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Mustang Ranch Camp
2007 Hunt Reports and Photos
NOTE: CLICK ON A PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT AND GET MORE INFORMATION.
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| Ben McCulloch |
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In 2004, Ben McCulloch converted his hunting operation to our guided/outfitted format. Ben signed on with Adobe Lodge and provides outstanding hunts for whitetail deer and spring turkey.
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Hunt 5 December 27-31
A family of Georgia hunters was in camp for the final hunt of the season at the Mustang Ranch Camp. There was a total of three hunters but David Potter, from Leesburg, brought along his son, Jake, as a non-hunter. The other hunters were David's brother, Joe Potter from Oakfield and Lane Potter from Albany. Lane replaced Matt Cirullo who had to cancel at the last minute when his son came down with pneumonia.
David was the only one of the three hunters to collect a buck. They all took three does apiece but sadly, Joe, hunting with his bow, lost his last doe and she had to be tabulated as a DNF (did not find). So despite the fact that they collected but one buck, they went back east with plenty of West Texas venison from all those does they harvested.
Although the tally board on this final hunt at the Mustang Ranch showed a couple of blanks in the buck column, there are no blanks on the books for the Mustang Ranch when it comes to bookings for 2008. The Mustang Camp is now already booked full for next season - strong evidence that Ben McCulloch and his whole team did an outstanding job for their hunters. Every hunter next year will be either a repeat or will have been booked by one of the '07 hunters.
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| Mustang Ranch Hunt # 5 - all from GA |
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| Georgia hunting buggy |
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| 16 3/4" 8 pt. |
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| Group photo with David's buck. |
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| Cam gets some help in the skinning shed. |
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| New cook at the Mustang Camp |
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| "Don't mess with the cook." |
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| David and Clifford. |
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| The old fire pit. |
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| Loading up for the return trip home. |
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| Tie that thing down tight, Joe. |
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| Packing up the meat. |
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| Mustang Ranch visitor. |
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Un-Scheduled Hunt - December 12-16
About the first of December, we got a call from Californian Rich Allen. He and his brother wanted to come hunt whitetails with us. Several of our camps had hunts scheduled during their "window of opportunity", but we were booked full everywhere. We checked with Ben McCulloch. Could the Mustang Ranch create a special hunt date? Yep, they could, and yep, they did. So there were only the two hunters in camp, but the whole event turned out to be a great time for everyone - hunters and staff alike.
Neither Rich Allen, from Martinez, CA nor his brother Scott Jageman from Antioch, CA had ever hunted a whitetail. Indeed, Rich had never taken a deer of any species, but Scott has hunted the California blacktails on numerous occassions.
Over the years, we have had but a few Californians come hunt whitetails with us. Hunters on the West Coast just don't have the traditions of the sport as do hunters from the eastern two-thirds of the nation. Most of those westerners who do come really enjoy deer hunting Texas-style. Rich and Scott were no exception. The evidence: they re-booked for 2008 before they left camp.
Rich took his first-ever buck plus a doe. Scott took a buck and two does. Uh-oh. Have we afflicted these Californians with an addiction to whitetail hunting? We sure hope so.
Ben and his staff, as always, did an outstanding job. Despite having only half their usual number of guests in camp, you would have never known it. The brothers got the "full dog and pony show" from their guide Mike Turner and Little Ben McCulloch, the cook. The weather during the four days was mostly o.k., but it got cloudy, windy and a bit damp about mid-way through the hunt.
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| Mustang Ranch Special Hunt |
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| 17 1/2" 8 pt. FIRST BUCK |
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| A better look at those sharp beams. |
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| 15 1/4" 8 pt. |
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| New sign |
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| The fire pit - guess where? |
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| Hey Scott - it's time for lunch. |
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Hunt 3 Nov. 28 - Dec. 2
The third hunt of the 2007 at the Mustang Ranch Camp found one veteran and three newcomers in camp.
The returnee was Art St. John who hunted with us a few years ago. Art was the first on the hunt to collect a buck, and he went on to take a turkey, as well. Art drove down from Westminster, CO.
We had a father / daughter pair in camp, also. Though they were rookies to the Mustang Ranch and to Texas whitetail hunting, you could hardly call either of them "rookies" insofar as their hunting experience goes. Jeff Buck, and daughter Laura Beth have hunted Africa and other well known destinations in America. The pair collected fine whitetail bucks, - the first-ever for both - and they looked at a bunch of them before they finally pulled the trigger. That kind of patient hunting can only come with experience, of which they both have plenty. Indeed, Laura Beth and her guide Cam Kleibrink videoed a good buck that came so close to the blind you could count the whiskers on his nose. Maybe one day we can find a way to post this film clip. You won't believe it.
The final hunter in camp was a Texan - Mike Anderson, from Richardson. After retiring from the corporate world, Mike has kept himself busy as a fishing guide up on Lake Texoma - so he knows what the outdoor life is all about.
The four hunters collected four bucks. Mike took three does, Art took two, and both Jeff and Laura Beth each too one apiece. Despite a windy third day, the hunters did very well on the hunt. Any hunt with 100% taking bucks is a good one.
