Lonesome Bull Ranch

Going to Lonesome Bull Ranch tomorrow will let everyone know how it turns out.

cool deal. may I ask what your after?

Cow Elk, just looking for meat in the freezer.

Good luck

x2

Can't wait for pics...

Awesome Fallow TCB

Thank you I will post pictures when I get back.

Meat hunt will be ok there but the owner and ranch manager are a joke and there idea of a trophy hunt if a 200 acre pen by the main house. Good luck and have fun

Thank you!

Good luck

What you've heard about from it?

do what ???? Ive been to it and wont go back if its free is what i can tell yA. I wasnt doing meat hunt though

Best of luck to you....you will need it from all the horror stories I have heard about that place.

They seem to have a very good price for Barasingha Deer bulls, hmmmm......

Its a good deal for a reason.... just take it as that... Kinda a hit and miss when it comes to trophy animals far as what they say is out there or way they judge score. Meat hunts should be ok, but when your expecting a monster animal and they make you pay in full before even checking out what they have to offer is kinda iffy

to a tee, me and mike were there at the same time and ill second every word hes said and then some.

X2

I have not heard much bad about the place. One place that y'all rave about is a nightmare so...........

Hmm....care to elaborate?

Yeah idk what hes saying but lonesome bull may be 2600 acres HF but it has a 200 and 500 acre shooter pen and cross femces everywhere. The 200 acre on seems more like 100 and has a very small patch of trees down one side, they drive around in a high rack and chase the deer to one corner and bang. Go get another hunter. Rediculous

Well that sounds pretty terrible....and a disgusting practice all-around. Stuff like that is what gives all high fenced properties a bad name.

Yep and I know froma first hand saw rhis with my own eyes and 3 deer shot within 2 hours in that pasture alone. That place is a joke and the owner and manager are even worse and pay up front crap. Also they will offer you a refund towards another hunt but wont ever answer or return your calls as some members on here have seen first hand.

Just got back from my hunt, it was an okay experience. I did not get a Cow Elk, I figured it was going to be rough when the manager offered me options. I thought that was nice of him, but really wanted the Elk. Instead I shot a Fallow doe and Blackbuck doe, I will post pictures later. In everyone's opinion how will they taste?

If you don't mind me asking but why didn't you get your cow?? He didn't have any or what? Family enjoys Fallow meat but haven't tried Blackbuck yet.

Thats awesome, they both taste great to me! Glad you came out with something

Blackbuck is good

They said because temp was to warm they were not moving.

They did not have any is the real answer, they will sell hunts with out having the deer. Red flag #572 but glad you got something down, it will eat great.

Both are o.k. but neither will come close to the taste or amount of a cow elk. Congrats on your success.

Just had Blackbuck and Fallow and they were great eating. Thank you everyone for your input, I will defiantly being looking to do it again. But I would like somewhere closer to my wife's family in Corsicana or Fort Polk La.

Just got back from the lonesome bull ranch in Sandia Tx a few week ago. Wow, by far the worst hunt that I have been on. went on a cow elk hunt. I should have known that something was up when Fred wanted me to pay up front for the skinning and quartering of an animal I haven't even taken yet.My hunt was scheduled for Thurs,my wife and I got in on Wens afternoon (late) he ask me if I wanted to go hunting. Of course I said yes. I hunted for a couple of hours that night out of a blind while my guide talked on his cell phone. We like to have froze to death that night. No Heat. The next day my guide was late but we road hunted until 11:00 A.M. I suggested that we take a break so I could go get my wife and take her to lunch.I was informed that my hunt was over at noon because they had corperate people coming in.I wanted to rescedule and was told no. I wanted to stay another night but that would cost me another three hundred dollars.Fred said I could take a blackbuck doe if I hurried but I had to be done by noon, so I did.I got 22 lbs of meat. Not quite the 400 lbs average that a cow elk has.Never saw a cow elk that I could shoot, dont even know if they have one on the ranch. we did see one albino one.It was all about how much money they could get and how fast they could get rid of us.That was the first hunt I had ever been able to talk my wife into going with me.What a dissappointment. THIS PLACE IS A RIP OFF "BEWARE"

The number of bad reports on this place is absolutely staggering!! I nearly booked a hunt there in 2011....but started to get a whiff of something stinky (like it was too good to be true) and decided against it. Boy am I glad I did!!

