Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Opinions of stocked game farms

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<br> A friend of mine for many years called me today with a dozen Pot belly pig skulls to be
<br> processed. I asked where he got them and why would he want them cleaned? He is a commercial
<br> taxidermist for several of the game farms in Texas. As a side business he also buys and sells
<br> game at the auctions which is then sold to the many farms used for hunting in Oklahoma,
<br> Missouri and Texas( maybe other states as well?).
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<br> These Pot belly pigs were sold to a ranch in Oklahoma for hunters to shoot. He sells every
<br> kind of cross bred and goofy livestock which they give names to making them seem exotic or
<br> special. 4 horn sheep, corsican rams, etc. etc. most are breeding rams beyond there
<br> functional years and sold after having lived on a farm. I know he once drove by a farm and
<br> saw a dozen nice looking mutant sheep of some mixed breed. They had massive horns and
<br> he decided to offer the owner some money for them. The owner was glad to be rid of a few
<br> and Bobby bought 4 for 100.00 each. he sold them instantly sight unseen to a game rancher
<br> who paid him 400.00 each and then let hunters shoot them for 800.00 each quite a nice business!
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<br> He also buys wild hogs which are live trapped and released. Now that is a real business deal.
<br> I was there with him when we were catching the hogs in Southern Oklahoma a few years
<br> back. These cowboys hound hunt the pigs on the back of mules and horses and lasso them when the dogs bay them up. the
<br> pigs are "duct taped" and packed out to a horse trailer. Then sold and released on a private
<br> hunting ranch. They are 100% truely wild and nasty. That live catch experience was one of the
<br> great thrills of my life!
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<br> While on the hunting ranch I saw bands of wild game that would run towards the sound of the
<br> truck because they relate it to food I guess? I also saw game walk from the woods to look at
<br> the people coming towards them. Some animals were "spooky" or more wild then others but
<br> so much of this plan or set-up is a bit disturbing to me. Have any of you guys ever been to a
<br> place like this? I have never hunted on these "put and take" ranches in Texas but I have visited
<br> them with my friend in Both Texas and Oklahoma. I also hunted for hogs and deer on a
<br> similiar type ranch in eastern Oregon. He had every kind of stupid looking mutant goat and
<br> sheep you could imagine. I can't really understand the interest in shooting some crossbred
<br> mutant livestock on a fenced game farm but I'm sure there must be some interst becasue
<br> Bobby works pretty regular with Kent buying and selling game farm animals all year round.
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<br> Clark Couch owner of Clover Creek Ranch in Oregon was always on the road buying and
<br> collecting game for his operation. There is no way they can breed at the rate they are hunted.
<br> So stocking these ranches with game is the only functional way to keep them running. Is this
<br> the future of our big game hunting in the USA? will the expense of out of state tags and
<br> licenses along with mandatory guidesin some states drive sportsman to this level of "hunting"?
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<br> I hunted Buffalo on Clarks ranch for many years. With so many clients I can't even remember
<br> them all. The bison are not really wild, but are any bison truely wild anymore? Maybe the few
<br> in Utah still running wild are but after that? The Buffalo were not really a hunt but a "meat
<br> gathering experience" Probably no more difficult then hunting them 100 years ago. He also
<br> has fallow, sika, and some other deer but they are a very expensive animal to shoot. Over the years I have seen
<br> Nilgai, eland, impala, and watusi cattle, and water buffalo on this ranch. Hunting those species
<br> in Oregon just seems silly to me. Just my opinion and my feelings but I just don't get the
<br> attraction to shooting an Eland on a farm in Oregon and thinking it's a hunting adventure?
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<br> Anyhow I was in a debate with my friend today over this and I thought I would get you guys to
<br> give me an opion on it. jj

Jim,
<br>I couldn�t agree more on the thought that forking out big dollars to hunt something that is forced to live in a captive (and often non-native environment) is neither hunting nor sporting. It reminds me of trout fishing as a child, when I always wanted my dad to stop and fish at one of the stocked trout ponds .... until he relented and we actually did it one day. As you walked out on the little bridge over the water, the identically sized trout (who were normally fed from the bridge) schooled underneath you in anticipation and you had to turn your back, just to bait your hook. It was only fun for the first one, then even a child could see that this activity couldn�t be called fishing.
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<br>A better illustration occurred on my first multi-week fishing trip to S.E. Alaska. I went ashore alone, spinning tackle in hand (forgetting the .338 in the boat) and walked up a well worn bear trail that followed a salmon creek. Stopping at the very first hole and peering into the 18 inch deep water with polarized sun-glasses, the salmon were stacked three deep, jam-packed so thick that you truly could have walked the 20 yards across the creek on their backs. On my first cast, I hooked a fish and when I tugged him out of the pocket he was swimming in, the other fish took over the space he had occupied and I reeled him in across their backs, flopping half out of the water. The second cast dorsal-snagged a salmon, before a fish could ever see or bite the lure. After three more catch and release hook-ups on 3 successive casts, I decided that there was no "sport" in this. No skill was required in the cast or lure presentation and a hooked fish had no room (in the water) to initiate a fair fight against you. With my mental image of what this fantasy-fishing spot was supposed to be, now thoroughly deflated, I tried to wash all the salmon smell off my hands. I left the hole and its bountiful harvest to the bears and began singing "Here - Bear ..... Here - Bear" as I nervously walked their trail back to the coast to explain to my surprised partner why I had stopped "fishing".
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<br>When I hunt, it is on foot, usually alone, in non-roaded or Wilderness areas employing spot and stalk or sneak hunting. While sneaking though the virgin timber and exploring new terrain, I can imagine that I�m Merriweather Lewis, Jeremiah Johnson or a Nez-Perce warrior (with appropriate weaponry upgrades) sensing, observing, tracking and smelling mother nature and her potential offerings.
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<br>This philosophy on preferred style of hunting, keeps me from sitting still in a tree-stand all day, though I don�t disparage those who choose to (or legally must) hunt that way. I treat their alternate methods just like organized sports fanatics. Every day that hundreds of thousands of couch-potatoes are sitting in a stadium or parked in front of their boob-tubes, is one more day they are not out mucking around in "my" preferred areas of the woods.
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<br>In 37 years of hunting with a rifle and an overlapping 20 years with a bow, I have never considered a canned hunt. Even the idea of hunting a trophy elk on one of the Apache Reservations doesn�t appeal to me. They have all but electronically tagged the largest bulls and with dozens of scouts about, will take you out by the hand during the rut (with a rifle) and put you on a bull that meets your minimum B-n-C requirements, just as if you ordered one up "your-way" at Burger King. If you can keep your knees from knocking and shoot straight at 80 yards, your trophy is on the wall. They could probably poach a few bulls and keep their mounted racks around as spares, so when you shot a 370-bull they could just reach into the store-room for a similar scoring bull and send you home the same day, with a completed mount, This is one reason why I have never applied to hunt deer or elk in the 26 square-mile fenced Starkey Experimental forest. For me, it�s not about the kill, or carrying home the quarry�s head on a pole, ......
<br>- - - - "It�s about the great outdoors and THE HUNT !!"
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<br>Silver Bullet
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<br>If you never venture down to the docks,
<br>How will you know when your ship comes-in ?
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One of the big things here in Kalifornia is the planting of game birds, like pheasants, on hunting property. Or, planting trout in lakes and streams.
<br> For mine, it depends on when they were planted, how long they have been there, and how "wild" their habitat is.
<br> A good example are Chukar. The first Chukar I ever shot, was on a game bird farm. The Chukar shooting was like shooting lazy, half tame quail.
<br> Sometime later I had the experience of hunting Chukar in the type of country where they thrive-the Panoche Hills, or the Mojave Desert. Completely different bird. Big, wiley, and delicious. You earn every one one of them.
<br> For me, I want it that way. I enjoy the truly wild country as much as the hunt, and the critters.
<br> Some say we no longer have such country here in Kalifornia, or the hunting that goes with it.
<br> That has not been my experience. We may someday. But, I don't see it yet. What I do see is many don't really know what they are missing.
<br> No, I'm not going to give away my favorite spots. Besides, they aren't for everyone.
<br> I am not condeming the practice. I just know it is not for me. E
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Since I became "computerized" a couple months ago, I have without a doubt read more opinion from my fellow hunters about topics ranging from ethics to long range hunting to CWD to "canned hunts" than I ever have before. I come away with the feeling that there are as many opinions on what is hunting and what's not and what's ethical and what's not as there are species of insects in the Amazon. What's right? What's not?
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<br>I personally have no desire to take my rifle to a fenced enclosure to shoot a mutant strain of some sort of foul smelling "sheepgoat". Of course, the only reason that sort of place exists is because there is a market for it, and some folks are willing to pay big bucks for that opportunity. You all know that a similar thing takes place in the midwest where they liberate ringneck pheasants into the "wild" to comingle with "wild" birds. We all know that ringneck pheasants are not native to North America, but that doesn't mean they aren't a great challenge for the wingshooter and a whole lot of fun. Personally, I prefer to go spend long hard days at public hunting areas looking for my quarry rather than paying for an abundance of somewhat less "wild" birds. However, my "wild" birds are no more native than the liberated birds are. Does that make my hunt somewhat less ethical or authentic since I didn't travel to Korea to kill the same species? I don't know. I don't think about it because I don't care. I get a lot of enjoyment from it.
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<br>I guess my point here is that while I have no desire to kill an animal in a pen, I also realize that there are those who do. While I wouldn't call that "hunting" there are some who would call it the "wildest" experience they had ever had. If I had been in charge back when all this sort of thing got started, it wouldn't exist here today because I find it to be less than sporting. What if we set them all free and opened season on free ranging smelly sheepgoats. Would that be any more sporting or ethical?
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<br>Obviously, I can't answer your question JJ. I just seem to be asking more questions. Only I know what is ethical for me. Only I know what is hunting for me. I guess I am the one who has to live with me and if I can't sleep at night because of my behavior in the field then I guess that that would not be hunting and would not be ethical. Others might not lose any sleep. Tough question, and I'll admit I don't know the right answer.
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<br>next?
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<br>rutnut
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I have shot pen-raised pheasant in CA. It was more a social gathering and a chance to break in a young dog then a hunting experience.
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<br>The type of big game hunt you describe has no interest for me. Obviously others have the opposite view. More power to them. With any luck they will use up their vacation time at the "ranch" and not clutter up the woods when deer and elk seasons roll around.
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<br>We need these guys to help buy guns, ammunition and other hunting related gear. The bigger the market the longer it will stay around. With any luck they will also vote the right way when the time comes.
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<br>I have become quite the liberal lately in respect to the shooting sports. They all look good to me. Time and money.......time and money.
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If it's legal and they have the money more power to them! They could be going to PETA rallies instead..
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<br>I dont think I would find it entertaining...I would rather go shoot prairie dogs or something...
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<br>Mike