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| Hunt 3 - Two from CA; one from CO; one from TX |
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| 18 1/2" 8 pt. |
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| Turkey hen |
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| 15" 8 pt. |
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| 17 3/4" 10 pt. |
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| 16 1/2" 10 pt. |
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| What's going on here? |
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| Quit watching t.v. and get back to hunting. |
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| Little Ben and his cooking uniform. |
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| Mike Turner - guide |
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| Cam Kleibrink - guide and videographer. |
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| Come on guys - time to go hunt. |
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| Talking over hunting plans |
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Hunt 2 November 16-20
The second hunt of the 2007 at the Mustang Ranch camp was just one heck of a hunt. There were several highlights, but leading the list was the 140+ inch eight point taken by Ross Warwick and the "stag-in-velvet" taken by John Lowe.
There were six in camp for this hunt, but only five hunters. Two of the group were a father/son pair from Carthage, TX - Don and Travis Wilson. Unfortunately, Don had a DNF on his buck (did not find). The blood trail just led nowhere, and after a thorough search, the quest was abandoned. This proved to be the only bad aspect of the hunt.
The other three hunters were also fromTexas. They were John Lowe, Winnie; Joe Davidson, Taft; and Ross Warwick from Vidor. Ross's dad, Russell was in camp as a non-hunter.
John Lowe collected his trophy early one morning. In looking at the buck in the dim, early morning light, John judged the deer to have exceptional mass in his antlers. So when he got the buck on the ground and was able to get a closer look, the buck's antlers were still completely covered in velvet. No wonder those horns looked so massive. Goodness - this stuff should have been rubbed off weeks and weeks ago. What was he doing carrying around fuzzy headgear?
When guides Cam Kliebrink and Mike Turner began to process the deer, the mystery was solved. Seems that the buck sometime long ago had suffered a severe injury to his groin area. Although the buck did have testicles, they had been damaged - probably by another deer's antlers in a fight - and no doubt they failed to produce the hormones that causes bucks to rub their antlers in preparation for the activity of the rut. There was an old scar - a bad one - between the buck's hind legs that went all the way up into his ham. So the old boy was a stag, if that is the term to describe a male with testicles which no longer function.
We told John that indeed he had collected a rare trophy. Anyone can kill a buck with normal antlers. But how many of us have ever seen a true stag, much less killed one. After twenty + years of operating the Adobe Lodge, certainly no such buck has ever found its way to one of our camps anywhere. Yep, this was one, unusual event.
Ross Warwick collected a super eight point. Wait till you see the photos below. He was measured to have 140+ inches on those eight points, and doggoned if those antlers didn't almost touch at the tip.
So it was just one heck of a hunt. Don and Travis re-booked for 2008 before they left camp, and that's always a strong indication that a good time was had by all.
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| Texans All - from South and East Texas |
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| Carthage, Texas hunters |
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| Relaxing out behind the lodge. |
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| Ben, John, Joe |
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| 15 3/4" 8 pt. |
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| Another look at Ross's deer. |
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| 15" 8 pt. |
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| 15" 10 pt. |
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| Velvet eight-point Stag |
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| Ben McCulloch is keeping tabs. |
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| Mike Turner unloads a doe. |
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| Mike starts the job. |
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| Cam gives Don a lesson. |
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| Don's got'er down now. |
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| Kick-back time. |
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Hunt 1 November 7-11
The kickoff hunt at the Mustang Ranch Camp for the 2007 season found four hunters from New Jersey who were back hunting with Ben McCulloch for the fourth year in a row. Looks like they've found a home there - the evidence of which is that they brought some of their "down-home-Italian" cuisine to share with the whole camp.
Three old friends - Carmen Grasso, John Grasso, and Ross Restuccio are always accompanied by Kevin Niedoba, an old friend of ours who hunted the Home Camp years ago with his dad. Now the group has staked a claim on the Mustang Ranch Camp, and it's always great to see these guys.
Being true veterans of the Mustang Ranch now, how did they do? Well, the camp's tally board showed these facts: the four hunters collected four bucks and eleven does. But a close examination shows that one hunter, Carmen, got two bucks, and John failed to take a buck. It seems he turned down a pretty good one on the first day and later could never find one to compare. As they say: That's hunting.
Ross Restuccio got a rare Texas trophy - a badger. There are just not many of these critters to be seen. They prowl at night, mostly, and a Texas rancher might go for years without even seeing one. So Ross got something unusual to take back home with him.
Under "Latest News" dated Nov. 9, there are several photos of this group at the Mustang Ranch camp, and below there are even more, including photos of the deer that were taken.
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| Four hunters from New Jersey |
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| The staff takes a break. |
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| Kevin and his 10 pointer. |
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| Ross Restuccio and his buck. |
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| 14" 9 pt. |
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| 18" 8 pt. |
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| Two cooks hard at work. |
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| Ross and his badger |
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For More Information About Hunting At the Mustang Ranch:
Contact Skipper Duncan 325 942-8040
skipper@adobelodge.com 325 374-7024
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