A December to Remember
This is the factual story of a weekend hunt that was as bad as they come.
I was able to attend this hunt because a friend of mine was expecting his son in from naval boot camp the same weekend and was unable to attend.
The hunt was with DAVID ANCERIA (beware of this guy)
The hunt consisted of Bud, Eric, Myself, and Mr. Garrett, an 80 plus year old gentleman and the hunt financier. Prior to the hunt Mr. Garrett told DAVID ANCERIA that he was 80 plus years old and did not get around very well and needed stands that were easy to access. DAVID ANCERIA said there was no problem with this, and he would be accommodated.
A week prior to the hunt I called DAVID ANCERIA to inquire about the details of the hunt to be sure Mr. Garrett had the details correct. DAVID ANCERIA gave me the exact details he had told Mr. Garrett with a few other details from questions I ask.
The $1,000.00/gun hunt allowed the following:
1. One Trophy Buck
2. Two Doe
3. All the Varmits you could shoot
4. Bass Fishing
5. Unlimited Hogs
6. Two Javalina
7. Your animals would be cleaned, skinned, quartered and packed in ice.
I ask DAVID ANCERIA what class of bucks we could realistically expect to see, I was told we would see up to 150’s, and that he had seen a lot of deer with drop tines on the property. He also stated that we would have no problems getting our buck.
I ask DAVID ANCERIA if there were blinds on the place that were easy access because Mr. Garrett was 80 plus years old, has had knee replacement surgery, and did not get around very well. I was told that was no problem he would be accommodated.
On to the hunt:
We arrive in Realitos Texas at 8:00am Friday morning at a pre-arranged location. I called DAVID ANCERIA to let him know we were there, he said he would be there in 30 minutes. One and one half hours later, I called DAVID ANCERIA again and ask if he had forgotten about us, he stated that he would be there in ten minutes. One hour later I called DAVID ANCERIA again and he said he was right around the corner….fifteen minutes later he pulled up with no explanation of why it took him two hours and forty-five minutes to get there.
On to the ranch:
We pulled in to the ranch and up to a pavilion that had various types of animal skulls hanging from the post, I looked at the deer skulls and commented that it would take two of any one of them deer to make a 150. I started to get a real bad feeling about then. The owner comes out and welcomes everyone and ask us to put our gear away, that he would be back in a few minutes to get all of the paper work done. I was the last one in the house and watched as the owner and DAVID ANCERIA drove toward the back of the ranch. I kind of got a little miffed at the fact we were about an hour from getting on the stands and they were driving around our hunting area, but I let it go thinking maybe he just needed some help with something and they were not going to be in our hunting areas. As I entered the house I started looking at all of the deer pictures they had up of deer that had been taken there over the years. My heart just sank and hit rock bottom as I came to the realization that we were about to be had. The biggest buck I saw in the pictures was maybe a 120 class deer and most were from 90 to 110 class.
The owner and DAVID ANCERIA returned, the paper work was completed, and we were shown a map of the place and ask where we would like to hunt. Then the owner set forth the rules:
1. One buck, 6 points or better
2. NO DOE
3. NO VARMITS
4. TWO HOG
5. TWO JAVALINA
I pulled DAVID ANCERIA aside and ask, do you remember talking to me a week ago? He said yes. I said, do you remember telling me that we would see up to 150 class deer, and that you have seen several deer on the property with drop tines? He said, “I said that”??!!?? To which I said yes you did! And according to the photos in there, not a single deer will go more than 120. He had no answer, and about that time everyone else started to walk out for the evening hunt. He then stated, well the rut is in full swing, so there is no telling what you might see.
The owner took Bud to his stand because he went a different direction than everyone else, Mr. Garrett, Eric, and myself loaded up with DAVID ANCERIA. We arrive at Mr. Garrett’s stand, it is a box blind, five feet off the ground with a 2 X 3 foot opening for the door. I ask DAVID ANCERIA if this is what he considered easy access for Mr. Garrett. He said this was the best they could do, the other blinds were 10 foot tall. After much effort and pain, Eric and I managed to get Mr. Garrett in the blind. The poor guy was worn out from all of the exertion not to mention he had to put all of his weight on his knee (that has had replacement surgery) We continued on and dropped Eric off and then were on the way to my stand. We stopped and DAVID ANCERIA said here ya go. I looked at him and said this is not where I wanted to hunt, I wanted to hunt stand number 7. He said this is number 7. I said this was number 5 and that he missed the turn to 7 about 200 yards back. After I showed him on the map where we were, he drove around to the door of the blind and saw the big red number 5 and said, you are right, this is 5. Now it was starting to get clear as to why the owner and DAVID ANCERIA took the little ride, this was DAVID ANCERIA’S first time on this ranch also. He had no clue what was on this ranch, much less where the blinds were. That evening everyone saw a few doe, but the were very skiddish. I ask if they had the windows open on the blinds. Everyone said yes, my worst fears were coming true, this place has been hunted and hunted hard all season. DAVID ANCERIA suggested we go to another ranch and kill our doe the next morning. On this ranch it was doe only, NOTHING ELSE!! Out of the four of us we took 6 doe. DAVID ANCERIA was in a rush to load the doe and get back to the original ranch even though Bud had not shot a doe yet. I later found out that this was DAVID ANCERIA’S personal hunting lease, so with all that has happened so far, I am thinking the other lease members did not know he brought us there to kill doe. When we get back DAVID ANCERIA “assist us” in skinning and cutting the deer up.