JJ, It is my strongly held belief that the major reason for such game farms is the "trophy" racks that people can get for very little effort and then brag about what great hunters they are. None of the ads I have seen talk about coming on down and shooting a meat animal, it is all about guaranted "trophy" quality. While I can not say I am thrilled about shooting pen raised quail or pheasants (I have never done it - but probably would, given the right opportunity) this appears to me, to be more about the shooting experience than bagging a "trophy".
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<br>I firmly believe that if all racks from such game farms were required to be clearly marked, ie. indelible paint on the bases, etc., that you would see the vast majority of them vanish overnight. So marked, such racks would not be "trophys" but simply what they are, farm raised animals that somebody shot in a pen. Kind of a truth in advertising for hunting. How many of these game farms do you think would stay in business under these conditions? It would not stop someone from shooting an animal there, just prevent them from pretending to be hunters. JMHO TM
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I guess I have mixed feelings on this. I don't see anypart of this as a hunt. However is it wrong to go shoot some livestock for the freezer? I suppose if we put this into the context of meat collecting and not call it hunting then I like the idea. I would much prefer to go spend a day in the woods and shoot an animal I could butcher and freeze up or process into susage and jerky. then to buy it off the shelf in the supermarket I would not mistake this for hunting, but more along the lines of a rancher culling his herd and getting some meat out of the deal.
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<br>There are a few animals that are certainly not worth killing and butchering. The Goats and Sheep which have been interbred and given fancy names to make them more "exciting" to the wanna-be "hunter" are not castrated, have horrible meat, and smell so bad it's disgusting to even skin them much of the time, especially during their rut. Not to mention a big one weighs about 175 pounds on the hoof and will render maybe 40-50 pounds of awful disgusting meat. The guys in Texas and Oklahoma said they use the carcasses for Boar Bait most of the time. They lure in the pigs who appearantly like to eat this nasty stinking meat. There is a good reason we eat lamb and not "sheep" and why Goats are castrated and butchered before they are 9 monts old!
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<br>I guess it's a freedom of choice thing and for those who see this as an adventure, well good for them. Some people believe the WWF is real wrestling too!jj

i fed cows for a lady who hd a Nubian goat I would have loved to "hunt"
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<br>Stinking, vile, perverted thing would try to hunch everything in site, butt the car, truck, bird dog, cows, trees, fenceposts, you if you got too close...He would be tied to a tree then crawl under the barbed wire fence and just stand there like an idiot...wasn't happy on the other 98% of his reach that was on the other side of the fence...
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<br>I had the pleasure of squeezing the clippers when the Vet came to castrate him...this after the owner convinced me not to kill him with my .357 after he butted me while getting hay out of the barn...
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<br>mike

