This was the third year in a row that bowhunting.net hosted its annual
deer hunt at the Wild Horse Prairie Ranch in Central Texas. To say the
hunt was a success would be putting it mildly. This was the largest
group of hunters yet. There were guys from Illinois, Texas, Nevada, and
Pennsylvania. All in camp were die hard bow hunters and most important
of all great individuals.
The ranch consists of approximately 8,500 acres. There is an abundance
of game animals which consists of deer, turkey, hogs, and a variety of
exotics. The ranch is controlled and ran by Billy Don Van Cleave. He and
his guides know the land well and they try and ensure that your hunt is
a safe and successful one. Also I don’t want to leave out the fact that
the food is fantastic. They serve two meals daily with snacks in between.
The star of the hunt was Roy Keefer from Las Vegas, Nevada. Roy who is
well known for his bow hunting endeavors through out the country had to
consider this as one of his top hunts of all times. He started the hunt
off by taking a beautiful Pope and Young buck from a DOUBLE BULL BLIND.
He then proceeded to take a nice fat hill country doe. After that he
double lunged a big fat wild boar. But to top this off he was fortunate
enough to bag an animal that I have been after my whole life. It was the
fourth day of the hunt and extremely hot. Roy climbed back into the
Double Bull blind that he got his deer out of. In a matter of no time he
had a group of Aoudad come in and he made a beautiful shot on a good
one. To say he was excited is an understatement. To take an Aoudad with
a bow is an incredible feat. They are very elusive and cunning animals.
A lot will disagree with me but I feel they are twice as tough to hunt
as deer. Their eye sight and noses are second to none. Another key
ingredient is they are almost impossible to pattern. Congratulations Roy
on an incredible hunt. Way to go!!!!
Another hunter who was a close second to Roy was Chef Klaus from
Chicago, Illinois. He was fortunate enough on the sixth day of the hunt
to bag a beautiful 10 point and big
Aoudad Ram on the same hunt out of the same tree. Unbelievable!!
Congratulations also to you Chef on a job well done.
I hunted for five straight days with Tyge Floyd. We were shooting some
video for the new and upcoming TV show, bowhunting.net. I was trying to
bag an Aoudad while Tyge videoed but things did not work out. It was not
because we did not try. I saw a total of 8 Aoudad but none within bow
range. I passed on a few smaller whitetail bucks and ended up taking a
nice hill country doe on the third evening of the hunt with my new
Allegiance bow by BOW TECH. This bow is smoking hot and shoots like a
scud missile.
In all it was a great hunt and fun was had by everyone. I actually lost
count but there were around 18 animals taken. Incredible numbers for bow
and arrow. Billy Don and his guides have all their stands set up for bowhunting and they understand what needs to take place to get a hunter
within 15 to 20 yards of a whitetail. Very organized and precise set ups.
I would also like to say a big thank you to WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTER on
the care packages they sent to all the hunters. They donated so many
products and believe me all the hunters really appreciated it and most
importantly utilized the products and had nothing but raving reviews. I
have been using wildlife research products for years and I can sum it up
simply by saying their products flat out work!!! Thanks again Wildlife
Research Center.
I know that they are already making plans for the fourth annual hunt for
next year. Anyone interested needs to contact Billy Don (see below).
The hunt will book up fast. I know that I will be there, God willing.
All I can say is those Aoudad best be ready. Billy Don Van
Cleave Wild
Horse Prairie Ranch P.O. Box 199,
Satin, TX 76685 Call: 254-749-6119 Fax: 254-546-2709 Email: BillyDon@hughes.net Web Site: WildHorsePrairie.com
