Texas Exotic Dilemma

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i would recommend the fallow and axis. i have eaten sika, fallow, axis, whitetail, blackbuck, red stag and think those two are the best. now if you had ther chance to get an eland, go for that, because it is better than all the rest.
i chased an axis buck all day long in a 1000 acre high fence area in south texas, and never saw him again after the first 30 second introduction. that is not a canned hunt. maybe he could not actually get away, but i sure could not find him either. for those that do not know, it can be 80-90 degrees in the day during our deer season down here, so don't knock a nice shady blind.:D
 
Yeah, Doc2005, that area around Kerrville is neat country. All along the Guadalupe River, for that matter. Back when Charley III ran the Schreiner Ranch (At 75,000 acres, it was the remains of the original half-million), I knew some of the guides and hung out there from time to time. C-III had Sally the eland and quite a few other exotics as well as some pretty good whitetails. He had one Himalayan Mountain Sheep which could stand flat-footed and jump atop an eight-foot high shed. Mrs. C-III had several jaguars and cougars in her own sorta-zoo.

Art
 
How are you planning on transporting the meat back home?

Probably bone it out and throw it in my monster coolers with some dry ice. Might as well drive. Between TSA, overbooking, and air traffic control, flying doesn't save much time anymore.

Sounds like axis is my best bet, and maybe get a throw rug out of it too.

The black buck antelope is supposed to be the best hunt, according to a friend that has hunted there before. Evidently even the jeeps can't get in range, so it's usually horseback and then walk. No charge for rattlesnakes. Sounds like fun.

Thanks for all the input... and thanks for the warnings about the unethical hunts. I'd heard there were a few out there... I hope I don't ever run across one.
 
I think the place where I hunted was called "Texotic"? There was a business relationship between them and Weatherby. If you bought a Weatherby, you could go on a hunt free of charge at Texotic. One had to pay the guide fees, etc. The guide said they also had deals with other close by ranches for access.

There sure were a lot of real decent people in that area. I did a Google search and didn't come up with any "Texotic" any longer. They must have gone out of business or changed the name.
 
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Guns_and_Labs,

Be careful about planning to bone it out there - in Texas there are some funny laws about processing past quartering on-site. If they have a cold storage/processing facility (which is pretty loosely defined, it can essentially be a shed with a refrigerator in it) and keep a cold storage record book, then it is legal, if they don't, then it is not.

For further information see: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/annual/hunt/carcass/

EDIT: Just realized, this probably doesn't apply to exotic deer, but it is not clear in the annual. It would be worth clarifying.
 
I have to aggree with the people that say not to knock it if you haven't tried it. I just started working on one of these leases, a company-owned lease on the King Ranch :D, and the lease is about 42,000 acres. The ranch, of course, is a whopping 825,000 acres :what: The only exotics on this lease are Feral Hogs and Nilgai, but boy they are fun. Only downside is even with Barnes X-Bullets out of a 300 Win. Mag (Smallest gun the lease allows for Nilgai), if you don't made a perfect shot (through the heart, and nicking it doesn't count), it WILL run off. At that point I, being the "Hunting Guide" (Read: 2-legged retriever), get to go looking for it among the fields of 15 foot tall !@#$%^& sunflowers (Yes they do get that tall)
 
Just realized, this probably doesn't apply to exotic deer, but it is not clear in the annual. It would be worth clarifying.

Doesn't apply to non-native species. And Texas now has more free-ranging Axis, Nilgai, and Blackbuck than their native India. Don't think about trying to eat any of the rams, and good luck if you see them. I can't imagine eating Aoudad. I've only seen one shot, on what some of these know-it-alls would call a canned hunt on a five section ranch. Took a few 350 yard shots across a canyon, and three hours to recover and take to the truck. But it was the nastiest, smelliest creature I've ever been around. I made 4 trips to that ranch for Axis, and never got close enough for a shot. I hunted a high fence ranch (5000 acres) with 3-400 Blackbuck, and none of the 4 of us ever got within 500 yards of one for a shot. So anyway...........get ready to work your butt off. And if someone laughs behind your back, send them down to try it. Axis is by far the best tasting, but I also have fallow and sika in the freezer right now too. I'd have to give Sika the nod tastewise (barely), but the fallow are prettier.

