First Exotic Hunt

After getting to the ranch at around 12:30 or so, then meeting and saying hi to Larry and Tina, we got everything settled into the camp house for a weekend of hunting, and hopefully success. Larry and Tina are some of the nicest people in the world and they make every effort to make sure that you have a great time and that you have the best chance of taking the animal of your dreams. After going over the rules and the way things work with the hunts, we started getting ready to go out for our first hunt that evening. We were all anxious to get out in the field. We'd all been foaming at the mouth for the last month or so for that day to come that we get to try our luck at one of those massive Bar-E whitetails.

After we got all of our stuff unloaded and squared away, Larry loaded us up in the truck to take us to look at where we were going to hunt. Larry and Tina had been seeing a big 10 point and another big 12 point running around in this area, so they decided to put us there in hopes of us bagging one of those monsters. When we got back to the guest house, I might say some VERY nice accommodations, all three of us got all dressed and got everything together to head out into the field.

We got out to our stands around 4:30 that afternoon. It wasn't long after Larry dropped us off, that we started seeing action. I was sitting in my stand for only about 10 minutes before I heard the sound of hoofs and the sound of crunching corn coming down the road. As my heart started to race, then it appeared, a nice Mouflon Ram. He was just at a full curve in his horns. Following him were about six other sheep. After watching them for around twenty minutes or so, I heard some rustling to my left. Turning my head slowly to my left, I found out that it was nothing. However, when I looked back in front of me, I saw the first trophy of the trip. I saw this brown spot in front of me (I thought at about 50 yards, but later found out that it was around 80 or so) and started to wonder "was that there just a second ago." Right then, he turned his head. It was a very nice fallow deer. I could do nothing but stare at him in amazement. That was one of the biggest and most impressive animals that I had ever seen, then just as quick as he appeared, he disappeared. Without time for my heart to jump back into my chest, I slowly looked to my left and there he stood. He was an 8 pointer (one brow tine broke off, so I guess he was a 7 pointer at the time). Following him was a smaller 7 pointer, both shooters in anybody's book. The rule is 8 point or better, so I just sat back and watched the show. Well, they ate for about 20 minutes or so and then wondered off. Nightfall soon came and put an end to a wonderful night or hunting.

After getting back to the guest house and swapping stories with the guys, turned out that I wasn't the only one to see some action. I guess I'll let Randy and Ronny tell you about that. That night we were all so excited, and couldn't wait to get out that next morning. Also some of the guys that were hunting on the ranch enjoyed some success that night.

We got up early the next morning, man I sure was sleeping soundly, but I wasn't out to bag some sleep this weekend! Larry met us at the house at around 6:30 or so and we then headed out to our stands. He dropped off Randy, then Ronny, and finally, me. It was still dark when we got on our stands. There had been a full moon the night before, so we really weren't sure what was going to happen. After sitting on the stand for a little while, I heard some movement off to my left. In came a couple does. They milled around for a little while until some sheep came in and ran them off. There wasn't much stirring around that morning. After getting back to the camp house and getting fat and happy on some breakfast tacos, we rested a while before deciding to try our luck in the middle of the day.

We got everything ready to go and headed back out to our stands around 1 or so. It wasn't too bad outside, it was around 85 degrees. Sitting up in that tripod in the middle of the day, with no breeze, can get a little sticky, but in a few short minutes that would all go by the wayside. After sitting there for about 20 minutes, I started to hear some corn crunching and hoofs clapping on the rocks. I turned to my right to see a reddish-brown face and a couple horns sticking out of the bushes. At first sight, I thought that it was a red stag, so I got my camera ready to take some pictures, but as soon as he took a couple more steps, I could tell that it was a nice fallow deer. At first the thought didn't cross my mind about taking him, but after thinking about it for a little while, I decided that if I didn't, with my luck, I wouldn't see another animal the rest of the weekend.

