Kanati Rock Ranch, Rocksprings, Texas

[White Smoke]

A couple of members of our varmint hunting club have been going to Texas for the past couple of years and finally did the deed and purchased a 100-acre spread near Rocksprings, about 100 miles NW of San Antonio. Their dream is to turn it into a hunting ranch, and they have been working hard on doing just that. All the infrastructure is almost in. One of the last things is the solar powered well, which is going in this week. After that, it's just hooking up all the plumbing. The cabins and kitchen are all in and ready to go. Feeders and blinds are in and set. Blkpowder hunter and I, along with two other friends are headed down there on the 21st for a three-day, two night hunt for Axis deer and hogs, and maybe some coyotes. This is the inaugural hunt and I will post a report when I get back. Here are some pictures of what they have going so far. Contact info is Rob Wagner, (619) 249-9174

[grayfox]

Interesting. Keep us posted!

[sundowner]

Thanks for the info , looking forward to more info .

[shermanempire]

Damn that's really cool y'all got that together, good luck!

[oyster]

100 acres seems a little small for a hunting ranch, especially in TX.

[Popeye212]

Not much land for a hunting ranch. I have 3ft panels around my feeders so deer can jump it pigs can't. Get rid of the pigs. Have a TPWD biologist come out and tell you what you can harvest. Your ratio is 1 deer(Whitetail) per 10 acres add exotics to that and you need supplemental feed.

[White Smoke]

The four of us took the long drive to Texas last week and arrived in Rocksprings around 1:00 in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the cabins were not ready because of problems down in Texas. Rob arranged for us to stay at his hunting buddy's cabin is that is about an hour from the ranch. After settling in, changing clothes and packing up our gear, we headed for the ranch . We headed up to the blinds and sat until midnight. I had a group of 3 whitetail does come in for a while and another pair of does a bit later. Unfortunately, no Axis or hogs came in. The second night, we went up to the blinds and sat until about 3:00 in the morning when some lightning started hitting and we decided to pull the plug. All in all, the stands were beautiful and shooting lanes nice and clear. The feeders have lights on them at night, a solid low green light and a higher intensity light connected to a motion detector to light the area when game comes in. We hunted hard but the wind was terrible. The winds were a steady 20 mph and gusting to 40. The animals didn't show up until really early in the morning, after we had left the blinds. Even though the property is small, 100 acres, it has a lot of potential. The five blinds and feeders are all top notch. The cabins look beautiful, but have yet to be finished. Once they are finished, I think Rob will have a great operation. The four of us are going back in another month or two, after the cabins are finished and we'll give it another shot.

[BliksemDonder]

I own 84 acres on the edge of the Edwards plateau, near Rocksprings, and it forms part of a larger 2,500 acre no fence community. It is plenty big enough as there is very little level ground so the surface area and the vegetation compensates for the apparent lack of acreage.

I have lived in Texas for 19 years but there are gems of areas in this great state that defy the common misconceptions of requiring large ranches to be able to hunt well.

[Constitutionalist]

Just like Northern Lower Michigan where we hunt. We have 40 acres and have 5 blinds that are between an oak ridge (feeding area) and a 15yo cut (bedding area). They each cover at least one deer travel way that can't be seen by other locations. Not sure I'd run a guide service there but it makes for a fun Deer Camp. We also have 30,000 acres of National Forest nearby if someone wants a change of scenery.

Good luck to your friends on their new business endeavor!

John