Ranchers in the nation’s top cattle-raising state have been transforming pasture land into something out of an African safari, largely to lure trophy hunters who pay top-dollar kill fees to hunt exotics. Small herds passed by the Jeep being driven by Mr. Watson, the hunting guide. “It’s God’s creature,” he said. The ranch’s hunting guides and managers walk a thin, controversial line between caring for thousands of rare, threatened and endangered animals and helping to execute them. It’s the closest thing to Africa I have seen. Ms. Schaan is the executive director of a private foundation in Houston. OX Ranch is the finest hunting ranch I've ever seen! Mr. Watson inspects an Axis buck shot the day before by an 8-year-old boy. Ox Ranch is legendary for it’s Native & Exotic hunting which includes whitetail deer hunting, turkey hunting, and 60+ additional species available for hunt! Larry Hromadka, a hunting guide, fires his pistol to end the suffering of a feral hog shot and wounded during a night boar hunt. I thought I had died and gone to bowhunting heaven. Daniel is a sophomore at St. John’s School, a prestigious private school. For a moment, at least, he had all the power. Himalayan tahrs, wild goats with a bushy lion-style mane, are far cheaper. “Most hunters in general are more in line with conservation than the public believes that they are.”. State hunting regulations do not apply to exotics, which can be hunted year-round. White stags and white elk graze on the ranch at sunset. We typically hunt Giraffe Safari Style, Spot and Stalk, or by Still Hunting if you are a Bow Hunter. For Keith Warren, outdoor icon and host of The High Road, it’s hard to beat hunting the Dark Continent for plains game species. “I’m trying to make it look as good as it can.”. Then the tour came to an unexpected stop. At the Ox Ranch, it shows. What to expect when hunting Giraffes! “They’re old lone bulls. We offer Whitetail Deer, Elk, Axis, Aoudad, Buffalo, Red Sheep, Blackbuck, and over 60 additional species to hunt! Mr. Watson points out a Roan on the Ox Ranch. Exotic-game ranches see themselves not as an enemy of wildlife conservation but as an ally, arguing that they contribute a percentage of their profits to conservation efforts. Viewer discretion is advised.Due to the policies of mainstream social media platforms not supporting our outdoor lifestyle, please subscribe to our website www.highroadhunting.com in the event that our accounts are removed. We promise to keep your email information confidentialClick here to Subscribe! You will see thousands of wildlife free ranging on over 18,000 acres of Texas Hill Country. Part of the allure of exotic game-hunting is the so-called trophy at the end — the mounted and lifelike head of the animal that the hunter put down. Those federal permits make it legal to hunt Eld’s deer and other threatened or endangered species at the Ox Ranch. A giraffe named Buttercup moved closer to Buck Watson, a hunting guide, as he looks on from a vehicle at the Ox Ranch in Uvalde, Tex. “We love the animals, and that’s why we hunt them,” Mr. Molitor said. Some see the ranch as a place for sport and conservation. An ostrich and grazing fallow deer are illuminated by the headlights of a ranch vehicle. Be sure to check our videos, subscribe to our channel and join us on The High Road Team! The ranch offers its guests the opportunity to drive and shoot World War II-era tanks. UVALDE, Tex. The creatures are not the only things at the ranch that are exotic. The Fish and Wildlife Service allows ranches to hunt and kill certain animals that are federally designated as threatened or endangered species, if the ranches take certain steps, including donating 10 percent of their hunting proceeds to conservation programs. Such is the curious state of modern Texas ranching, that a giraffe among the oak and the mesquite is an everyday sort of thing. But ranchers and wildlife experts said that Texas has more exotics than any other state. Animal-rights activists are outraged by these ranches. To ensure a healthy herd, the Ox Ranch introduces fresh blood lines using animals bred on other ranches. A survey by the state Parks and Wildlife Department in 1994 put the exotic population at more than 195,000 animals from 87 species, but the industry has grown explosively since then; one estimate by John T. Baccus, a retired Texas State University biologist, puts the current total at roughly 1.3 million. The Ox Ranch is Graves Taxidermy’s biggest customer. Wildlife experts said there are more blackbuck antelope in Texas than there are in their native India because of the hunting ranches. Kudu, Giraffe, and Baboon Pursuit | The Adventure Concludes - … They call what goes on there “canned hunting” or “captive hunting.’’, “Hunting has absolutely nothing to do with conservation,” said Ashley Byrne, the associate director of campaigns for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The Giraffe is the perfect model to demonstrate the way in which hunting works as a conservation tool. — On a ranch at the southwestern edge of the Texas Hill Country, a hunting guide spotted her cooling off in the shade: an African reticulated giraffe. The trophy fee, or kill fee, to shoot one is $7,500. Because the industry is largely unregulated, there is no official census of exotic animals in Texas. People fire at bullet-ridden cars from atop an American M4 Sherman tank at a shooting range built to resemble a Nazi-occupied French town. Three kangaroos that live in front of the Ox Ranch lodge are mainly for attraction purposes and are not hunted. Hundreds of animals shot at the ranch have ended up in the cluttered workrooms and showrooms at Graves Taxidermy in Uvalde. “It is absolutely absurd that you can go to a canned-hunt facility and kill an endangered or threatened species.”. “Taking one paid their feed bill for the entire year, for the rest of them,” said Jason Molitor, the chief executive of the Ox Ranch. Mr. Molitor said more government oversight was unnecessary and would drive ranchers out of the business. In addition, Texas ranchers have in the past sent exotic animals, including scimitar-horned oryx, back to their home countries to build up wild populations there. No one is allowed to hunt at the ranch without a guide. Blood and Beauty on a Texas Exotic-Game Ranch.

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