Just a question I've been curious about for a while...

Is it possible to just go HUNTING at a lot of these exotic ranches and lodges?

What I mean is not have to pay for some luxury 2 and 3 night stay at some lodge with 3 course meals, have a "guide" drive you around in a ranch vehicle for an expensive ride, clean and cape your animal, and whatever else most places charge you for to come hunting at their place. Can you just pay to go hunting, that's it, no frills or anything, just basically DIY on their ranch where you pay for the animal you shoot.

If you owned land costing millions of dollars and invested hundreds of thousands in fencing and building up heards of exotics, would you let somebody you didn't know "hunt" your land on their own and rely on them being honest on what they did, or how many animals they wounded, or could pay for the size of animal or species that they shot?

A very good answer Eddie

I agree this is 100% accurate

I have seen some exotic hunts thst were no frills, but I have never heard of anyone just letting you hunt their place without supervision. I would gave to agree with Eddie’s post.

If your looking to bow hunt there are some options where they let you go DIY. If that interests you PM me.

I didn't quite mean just run free and do whatever you want on someone else's property. What I'm more getting at is, is it seems like a lot of hunts I've seen, the ranch jacks up their prices and gets you for all these other things that don't have to do with hunting or you can easily do on your own. Such as, just an example, say a blackbuck hunt for 2300$ and 3 night stay all meals included along with cleaning and processing of animal. Would places, if you called and asked them, I just want to hunt, don't need meals, don't need to stay, just want to hunt, shoot my animal, and get on down the road, sell this animal at a lower rate?

These are things I do not know as I have never been to a commercial hunting ranch/lodge other than my own place and friends.

I paid $1,500 for my free range sika deer hunt on a large range near Sonora TX through Muley Mike a few years ago. I paid to stay in a hotel and I paid for all my meals in town. The hunt started when I got to the ranch and met the guide. We drove around in his Mule Pro, and after I shot my animal, he gutted it and skinned it out while I drank one of his beers. If you are looking for paying less, there are places out there that do this. But in the end, the costs come out to be the same when you factor in hotel and restaurants.

Yes, many will do this. You are looking for a day hunt. You'll still have a guide and that will be included the price. However, there are a bunch that offer hunts without meals and lodging. If your hunt lasts more than a day, it is probably cheaper to just go for the package.

one thing to consider is that for most of these ranches that have lodges and amenities, they have costs sunk into the ranch that includes animals, lodging, utilities, UTV's etc... so other than beer and food, and paid labor hours for hired help on your hunt, their cost basis in that animal or in the hunt, is the same whether you stay there or not. they will not be saving money on the cost of the hunt when you stay at a hotel or in your truck, so there isn't much they could pass on to you. they are providing a nicer hunting solution than just a bare piece of land would offer.

so, when you say they jack up the prices on things that don't have to do with hunting, it is probably not how they look at it. for them everything at the ranch is tied to the cost of hunting. including property taxes, electricity, fence maintenance, roads...

i realize you want the best value for your dollar as we all do, I just wanted to give you some perpective from the ranch owner side.

Another thing is that a blackbuck at 2300 isn’t but 900 over replacement cost (IF he’s an average 18” one). Not sure how meals, booze, TIME, feed, infrastructure, staff, etc is “jacking up the price”.

Yes, you don’t know the details, and we aren’t being rude. We’re just filling you in on those details you don’t know, that make a 2300 blackbuck hunt one of the best values out there.

Very true Rancher. I don't allow any hunting on my place except for WT. I raise Nubian Ibex Goats. I don't hunt them I sell to other people that do. Those on here that don't actually raise anything or have people come out to hunt do not realize how much work and expense is involved. I have a small cabin that folks can use when I have WT hunters. Most would rather stay in a smokey motel in Bandera. I have lost 2 Nubian Ibex males this year. One was to coyotes and the other I have no idea. So in the long run I have lost around $8000 on the two Ibex if I kept them another couple of years. I spend around $15 dollars a day now in feed since it is not winter. In Winter the cost goes up. I spend a couple of hours a day just feeding and seeing If I can cure what ails the Ibex. The rest of the day is spent fixing stuff that goes along with owning property. There is no way in the world I would lodge, feed, guide and baby sit hunters. I do no need the money that bad. I take off my hat tp those that do it.








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Thread from the dead, but if anyone is curious, this is exactly what I offer at my place. I tell guys it would be just like going to your buddies ranch, just pay for the animal. Plus I can do the hunts for quite a bit cheaper. All Im trying to do is cover our taxes on the place and recoup a little for repairs around the ranch. The only downside is I dont have the big monsters everybody is after since I cant slang protein all year long, which again helps with my costs. Anyway look for my posts in Exotic hunting for my offerings.

Sounds like a deal if a person who really wants to hunt should take you up on.

day hunt blackbuck sitting right here

http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbth...ay_Hunts#UNREAD

I also think that when people decide to spend the money on an exotic hunt, most of them want it to be an experience, not just a hunt. You get to stay at accommodations that are orders of magnitude better than our usual hunting cabins, you get to have great meals, hang out with hunters from all over the place, drink good booze. It's like a vacation, but centered around hunting an animal that most of us don't have access to. I haven't a chance to do it (I'm blessed with friends who have ranches with exotics), but I definitely see the appeal and that's why they are so popular.

Texas ranches have exotics that will rival most locations in the world for some of these species, and in some cases (Dama gazelle, Addax, Scimitar-horned Oryx) offer animals no longer huntable anywhere else. Sure, you can probably shoot better red stag and fallow in NZ or Argentina, but that's going to cost you BIG bucks. When you factor the convenience of driving a few hours, staying at a great ranch, shooting an amazing animal (using your regular guns, with the hunting license you already had, no extra fees) and then getting to keep all the meat and being able to drive to your favorite taxidermist in your own truck, the cost comparisons change.

A few years ago I looked into a cow elk hunt in Wyoming or Colorado, and by the time you factored in the out-of-state hunting license, fees, tags, travel expenses, lodging, etc, it was a lot cheaper to sign up for a local exotic hunt. As with many things, we are BLESSED in Texas!