Folks who have done the real thing know it. As far as right and wrong go, opinions are all over the place, so I just say that if it's legal, and you have the bucks, go for it. If you want a freaky head on the wall, go get one. But don't expect to buy the respect of folks who know what real hunting is.
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<br>Jeff

JJ it is all market driven. Lots of guys have plenty of money but no time. They could well afford to book a hunt in Africa or darkest what ever but don't have the time to spend on it. Still they want to pop a cap and take a trophy something or other.
<br>I am/was fence neighbors with an exotic place here in Texas. The owner died and his widow sold out a couple of years back but up to that he was going great guns. He was a breeder and didn't run a hunting operation. All the hunting I know of was he got me to shoot a few fallow deer as they were over breeding. They were wild only in the sense that you could not put your hands on them and they had been caught so many times they were trap pen shy.
<br>In Pappy's hay day he had: Fallow, axis and sika deer. Elk, Eland, Kudu, Impala, Blackbuck, Nalgi, and a couple of other kinds of African antelope that I never learned the name of. One was a real long necked bugger looked like an miniture giraffe except not spotted. He didn' t "do" goats except for a few Aoudad.
<br>He used to get me to go with him when he delivered. While I got to see a lot of the hill country hunting ranches I have never hunted them and don't want to.
<br>Some of them might be ok the ones that have enough acreage to do their own breeding. Not that it would be any thing like wild hunting by any strech of the imagination but you would still have to look for what ever you were hunting in an area that it knew because it had been raised there and knew how to keep out of sight. Other places it wouldn't be more than walking out in your back yard and shooting your poodle.
<br>I have been on some ranches that had a lot of different kinds of goats and sheep. There was some awful looking things there as goats and sheep cross breed easy. One ranch had what they called Himalayan Big Horns. What they were was a cross between Angora goats and Borer goats. Big suckers with kinky long hair and wide spread goat horns. Awful looking things but the sports were seemed excited to take some exotic goat and the owner laughed all the way to the bank. Hunting ranch hunting isn't for me but looking from the owners side if I can blow enough smoke and put out enough pure grade A bs to convince some body that he needs to shoot a Himalayan Big Horn at $3k a pop and it cost me maybe 200 dollars to raise why not? Or if I can buy a Kudu at $4k (Pappy's going price) and sell it for $7k why not? Beats heck out of raising cows for a living.
<br>BCR

BTW somebody mentioned wild hogs. My boys and friends catch them by hand. The going price right now in my part of Texas is fifty cents a pound plus $50 for anything over 150 pounds plus $25 per inch of cutters.
<br>If you can catch a 300 pounder with three inch cutters that is pretty good money. Hard to do though as a hog that big will usually die on you.
<br>BCR

JJ,
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<br>How another man wants to spend his money,is no business of mine.
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<br>Should someone find it a thrilling Hunt,to harvest an "Old McDonald Class"(OMC Book) "Trophy",half dead,arthritic Goat,more power to the guy that can reel those gents in! While I have zero desire to harvest the OMC Barnyard Super Slam,I'll not try to sway others,from their pursuits.
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<br>I figure the more guys Hunting on Farms,simply eliminates more pressure from me. Sounds like a VERY good trade to me. Whodda thunk somebody would rather pay a gate trespass fee,to put the whammy on an OMC Class Goat,rather than pursue something "real"? That tickles me to no end! I can't even dream stuff up,that is that good.
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<br>By the way,the WWF is in fact REAL. Thought I should clarify,such an important matter.(grin)
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<br>Off to Camp this AM,adieu Boys...............

