I tagged along with Castandblast this past weekend, to Big Oak Bowhunting.
In short, I have not been to a better ran bowhunting operation.
From the moment you get there, you are home. The fridge, in the hunter's cabin is stocked with water, soft drinks, and sandwich fixins, and there's all kinds of snacks, on the counter. The place is cleaner than any hotel I've ever been to. The AC works like a walk in cooler (which they have too). Impressive is an understatement ... and we haven't even been into the hunting area!
Marty took me on a ride around the ranch before Andy and his family got there. We saw lots of animals and rode by a bunch of the stands.
The first hunt was that evening. I sat in the nyala stand, where he'd been seeing a lot of sika. This stand, and the others that I hunted were set up by a BOW hunter; not some yahoo accommodating bow hunters on his rifle hunting ranch. The box blinds are roomy, and positioned for a great shot to the feeder. I sat in 4 different stands, over the weekend, and the shots were all from 12 to 25 yards; great set-ups for any bowhunter.
For some reason the animals weren't hitting the feeders this weekend. I saw on sika buck, on my 3rd sit. He walked right by the feeder without even looking at it. Everyone else in our group experience the same thing. The animals ARE there ... we saw them every time we rode around; they just didn't cooperate.
Anyone that knows me will tell you that I'm a sucker for sheep, and Big Oak has some dandies. Without a tape, i bet 95% of his rams will make ROE gold medal. They weren't particularly skittish, if you stayed on the Ranger and I didn't NEED to shoot another sheep, and I didn't want to do it with my compound. I didn't bring my recurve, so Marty went and dug out a beautiful 45# Black Widow that he said he was gonna let his sister shoot since it wasn't a "man's" bow!
The best part ... it hadn't killed an animal! I spent about 30 minutes shooting it, Friday afternoon, and we hatched a plan to go stick a big apricot dall, sometime between our sits.
We hunted feeders in the mornings, came in for breakfast, then went right back out to hunt timed protein feeders until noon. Marty kept us moving where he thought we'd have the best chance at our "wanted" animals.
Saturday afternoon, it was time to poke a hole in a ram. Again, I didn't NEED to shoot another ram, but he had a huge apricot colored dall, and I didn't have one of those yet.
All 5 of us piled into one of the rangers. It was a short ride to where the rams liked to hang out. Since they're not particularly scared of the ranger, it wasn't hard to drive up to them and step out. It took a few minutes for the dall to clear the feeder and the other rams, so when he did, I was ready to let the arrow fly. Buff's Black Widow, Buff's tab, Buff's tuned arrow, and Buff's German Kinetic broadhead. With all that mojo, there really wasn't any way I could miss!
The shot burried to the fletchings, into the ram's left shoulder. He and the group decided it wasn't safe to stick around. I'm guessing they saw Marty and the extra arrows he had in the quiver!
He made it maybe 30 yards before the GK hole left his lungs empty. He fell in sight!
During the down time, we traveled the ranch, searching for animals bedded down. We did find one sika buck, that I could have shot, but Marty insisted we could do better. This single statement shows you that this man loves bowhunting, loves the chase, and getting your money isn't his focus.
Marty worked his tail off, to make our hunt exciting and successful. You could not ask for anything more.
Coming in to a fantastic home cooked meal, after a long day is just icing on the cake. Mrs. Lisa will make sure that you don't loose weight while you're there!
On the drive home, I had time to think about my weekend, and realized that I didn't want to write a stellar review on this place because I know in a very short while, you won't be able to book a hunt unless you call 6 months in advance. Places like this are few and far between. Like I said earlier, I have not been to a more well run operation, than Big Oak. The only thing that Marty, Lisa and Whitney love more than bowhunting is their family. Ironically, when you leave there you will feel like part of that family.
Do not hesitate to book a hunt with these people.
Marty, Whitney, and Lisa, thanks again for an outstanding weekend.
I can't wait to come back!
In short, I have not been to a better ran bowhunting operation.
From the moment you get there, you are home. The fridge, in the hunter's cabin is stocked with water, soft drinks, and sandwich fixins, and there's all kinds of snacks, on the counter. The place is cleaner than any hotel I've ever been to. The AC works like a walk in cooler (which they have too). Impressive is an understatement ... and we haven't even been into the hunting area!
Marty took me on a ride around the ranch before Andy and his family got there. We saw lots of animals and rode by a bunch of the stands.
The first hunt was that evening. I sat in the nyala stand, where he'd been seeing a lot of sika. This stand, and the others that I hunted were set up by a BOW hunter; not some yahoo accommodating bow hunters on his rifle hunting ranch. The box blinds are roomy, and positioned for a great shot to the feeder. I sat in 4 different stands, over the weekend, and the shots were all from 12 to 25 yards; great set-ups for any bowhunter.
For some reason the animals weren't hitting the feeders this weekend. I saw on sika buck, on my 3rd sit. He walked right by the feeder without even looking at it. Everyone else in our group experience the same thing. The animals ARE there ... we saw them every time we rode around; they just didn't cooperate.
Anyone that knows me will tell you that I'm a sucker for sheep, and Big Oak has some dandies. Without a tape, i bet 95% of his rams will make ROE gold medal. They weren't particularly skittish, if you stayed on the Ranger and I didn't NEED to shoot another sheep, and I didn't want to do it with my compound. I didn't bring my recurve, so Marty went and dug out a beautiful 45# Black Widow that he said he was gonna let his sister shoot since it wasn't a "man's" bow!
The best part ... it hadn't killed an animal! I spent about 30 minutes shooting it, Friday afternoon, and we hatched a plan to go stick a big apricot dall, sometime between our sits.We hunted feeders in the mornings, came in for breakfast, then went right back out to hunt timed protein feeders until noon. Marty kept us moving where he thought we'd have the best chance at our "wanted" animals.
Saturday afternoon, it was time to poke a hole in a ram. Again, I didn't NEED to shoot another ram, but he had a huge apricot colored dall, and I didn't have one of those yet.
All 5 of us piled into one of the rangers. It was a short ride to where the rams liked to hang out. Since they're not particularly scared of the ranger, it wasn't hard to drive up to them and step out. It took a few minutes for the dall to clear the feeder and the other rams, so when he did, I was ready to let the arrow fly. Buff's Black Widow, Buff's tab, Buff's tuned arrow, and Buff's German Kinetic broadhead. With all that mojo, there really wasn't any way I could miss!
The shot burried to the fletchings, into the ram's left shoulder. He and the group decided it wasn't safe to stick around. I'm guessing they saw Marty and the extra arrows he had in the quiver!
He made it maybe 30 yards before the GK hole left his lungs empty. He fell in sight!During the down time, we traveled the ranch, searching for animals bedded down. We did find one sika buck, that I could have shot, but Marty insisted we could do better. This single statement shows you that this man loves bowhunting, loves the chase, and getting your money isn't his focus.
Marty worked his tail off, to make our hunt exciting and successful. You could not ask for anything more.
Coming in to a fantastic home cooked meal, after a long day is just icing on the cake. Mrs. Lisa will make sure that you don't loose weight while you're there!
On the drive home, I had time to think about my weekend, and realized that I didn't want to write a stellar review on this place because I know in a very short while, you won't be able to book a hunt unless you call 6 months in advance. Places like this are few and far between. Like I said earlier, I have not been to a more well run operation, than Big Oak. The only thing that Marty, Lisa and Whitney love more than bowhunting is their family. Ironically, when you leave there you will feel like part of that family.
Do not hesitate to book a hunt with these people.
Marty, Whitney, and Lisa, thanks again for an outstanding weekend.
I can't wait to come back!
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