Is it just me or is there getting to be more bad outfitters?

There seems to be a trend here!

no there is just a select few bad outfitters and or ranches out there.

Amen to that bud! With the capability to use forums such as this and the net, it's pretty easy to spot a bad outfitter these days or get some sort of feedback. I know if i'm seeing more bad than good reviews I will take my money elsewhere. I'd rather pay more money, and have a good time than to be save a little money and go to a crappy place!

Yep yep, in way i would be saving money going to a better outfitter in the 1st place than a cheap place cause I know I will have to miss work and pay gas etc, only to be mad and do a hunt else where.

I dont always post good reviews on the places I hunted but I know when others post to ask where to hunt this or that... I will suggest those ranches that I know are great, and I would say most the guys on this forum are great stand up guides-outfitters!

That stinks! I hope she will go again

I agree with Heathe mike and Cp, if you want to enjoy your hunt do your homework and LISTEN when the forum or anyone else is to tell you things, Fred is a huge POS in my book and many others and given the oportunity i would and will give him a ear full and if he didnt like it im 99.5% sure i can whoop his [censored]. That ranch is a scam and i see there posts on craigslist. I may or may not spam them when i do but i strictly avise not to go to LBR to hunt any type of game. Id pay triple before i go into Sandia Tx ever again.

Now don't hold back Jeremy....tell us how you really feel. LOL

Lol, yeah i know. Those people are crooks and liars.

Dang! Congrats on the BB and fallow, they taste pretty good. My uncle used to ask about this place cuz they had good prices on their add on craigslist but i went to their site, emailed them asking if their animals were tame(they looked so in the pics) and of course they replied no but then i came on here and asked y'all and my suspicions were correct. Amazing how there are outfitters like G ranch and Insight Hunting and the rest of the THFers and poops like these guys.

I hunted with Fred Rich at the Lonesome Bull Ranch the past two years and had a great experience. Fred and the other ranch hands went all out and showed us a great time. I took two of the biggest deer of my life with my bow and had an awesome time there. The accomadations were good and I had no problem reaching Fred at anytime. We were treated like family and got along great with everyone there. I've read some of other the posts about the Lonesome Bull and am shocked because I had a completely different experience there then what I've been reading. I will continue to hunt with Fred Rich at the Lonesome Bull and I hope others will reconsider the Lonesome Bull as a great place to go hunting. Good luck to all in your hunting adventures~

[quote=cjb5]I hunted with Fred Rich at the Lonesome Bull Ranch the past two years and had a great experience. Fred and the other ranch hands went all out and showed us a great time. I took two of the biggest deer of my life with my bow and had an awesome time there. The accomadations were good and I had no problem reaching Fred at anytime. We were treated like family and got along great with everyone there. I've read some of other the posts about the Lonesome Bull and am shocked because I had a completely different experience there then what I've been reading. I will continue to hunt with Fred Rich at the Lonesome Bull and I hope others will reconsider the Lonesome Bull as a great place to go hunting. Good luck to all in your hunting adventures~

Right- all negative reviews and this one pops up! Too many good outfitters here on the forum to bother messing with this place.

you must have killed hatched head, go get him scored by some one diffrent than fred, he scored a deer while i was there 15" high. Hes a complete scam and discrase to the HF hunting industry. Keep hunting your 200 acre HF field with 50 trees in it and let me know how great it is while they push them around with a truck and shoot one after another in the what the call sanctuary, aka trap shot. I love HF but thats too far.

Congratz

Must be a relative or personal friend of Fred!