BCR, thanks for chiming in. you have seen exactly the same kind of non-sense I have. Farm rasied mutant livestock released on a hunting ranch so that people think it's wild? Yeah funny "exotic" names they get Mimilayen big horn, Black dall, Texas Dall, etc. etc. call it what ever you wnat it's still a stinking farm sheep somebody raised in a pasture and turned lose to be shot by an unsuspecting hunter. Good business, wow I'm actually jealous I did not think of it. I would not want my name attatched to this but I would probably use an alias so not to be associated. It's huge money to run these operations. Way cheaper then Africa and still African game. Or better yet a "himilayen big horn" or A white farm sheep called a "Texas Dall" or a black Sheep called a "Black Texas Dall", Even the mouflon's are cross bread to a large degree. Very few have the "white socks" and the full saddle on their back. Only the horns look like the true Mouflon. Not that it matters, it's shot on a pasture with an area of woods or a section with rolling hills.
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<br>I find it bizzare that this is even called hunting? It's meat gathering I suppose. Several guys mentiond this and it's a good point. If they burn their vacation time to hunt these animals then they are in the real woods much less. Also mentioned was the fact that they are still hunting and better that they are gun owners and ammo buyers then attending a PETA meeting. Good points all.
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<br>Big Stick, Thanks for the heads up on the WWF, by the way how do you type while holding and feeding a baby? I can't do it! My typo's( poatal) were bad in the past with my fat fingers. My future posts will be a nightmare of typo's with this double duty I have from time to time!

I was going to stay out of this but obviously I've decided to chime in. For the most part I hunt hard in some non-so-pleasant places to be. Just last Saturday I went out and did a little scouting and searching for shed antlers. My legs and lower back are sore this morning. My feet are blistered, it's all part of the fun (price) for what I like to do. Anyway there are times I get a little tired of paying this price. I will be the first to admit I like and actually enjoy an ocassional easy hunt. There are also times even when hunting wild, unfenced animals that it gets too easy. Around here some year's killing a wild turkey is so easy that I can't call it a hunt by any stretch of the imagination. When Flinch came up here and helped harvest some whitetail does during a late season hunt it wasn't too tough either. More or less a pick and choose kind of deal. So does that mean I'm a lazy hunter lacking in ethics because I take the ocassional easy animal? Personally I don't think so I have enough difficult hunts that it doesn't bother my conscience in the least to take an easy animal now and then. With that being said I'd like a buffalo skull and head. In my mind there is no such thing as a real buffalo hunt for a wild buffalo with the exceptions of southern Utah's Henry mountains, some areas in Canada, and Alaska. All of those hunts would be rather costly, just the tag alone in Utah is over $1000.00. I have no interest in doing any of those hunts, don't want one THAT bad. I have no problem with strolling through some ranch around here and shooting a buffalo bull. It's more for my freezer and a decoration for the wall (not a trophy). It's not like I'm going to brag about it or make up some story about how difficult the hunt was. It's freakin buffalo after all. I'd also very much like a Blackbuck antelope. Last I checked running over to India to hunt them in their native environment wasn't much of an option. I've heard Argentina has some huge ranches covered with the little buggers and that would be fun I'm sure, but why go to all the expense and hassles of out of country travel? Texas has lot's of them and from what I understand if you hunt them on a big enough ranch it rivals the challenge of many native north american big game animals. Someday I'm going to go get one. If the hunt is challenging great, if it's easy great. I don't really care one way or the other as what I want is a blackbuck to look at when I walk in my living room because I think they are beautiful. Would I shoot it in a pen? Nope. Would I shoot it if had just been released and came walking up to me wanting to eat a cracker or something out of my hand? Nope. I would hope that I would do enough research before hand to know what kind of hunt I was getting in to. I won't knock game farms as I think they serve a purpose. Small operations that are only 100 acres or less don't appeal to me personally, but hey it's america and I have a choice to hunt them or not. I personally don't want someone dictating to me whether I can or not. Heck I don't care for put and take fisheries either, but it sure would limit the number of children that learn to fish if we didn't have them. There a bunch of first time hunters that kill their first big game on a game ranch. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Let's not forget the lobbyist taking politicians "big game" hunting or salesman taking customers hunting...With all the Texas oil and gas companies I'm sure more than a few office execs have been provided the opportunity to pop a billy goatby some sales guy... If my boss was to pay for me and a customer to shot a nannydallmouflon whackenstacker goat I would certainly oblige!! I wouldn't pay for it with my own hard earned money however..
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<br>Mike

