Mustang Ranch Camp
2011 Deer Hunting
Reports and Photos
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| Ben McCulloch - Mustang Ranch Camp |
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| Mustang Ranch Camp
Since 2004, Ben McCulloch and his Mustang Ranch have been hosting Adobe Lodge hunters. Both for deer in the fall, and turkeys in the spring, the Mustang Ranch Camp is a great place for parties of four or five hunters.
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Hunt 2 November 30 - December 4
The second hunt of the 2011 season found a multi-year Mustang Ranch Camp veteran, Art St. John from Westminster, CO, back for at least his fourth hunt with Ben McCulloch. At the other end of the scale, a couple of youngsters were on hand to (hopefully) take their first-ever buck. The Johnson Boys, Ben, the eighth grader and Mike, the seventh grader, knocked the ball out of the park by each taking not only that first-ever buck, but a couple of great does/apiece, to boot.
Accompanying his sons as a non-hunting companion in camp was Wade Johnson, Longview, TX.
Talk about confusing. Among the eight in camp were three named "Ben" and two named "Mike". The "Ben's" were camp owner/manager Ben McCulloch, his son Ben II (the cook), and the aforementioned hunter, Ben Johnson. The "Mike's" were the hunter Mike Johnson and guide Mike Turner. Only Art St. John, guide Wes Pullig, and the dad, Wade, had unique names.
Both young hunters took nine pointers, virtually identical in weight at 109 and 114 lbs. But it was Ben who got an experience that many hunters have never had, no matter how many bucks they've taken. Guide Wes Pullig rattled-in Ben's buck.
Rattling-in bucks is simply the most exciting way to hunt a whitetail - no question. Granted - it doesn't always work. And granted - it isn't necessarily the best way to take a top animal. But when your guide is making all that noise - banging old antlers together every so often, pawing the ground with them, and clattering brush with the horns (in defiance of every admonition you've ever heard to be quiet while hunting), even old veteran hunters are surprised to see a buck come running to all that racket. You just never know from whence they will come. You certainly never know when. If it happens, a heart-stopping moment is upon you. Trying to stay "ready" - ah - that's the challenge. But Ben got'er done.
Guides Wes Pullig and Mike Turner don't often get hunters who insist on helping to butcher out their deer. Both young hunters donned aprons and, under the carefully tutelage of the guides, did a credible job of assisting with the necessary process all hunters face after harvesting a deer. Tasty venison doesn't just "appear" on a plate - someone has to do all the work and both youngsters got a great lesson in this important fact. Sadly, most of today's kids think meat comes only from grocery stores, wrapped in plastic.
Art. St. John is a dedicated hunter if there ever was one. He is quite capable and willing to sit for hours in a blind. Despite all his efforts on this hunt, Art simply never found a buck he wanted. He did, however, put his tag on a doe. Art used, with mixed success, an inflatable doe-decoy. Just like the reports we get from turkey hunters who use some kind of fake to fool their victim, Art's gave the decoy's effectiveness a possible 60% rating. Some does were drawn to the dummy - some were repelled. From a distance, you could hardly tell the decoy from a real deer. Or at least it fooled the webmaster as he drove up to camp for his visit. Art's truck appeared to have a doe in the back, ready to go for a ride.
Range conditions on the Mustang Ranch, while being far from "good", are much better than some of our other hunting areas seventy-five miles to the west. The deer harvested were in good flesh. And thankfully, within hours after the conclusion of the hunt, over two inches of blessed rain fell. Good news for sure.
Despite no buck appearing on the tally board alongside Art's name, the hunt was a good one. Three hunters took two bucks and five does.
The Mustang Ranch camp, accommodating four (maybe five) hunters is a perfect venue for family groups. And a perfect time to hunt with youngsters to introduce them to the sport is during the Christmas break. Yep, slots are open. Yep, we can tell you all about it if you just call or email. One thing for sure, your young hunter will see lots and lots of bucks on the game-rich Mustang Ranch.
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Hunt 1 November 17 - 21
Hammonton, NJ has been a great source of hunters for the Mustang Ranch Camp. For the past several years now, the crew around Ben McCulloch's camp almost begin to acquire New Jersey accents during the hunting season.
And the tradition continues. But with only one veteran in the group this year plus three new faces, all from that area in NJ. Last year, for the first time, we were privileged to meet Frank Ingemi who accompanied long-time regulars Ross Restuccio and Kevin Niedoba. Neither Ross nor Kevin could come this year, but Frank brought along Mark Calabria, Mike Torrissi, and George Mortellite. To maintain our devotion to 100% accuracy on this website, it needs to be pointed out that Mike is actually from Nesco, NJ.
Anyway, having three newcomers is always a treat. And remember, this was only Frank's sophomore year. So the Mustang Ranch troops can use all their old material (jokes, recipes, hunting tricks) and everything is new and exciting for the hunters.
Speaking of the hunters, they did great. All four collected nice bucks and a total of eight does, with one taking three, two taking two/each, and one taking one.
As a matter of interest, and for the self-serving purpose of promoting next spring's turkey hunts at the Mustang Ranch Camp, all the hunters reported seeing droves and droves of turkeys. This is good, good news and affirms our predictions of good times come April.
Guides Mike Turner and Wes Pullig did their usual outstanding job. As you might imagine, they were kept plenty busy in the skinning shed processing all those deer carcasses. The Hammonton bunch left for home with lots and lots of boned-out venison, all wrapped and frozen. In fact, there was in excess of 130 lbs. of the delicacy, and they had to use two coolers to manage the weight to airline limits.
Despite our on-going drought, the condition of the deer on the Mustang Ranch is surprisingly good. More rain is desperately needed, of course, but we are all encouraged by the body fat of the animals harvested.
Which brings up the subject of body fat laid onto the hunters by the Mustang Ranch camp chef extra-ordinaire, Ben McCulloch, Jr. Get this: as an OR-DURVE (I can't spell it correctly, but you know what I'm talking about) before serving his signature rib eye steaks, Little Ben treated one and all to samples of beef tenderloin* (the National Beef Council needs to send him an award) PLUS jalapeno poppers wrapped in bacon, of course - all of which was cooked over mesquite coals on his outdoor grill. Yes, yes. Dad's eyes narrowed at the extravagance of his son's cooking, but the hunters and the rest of us in camp were crowning Little Ben as a hero. Come to think of it, he has always been one heck of a camp cook - among the very best to be found in West Texas.
There seems to be something special about the Mustang Ranch for Hammonton hunters. Comments heard around the campfire focused on the sheer number of antlered deer that were being seen by the group. No comparison with what they saw, or better said, failed to see back home.
The second hunt of the season at the Mustang Ranch Camp will be starting soon - on November 30 (next Wednesday noon, to be more specific). Whereas time is short, we could squeeze in one or two hunters on this date if anyone would like to get in on the fun at the last minute. Beyond that, there is a hunt scheduled between Christmas and New Years (December 27-31) which is a perfect date for father/son pairs during the holidays when the kids are out of school. Just contact us for details on either of these hunts.
*Please note: after publishing the first draft of this report to the web, an email was sent to Ben McCulloch to solicit his review and corrections. Here is his reply:
Only one correction. The “orderves”(I can’t spell it either) were not beef tenderloins, they were a venison backstrap. I have to admit that they were the best I have ever eaten. Ben did an excellent job in preparing and cooking them. Next time I have to watch what he did so I can cook them for Ann and me.
So here's what I'm going to do. When/if Little's Ben's secret technique can be learned, that information will be published somewhere on this website. You are in for a treat if you ever get to eat Little Ben's venison backstraps.
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