There are some great places around here, or at least fairly close. (Corsicana that is)

Hunters Beware!!!! This is a huge con job. Fred Rich advertises
cow elk meat hunts, the only problem he has no cow elk. He contracts to give you the option of another animal if you are not able to harvest an elk, scam. He and his help, he does not know their names, try to switch the hunter to another animal for a higher fee. He advertises no guarantee and gives you four hours to get something. I just finished with him in JP Court in Sandia and he has the judge in his pocket. A word of caution, do not believe anything this guy says.

One more little tid bit, check Public Data . Com and research Fred D. Rich same date of birth and read about the drug conviction!!!!

The plot thickens!

That's a bunch of crap

This is classic

Poor Fred

Lol

the one guy defending the ranch has 1 post on the forum. right.

This is old news except the one guy that posted today but yeah its a huge joke and hope the place goes under. He still to this day owes me money, wont return a call and is a crook. If it was much more than it is I would have already drove down there.

didn't notice the dates. sad people run a business in this fashion. thankful for the Internet and the ability to read about this stuff though!

http://www.lonesomebullranch.com/Hunting-Price-List.html

You know how when you read someone's price list, and you feel like the person that wrote it was a douche bag?

You know to move on, there is nothing to see here.

$535 for an axis doe? Bet she's extra tasty.

The ones one my personal ranch would have to be that much for me to sell any of them right now but yeah I agree about the other parts.

It's the nickel and diming I can't stand. If I don't know what I have going into it, I won't go into it.

If a guy wants to hunt a place and say a axis buck over 32 is $3500 plus $100 per inch. It scares me when they want to measure them on the ground then charge you accordingly.

I hunted in Germany with a guy like that, but he had a guarantee, it wouldn't be more than 10% off or it was his loss.

He owns it he can charge whatever he wants, that's up to him. But don't expect me to hunt with you.

I agree with alot of what you said here but more and more ranches are going to those ways, what the tape reads is what it is. I honestly wish it was back like it use to be, flat rate for X animal and its known before the trigger is pulled and thats how some places still operate. I use to guide on a ranch in STX that if we miss judged the score it was on us, I was low on a bucks score If I remember correctly 7" or 8" and that was a $1500 diffrence. The customer didnt have to pay the diffrence as it was my fault. He was happy and the boss man wasnt too mad so it all worked out. Its not like that anywhere that I know of now, you shoot it the tape picks your price but at the same time you will have the guys wanting a say 190" deer and if its 187" they get pissed. Just not as fun as it use to be unless its with friends or family and it damn sure doesnt pay very well guiding for other people.

The problem is where does it end?

Are we going to be paying for pronghorns by the inch, piggies by the pound and javelina by the flea?

Hunting is slowly becoming a rich mans game.

I think about 10 years ago when someone said an elk hunt was $3500 on public land and if you and the guide got a long you could probably shoot a deer and a bear for free.

99% of the outfitters operating today would charge you for a bear or an elk. And that same elk would be $8500 if it was a good place in the wilderness area with horses.

If you have the fever and hunting is your life, then the answer is to buck up and pay it, because it's not like you are going to take up birding.

If you are lucky enough to not be so afflicted then run like hell, because it isn't going to get any cheaper.

Pretty sad when I find out about a $14,000 sambar hunt in California for free-ranging sambar and actully consider it to be a fair deal. I need to have my head examined.

Oldest daughter may have to figure out her own college payment program as I have ibex dreams in 2014 in Kyrgistan or Kazkstan.

And I didn't spend 20 years missing out on a ton of hunting in the Military on deploymen to not hunt now that I am retired.

I want hire someone to build my house on cost plus contract. Will not pull the trigger on a new car without an agreed price. I will never book a hunt on a cost plus agreement.

Agreed...If I want something bad enough I have no issue paying. However I want the NO BS price from the start. I know of a few places like that. When I get a wild hair to drop some serious coin on a hunt, they'll get my business.

I sued him in small claims court in Sandia, scene out of the twilight zone, with a guy who played judge and was dumber than a truck load of rocks. Fred blew so much smoke up his butt I thought they would take a trip together. Fred's paperwork is worthless to the hunter and this judge dwelled on the fact that it is only a four hour hunt and not guaranteed. Check this out, the judge did not know what a cow elk is. Must be the water.