A little later in the day I was talking to the ranch owner and ask if I wanted to come back hunting, what would he charged to hunt his place. He said he gets $185.00/day. I almost went ballistic, Mr. Garrett had paid DAVID ANCERIA $1000.00/gun for the weekend and had us hunting a place that charged $185.00/day and was shot out!!!
Stay with me now….this is only Saturday afternoon.
I raised so much cane about their easy access blinds for Mr. Garrett that they arranged a comfortable easy access blind for him. Meanwhile, Bud, Eric and I were in our blinds, all watching doe. This time I did not open the windows, when the deer came out they looked toward the blind and were just as calm as they could be. When DAVID ANCERIA came to pick us up, he was true to form, he would sit in the truck and wait for you to come to him. No assistance getting out of the blind, no “hey hand me your gun/back pack, nothing but sit in the truck and wait for you.
Sunday morning
A front blows in about daylight and I am thinking to myself, if ever I am going to see a buck this will be the time. I see a few doe come out and start feeding, and then it happens. My first buck of the hunt steps out, not 50 yards from the blind. A yearling spike. This would be one of only two bucks seen on this ranch the entire trip, the other was a four point. We were picked up about eleven and taken in for lunch and to get ready for the trip home. There was so much grumbling that the ranch owner suggested that we stay and hunt Sunday evening. We are back on the blinds by 2 pm. Bud did not see a deer, I saw several doe, Mr. Garrett saw a few doe and Eric saw a few doe and killed 2 Javalina.
We were picked up that evening true to form with DAVID ANCERIA sitting in the truck waiting on us to get out of the stand with all of our gear. While we were packing for the 6 hour ride home DAVID ANCERIA talked to Mr. Garrett about the hunt and gave his word he would call him Monday or Tuesday of the following week to “make things right”, as he left in a cloud of dust. Well as you may have guessed, that call never came.
I understand DAVID ANCERIA also runs quail hunts in that area on the La Mezqitozoa Ranch. I am not saying anything bad about that ranch, because I have never been there. But I can tell you, if DAVID ANCERIA is involved, BEWARE!!! I can only hope that his quail hunts are better than his deer hunts.
Just a word of warning, if you are booking a hunt in South Texas and hear the name DAVID ANCERIA………BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID!!
I was able to attend this hunt because a friend of mine was expecting his son in from naval boot camp the same weekend and was unable to attend.
The hunt was with DAVID ANCERIA (beware of this guy)
The hunt consisted of Bud, Eric, Myself, and Mr. Garrett, an 80 plus year old gentleman and the hunt financier. Prior to the hunt Mr. Garrett told DAVID ANCERIA that he was 80 plus years old and did not get around very well and needed stands that were easy to access. DAVID ANCERIA said there was no problem with this, and he would be accommodated.
A week prior to the hunt I called DAVID ANCERIA to inquire about the details of the hunt to be sure Mr. Garrett had the details correct. DAVID ANCERIA gave me the exact details he had told Mr. Garrett with a few other details from questions I ask.
The $1,000.00/gun hunt allowed the following:
1. One Trophy Buck
2. Two Doe
3. All the Varmits you could shoot
4. Bass Fishing
5. Unlimited Hogs
6. Two Javalina
7. Your animals would be cleaned, skinned, quartered and packed in ice.
I ask DAVID ANCERIA what class of bucks we could realistically expect to see, I was told we would see up to 150’s, and that he had seen a lot of deer with drop tines on the property. He also stated that we would have no problems getting our buck.
I ask DAVID ANCERIA if there were blinds on the place that were easy access because Mr. Garrett was 80 plus years old, has had knee replacement surgery, and did not get around very well. I was told that was no problem he would be accommodated.
On to the hunt:
We arrive in Realitos Texas at 8:00am Friday morning at a pre-arranged location. I called DAVID ANCERIA to let him know we were there, he said he would be there in 30 minutes. One and one half hours later, I called DAVID ANCERIA again and ask if he had forgotten about us, he stated that he would be there in ten minutes. One hour later I called DAVID ANCERIA again and he said he was right around the corner….fifteen minutes later he pulled up with no explanation of why it took him two hours and forty-five minutes to get there.
On to the ranch:
We pulled in to the ranch and up to a pavilion that had various types of animal skulls hanging from the post, I looked at the deer skulls and commented that it would take two of any one of them deer to make a 150. I started to get a real bad feeling about then. The owner comes out and welcomes everyone and ask us to put our gear away, that he would be back in a few minutes to get all of the paper work done. I was the last one in the house and watched as the owner and DAVID ANCERIA drove toward the back of the ranch. I kind of got a little miffed at the fact we were about an hour from getting on the stands and they were driving around our hunting area, but I let it go thinking maybe he just needed some help with something and they were not going to be in our hunting areas. As I entered the house I started looking at all of the deer pictures they had up of deer that had been taken there over the years. My heart just sank and hit rock bottom as I came to the realization that we were about to be had. The biggest buck I saw in the pictures was maybe a 120 class deer and most were from 90 to 110 class.