Actually I just had another thought on this. On another hunting related web site there was a group of guys that decided to get together and meet each other in Texas. They put together a mutant goat/exotics hunt and went about a week ago. They have all come home and reported on the hunt. I don't recall anyone getting on any kind of ethical pedastol and preaching about whether it was a "real" hunt or not. I didn't see anyone trying to equate it with hunting elk or anything like that either. What I did see was a bunch of guys that got together during the off season (when most of us have more time), and from what I can tell everyone had a blast. I don't think they cared much about whether they were shooting goats, sheep, or armadillos. What they were there for, mostly, was to have a good time and the exotic hunt just made it all the more fun. My tastes may differ as I'm not much in to group gatherings when it comes to hunting. I also have no desire to travel to Texas to shoot something I can buy at the local auction (no blackbucks at our auctions btw). However I can certainly appreciate the fun those guys had. It was also fun to read about the time they had. I have to admit it was a good mental escape for me anyway. What was I doing the week they were all chasing goats around in sunny Texas? If memmory serves me correctly I was shoveling snow and chipping ice off my driveway and sidewalk. Hmmmm, which would you rather do? If any of you choose the snow shoveling and ice chipping come on out next March. I'll let you chip and shovel away while I go find somewhere further south and warmer to hunt. Maybe wild hogs or turkeys in Florida. When is spring break down there anyway, ooops wrong wild game, never mind.

Sky, please don't think I was low rating any one who hunts high fence places. I wasn't or rather didn't intend to. I can understand somebody who never has anything but concrete under their feet having the urge to shoot something and the money to do it with. Sometimes those of us who just have to look out the window to see wild life every day forget that not every body is so fortunate. The game ranches exist to supply the market for those who want to shoot something and can pay for it and don't want to or don't have the time to go hunt it up and take the chance of getting skunked somewhere way off yonder. One of the easiest things to raise is goats and sheep of some kind. As I said earlier they cross easy and you can get some wild looking stuff easily and cheeply. Stick some exotic name on it and sell it. The high fence boys will give you anything you want any way you want. That is what they are in business for.
<br>If you want a blackbuck come on down. There are scads of them running around. Now as a friendly tip find out if the ranch you are going to hunt does their own breeding and find out how big the pasture they are hunted in is and what else is in it. Some of the big, quality type places can give you taste of what really hunting them on their native ground would be like. Horns sell by the inch.
<br>BCR

Good point Big Sky! Like you I would not think of it as hunting but a shooting vacation with friends. Sounds like Varmint hunting in a way. Not really hunting but just going out to whack a few critters with your buddies.
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<br>On the whole anything that promotes hunting I'm usually for it. It just rubbed me the wrong way seeing how these "hunting ranches" aquire the animals to be hunted, and the bizzare names they get. The Taxidermist who I do much of my business with for Africa and who also books quite a few hunters for me gets these exotic heads in to mount all the time. We joke about it quite often. One fellow who had his "Dall sheep" being mounted actually thought it was a Dall sheep, or cross bred with a dall sheep. If the guy actually knew how it was raised and what the blood line was he would not have compared it to the majestic and beautiful Dall Sheep from Alaska. Yet he was convinced it was as good and as difficult to hunt. Now this guy really needs some therapy if he thinks what he shot in Texas was even remotely anything like a Dall sheep. No part but the color was the same. As Boggy pointed out with the Himilayen big horns, what is that anyway? Fun to shoot, yeah probably, .......... a real trophy animal? Maybe to some folks. A bad idea to hunt........ You be the judge. I guess anything legal and alive can be hunted and killed. It keeps the shooting and hunting sports alive that's a good thing. It does to degree add fuel to the fire for the ANTI hunters when they talk about all the "canned hunts" and this is clearly a Canned hunting experience.
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<br>I can't speak to the ethics or desires of others but I will say in my mind if the property is fenced or otherwise contained( like an island or landlocked area surrounded by unpassable natural or man made barriers), it's a huge piece of land and the game within is born wild, it's indidgenous, and not helped to it's survival by man in any way then I have a good feeling about the operation. The King Ranch in Texas is much like this with it's wild hog population. It's also much like this with it's population of Nilgai. although not indidgenous they have been there for over 30 years living totally wild and in no way farm raised or supported with feed. About the same as the Red Fox in the USA and the Pheasant. Or even the Gemsbok in New Mexico, or the Elk and Bison in Alaska etc etc.
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<br>Within certain parameters I would hunt them on a private game ranch. Just as I would hunt Brown bears, elk, wolves, and deer on a SE Alaska island. As far as shooting the mutant unedible livestock with fancy names, or African species Stocked after being farm raised, well that just has no appeal to me at all.

BCR, that's funny you should mention how easy sheep and goats are to raise. I've raised both and you are correct there's not much to it. Sheep are especially easy, goats on the other hand can be a real pain to keep contained. The little buggers can climb just about anything. I also had a real problem with my goats sticking there head throw the sheep fencing around the pasture and getting their horns caught. I can tell you I have ZERO sense of humor at 3:00am when I hear a goat bawling out on the back 40. Come to think of it that is one time SHOOTING a goat inside a fence appeals to me