You know the old saying........Looks like s#$t, smells like s#$t, then its probably s#$t

Parus Dudley and Stephen Starr sued us in court and lost. One of them had previously successfully hunted an elk here and came back. We presented many photos to the court of past hunters with their cow elk, along with some recent live elk photos. We had over 200 head of elk here at its peak.

We have had kids that successfully hunted cow elk recently, and yes, it is a HUNT; the elk will not stand there and wait for you to shoot them. Sometimes you have to get out of the truck and hunt instead of just riding around like they wanted to do.

We do a lot of hunts here and can't please everyone. A lot of these bad posts are from outfitters that we have kicked off the ranch for reasons that we will not go into. We have started asking customers to post their experiences online, good or bad so that you may see real reviews, and we welcome anyone that has doubts about coming here to give us a call and address their concerns.

We don't have time to address all online remarks and will not make a habit of posting in forums. Feel free to give us a call anytime at 361-683-9744 or 361-547-3840 or visit our website http://www.lonesomebullranch.com/Hunts.html for information on our hunts.

Norris, LBR Foreman & Hunting Guide

why not just hunt in a blind instead of running them around in the truck? makes it sound like a bad deal. JMO.

What about Shaws money that is owed ?

It's actually possible to please virtually everyone. I've been to a bunch of ranches and there are 2 I'd say haven't had a bad review yet...Rickey Hunt and Bobny Greiger. Both top notch. I know rickey has been in business longer than most and I'd bet hasn't had a bad review yet. it's certainly possible...lots of negative reviews says a lot.

Betcha here crickets!!!!! HE GONE!

Every place is going to have negative things said about them. The problem is some places are all negative.

I've had negative things happen on hunts with an outfitter and you can tell when they are doing what they can to end the situation in a positive outcome!

While it's true that any business that's been in operation for any length of time will have its detractors and unsatisfied customers for any number of reasons (valid or not).

However, with all due respect, the sheer number of negative reviews and complaints lodged against your business warrants folks to view your offerings with a bit of skepticism.

More important than that, is how a business deals with unsatisfied customers and rectifying issues and problems. Unfortunately, Lonesome Bull Ranch's negative tract record in that regard speaks volumes...

I have had a couple bad hunts, my 2005 Namibian safari was a train wreck.

But we hunted every day (between fixing fences) and the food didn't kill me (though it was really bland).

I shot 24 animals, and got to see a lot of Africa.

The other one was in Maine for a high fence pure European wild boar. It wasn't much of a hunt, and the pigs were small.

Place was nice, people were nice it just wasn't much of a hunt.

The testemonials on this site are fabricated and complete fallacy.

This operation, Lonesome Bull, is without a doubt the most deceptive, crooked, unethical, poorly managed, organization I have ever seen in fifty years of hunting. Fred Rich is incapable of stating the truth if it get beyond the time of day. Look at his posts and arrive at your own conclusion. I am still pursueing this fraud he has perpetuatd.

This place amazes me,with the negativity surrounding it they still get hunters

They post alot on craigslist... with too good to be true adds and guaranteed hunts. So people bite the worm and get hooked to a mess. I did (Wish I became part of this forum before I did) They made me pay in full before I even got to enter the hunting area. Told me I will be able to come back and after calling in few attempts I gave up and cut my losses. But what made me really upset on way the owner Fred belittled my guide infront of his wife and daughter. Cussing him out where I could even hear from the bunk house. It takes alot for me to lose my cool but Im sure I would have decked him if he did that to me

