Let’s play a hypothetical....stocking your Ranch

Being in the business I often wonder what I would do with property if I myself owned it.

Let’s have a hypothetical scenario. Let’s say you bought a 700 acre property in bandera county. Good mix of hills and more level type terrain. Say 70/30. Not overrun with cedar but does have some. Two stock tanks for water plus whatever troughs you install.

Property has a 8’ perimeter high fence but only has native whitetail in it.

You hve budgeted for the following :

Introducing TWO common species of exotics, OR, 1 exotic species and genetically superior whitetail OR 1 species of super exotic ( kudu, sable, eland, etc)


Genetically superior whitetail only is not an option. You can choose to kill out the whitetail and add a 3rd common exotic.


Interested in hearing your responses and I’ll share mine.

I work at a ranch with high end deer, they are fragile and die easy. I would just let the deer get some age on them and be happy. The exotic would be elk, and probably Blackbuck. Elk are very hearty and while i know basically nothing about blackbuck, i like the way they look

I would consult some professionals before I made a decision like that. Personally I think axis and blackbuck would be good but I have zero experience with exotics other than a few that have wandered to the wrong side of a fence.

HF with just native WT is good.
I think exotics are not that big of a deal.

Work with your native deer, maybe introduce a supplement feeding program and see what age and supplements do for your herd. I would want a healthy population of whitetail to start with. I might also add to my native whitetail herd some bred doe from a good reputable ranch to strengthen my genetics. I'm not a fan of exotics, causes competition for food and such as axis, they tend to push whitetail away from the supplement feed stations. Just my 2cents, good luck!!

Take this for what it's worth; I'm from Idaho and we aren't allowed to "farm" any of our wildlife to speak of, so don't know a lot. I do hunt in Texas every year and have been on some good ranches, and some even have exotics on them in limited numbers. The ones I am experienced in range from 300 to 2400 acres, and all except one have been low fenced. The one around Seguin was 1200 and fenced. 700 acres doesn't seem like an exceptionally large property, so agricultural improvements would be smaller, but more of them.

My first concerns would be the availability of year round water, next natural grasses like gramma and blue stem, and good browse conditions, followed by some minor types of food plots like Wild Life Systems or Tecomate. You could raise. the average score of your native deer 10-15 points with better nutrition. I believe all of Bandera County is on the Plateau so rocky (?) and water runs off quickly. Can water catchments be improved or fortified??

Like the others said, consult some professionals for their input. There have to be hundreds of ranchers doing the same thing, some better and some worse.I might look to TPWD WMA's like Mason Mt for their recommendations since they try to keep all their exotics naturally sustaining with native deer.

My personal leanings would be towards native deer only, and add axis deer, and probably blackbuck. As for super exotics, I love the look of gemsbok, scimitar, or kudu and sable but I could never afford them and don't want the hassle of trying to keep them separated all the time. Having been to Africa and hunted them it wouldn't be the same. If my fences were good I might add a couple dozen bison for a meat animal every once in a while.

It is fun to think and dream of such things. Hoping to return to the Hill Country in a few years, so who knows what might happen. I'm a hunter, not a biologist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once.

Camels are where it's at. Camels.

Leave the whitetail alone, manage accordingly. Add a handful of Axis.

I would only work with the native whitetails if it were my place. This video is from 2003 and it was a native Bandera County buck that was born when this ranch was LF and then later HF after he was 1.5 or 2.5 yr olds. There are really good genetics in a lot of areas of the county. I would never bring in any exotics on a place I owned. IME and IMO they will out compete the WT and eat you out of house and home.

Same except I would also add a handful of Japanese Sika.

Says video unavailable

It shows and plays for me.

Let the wt grow, introduce a few axis and maybe a couple elk.

My opinion is not based on science, only my wants. I would manage the WT and introduce either Axis or Blackbuck and see how it worked out. If it worked out, I would introduce the other to have WT, Axis, and Blackbuck. Of course, my scenario is based on the assumption that I could afford all the supplemental feeding.
If I had to stick with two, it would be the WT and Axis.

