Hunting exotics on preserves?

[bigbore442001]

Has anyone here ever hunted on a game preserve for a non-native animal? Has anyone contemplated doing so?

I have in the past hunted on a preserve and shot a red deer hind and a Russian boar with the muzzleloader. It was fun and added some meat to the freezer, but the red deer hind was no challenge. It sort of stood there when I dropped the hammer. The boar was a different matter. He needed some chasing to get at .

So. How many have hunted something exotic with their muzzleloader? Thanks

 

[bob1961]

i'm thinking of Russian boar in a preserve here in PA....chance of a 300+ pounder with my bow or flintlock :v ..............bob

 

[oneshot]

I killed this Boar and Ram hunting couple Game ranches durring off season.Sure wasn't a gemme like I thought it would be.

oneshot

 

[rabjr]

It sort of stood there when I dropped the hammer.

Perhaps this should be called something else instead of "Hunting". Sorry I know guys do this and it is legal to do so but I just don't see it.

 

[Walks Alone]

Perhaps this should be called something else instead of "Hunting". Sorry I know guys do this and it is legal to do so but I just don't see it.

I know some of the exotics are considered hard to take even on game ranches. But I still have to agree with SR, even if it is legal. Kind of like shooting game from a blind over a feed lot planted to attract that game into range. Sorry, not hunting... just shooting game (at least to an old man who fished/hunted the wilds of the Rockies alone for fins & fur & feathers most of his life).

Also agree wild boar can be anything but a gimmee. Hunted/harvested them for years (60's-70's) with a hand gun (no dogs) along the coastal mountains of central and northern California.

 

[oneshot]

I know the places I went were very brushy and didn't have Food Plots or Feeders.

I got lucky on both my Ram and Boar.The Boar was on the second day of the hunt after a rain,caught him in an open area,with two others.

The ram was killed second day.I was hunting with eight other Guys,they was hunting Hogs.One of them spotted the Ram.I went later tracked him in the snow.Got in a good running shot.

This one place have Red Stag.They had Guys hunt them for two months never got a shot.Oh yes they have several animals and you see them everywhere but if your wanting one certain type of animal its going to take awhile.Like the first day after my Ram I seen Goats,Deer,Elk,Hogs,but no Rams.Had one Guy thats hunted Hogs there two years and has never killed one.Another Guy thought it woulde be easy,so he brought a Bow and went home empty handed.

oneshot

 

[Headhunter]

I am going hog hunting in Texas in January.

Can't wait.

Headhunter

 

[brubincam]

kind of like bushwacking a groundhog,cause you know where he lives,,, :yakyak: :yakyak: :yakyak:

 

One of my favorite things to do is to bushwhack groundhogs from 300 yards or so. Hogs don't apear to care much for it though..... :thumbsup:

 

[Runner]

About 1000 acres fenced with a breeding population of russian's would be a very interesting hunt if the population was kept low enough to make it a hunt. I have considered several such hunts in the off season. If you think hunting wild russians on foot with a smoke pole in thick country is not hunting, then you are a very lucky man!

 

[shmrck1]

Deaconjo,
Yep, did that years ago with a Rem.22-250 sometimes in excess of 300yds.I think the
longest I ever made was around 360+or-.I have
heard tell of 500 but never seen one. All this
before I went black.
As to preserve hunting,and considering the cost,
it's just not my bag.
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[16gauge]

I've hunted several different preserves over the years and have taken a few hogs, Sika & Fallow deer, a few rams, and Bison. Some were "pushovers" and others were a bit challenging....the Sika gave me fits and I almost ended up going home empty handed from that one!
Some preserves are better run than others, and size alone doesn't necessarily make a preserve; talk with the owner, talk with others who have been there, ect.....i.e. do some homework so you wont be disappointed.
You can hunt over feeding stations in most preserves, but I prefered to try and find where the animals were bedding and set up an ambush between the feeding site and bedding site. While most animals were pushovers at the feed station, they were somewhat wary on the trail to and from. Rams are a bit on the dull side, and fairly easy to take.
One of the things that makes the animals 'pushovers' is if they were just recently introduced to the preserve.....the don't have escape routes, know the area, ect, so they just stand there and get shot! I went up with no set critter in mind on a couple of hunts, and went after the ones that seemed more 'spooky' than the others. If they've been chased around some by other hunters, they tend to be a bit more sporting.
Good luck............

Oneshot;
That is a nice looking ram....is that a Mouflon?

Here is a pick of the cow bison I took back in 2001.

 

[MercerLake]

:v I spent some time a few years ago with my wife while she chased pigs up and down some fair sized hills over in central Oregon on a "game ranch", about 5000 acres worth. They advertised "fair chase", well let me tell you after climbing from 2500' elevation to over 3700' a couple of times in a day. I didn't think it was "fair" at all, they have four legs and large hearts. About broke ours! :rotf:
The rule seemed to be that whatever you wanted to shoot was above you until you got there, then guess where they were! You could make a "hunt" as easy as you want or quite a bit more difficult. Oh you do have to dodge the Asian buffalo and large African cattle, keeping large rocks and big junipers as barriers .
The wife got her pig and had a fun time, she'd never hunted or killed anything before I led her astray. Now I have a great partner that never says'"hunting again? No way"!
It was a way to find out if she was a predator or just destined to scavenge road kill.
A preserve can offer the opportunity to see a variety of game that you may never see any other way. As long as you are not shooting whatever you are after in a pen or over feed it is close enough to "hunting". Some folks refuse to use bait on thier hooks and some might even forgo the hook too. :grin: Have fun, take a bunch of pictures and don't kill anything unless you really want it, it's cheaper. :v

 

[Mulebrain]

Some of these preserves sound like hunting in a petting zoo! I guess you can walk right up to some of these animals and blastem from 3' away!

LMAO :rotf:

 

[Headhunter]

Some are Bucket shoots, some are good hunts.

You can get what you want.

If you want your buffalo unloaded out of the back of a stock trailer and into a feed lot to do your hunt, you can have that.

If you want your buffalo out of a herd of 3500 animals on a 50,000 acre preserve, spend $5500 on a bull and not even see a single critter, well, they have those too.

The choice and hunt are yours. Call and get references.

Headhunter

 

[Runner]

Back when I started into archery hunting; about 68-69; the group I learned from had a hunting preserve with russians on an island in the Missouri river. No guns were allowed, and there was an eight foot long russian boar on the island that was supposed to be pretty aggressive. They had a hard time selling memberships because most folks were not ready to hunt russians in thick cover with a bow. The pictures of that 400 pound 8 foot long russian boar kept people from joining since they had to hunt with a bow.
That is not the same as the buff hunts where the guide says, shoot that one, and then will not let you shoot him a second time so you stand there feeling creepy while you wait for the animal to notice your first shot. That is not the same as sheep in a one acre pen. That is not the same as feeders and a tree stand either.
Depends on where you go and how you hunt.
By the way, nice looking ram Oneshot! Also, didn't your name get changed after that first hog hunt???? :wink: :grin: