This might be a bit long so if you just want to see pictures they are posted below. I left a post on the S4 thread here for pricing. I received a PM and called about a quick day hunt and much to my surprise Tucker fit my wife and I in. The first day hunt we were able to spot a nice chocolate fallow. we were in a position where the wind was right and we hadn't been seen, Tucker was on his game letting me know what was going on as I got my crap together and got settled behind the rifle. There is no way I could have kept my eyes on the animal and made that shot. I had less than a second to make a tight shot he was on the move crossing a trail before disappearing on the other side into the thicket. I returned home that evening and the next day my wife had expressed that she would like to go back and hunt a blackbuck. Thrilled at the opportunity to get back in the woods I picked up the phone. Once again Tucker fit us in for a day hunt on that next Thursday.
We arrived early afternoon and we sat in a blind, which to be honest is not my style of hunting. Without getting too long winded here my wife missed her shot high. Partially my fault for putting her behind a rifle she was not familiar with and I'm sure a bit of nerves. I spotted the clean high miss. We then went on foot to the house after I informed Tucker that she missed. We re-grouped and later caught up with the same bachelor group in a large field. They were either going to bed down in the field or move to the east into the thicket. We set up and the blackbuck had a choice to make and they chose wrong. I shot this time, the shot was a bit longer and she elected to pass. I know she could have made the shot but I think the previous miss was still rattling around in her head. That evening my wife expressed her frustrations with the missed shot. It also doesn't help that I was razzing her a bit about it. We made the decision that if a certain animal that I had chased prior gave us a chance she had the green light. That Friday morning we saw a little action, but not what we were looking for... I'm more than happy with this because regardless of what some may think about high fences, there is no canned hunt at this ranch. We hunted hard all day Friday and that evening I made the decision to sit in a stand. Mainly because I was beat and why not... whats the worst that could happen? Well, I have my first blind/stand kill under my belt by way of a nice big female bobcat. A nice bonus and it is my first big bobcat. At this point our extend day trip was over, but Tucker offered for us to stay another night to continue our search. I understand that this is a business, but he genuinely cared about my wife's hunting success. That morning is was a bit cooler and we had a lot more movement, but again not the animal we were looking for. We decided not put anymore pressure on the animals, as I mentioned, we hunting hard on Friday and honestly probably pushed harder than we should have. that was my fault, I tend to get hyper focused on a goal and go a bit overboard. We went into town to grab a burger and hang out for a bit. We returned to the ranch around 3 and I decided on the same stand as the last 2 sits. We had seen this animal on Friday briefly in the area of this stand so I thought by chance we may have some luck. So at 5:24pm the animal we were hoping for walks out from behind a large tree. My heart beating out of my chest... I honestly don't know that I could have made the shot as stupid as it sounds, I was more excited than I ever have been. This was finally her chance with the rifle she has spent all of her time behind, and she was walking through the paces. I set the rifle up, she made her adjustments to parallax and dialed down the mag, safety off, steady breathing, and squeeze..... clear clean heart shot and DRT. She had harvested a beautiful white fallow buck. I couldn't have been more thrilled as this animal was probably the hardest to hunt on the entire place. This was my first time to hunt an injured animal and they get smart fast. He had a right hind Achilles injury from a predator.
Tucker, I want to thank you publicly for your willingness to work with us on timing and dealing with my calls prior to our hunt. Thank you for allowing us to stay at the ranch longer than we had agreed to. Thank you for giving my wife the chance to harvest her first trophy animal. Most importantly, thank you for being just a good human being. Just over 3 months and I will see you for that Axis hunt buddy!
To anyone looking for a well priced hunt, quality animals, good accommodations, and great people get in touch with Tucker 817-888-2607.
Sounds like a pretty great hunt. I agree with you that some HF places aren't exactly canned hunts. That's great that your wife was able to put that miss behind her and knock down a trophy.
Sounds like a fun time, congrats! My advise , based on what I've seen online, get that bobcat skinned out with the paws on it get it tanned for a rug or cased. You can handle it, move it around and not have to worry about if it's going to look like your bobcat after a mount is done. You can hang it anywhere then or lay on a piece of furniture. The cased hide will make it look nice and long, paws off looks fine as well.