TT's Rocky Top Ranch;Not What it Used to Be

[Speedgoat]

i like to shoot animals.

Ditto

[Tom_in_SA]

I just wasted 20 minutes of my life that I will never get back reading this whole thread. Not that my opinion really matters, but what is the point in having a Rate the Day Lease section of this forum? All we hear is the positive things, and the second we dont, you get blasted. The guy gave his assessment of his hunt there, and people rip him for it.

No matter what business you run, there will never be 100% satisfaction with everyone. Ive heard more positive things about most outfitters on this forum, but it does benefit sometimes to hear the negatives. That being said, what is negative to some people isnt a negative to others, but that individual still has the right to give their opinion on here without getting ridiculed.

That is all.

I don't think there is any ridicule, its just everyone has their view, that they are also entitled to. You're entitled to think its ridicule, its not, in my view, its others views.

Thompson just told me the deed says 640 acres, that counts for the Lone Star Bowhunters Association rules of "fair chase" last time I checked. The ranch can have animals in Trophy Game Records of the World, it can have them in Safari Club International because there are breeding ewes and it can have them in Records of Exotics. That speaks to all the record systems I know of for exotics.

The place is stocked regularly, but is has a breeding population also. Sometimes the cheapest ram that has been there a long time is the biggest one shot in a weekend. You don't have to shoot the first one you see. You can make it a hard hunt or an easy hunt, its got quite a variety.

[bowhntrmatt]

Dang, with all this controversy, you woulda thought someone said Mathews was better than Hoyt or something.....

[rossn2]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Sqiggy on his comments about the hunt. Yes, I harvested a Four-horn ram on Thursday evening with my bow. Then on Friday, we sat at the Trailer camper overlook for over 10 hours and saw no rams there or when we walked down to Stand #2, other than those in the high-dollar pasture. So, most of the record book rams on this hunt were taken from the high-dollar pasture.

[Tom_in_SA]

Thompson told me he put the catalinas, i.e. New Zealand mountain goats, in the high dollar pasture, even if they were low dollar, because when put in the big pasture lately, they go hide places where no one sees them. I know I've been in the back and seen some big ones and he tells me, "I didn't know I had that here." He changes things up.

We might do better if we had a bow only hunt there, what do you think? I need to find that thread here, there just was a hunt like that, I read somewhere.

[TEAM SHARK]

Moving to Texas from Florida, I new nothing about exotics until this forum. I too was very skeptical about hunting exotics for the same reasons previously mentioned. Nonetheless, with advice from others (thanks), I went on my first exotic trip about two years ago at TT. Based on advice, I made my own hunt. I hiked up the backside and took some feed with me. Guessing where the herd might travel, I positioned myself on a trail just a few hours before sunset. Just before sunset, I heard the hoofs on the rocks and when the first animal showed me his horns and dropped his head to feed, I released my arrow. My painted ram scored a silver and he is now on my wall. Also, my brother-in-law, from India, cooked him for me. He was awesome! I am now hooked on hunting exotics; however, I do my research before planning a hunt. Don't knock any type of hunting until you try it! On my last hunt with a fellow TBH'r, we hunted goats. We stalked the goats for almost 4 or 5 hours before we got shots. The ranch was 700 acres and I think we covered the entire place. What a hunt! With anything in life, be open minded and give something a chance before you knock it. Everybody likes different things. I have my own rules, like... if I kill it, I eat it! As a biologist, I can't kill something without eating it. Because of this rule, I don't duck hunt. I hate ducks, but I don't knock duck hunters or hunters who are only trophy hunters.

My plan is to write a story about hunting exotics so that it exposes the myths. I pitched the story to Bowhunter, but they said they were not interested in publishing any story about high fence hunting. After I made my arguement, the editor indicated that he would now be interested in that type of story (pros and cons). I am so busy that I am not sure when I will get to it, but I will. My friends back in Florida always give me a hard time about shooting animals in a fence. I told them they need to come out and try it!

[wlo11]

Team Shark...I think that's a good idea. too many people who aren't from TX really have no idea what hunting these exotics entails. they hear the words high fence and immediately think it's "canned". I like the idea of exposing the pros and cons of it. Id read the story for sure

[Tom_in_SA]

... My friends back in Florida always give me a hard time about shooting animals in a fence. I told them they need to come out and try it!

Give them my e-mail too, t_prihoda at yahoo. I'll edit your story, if you want, I'd love to read it! How big do they think the "fenced" area needs to be? Florida, the US, the northern hemisphere, the earth? Not many animals escape from the earth. What do they think, we chase them all to Florida(i.e. the corner), so they can shoot them, before the animals swim for Cuba?

[TEAM SHARK]

Give them my e-mail too, t_prihoda at yahoo. I'll edit your story, if you want, I'd love to read it! How big do they think the "fenced" area needs to be? Florida, the US, the northern hemisphere, the earth? Not many animals escape from the earth. What do they think, we chase them all to Florida(i.e. the corner), so they can shoot them, before the animals swim for Cuba?

Are you an editor or associated with any particuilar publication?

[Tom_in_SA]

Are you an editor or associated with any particuilar publication?

No, I'm just a prof.who writes a lot, like over 140 publications, but not in hunting, that's my hobby. I think I know a lot about writing and/or hunting, but my edit would be worth what you pay for it, nothing. Take it or leave it type of edit, nothing magic or anything like that.

[TEAM SHARK]

Awesome! I will take you up on your offer. By the way, what type of publications? I am a marine biologist by trade and have published a handful of scientific articles.