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GBoyd · Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 4:31 pm Post subject: Cattle Hunts

We're on a 3000 acre ranch in northern New Mexico. As ranching gets less profitable, we're playing around with the idea of trying to get set up to sell cattle hunts.

The plan is to buy a small herd of Texas Longhorns and let them on the ranch. We'll remove all internal fences to let them go where they want. Then we'll try get them fairly wild. Hopefully, being hunted will train them to run from people. There are plenty of draws, rocky areas, and forested areas to hide in so they should be able to make a challenging hunt. The cattle would have limited human contact, just branding and castration.

Customers would pay a fee for the guided hunt, beef, and trophy.

So I have some questions for the forum:
First, at what prices could you see people buying these hunts?
For permits, would the state consider this a game preserve or a cattle ranch
If anyone has experience with this type of operation, how wary do the cattle end up being?

Any input would be appreciated, thanks for your help.

Critter · Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 6:45 pm Post subject:

I doubt that you would find too many takers on this type of hunt, at least for quite a few years. I have hunted wild cattle in Nevada and it was a blast but these are wild cattle. They have been on their own for over a hundred years. There is no license needed or a limit on them but we have always had a small game license for other things. It has been a few years since I was over there so it might be time to do it again.
I guess that if you have a private ranch and since they are not considered a game animal you would possibly be on your own as far as the state is concerned but I would talk to some game officials before I went too far.

GBoyd · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:51 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the reply Critter.

Would you mind giving me some more information and describing that hunt that you went on?

I'm especially interested in the breed of cattle you hunted (were they the traditional criollo/longhorn or feral Angus?) and what they were like. Are they very wary? When threatened, did they tend to turn and fight or to run? What kind of rifles did you use? Also, how was the meat?

If anyone else has any experience with feral cattle, the information could be very helpful for me.

kevin davis · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 8:55 am Post subject:

i imagine a big longhorn with an exceptional hide and horns would go for $800-1,000. more than that and you would be pricing yourself out of the market. other feral cattle, i do not know but i imagine you could sell self guided hunts for a few hundred dollars, if they get to keep the beef. the troublew would be in then shooting only the feral catlle, and not just any cow they find.

Critter · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 8:55 am Post subject:

They were a cross bred longhorn I believe. The rancher in the area told us to kill as many as we liked since they were as wild as an elk would be. I am not sure when they were introduced but ranchers in the area said that they were in the area as long as they could remember. We used 30-06 and 7mm rifles and they were quite wary. It was a lot like hunting an elk and the meat was quite similar to an elk or a range steer without being fattened up. Once they got wind of you or heard you they were off to the thick stuff. I tried to call my friend that lives in that area but his number was disconnected so I sent him a letter and called a few others that knew him but so far I haven't gotten any replies.

DUGABOY1 · Sportsman Joined: 04 Jun 2006 Posts: 141 Location: USA