I took my future father-in-law out to help film me on my Texas Dall hunt at the ranch a few weeks ago. Let me tell you, this is a top notch facility!
We arrived there about noon and Tisha (Brad's wife) had lunch ready for us. After lunch, Brad took us on a tour of the hacienda and where our rooms were, but then it got good. The V-Bharre ranch is a one stop shop for your hunting experience. They have a full butcher and processing building with huge walkin freezers and one gigantic smoking room. I could tell that Mike (the owner) was a BBQ man when I took witness to his rotisserie unit in the back that could probably hold 40 briskets.
Then we got in a buggy and took a tour of the ranch. It was HOT out and Brad filled up the cooler with a number of beers and we set out to go check out the animals. The exotic pasture was amazing. The terrain varied from open pasture to thick bush and trees. We saw probably 20 different species of animals and these things were amazing. You can tell that even though Texas was going through one of its worst droughts, these animals were not hurting for food and water. The horn and antler length were all trophy sized on all of the animals. Once we got to the area where the rams were, I got to sit and study them through the binocs for a while and choose the one that I would be aiming at later. All of them were nice size, but I picked a very symmetrical one that didn't look to have too much face damage. (I'll get to that later). We then putzed around and visited the lake and the whitetail pasture but didn't see anything....those whitetail are probably the best at hiding.
Back at the ranch house, we sat and watched a movie while we waited for dinner to be finished and outside to cool down. Dinner was great. Jo Beth cooked a chicken that had so much flavor, I didn't want to stop eating. But I was excited to get out there and do some hunting.
Got my gear ready and me and Ted (my future father-in-law) jumped in the buggy. We had planned on hunting a ground blind where we had seen the group that afternoon but then decided when we saw them pushing towards the water that we would quickly get there first and get settled in a tree. We quickly got situated up on a tripod inside a tree overlooking a little pond and Brad threw some corn while we cleared some lanes in the branches. Seems like we waited for a while, but then the rams came in. I thought, "heck, this is going to be easy" but it wasn't. I've only hunted whitetail and pigs before but I soon learned that rams stick together. Because of this, they're always banging there big horns up in each others faces and shoulders. During the 2.5 hours up there, I only drew my bow once because I thought I was going to get a shot but it never happened. Oh well, theres always the morning and Ted got a taste of what bowhunting was like. He couldn't stop smiling from being able to hear and smell the animals and mentioned it being such a rush.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65850848@N05/5998746422/
Back to the house to finish up a movie, drink a beer and get ready for the morning. We were up at 6 and headed back out to the tree. I really enjoyed being up in the tree the night before with the breeze and it being cooler than a stuffy blind. Wasnt too long before the rams were there again sucking up the corn but I couldn't get a shot on the one I wanted. He seemed to know that his hours were numbered. The rest of them were chilling under the tree in plain view and mine would continually herd them back out past 30 yards before one would get hungry again and come back in for some more. finally, he gave in and gave me the perfect shot. 15 yards and I put my pin right behind the shoulders. The grizz trick cut through a rib and then got stuck on the inside of the other set of ribs. Ram ran about 60 yards and fell.
All in all, I had a great time at the ranch. The animals are top notch, the facility is unbelievable, and Brad is an amazing guide who cares about the animals and knows his stuff. I would definitely recommend the V-Bharre to anyone wanting to experience a trophy high fence hunt.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65850848@N05/5998197931/
Oh yeah, measured an average of 35.5 inches on each side.
We arrived there about noon and Tisha (Brad's wife) had lunch ready for us. After lunch, Brad took us on a tour of the hacienda and where our rooms were, but then it got good. The V-Bharre ranch is a one stop shop for your hunting experience. They have a full butcher and processing building with huge walkin freezers and one gigantic smoking room. I could tell that Mike (the owner) was a BBQ man when I took witness to his rotisserie unit in the back that could probably hold 40 briskets.
Then we got in a buggy and took a tour of the ranch. It was HOT out and Brad filled up the cooler with a number of beers and we set out to go check out the animals. The exotic pasture was amazing. The terrain varied from open pasture to thick bush and trees. We saw probably 20 different species of animals and these things were amazing. You can tell that even though Texas was going through one of its worst droughts, these animals were not hurting for food and water. The horn and antler length were all trophy sized on all of the animals. Once we got to the area where the rams were, I got to sit and study them through the binocs for a while and choose the one that I would be aiming at later. All of them were nice size, but I picked a very symmetrical one that didn't look to have too much face damage. (I'll get to that later). We then putzed around and visited the lake and the whitetail pasture but didn't see anything....those whitetail are probably the best at hiding.
Back at the ranch house, we sat and watched a movie while we waited for dinner to be finished and outside to cool down. Dinner was great. Jo Beth cooked a chicken that had so much flavor, I didn't want to stop eating. But I was excited to get out there and do some hunting.
Got my gear ready and me and Ted (my future father-in-law) jumped in the buggy. We had planned on hunting a ground blind where we had seen the group that afternoon but then decided when we saw them pushing towards the water that we would quickly get there first and get settled in a tree. We quickly got situated up on a tripod inside a tree overlooking a little pond and Brad threw some corn while we cleared some lanes in the branches. Seems like we waited for a while, but then the rams came in. I thought, "heck, this is going to be easy" but it wasn't. I've only hunted whitetail and pigs before but I soon learned that rams stick together. Because of this, they're always banging there big horns up in each others faces and shoulders. During the 2.5 hours up there, I only drew my bow once because I thought I was going to get a shot but it never happened. Oh well, theres always the morning and Ted got a taste of what bowhunting was like. He couldn't stop smiling from being able to hear and smell the animals and mentioned it being such a rush.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65850848@N05/5998746422/
Back to the house to finish up a movie, drink a beer and get ready for the morning. We were up at 6 and headed back out to the tree. I really enjoyed being up in the tree the night before with the breeze and it being cooler than a stuffy blind. Wasnt too long before the rams were there again sucking up the corn but I couldn't get a shot on the one I wanted. He seemed to know that his hours were numbered. The rest of them were chilling under the tree in plain view and mine would continually herd them back out past 30 yards before one would get hungry again and come back in for some more. finally, he gave in and gave me the perfect shot. 15 yards and I put my pin right behind the shoulders. The grizz trick cut through a rib and then got stuck on the inside of the other set of ribs. Ram ran about 60 yards and fell.
All in all, I had a great time at the ranch. The animals are top notch, the facility is unbelievable, and Brad is an amazing guide who cares about the animals and knows his stuff. I would definitely recommend the V-Bharre to anyone wanting to experience a trophy high fence hunt.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65850848@N05/5998197931/
Oh yeah, measured an average of 35.5 inches on each side.
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