My friends and I just got back to Houston from a 3-day hunt at Lonesome Bull. I was quite apprehensive about this hunt after reading all of the negative feedback about this place.
All I can say is I am flabbergasted at all of the negative comments on this site and others.
We all had an amazing time on our trip. We shot a beautiful Lechwe, a really big Gemsbock and two 40+ Oryx.
We actually met Fred Rich on our 2nd night there. He seemed to be a really nice guy. I did not get a crooked vibe from him at all.
Norris, and his son, Taylor, and all the rest of the staff treated us like family the entire time we were there. Never had any problems whatsoever. They ate with us, drank with us, laughed with us and made our whole trip the best it could be.
The guides, Norris and Taylor, asked us beforehand what we wanted to kill and knew exactly where to go find them. The first night we got there Norris drove one of my friends and I around the entire ranch just to show us the place. Let me tell you, there are animals everywhere, and most of them seemed to be very good quality.
Also, the guides asked us beforehand whether we wanted to sit in a blind and hunt or drive and hunt. We all chose to drive and hunt but I can honestly say that we never herded any animals in the truck. We only drove around long enough to find the animals and slowly jockeyed into position for the best, cleanest and most humane kill shot.
I do believe that there have been some people that have had bad experiences with their hunt. But, anyone that has ever hunted knows that is called hunting for a reason. You are not always going to get exactly what you want. Sometimes the animals are not moving; sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate; sometimes the animal stock on what you want is low. We all got what we wanted so I can't attest for the ranch offering substitutes for an animal besides what we wanted. But I feel like, from the way we were treated, they would have been fair with us if we had not been able to find our animals.
As far as the food goes, Norris cooks the meanest ribeye around and the cook made us some of the best enchiladas I have ever eaten. The food was fantastic and there was plenty of it.
Lastly, before I went on this hunt, I was not a friend or family member of anyone at the ranch, but I would be proud now to call any of the folks here my friends. I recommend The Lonesome Bull Ranch to anyone who is looking for a great hunt at a reasonable price.
Thank you Fred, Norris, Taylor, Dee & wife for a great time at your place!!!

David Lehman
Tomball, TX

Mike, you should be ashamed for posting negative comments about this place. I'm not sure what happened to you at this place but I feel like maybe you and some other outfitters out there are trying to create a negative vibe about this place in order to promote other places that you endorse.
I would expect more from a fellow Tomball-ite.
Just saying.
David Lehman
Tomball, TX

Or maybe cuz yall were paying over $10k he/they treated u right

You cannot be serious. I usually stay out of a lot of the drama on this website - but I cannot tolerate your accusations towards Mike. I know Mike personally & have shared hunting camp with the man. Simply put, Mike is a standup guy and you can take what he says to the bank. He had no hidden motives when posting about his experience at Lonesome Bull. This is the reason many people visit this forum - to get firsthand and honest accounts of hunts at different ranches throughout the state. I think it is despicable to get on here and attempt to blast a fellow THFer about his honest review of a place simply because he did not have the same experience as you.

yeah you and one other guy are the only ones promoting the ranch and you have a total of two posts! and you saw plenty of animals bc they couldn't get away in the "feed lot" lol seriously, I cant believe you would swoop to the level of saying other ranch owners would talk bad about the place THEY HAVE BEEN TO!!

Put up

BINGO!! Probably the most spot-on comment you have ever posted on this site chital!!

I usually stay out of the mud slinging as well....but I absolutely hate bad/dishonest outfitters, and I have had MANY people (whom I trust) tell me very bad things about LBR.

Just because "Billy Billy Billy" had a good hunt doesn't mean they are a good ranch/outfitter. Even the crappiest of operators can still provide a good experience if they are so inclined....particularly if there is money to be made.

I've never been to the ranch y'all are talking about bit I do know this...the ranches that are truly upright and honest don't get threads like this...ever. go try to find these types of threads on rickey hunt, bobby Greiger, etc. I've had issues with ranches and really hesitate to say anything but it's quite clear Lonesome bull has big issues.

X1000! Spot on. Apparently its not just one person who got screwed over, its been serveal, dozens of people. The reviews just keep piling up!

