difference in hunts and price.

However, like NE 450 No2 said, exotic hunts can be fun, and on the right ranch, can be a challenging hunt. The best part about them, IMHO, is that you can do them all year.

Bob

I suppose it's a great idea if you just want to shoot the animal, but it kind of defeats the purpose of hunting Gemsbok, Kudu, Eland, etc. The primary purpose of going hunting in Africa is to be IN AFRICA. The purpose of hunting African animals is to hunt them IN AFRICA. If the local zoo drew elephant tags, I sure as hell wouldn't go shoot one - it totally misses the point of hunting 'exotic' game.

People can do whatever they want as long as it's legal, and I'm not necessarily against it, but for me, the vast majority of fun in hunting African animals lies in the trip and being in the environment.

I've enjoyed my hunts in west Texas, and all of them have been on low fence (or no fence!) properties.

The exotics have become firmly established in the wild there, so any decent size ranch will have blackbuck, axis, fallow, sitka and other animals crossing back and forth.

I like to hunt there in the early summer, as I'm feeling some hunting "withdrawal", and I enjoy being out in the early mornings and late afternoons.

The trophy fee is whatever your ranch owner asks...I usually pay about $800 to $1200 depending on what I'm hunting for.
I still haven't seen a free ranging Nilgai on the properties I've been on, only their tracks.
The ranch owner had shot a bull eland shortly before I was last there. Even with good shot placement it took about 4 rounds from his truck rifle (308 Winchester) to drop the animal.
We ate some of the steaks while I was visiting.

Total cost of my last hunt for fallow deer: about $2000, which includes airfare and lodging (plus trophy fee). Shipping the meat back was another $300 using FedEx overnight...but, the deliver was a day late (it was still frozen solid in the center), so the shipping cost was refunded by FedEx.

Garrett

There is a ranch in Texas offering Cape Buffalo for a trophy fee of $50,000. You could go to Africa and kill two for less than half that price. The same ranch has gemsbock for $6500.

I think if you hunt one animal in Texas it could be cheaper than Africa. There are plains game hunts in Namibia, Botswana, SA that could allow you to hunt 5 animals far cheaper than you could in Texas.

I hunt in Texas fairly often. We have blast hunting free range nilgai (I know it is from India but it is kind of close to Africa) in south Texas. They can be tough to hunt.

We also shoot Axis (from India also) in a 6000 acre high fence ranch in the hill country but it is just not quite the same as hunting free range animals. We alway have a good time on the hunts and end up with some good meat.

I have never been to Africa but I am going to Tanzania in September. To some degree I anticipate shooting the animals will be secondary compared to the overall experience of being in Africa.