So after watching this fallow for a couple of minutes, it seemed that he would never come out from behind those bushes, I decided to try to take him. He was walking broadside at me at about 13 yards, but he wouldn't ever turn his head so that I could get the draw on him. He passed though one of my shooting lanes and then proceeded onto the second. When there were some limbs blocking his view of me, I raised my bow and got ready to draw. He stepped out at around 23 yards and turned a little quartering away from me. I still couldn't get the draw on him with out him seeing me. I was worried that he might just take off, because it seemed that he was starting to get a little antsy. He was looking towards a group of trees as if something was there. Then he looked away from me and I then drew. About two seconds later, enough time for me to get my anchor set and put my pin on him; he lowered his head and moved his leg forward. I figured that this is my chance, so I flung my arrow. I heard that Spitfire head pop open and then a loud grunt. I had hit him in the ribs. He took off like a bullet from a gun, made a hook and headed back to where he had come from. I heard running and horns going through brush for a few seconds and then silence. I saw my arrow fall out of him when he made his hook to come back towards me. After the noise ceased, I got down out of my tripod and started the tracking.

In the meantime, Randy had radioed Ronny to ask him if he'd shot. Ronny said that he hadn't and that it must have been me. Ronny then radioed me and said that he'd come on over and help me track. Somewhere in the radio traffic, the word had gotten out that I had shot a hog, not a fallow, so when I told Ronny that "its" back was up to my ribs, his eyes got as big as dinner plates. Then I told him that it was a fallow, he let out a breath of relief, and we then started looking. Shortly after that, Larry pulled up with the other guys that were hunting at the ranch at the same time. Larry had told them what had happened so they jumped in to see what it was all about. We started looking with no luck, then Ronny came over the radio and said that he had found blood where he was, then shortly there after, he radioed and said that they'd found him. I was so excited; I had to keep myself from running over to him in a dead sprint. As I walked up to the fallow, there was one of the best blood trails that I'd ever seen. It seemed that after I lost sight of him, initially, that he then made another loop, seeming to head back to where he was shot. After all the running, he ended up going down about 50 yards from my tripod. I was the last one to get up too him and one of the other hunters asked me if I had any idea what I'd just shot, I said "yeah...a fallow." He asked it I had any idea how good he was...I didn't know, it was the first time seeing one.

We then proceeded to take pictures of it.

After getting it back to camp and processing it, we got ready to head out for that evening's hunt. Since I had already taken my animal, I was after my two hogs. That evening was going to turn out to be a wildlife viewing extravaganza. It wasn't long after I settled into my stand that the woods seem to come alive. There was movement everywhere. First there were some sheep that came in, and then it sounded like there was an army tank coming through the woods. Then slowly and cautiously out came a beautiful red stag.

After he crossed, I caught some movement from the left, there was another stag. He was a lot darker than the first one, almost black. They met behind a bush and I started to hear antlers slap against each other. I thought for a minute that they were going to start sparing, but it turned out to be some sort of "hey how you doing".

They stood there for a little while before moving on. Shortly after that, out came a Sika buck and about 8 Axis bucks. They were some of the most beautiful animals that I'd ever seen. They stayed around till dark, when some rams came in, so they decided not to hang around. That was one of the most eventful times of watching wildlife that I've ever been witness to.

That evening, while picking up the rest of the hunters, we found out that one of the other hunters there had taken a nice whitetail.

The next morning, the last hunt of the trip, I considered sleeping in, because those beds were so comfortable, but just couldn't do it. We all got up and got ready to head out to our stands. After getting to our stands just before daybreak, and sitting there for about twenty minutes, the first sign of action popped up. When I shot the fallow the day before, I just knew if I didn't, I wouldn't see anything the rest of the trip, well the opposite happened this morning. Because I had shot that fallow the day before, and I'm sure it was because it was me with my luck, out stepped a beautiful 10 point. And because I had taken my animal the day before, I couldn't do anything but take pictures. So that's what I did. I took pictures of this deer until he walked off, hopefully heading towards Ronny or Randy.

Then around 9 o'clock , it came time to head back to the camp house and get all of our stuff together to go back home. We got everything together, loaded it in the truck, said goodbye to Larry and Tina, and headed to the house.

We all had a GREAT time at the Bar-E this past weekend. We were anxious to come back even before we left. Larry and Tina are some great people, and their accommodations are excellent. The ranch is a beautiful place to hunt and to just get away to. I look forward to my next trip to the Bar-E, and hopefully getting another shot at a trophy animal.