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Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens #8747035 12/01/22 03:09 PM
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doggit Offline OP
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Can it be done? anyone doing it have any advice?

Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: doggit] #8748344 12/03/22 01:03 AM
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It cab be done but they don’t like pens from my experience


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Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: doggit] #8748502 12/03/22 03:30 AM
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Mike Savoy Offline
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Bottle raise a few doe and start your herd with them.

Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: doggit] #8749593 12/04/22 05:16 PM
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don k Offline
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Mike has some very good advice. Otherwise, you are going to have problems.

Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: doggit] #8750376 12/05/22 03:29 PM
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Dave Scott Offline
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The headquarters for exotics is in Kerrville- give them a call. This bring up an issue I have. These pen raised animals. As I understand it they get re-sold to the "ranches" and then "sports" hang out at the feeders and shoot them. Is that shooting or hunting?

Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: Dave Scott] #8750417 12/05/22 04:15 PM
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don k Offline
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Originally Posted by Dave Scott
The headquarters for exotics is in Kerrville- give them a call. This bring up an issue I have. These pen raised animals. As I understand it they get re-sold to the "ranches" and then "sports" hang out at the feeders and shoot them. Is that shooting or hunting?

What is the difference baiting in Whitetail at a feeder then shooting them? Is that shooting or hunting? How do you hunt Mr. Scott?

Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: doggit] #8750552 12/05/22 07:40 PM
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If it is a large ranch and the fawn was born away from humans, etc.- I would think they would be more cautious approaching a feeder. I've seen a few things on the net where exotics were literally raised in a barnyard pen and fed there. It would seem there would be no wild instinct in them at all. I think it is TX 173 near Bandera- there are fields of exotics out grazing like cattle. Occasionally I'll see various exotics in the Hill Country south of Kerrville (more wild area) and most times they will take off if I stop the car to look at them. Well, then hunting them seems okay.
I don't mean to bust anyone's past time. If the "barnyard" exotic is given time to become wild, etc. then okay. What do other folks think?

Last edited by Dave Scott; 12/05/22 08:14 PM.
Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: Dave Scott] #8750770 12/05/22 11:31 PM
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don k Offline
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Originally Posted by Dave Scott
If it is a large ranch and the fawn was born away from humans, etc.- I would think they would be more cautious approaching a feeder. I've seen a few things on the net where exotics were literally raised in a barnyard pen and fed there. It would seem there would be no wild instinct in them at all. I think it is TX 173 near Bandera- there are fields of exotics out grazing like cattle. Occasionally I'll see various exotics in the Hill Country south of Kerrville (more wild area) and most times they will take off if I stop the car to look at them. Well, then hunting them seems okay.
I don't mean to bust anyone's past time. If the "barnyard" exotic is given time to become wild, etc. then okay. What do other folks think?

You did answer my question Mr. Scott. What method do you use hunting? Do you run around the woods wearing a loin cloth and carrying a spear just to make it fair?

Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: doggit] #8751351 12/06/22 04:39 PM
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What's your problem? Do you have some type of financial stake in this? I did hunt black bear in Canada over bait. All the deer have been in various National Forests, yotes a variety of places, ducks, public water. Doves state WMA's. What's your problem pal?

Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: doggit] #8751646 12/06/22 11:25 PM
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don k Offline
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You are the problem "pal". You go mouthing off that hunting exotics is not hunting, yet you shoot a Bear over bait. You in my opinion got a running mouth and actually know squat.

Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: doggit] #8751690 12/07/22 12:08 AM
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If we ever lose our freedom to hunt it will be because we have destroyed ourselves.

Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: Txhunter65] #8752111 12/07/22 02:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Txhunter65
If we ever lose our freedom to hunt it will be because we have destroyed ourselves.


Great advice....sounds like our current problems with the Country.

Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: doggit] #8752254 12/07/22 04:41 PM
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The bear was a wild animal not a barnyard critter. The nearest road was over 200 miles away. Out of 7 guys hunting that week I was the only one that got a bear. Obviously there is the element of luck involved. The night before I got the bear I did, there was a bigger one came in, stood up back in the brush- couldn't get an arrow through it, and he stood there rock still 20 minutes and then dropped and went off. I never moved but there was something he just didn't like. I think that camp that year had about 10-15 bears harvested.
BUT why attack ME personally as far as my hunting ability or inability- what do I have to do with the issue? First, I haven't yet hunted any exotics but that doesn't mean they are off the list. I'd like to get a blackbuck. My issue is I got calculating things a few years ago.
Pennsylvania lists 25 deer per 1,000 acres as carrying capacity. North Carolina has 30 per square mile (640 acres) so...if you harvest 30% (60% of the bucks) it is around ten per say 600 acres. Yet there are some small exotic operations of about 600 acres and they have about 3 hunters on 3 day hunts where just about everyone is getting something- so 6 animals a week all year, or maybe 300 per year versus 10 in a wildness area.
Now I do "GET IT" Folks today have limited time, they want to get something, there are record numbers of hunters these days, their pals at work are busting their chops that the guy hasn't got a trophy yet- so all this pressure to get anything and hang it on the wall. I do get it but on the other hand I'd be sort of disappointed if I paid $1,800 for a blackbuck hunt and then figured I got duped into something that was a lot less than I thought.
I was going from Rocksprings to Kerrville and saw some gemsbok that I like a lot. I wouldn't mind hunting them. I stopped and got out to look at them. They immediately became alarmed and when I took a few steps they took off. Okay, they were wild. On the other hand I was just south of Elephant Mountain and saw some scimitar/oryx near the road. I again stopped and when I got out to look at them they started walking over toward me- like I had a carrot for them. I've had cattle that were ore spooky.
I guess one answer is to book a hunt at a large ranch with a lot of acres on the hope it is more of a hunt.
I can't be the only guy with these issues. Doesn't anyone else feel the same way?
Question: some animals become "wild" very fast. Does anyone know how long or fast it takes an exotic to turn wild if it has come from a small pen?

Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: Dave Scott] #8753130 12/08/22 04:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Dave Scott
The bear was a wild animal not a barnyard critter. The nearest road was over 200 miles away. Out of 7 guys hunting that week I was the only one that got a bear. Obviously there is the element of luck involved. The night before I got the bear I did, there was a bigger one came in, stood up back in the brush- couldn't get an arrow through it, and he stood there rock still 20 minutes and then dropped and went off. I never moved but there was something he just didn't like. I think that camp that year had about 10-15 bears harvested.
BUT why attack ME personally as far as my hunting ability or inability- what do I have to do with the issue? First, I haven't yet hunted any exotics but that doesn't mean they are off the list. I'd like to get a blackbuck. My issue is I got calculating things a few years ago.
Pennsylvania lists 25 deer per 1,000 acres as carrying capacity. North Carolina has 30 per square mile (640 acres) so...if you harvest 30% (60% of the bucks) it is around ten per say 600 acres. Yet there are some small exotic operations of about 600 acres and they have about 3 hunters on 3 day hunts where just about everyone is getting something- so 6 animals a week all year, or maybe 300 per year versus 10 in a wildness area.
Now I do "GET IT" Folks today have limited time, they want to get something, there are record numbers of hunters these days, their pals at work are busting their chops that the guy hasn't got a trophy yet- so all this pressure to get anything and hang it on the wall. I do get it but on the other hand I'd be sort of disappointed if I paid $1,800 for a blackbuck hunt and then figured I got duped into something that was a lot less than I thought.
I was going from Rocksprings to Kerrville and saw some gemsbok that I like a lot. I wouldn't mind hunting them. I stopped and got out to look at them. They immediately became alarmed and when I took a few steps they took off. Okay, they were wild. On the other hand I was just south of Elephant Mountain and saw some scimitar/oryx near the road. I again stopped and when I got out to look at them they started walking over toward me- like I had a carrot for them. I've had cattle that were ore spooky.
I guess one answer is to book a hunt at a large ranch with a lot of acres on the hope it is more of a hunt.
I can't be the only guy with these issues. Doesn't anyone else feel the same way?
Question: some animals become "wild" very fast. Does anyone know how long or fast it takes an exotic to turn wild if it has come from a small pen?


You cannot compare native whitetail carrying capacity in Pennsylvania to high fenced exotic hunting ranches in Texas.....those two things literally have nothing to do with each other. Our native habitat is Texas varies TEMENDOUSLY due to the size of the state (ranging from semi-tropical forest in the southeast coastal areas to desert in the west, and everything in between). Carrying capacity for some areas with prime habitat might be as high as 1 deer per 5 acres. Other areas might be 1 deer per 20-50 acres (or even worse) where it's very dry and/or rocky. Some areas are also horribly over-populated with whitetails. I know areas in the Hill Country where there is legitimately 1 deer per 2-3 acres (totally free-range) but they are small deer and don't get the necessary nutrition to become trophies most of the time.

Carrying capacity also varies based on species, what that species eats, and how large the animal is (a Bison or Eland will eat as much as 10-15 Blackbuck). Most exotic hunting ranches are located in Central Texas where they get a respectable annual rainfall (20-30" per year) and can carry a combination of browsing and grazing species. I'd say the average high fenced exotic ranch carries an animal per 3-5 acres with average amounts of supplemental feeding. There are some large ranches that do minimal feeding (or no feeding at all) and might only carry an animal per 10-20 acres based on the natural carrying capacity. There are also places that cram as many animals as possible onto their place and feed them like livestock, without a blade of grass to be found (I personally am not a fan of these, but I support their right to do so).