Not a Happy Hunter.
I booked a hunt with LBR almost a year in advance since I had got off my deer lease. Thought a guided hunt would be a good alternative. My father in law and me both booked a trophy hunt up to a 150 class deer. Got to the ranch 11/01/2013 and had got moved into a mobile home trailer on the property. The lodge in the pictures had been used for some high rollers on the ranch. Mobile home was clean but not the lodge we were expecting from pictures. Unless you are a high roller you will not be hunting in the "sanctuary" and seeing big deer. I thought it was all 1 big ranch. I figured I would see huge deer while hunting waiting for my 150". I am no expert at scoring deer especially during the hunt when bucks are around. Seen several bucks the first hunt. Fred was my guide and soon a huge bodied buck came out. Fred estimated it to be 138-142. He told me this was the upper range deer I had booked. I took the deer and was disappointed when I got to it. They always look smaller on the ground but it was a huge bodied deer. I filled out the paperwork which had a scoring card to be filled out by the ranch. It showed to be required with his state permits. Fred said he would score it later. On the last day before leaving I asked Fred if he had scored it and he said "yea it was 136. In my mind I knew it was not scored. My father in law shot a smaller then mine 6 point the last day. We were with it the whole time until we left and I know it was not scored. Fred drove us around the sanctuary and his pinned breeding deer. At one point he pointed out a deer and said "that is what yall should have got" I asked him "that is a 150 deer" and he said it was. I was thinking well your the guide.. if there are 150 deer in the sanctuary why weren't we hunting here, he told me my deer was the upper inches we booked for. When I got to my meat processor he looked at my deer and said my deer would be a 121-123 maybe.... Took my deer to the taxidermist and he taped it...116 4/8" Again not a happy hunter. an hour before our hunt started Fred said he would be right back. He said one of the other guys "high roller" wanted to go shot a 180 class deer real quick. Thought "real quick" .. wasn't 10-15 minutes later they were over taking pictures of a very nice deer. Father in law and me are convinced it was shot in the pinned deer area. There are hundreds of huge bucks pinned in small areas. If you have a lot of money to spend you will get a deer in 5 minutes.

It is obvious to me that this joint is about as crooked as they come...

Dang. Glad this thread popped back up. I had seen LBRs ads a few times and thought about it but never pulled the trigger on one.

Glad to read the info here.

Look I'm not accusing anyone of anything. As I said in my original post, I can only speak for the hunt we had.
My point in saying anything to anyone is that I am a little leery about someone who makes negative comments about one outfitter and then tells you to try someone else. Makes me think there is some paid promotion going on.
Also, as far as the comment about when there is money to be made, when have you ever gone on a guided hunt and not paid for it? There is always money to be made. To say that any ranch is only going to treat you right if there is money to be made contradicts your point. With that line of reasoning, you would always get treated right as there is always money to be made.
Lastly, I have better things to do than argue back and forth with all of you about good or bad ranches. I am actually glad that forums like this exist as it should give you a real feel for any given ranch. And I have been to several, good and bad. The negative comments about LBR on this site made me very leery about this place and I only wanted to comment that our personal experience was entirely different from what I have read to the contrary.

Thats why i dont hunt high fenced areas. A couple ranches that i went to before i deployed it was kinda sad to me looking at tame animals that just sat there or walked to the truck to get feed and thinkin how could you shoot an animal like that. For me i grew up in missouri no where near a high fenced area. to me its not hunting unless its fair chase. I understand exotics need to be high fenced but whitetail deer really? you guys should go book a hunt in missouri thats only 9 hours from temple tx. i used to guide there for several years! until i joined the army. Its all one price and ive took people thats taken 160+ inch deer and its fair chase. its absolutely one of the best hunting ranches out there! and the people there are truly amazing people that treat EVERYONE like family and country meals the WHOLE time you're there! just saying if you guys dont wanna waste you're money taking a chance at ranches like these then call them. If you want look them up on the internet. Weaubleau Creek Outfitters! trust me its well worth it! I go there with my wife everytime i go on leave and trust me whether its deer or especially turkeys you'll have no problems filling every single tag!

After going through this thread, I noticed they have been massively spamming craigslist on every city in Texas.

Sounds like shooting fish in a barrel, then you have to pay for it. Not for me!