At Shonto Ranch, our whitetail deer hunting is becoming legendary.  Our whitetail hunting guests are guided exclusively by our resident wildlife biologist and hunting guide, C.D. McGehee.  During your whitetail hunt, it will just be you, C.D., and your guest(s) on the ranch, and C.D. will do everything possible to put you each on that special whitetail buck and give you the deer hunting experience of a lifetime.

Most of the whitetail deer hunts at Shonto Ranch are conducted safari style.  Hunting safari style allows hunters to cover the entire ranch in a day and be more selective in the trophy that is harvested.  Our whitetail hunters usually see between 100 and 140 whitetail bucks in a day.

Our management program requires that we be selective in the trophy bucks that we take, ensuring that whitetail consistently reach maturity on our ranch.  Our year-round supplemental feed and protein plan contribute to the body and antler development of our whitetail deer, and our hunters reap the benefits.

A large percentage of the food plot questions I hear pertain to hunting properties in the Texas hill country.  Common queries include:  What should I plant?  When should I plant?  How should I plant?  However, I seldom hear the question, "Should I plant."

I am on a 350 acre lease in Gillespie county with just myself and my 8 and 6 year old sons.  The land owner wants a group of 3 to 4 hunters.  I would like to find maybe 2 Christian, management minded father/son familys to share the lease with.  So far, I have 2 feeders and 1 ground blind set up with plans to set up more.  There is a pipeline and a powerline that runs the length of the property so, there are plenty of long range shooting oppurtunities for those so inclined.  I haven't seen any hogs or exotics but, the landowner said that they do pass through from time to time.  We have ok to shoot hogs but not exotics.  There is a cattle grazing lease on the property but, there aren't that many so, I don't find it to be too much of a nuisance.  There is water on the property and electricity but no cabin.  You are allowed to park an rv if you would like.
 
You are allowed 4 deer total per paid hunter, 1 trophy, 1 cull and 2 does.  There are plenty of does and I have seen a couple of nice trophys (see attached photos).

By John Schwarzlose of Texas Wildlife Unlimited

THFN Team Member and Biologist John Schwarzlose gives us some guidance for creating those essential food plots for attracting doves to your property this fall.