A small group of us are considering a Texas whitetail hunt possibly this year. Does anyone have an outfitter that they want to refer us to? A friend of a friend has hunted the Lonesome Coyote Ranch and he speaks well of it. Other than that we know nothing about the area.

I'd go straight to TobyJoeTruby here on the Fire. His kids shoot more and bigger bucks than most people I know.

I don't know the man but I have heard good things about Toby Joe and have heard no bad.

Just in general the main thing to look for is how much area does the outfitter or ranch hunt? I assume you don't want a pen hunt.

South Texas big deer big heads big money.

Centeral Texas Hill country Lots of deer decent heads less money

East Texas small heads plenty of deer probaby the cheapest area.

Noth Texas rolling and high plains not as many deer chance for a big one money sort of split the difference between Hill country and south Texas.

There are exceptions everywhere of course but this generally holds true.


BCR

I'd always go someplace I had a chance at an Axis also.

Check out brinleeranchhunts.com, I had a blast out there.

Nooner Ranch up North Texas, King Ranch in South Texas! Google them and it will give you some info.

You can go with the King Ranch and shoot a whitetail buck...or fly to Africa and shoot a cape buffalo and a dozen plains game...

Are you looking for a represinative animal(110 BC or so) or a 140 BC, or what? The cheapest will be around $1200. It goes up from there. capt david

If I had that kind of jack laying around.... I'd go King... why send my money to Africa? of course thats just a worthless opinion, and one I keep using to go to Alaska instead of Canada too...

Just a couple of questions.
Does it matter whether it is high or low fence?
What size deer are you looking to harvest?
How much are you willing to spend?
How many hunters?

I have a few spots left on my South Texas ranch if it would fit your criteria. If not I'll try to point you in the right direction.

Axis are cheaper, provide more meat, taste better and much more fun to hunt.

I have never felt I could afford to pay by the inch score, but I have sometimes envied whitetail hunters on the Bill Carter (Sombreito) Ranch.

Val's a good guy give him a call.

http://qualityhuntconsultants.com/

Here's a couple pictures of deer on my ranch that I let walk last year.

Nice bucks M16!

I am still having trouble breathing. I hope those bucks make it to the age class you want so you can get at least a few of those. Incredible deer.

Give Roy Celaya a call@ 432-978-1151 (The ranch is 45 miles S.E.of Ft. Stockton,TX)

M16:

Drool! Drool!

Can I come hunting on your ranch?

KC

East TX is an often overlooked area. For years, the dominant pine forest provided little food for deer and they were small. More recently, very large tracts with patches of oaks and native pecans have produced some big (160" and over) deer in only a few counties. Cherokee and Rusk counties come to mind. I think it would be hard for outsiders to get a lease there, but you should contact chambers of commerce and look for local chapters of SCI, Teas Trophy Hunters, etc. The small towns--Jacksonville, Rusk, Henderson have plenty of motels and local cafes. See what is available and compare with other areas of TX.

S. TX has the biggest deer, is very expensive, and usually is leased out years in advance. With the recession, some leases are coming available that haven't been seen for years.

South Texas is chalk full of deer like M16 shared (nice deer)! Most of these ranches are heavily managed and by that I don't mean these are canned hunts. Trophy Deer hunting is BIG business here and these ranch owners/managers invest a ton on their property and deer herds.

Central Texas is slowly coming around on the management side. I have a ranch in Edwards County 3,064 acres - lots of deer, axis & black buck antelope (no commercial hunting) its a fun place to hunt but after 11 years of intense management there is no way we can grow South Texas deer without changing the genetic structure.

Texas is a big place with lots of good hunting and some not so good. A little carefull shopping and you should have a great experience. Here is a rule of thumb, if your looking to spend 5K or less look for the value of Central Texas or the Northern Plains up in the Pandhandle. If your budget will allow more, GO SOUTH - the home of the MUY GRANDE its an incredible experience.

Randy

Thanks for all the feedback guys. We meet this weekend to go over our findings. I have been saving for this trip for several years and it is nice to finally get started planning.

You said a couple. That was four. I think you're bragging.