Thinking about building a high fence place for exotic hunts

Hey Guys,

I am looking at options for 200 acres in North Texas, Was thinking about a high fence exotic hunting, we already have wild hogs. Im not to sure on cost? regulations (state/federal) where to buy the animals to start off with, breed or dont breed, is ther any intrest to hunt a place like this, We have a nice 4400 sq foot house that will serve as a bunk house I mean its a nice place lots of terrain changes a creek several stock tanks, we run cattle right now, but looking to make more money and do something that we like doing. I would apperciate any info and in there is intrest.

Thank you,
Mike

200 acres is pretty small to run a self sustaining ranch...unless your harvest numbers are really low, almost impossible.

my best guess would be to specialize in sheep hunts, something that you can buy, put in and take out with relative ease, along with some trophy axis, blackbuck and fallow for folks that want to "upgrade" and take somthing that costs more and makes you more.

hogs would qualify, you can trap on one ranch and bring them to yours.

as for the making money part....i know on our place it cost 30k to make 60k, and this is with buying no animals....there is going to be start up costs.

best bet to make some money, buy a place, high fence it, put some good exotics and breeder quality whitetail then put it on the market and sell it.

Hi,

I fenced my place a few years ago and would be glad to give you some information about my fence builder and buying animals. I used a guy out of Texarkana and he saved me about 20k on the fence, and finished it in about 2 weeks (over 300 acres). Also we buy and sale animals for a reasonable price. If you would be interested in using us to help stock your ranch I can get some prices together for you. Give me a call and I would be glad to discuss this with you in more detail. Our ranch is located in NE Texas. Kayle Campbell

With that small acreage, you may want to consider a breeding operation rather than a hunting operation. Something to think about, to make any $ off the place, you are going to have to buy stock, and probably shooters at that, which can be difficult to make $ off of turning them around. Plus, you're not going to be providing a very 'fair' hunting environment. If you go with a breeding operation, all the animals have a value, and you can sell at various ages depending on what you're willing to cover. If you get some very good stock and work with genetics, you can produce some very valuable animals.

I to can help u with fence building and stocking you ranch and help with any other things that may come up with having a hunting ranch.

Good luck!

Mikey-

To help you with expectations:

Some friends of mine have about 230 ac outside of Madisonville that they hi-fenced about 8 years ago; here are some lessons learned. For reference, they feed year round since they know their density is high. The feed bill is not cheap.

They have Axis, Fallow, and Blackbuck. From a place this size, after the herds are established, they have found you can expect to take (at max most years) one good Axis buck and one good Blackbuck a year. You can expect one big Fallow every few years or so. As for does and culls they shoot around 10 animals a year. The problem with the Fallow and Blackbuck in a place that small is that the males will fight to the death for dominance since there's not enough room to split separate herds. I know they have lost several nice animals this way. This means they can really only have one dominant Fallow at a time. The Axis don't seem to have this problem.

On the upside, the Axis will reproduce quite effectively due to multiple gestation cycles in a year. They started with 4 axis (two bucks, two does), and the herd is now estimated at 40+. Their Axis does typically always give birth to twins. The Axis are also the toughest to hunt. Very wary, and can disappear into those pine/oak bottoms. It's also important to not that their white tail numbers have stayed very low due to competition.

Not saying this is verified science or true everywhere; these are just some of the lessons from their place. An Axis and Sheep operation might make sense for you, since these will all play nice in herds.

I beg to differ on the sheep getting along.A few years ago I had 4 Mouflon rams on 85 acres. 2 got killed while fighting. When you had 2 fighting the 3rd. would back off and hit one of the others in the side. Found broken ribs on both the dead ones.

if it were my place i would concentrate on growing some super whitetails and sell those to hunters along with a small herd of axis....much more $$$$ and less headache.

FYI... if you want to make money dont get in exotic...

Very true. My Dad had a saying. You put it in the fun column, not the money making column.

X3...we put axis in for OUR enjoyment...not to turn a profit.

You won't get more than 3k for even the largest axis.....you can get upwards of 10k for a super whitetail