I’m in the “no exotics to compete with the whitetail” camp. Build a 15 or so acre high fence in a prime habitat area of the ranch that includes cover and a permanent water source. Buy 15 bred high end genetic does, preferably 3 or 4 years old from 2 or 3 sources and put in the 15 acres along with a breeder buck from another source. The does will have their fawns and then be bred back by the breeder buck. The spring of year two after the does have been bred back, release all the deer in the 15 acres onto the ranch. You want to do this in the spring after the bucks have shed their antlers so any native bucks won’t kill your young improved genetic yearling bucks or the breeder buck.

During the two years you are building your high end genetics to release, kill as many of the native does as possible (I guarantee you won’t be able to kill them all). Does contribute more to the gene pool than bucks, but you can’t tell which native does have good genetics, so remove as many as possible, You know the high end does you release do possess superior genes and you want these does to be your ongoing breeding stock. Your high end does will be tagged when they are delivered to your ranch, so this will enable you to protect them from hunters once they are liberated out of the 15 acres.

I’d also try and kill as many of the native bucks, but if you have some better than average genetics, you may want to establish a cull criteria on the native bucks. After the deer are liberated and you are waiting on the improved genetic bucks to grow up, you could add some stocker bucks to hunt. You may also want to add 3 or 4 more bred does every few years to continue diversifying the genetics.

This model works, but does take some patience.

Add some unicorn.

This agree on Axis for the meat

Native white tail and add axis.

I'd manage the native herd of whitetail and add blackbuck/scimitar. If needed, they can be kept out of feeder pens to allow whitetail sole access to protein. I've seen axis bully the whiteatail out. I wouldn't want anything really big on the feed bill.

I think what you do depends entirely on how you intend to use the ranch. Is it to make money or is it for personal enjoyment?

Dang it. Still not working for me....I wanted to see this buck with good genetics....

My 2 cents for what it’s worth is 700 acres isn’t enough land, although it’s a lot more than I have, for 3 big time targets. So I’d focus on one and have a small herd of whatever other to mess with for fun. I’d go with improving native WT herd by adding pedigreed Texas Doe to my herd and I’d have 15-20 quality axis for fun and meat.

This. The meat is delicious.

My personal opinion.... (without having any actual knowledge of the property of course)

I would split the property into two 350 acre pastures....whichever pasture had the best whitetail habitat, I would use for only intensive whitetail management (no exotics). The other pasture I would focus on strictly exotics with Axis, Blackbuck, Scimitar Oryx, and one of the higher end sheep species such as Red Sheep or Transcaspian Urials.

Is this for you to hunt or are you wanting to make money having hunters come out to the ranch? Since your asking, I'm assuming it's to make money otherwise you would just add what you wanted. In my opinion, depending on the habitat, I would be thinking of what is going to make it unique and a place that people will want to come to instead of going somewhere else. Common exotics are all over the place, so why would anybody want to hunt your place instead of one that might be cheaper and more established? Of the super exotics, I'd avoid sable like the plague. They are just too dangerous. So make sure you pick safe animals. I've also heard this about waterbuck, wildebeest, zebra and roan. I'm sure that there are others to avoid on medium sized acreage. Blessbuck are cheap and stupid in Africa, but seem to sell for a premium here. Same thing with impala and springbuck. Ibex and Markhor seem to sell well and get top dollar. As goats, they tend to be more hardy then sheep and they are impressive to see when out on the land. No hybrids, just top genetics and wait until they get to trophy quality before offering them to be hunted.

This^^^^^^and maybe a handful of bison.....

I'll play! I would add axis deer and blackbuck antelope. Both do well in Texas, are fun and challenging to hunt, and yield great meat. They also reproduce and grow relatively quickly. I think native Bandera Co. whitetail can be managed for development in a high-fence ranch with the right feed and selective hunting, which is sometimes tough on low-fenced properties that may not be surrounded by like-minded QDMers.