The owner and DAVID ANCERIA returned, the paper work was completed, and we were shown a map of the place and ask where we would like to hunt. Then the owner set forth the rules:
1. One buck, 6 points or better
2. NO DOE
3. NO VARMITS
4. TWO HOG
5. TWO JAVALINA
I pulled DAVID ANCERIA aside and ask, do you remember talking to me a week ago? He said yes. I said, do you remember telling me that we would see up to 150 class deer, and that you have seen several deer on the property with drop tines? He said, “I said that”??!!?? To which I said yes you did! And according to the photos in there, not a single deer will go more than 120. He had no answer, and about that time everyone else started to walk out for the evening hunt. He then stated, well the rut is in full swing, so there is no telling what you might see.
The owner took Bud to his stand because he went a different direction than everyone else, Mr. Garrett, Eric, and myself loaded up with DAVID ANCERIA. We arrive at Mr. Garrett’s stand, it is a box blind, five feet off the ground with a 2 X 3 foot opening for the door. I ask DAVID ANCERIA if this is what he considered easy access for Mr. Garrett. He said this was the best they could do, the other blinds were 10 foot tall. After much effort and pain, Eric and I managed to get Mr. Garrett in the blind. The poor guy was worn out from all of the exertion not to mention he had to put all of his weight on his knee (that has had replacement surgery) We continued on and dropped Eric off and then were on the way to my stand. We stopped and DAVID ANCERIA said here ya go. I looked at him and said this is not where I wanted to hunt, I wanted to hunt stand number 7. He said this is number 7. I said this was number 5 and that he missed the turn to 7 about 200 yards back. After I showed him on the map where we were, he drove around to the door of the blind and saw the big red number 5 and said, you are right, this is 5. Now it was starting to get clear as to why the owner and DAVID ANCERIA took the little ride, this was DAVID ANCERIA’S first time on this ranch also. He had no clue what was on this ranch, much less where the blinds were. That evening everyone saw a few doe, but the were very skiddish. I ask if they had the windows open on the blinds. Everyone said yes, my worst fears were coming true, this place has been hunted and hunted hard all season. DAVID ANCERIA suggested we go to another ranch and kill our doe the next morning. On this ranch it was doe only, NOTHING ELSE!! Out of the four of us we took 6 doe. DAVID ANCERIA was in a rush to load the doe and get back to the original ranch even though Bud had not shot a doe yet. I later found out that this was DAVID ANCERIA’S personal hunting lease, so with all that has happened so far, I am thinking the other lease members did not know he brought us there to kill doe. When we get back DAVID ANCERIA “assist us” in skinning and cutting the deer up.
A little later in the day I was talking to the ranch owner and ask if I wanted to come back hunting, what would he charged to hunt his place. He said he gets $185.00/day. I almost went ballistic, Mr. Garrett had paid DAVID ANCERIA $1000.00/gun for the weekend and had us hunting a place that charged $185.00/day and was shot out!!!
Stay with me now….this is only Saturday afternoon.
I raised so much cane about their easy access blinds for Mr. Garrett that they arranged a comfortable easy access blind for him. Meanwhile, Bud, Eric and I were in our blinds, all watching doe. This time I did not open the windows, when the deer came out they looked toward the blind and were just as calm as they could be. When DAVID ANCERIA came to pick us up, he was true to form, he would sit in the truck and wait for you to come to him. No assistance getting out of the blind, no “hey hand me your gun/back pack, nothing but sit in the truck and wait for you.
Sunday morning
A front blows in about daylight and I am thinking to myself, if ever I am going to see a buck this will be the time. I see a few doe come out and start feeding, and then it happens. My first buck of the hunt steps out, not 50 yards from the blind. A yearling spike. This would be one of only two bucks seen on this ranch the entire trip, the other was a four point. We were picked up about eleven and taken in for lunch and to get ready for the trip home. There was so much grumbling that the ranch owner suggested that we stay and hunt Sunday evening. We are back on the blinds by 2 pm. Bud did not see a deer, I saw several doe, Mr. Garrett saw a few doe and Eric saw a few doe and killed 2 Javalina.
We were picked up that evening true to form with DAVID ANCERIA sitting in the truck waiting on us to get out of the stand with all of our gear. While we were packing for the 6 hour ride home DAVID ANCERIA talked to Mr. Garrett about the hunt and gave his word he would call him Monday or Tuesday of the following week to “make things right”, as he left in a cloud of dust. Well as you may have guessed, that call never came.
I understand DAVID ANCERIA also runs quail hunts in that area on the La Mezqitozoa Ranch. I am not saying anything bad about that ranch, because I have never been there. But I can tell you, if DAVID ANCERIA is involved, BEWARE!!! I can only hope that his quail hunts are better than his deer hunts.
Just a word of warning, if you are booking a hunt in South Texas and hear the name DAVID ANCERIA………BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID!!
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