Live from the King Ranch

Our name finally came up on the list after 6-7 years of waiting.

Drove down last night and are doing a cull/management hunt on the Norias Division. Saw quite a few deer this am and some really nice bucks. Beautiful country and feel blessed to get to be on such an iconic ranch.

Headed to town for a quick bite then back at it this pm

Stay tuned....

Love that place! Good luck.

Sweet! for a successful hunt!

Hunted the Norias division about 20 years ago on a spring turkey/Nilgai hunt. Had a blast even though didn't kill anything. We had a guy strike out on his own scouting out a place to turkey hunt and got lost- we spent all of that day looking for him before he was found.

Rut is still going on fairly strong. Quite a few busted up bucks. Didn’t see a single doe that didn’t have one or more bucks on her. This morning the nilgai were everywhere too. Seems like we could drive a 1/4 mile without seeing one.

Weather is beautiful and about to head back out.

Enjoy,

Post pics sir

Pulling back into the King.

Buck down! Snakes on the scoreboard. 8pt with a kicker. 130ish.

Nice!!!

Buck #2 down! Details to follow

What took you guys so long?

Very nice buck. Waiting on pictures of #2.

greattttttttttttttttttt

Limited reception. Full play by play to follow later. Great day. Great ranch.

Awesome!

Good times.

Love that place.

Outstanding, I’m jealous but proud you guys are getting it done!!

Congrats!!! What a beautiful place to hunt!

Glad it is a good time

Brutes!!! Congrats looking forward to the write up.

Nice. Was this the Management hunt?

Congrats!

awesome

Outstanding and congrats
Looking forward to the hunt details for each

Congrats on the 2 bucks! Had to be a great trip for you.

We had a great experience hunting the King Ranch. I had got my name on the list back in 2014 and told them I was interested in coming for a cull, management, or a trophy hunt — score was not necessarily as important to me as getting a chance to see and experience a historic ranch and walk away with a mature buck. I got the call this past fall that my name had come up and that they had an opening for me and my business partner Snake. Was given a few options on dates and booked it.

Cull hunts are one day hunts per hunter and do not include any meals or lodging. It is my understanding that is not the case with management bucks and certainly not the case with trophy hunts, which apparently take a very long time to move up the list (if ever). We were told culls are 5.5/6.5 year old 8 or 9 points grossing <130 or an old 10 pt 7.5 years+.
They were very strict on their field judging and age estimation. If a buck was borderline, the buck got the benefit of the doubt. The truck is finding a cull that is nice but not too nice. Needless to say due to amazing genetics and strict management plan, there are not a ton of options, but we did see over a dozen or more bucks that fit the criteria. We save too many to count young bucks and numerous bucks 140-150. Biggest buck we saw was a 160 class clean 6x6 that was simply gorgeous.

Snake and I made the 9 hour drive down from DFW on Thursday and stayed at the Holiday Inn in Raymondville as we were going to be hunting the Norias Division, the southernmost of the King. We met our guide Steve at the Norias Gate at 6am. After introductions, waiver signing etc we loaded up. Hunting is conducted by truck — driving the ranch roads, glassing, and few opportunities of getting out and spot and stalking. We did not hunt in blinds, over feeders, or over corned roads/senderos.

Snake was the shooter for the first day and I was an observer/spotter. Only he was allowed to bring a rifle and I rode in the back seat. We started off in the West Saltillo pasture just east of Norias HQ at first light. Came across an amazing looking heavy horned 9 pt but he was prob in the 140s so he got the pass. We drove throughout that pasture which was fairly open with tall grass, live oak motts and scattered mesquites. I unfortunately didn’t bring the charger for my good camera and was stuck with just using my iPhone.



A few acorns were still dropping from the oaks and the majority of deer were said to be held up in the more densely treed pastures to the east so we then moved on to the East Saltillo and Frijol Pastures where we began seeing more and more deer. Bucks were on does and could care less when we rolled up on them. Nilgai were around every corner and rutting hard as well.





A small cull we came across in the oaks and a management 10 pt at a feeder





We spotted a nice 9 pt deep in the oaks so we got out to put a stalk on him. We wove our way thru for a couple hundred yards but couldn’t get a clean shot and he slipped away.



We came across 5 bucks feeding under some oaks and Snake picked the one that he liked. He connected and dropped him with his 280ai — a 100 yd shot needles through the oaks. He taped out in the mid 120s.




Because Snake tagged out early, they let my “1 day” hunt start with that afternoon and the following morning if necessary. We headed back to the East Saltillo and Frijol given the numbers of bucks we had seen earlier. We saw a few more smaller culls that were nothing special. Then we came around a bend in the road and saw my buck about 200 yds out. I got out of truck but before I could get positioned, he moved off into the brush. We set off on foot and stalked into the thick Live Oaks. Again, the trees were so thick that we couldn’t get a clear shot. After bumping him a couple times and a couple hundred yards, the buck doubled back slowly in the direction of the road. We skirted around him and got back to the road before he did. We spotted him about 150 yds away on the edge of the road which gave me time to get prone in the middle of the road snd wait for him to step out in the open. He did. Took my shot with my 280ai at about 130 yds. He went about 50 yds and piled up. He scored roughly 125.



Overall an amazing experience. Our guide was professional, courteous, knowledgeable, and a great guide. Every aspect was highly organized. I highly recommend doing this hunt.

Thank you for the recap. That’s an awesome experience, and while I have a tinge of envy, I’m 100x more excited for you to have been able to do it. I hope you shoulder mount those for the stories!

Thanks for the hunt recap, sounds like you guys had an awesome time hunting great deer country
Congrats again to you two

Very cool, heck of a trip.

From someone who knows, awesomeness right there.

Did you see any dunes?

Congrats on two really nice 'cull bucks' and a great hunt.

hoping to get a nilgai late this year!!

beautiful country

Well done on all accounts!

Great pics and story. Thanks for sharing. This was awesome to see and read.

Thanks for sharing!!

That’s awesome!! What historic ranch are you hunting next year?

yeah, didnt he hunt the Waggoner last year(or before?)

Yes, I admire the heck out of it. Think it’s really cool.

Haha. Right?! Definitely been on some cool ranches the last few years.

I’m open to suggestions for next time, amigo!

http://melloncreekoutfitters.com/

Looks like a great place

Great read, thanks for sharing

I think I’d like to hunt tlk’s ranch next year. His deer may be better than the King and the Waggoner.

I’m happy to volunteer to make a site visit and ground check a buck or two

That is awesome. My first quail and deer hunting experience was on the king. I was supposed to go to South Dakota on my first pheasant hunt but my uncle had backed out on me again. I was only 13 and my mom had found a dr and his son from Utah (I believe) through the Dallas Times Herald that offered for me to join them on their quail hunt. All I had to do was get to the airport and they would take me from there. Pretty crazy how times have changed. My mom dropped me off at love field with my shotgun, and clothes to meet a couple strangers.

I wish I remembered their names or even the part of the ranch that I was on because I would reach out and thank them for the life long memories. Also pretty cool to hunt the same section of the ranch that President Bush Senior hunted himself. Now I want a nilghai bull.

That’s really cool. Great memories for sure!

I vote 06, time to head west

Great story and pics. I hunted there about 22 years ago on Spring Turkey hunt with Jarred Peoples on a archery hunt. I believe the same section you were on. Never saw so many animals. I harvested a Javalina,gobbler and hog before 4 pm the first day. Found a ton of sheds to boot. Congrats

Awesome hunt. Congrats

Aught Six in Colorado? I’ve had my eye on that for a while. I like those jay scott podcasts.

Congrats!