Your assessment of a 600 acre place taking 300 animals a year is laughably incorrect. Very few ranches have the resources, animal inventory, or customer base to do that or to hunt every week year-round. Just because we have the ability to hunt exotics year-round by law, doesn't mean they actually are hunted 365 days a year on most properties. The vast majority of exotic hunting takes place between September and January (i.e. - leading up to and during whitetail season). There are a lot of summer Axis hunts as well, but most people don't want to hunt other animals when it's 100 degrees outside.

Based on my experience, I'd say the "average" commercial hunting ranch in Texas is a 500 - 1,500 acre high fenced property located in Central Texas. It probably has a total animal population of 200-500 animals (probably a combination of whitetail and common exotics like Axis, Fallow, Sika, Blackbuck, Aoudad, Oryx, etc...). Most of the animal populations are naturally self-sustaining/reproducing but they may also bring in a few animals every year or two to help supplement and bring in new bloodlines. They probably feed some level of protein year-round to keep animals healthy, but also have a feed budget. These places probably take between 10-30 trophy hunters per year (a far cry from the 300 in your post above). There are some very large commercial hunting ranches (such as the 777 Ranch, OX Ranch, Recordbuck Ranch, etc...) that take hundreds of trophy animals per year, but these are the exceptions rather than the norm.

Some pen-raised animals can be released on ranches and become wild very quickly. Others will be like farm animals. It's highly dependent on the species and how the animals are treated both before and after release. If you take an Axis buck that was raised in a 5 acre pen and release him on 1,000 acres with heavy cover, you might never lay eyes on that deer again.

What I'm trying to get at with this long-winded post is that exotics, high fences, commercial hunting, and Texas hunting in general is all very complex and cannot be painted with one brush. There are about 1,000 different ways it can be done and it ranges from horrible to magnificent. I will say this..... for folks with no experience hunting exotics or hunting on a high fenced ranch, most have an unrealistic view of it. Many think it's just shooting tame animals in a pen, and although those places do exist, they are definitely not the norm. Most places offer a fair chase experience with animals that are treated like wildlife, not livestock. Some ranches are harder to hunt than others. Some species are harder to hunt than others.

I am basing all the above on my own personal experience....which consists of hunting in Texas for about 30 years, killing 15 different species of exotics in Texas, setting foot on somewhere between 100-200 high fenced ranches, selling ranch real estate for 9 years, and also a brief stint of selling hunting trips and brokering exotic game animals for 2 years.

If you decide to hunt exotics in Texas, do your research and lay out your expectations....and feel free to ask questions here because there are some knowledgeable folks on the forum. But try to refrain from comments like "barnyard critters" and other generally ignorant statements. It will get you a lot farther.


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Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: doggit] #8753187 12/08/22 05:02 PM
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Eland Slayer: Well THANK YOU for the useful information. Much appreciated. In reading the density numbers I mentioned areas in the East with a lot of rain, trees, etc. that could probably support a much higher density so that got my numbers off and then I assumed the harvest on the exotic ranches was too high for sustainable numbers so they must be shipping in animals from breeding operations. THEN, if that was the case- how were these animals introduced to the ranch? They could be put in non hunt areas until they became wild, etc. There was also a Game Warden near Del Rio that was sort of bad mouthing a couple of local operations that colored my opinion. I was given the impression there were breeding operations shipping animals to hunting operations with the animals shot within a day or two. Obviously I was told something not common.
I realize I have to do my own research. I would suspect a small operation and a high fence might be something I wouldn't like but then again it depends on the operation. Fort Clark (Near Del Rio) they have an Axis deal at a good price and I've driven past the area a lot but never went into it. I finally got around last year. I didn't see anything and I can't imagine where you could even shoot a rifle in there. I figure YO Ranch and King Ranch probably put on a good deal. Perhaps the best option is once I get interested in a place to ask on this forum if anyone has hunted there, etc. Your information also makes me feel a little better about the cost of these hunts, I was assuming a lot more animals were being taken that there is.

Last edited by Dave Scott; 12/08/22 05:06 PM.
Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: doggit] #8753978 12/09/22 03:27 PM
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To don k, et al: I want to apologize if I seemed "crabby" I've had some financial set backs, then my church was after me for more money, then my car went belly up and so I was sort of in a bad mood. I am actually a pretty nice guy, it's just this 2 1/2 acre thing seemed like pushing things and as I said this one game warden obviously gave me some false information. In any event, if I offended anyone, consider this an apology. If truth be told, I really like the looks on certain exotics and they are actually on my bucket list to get around to hunting. I was at S. Llano State Park maybe 6 months ago and there was a blackbuck male with some whitetail does- I was there camping/fishing. In any event he was as wild as any whitetail buck.

Re: Raising Blackbuck in 2.5 acre pens [Re: doggit] #8754418 12/10/22 04:22 AM
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Hope things turn around! I think you would be limited to one male. Dang things skewer each other!


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