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Based on all the "canned-hunt, high fenced this" and "canned-hunt, high fenced that" comments made by various I-net experts, the uninformed will think Texas is the poster-boy state for canned hunts. They do it there but to say or think it’s the majority hunting opportunity in the state is just wrong.

I doubt many people who haven’t spent time driving the TX country side are aware certain exotics escaped over the years and have established growing populations of free roaming examples and their range is slowly spreading. In the case of the axis deer, not so slowly. Not sure there was ever a “game farm” in the DFW area but I have seen free roaming axis deer in the area. Always singles, never even a small herd but perhaps I didn't see everything. In ten years or so we’ll know if they like N. Texas. Apparently camels seem to. I wish a few of the free-range axis deer herds I used to see running wild and free all over some parts of the Lone Star State would wander up to NC.

There were a couple of news items over the years regarding ostrich and emu farms that went belly-up and just turned loose the whole flock when the money and Purina ran out. I had ostrich once or twice. I thought it was very good eating. So good in fact I doubt free roaming ostriches will ever become a reality in the US.

S-
 
The aoudad population is expanding like mad in the Big Bend Ranch State Park, as well as around it. Danged things are territorial, and will keep mule deer away from water points. Down here, aoudads aren't any different from feral dogs or feral cats...

Art
 
The aoudad population is expanding like mad in the Big Bend Ranch State Park, as well as around it. Danged things are territorial, and will keep mule deer away from water points. Down here, aoudads aren't any different from feral dogs or feral cats...

I used to know guys who would let you shoot them for free, just so the Aoudad would quit breaking their feeders. Then they found out tourists would pay $3500 to shoot one, and now the population is exploding...... Of course, blackbuck will kill whitetails to keep them away from feeders too.........
 
So $3500 for an inedible smelly old sheep. :)

When I think of the leases I could get on for $3500 that whole comment about one being born every day comes to mind.

S-
 
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Audad is a stinky ole sheep not a goat!;)

Actually closer to an antelope.
 
Truthfully I have ended the lives of a few pheasants in my day and they of course are non Native species. I have no problem with big ranch hunts for feral hogs etc. but the fellas that put an Elk in a pen and let you shoot it and afterwards move it to their backdrop and let you take a picture like you went on a big hunt kinda make me sick. If you have to track it and it won't eat from your hand then OK it's legit. But the Petting zoo operations do exist. I spent a couple years in Southwest Texas and I have seen a couple questionable operations there as well as some in Missouri.
 
IMO - anyone that sits on their dead butt in a stand over a feeder or feed plot has no right to suggest that stalking non-native deer thru the hot TX scrub for hours on end represents anything less than 'fair chase'.
Well, opinions are like a holes.....

Now, I need to get that feeder goin'......
I'm not busting on anyone for using a feeder - there little difference to me between a mechanical feeder and deliberately planting forage or even finding natural forage and settin' up camp there. I just can't stand it when someone who stand-hunts over a feeder or sits on a metal platform over a patch of carefully planted forage somehow decides that my hunting is not 'fair chase' because the two square mile ranch that I still-hunt is surrounded by a high fence.

Probably bone it out and throw it in my monster coolers with some dry ice. Might as well drive. Between TSA, overbooking, and air traffic control, flying doesn't save much time anymore.
Don't forget that CA has the AZ/CA border check for fruit and such. Shouldn't be an issue with meat - just smile and tell them that you have no Medditeranean Fruit Flies.

The black buck antelope is supposed to be the best hunt, according to a friend that has hunted there before. Evidently even the jeeps can't get in range, so it's usually horseback and then walk. No charge for rattlesnakes. Sounds like fun.
It is. Bring sturdy boots and pants, and don't be tempted to wear short sleeves. If you're going for black buck, you're probably going to have to assume a prone shooting position in some pretty flinty prickly stuff, so no exposed skin. A brimmed hat (not a baseball cap) is a good thing, both to break up your silhouette and to keep the sun off your neck and ears. Bring a pack or something upon which you can rest the rifle.
 
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