Great idea, if you could release them after two years. Unfortunately, under current TPWD regulations that came about due to CWD, all imported deer (and offspring) must remain on the release site. Otherwise, you'll fall back to NMQ and have to submit 80% of all fatalities or hunter killed deer for CWD testing. For three years, I believe. I could be wrong on the duration. Now days, the very best method of improving your genetics and top end deer are DMP pens.

I'd manage the WT herd and make habitat improvements and start a supplemental feeding program to maximize the genetic potential of the native deer. Them I'd add a handful of Axis because I like the way they look and taste. And then, depending on the terrain, I'd chose between Blackbuck (if there is a more open area for them to hang out in) or white Fallow (if the land is more forested.) I like both of those exotics for the way they look and the hunting / eating potential, although I favor fallow as table fare.

I'd concentrate my efforts to developing the whitetail population and later maybe a few Axis.
Too much competition will cause problems.

TTT

Giraffes and a few zebras

I would only want to manage the native WT. I would only bring in deer to keep from inbreeding down the line and I would hope to be able to somehow capture deer from my LF neighbors to accomplish this.

We've done that twice. Problem with TTT is you never know for sure what you're getting in the does.

I'd manage the native WT. If I needed some axis to eat just go elsewhere and plug a couple.

. A couple Sasquatches sure to bring em in...

Don’t waste money bringing in superior genetic WT unless you kill all natives first. Or, you can waste the next 20 yrs proving for the several thousandth time that natives genetics will drag your high dollar deer back down to their level. If you want more than a max of 160” then you’ll need something other than natives (I’m right. Anyone who disagrees is wrong).

Antelope don’t compete much with WT. I have ~ 40 scimitar, some kudu, over 40 blackbuck and 13 Arabians in a 350 acre pasture with my improved WT (~ 100 WT). I feed alfalfa in the winter and it’s relatively cheap.

Axis are popular but they are hard to hold on my ranch and values are low compared to WT. plus you have to feed lots of does for a sustainable herd. Only deer species I’ll raise now are WT for that reason.

Oryx male and female have trophy value so if you’re interested in $ that’s something to consider. Elk are super hard to hold. Plus elk, red stag, and sika are under cwd restrictions so you have to test harvested animals (a risk I won’t take).

Given the size of any hunting property I'd ever likely own, I think I'd best plan on New Zealand white rabbits, Peruvian guinea pigs and European hamsters. Then I could brag about the exotics on my property.

Peruvian guinea pigs eat pretty good if you make a nice sauce to go with them.

Ok, I’ll throw in my answer.

While Hill Country native genetics can produce some nice racks they aren’t gonna be south Texas type deer, so I would leave the native stock in place and manage them secondary to my two exotics, axis deer and a large sheep type like a stumberg or Hill Country bighorn

For me, axis are such good table far and are pretty much a staple game animal thst I would want them.

I’m also a sheep nut and these Hill Country bighorns have intrigued me, when I didn’t think they would be successful, the stumbergs are beautiful as well and quite large, both of which I like

I'm thinking about going to the sale barn and getting some longhorns and offer hunts. If they are in fact getting $1400 for one, it might be worth it. Buy them as yearlings, turn them out for a few years then bring in some hunters.
I don't have any livestock on my place and the grass is stirrup deep. Over the last few years the only thing I've done is plant black eyed peas for the deer. The dang hogs stay after it, but it give me something to shoot at all the time and the deer seem to be doing well on it. For me I don't want anything but WT and I'm willing to wait for them to mature/ I do enjoy sitting in the blinds watching them go after my Indian Corn. But I don't want to add any other types of wildlife to my place.

Hire Augustus McRae as your foreman and let him raise a herd...a herd of whores, maybe.

If Axis were not already on the ranch I would add them, if there was already a herd of Axis I would go with red stags as my first choice. Second if I had another choice would be blackbuck. As most have stated I would try to manage the original WT herd that exists.

Stay away from red deer, very distructive, been there done that!!!!!

Wipe out the whitetail. Then add camels, goats and llamas.