# Sustaining a Co-op Hunting Ranch???? Your thoughts!!!!!



## th_Wolverine (Apr 15, 2013)

Hey all, I had an idea that's been tickling my brain this morning that I would like to put up here for discussion. :hobbyhors

I've seen cattle co-ops, where people pay a portion of the beef up front, and when it's slaughter time, they all show up to the farm, pack up coolers, and move on with life, only that time with a freezer full of meat.

Now this is where it got interesting to me. When I was 15, I wanted nothing more than to move to Montana, buy tons of pasture land, and raise a herd of buffalo. I would spend my days riding a pony bareback, hunting them with a bow and living in the canvas 20' tipi I take newbie campers out with now as an adult. 

But, then I realized how expensive that kind of endeavor was, and decided if I wanted a buffalo, I would buy, like, ONE and raise it like a meat cow. :smack

Then I considered raising whitetail; I love love love venison almost as much as I love Gator, Ostrich, and Buffalo! But my buddy's dad is a game warden out in Texas, and he said domestics, especially whitetail due to chronic wasting, are very expensive and paper-trail intensive to stock, because if you don't have all the papers, tags, permits, etc, they can just go on and shoot them because they pose a threat to spreading the disease.gre:

That's where he mentioned exotics. He said whitetail, elk, and other domestics are costly to buy and way not worth the price for the amount of work and meat you get for raising them. Heck, a bull elk alone can cost you $10 K easy! 

But he claimed a lot of the smaller, easily bred exotics were a lot cheaper, and so I looked into his claim. Sure enough, Axis and Blackbuck are WAY cheaper per animal. You can pick up Axis for under $500 an animal, sometimes as low as $250. Sure, that isn't including transport, but once you have the animals, and you get them breeding, you'll have to take fewer and fewer trips as they level out and self sustain.










The best part is, there are very few limitations on hunting, selling, and stocking Axis: "With few exceptions, axis deer are not regulated by game laws. They are landowners' property and may be bought, sold, or hunted at any time. Therefore, they are important in sports hunting and offer hunting opportunities at times when native species are not available. Ranchers stock them for this purpose, and this practice explains their wide distribution in the state. As a sporting animal, the axis deer provides a fine trophy. The meat is of excellent quality and lacks the strong game flavor sometimes associated with venison." -Ernest D. Ables, "AXIS DEER," Handbook of Texas Online

So that got me thinking. I don't want to run a game ranch, my end goal is to have a self sustained farm and a you-pick orchard/gunsmithing and knife-making/ BnB business to keep the lights on. But....what if I could stock my own land and treat it like a co-op?

Fence off 30-40 acres, clear a few areas and make meadows. I could make feed drops off at certain times to help fatten the stock up, but by in large leave them to free-graze the property, occasionally checking up on them and making sure they have adequate feed and water supply. (Please do not misunderstand me; I know there are a LOT of responsibilities more than listed here in ranching of any kind, and I do not think it would be a walk in the park.)

You can keep 5-7 axis fully fed per acre of land respectively; they are cheap to buy as stock, hearty, and apparently taste super good. They reproduce at roughly the same rate as whitetail and have a coat, rack, and demeanor superior to the whitetail in many respects. You could hunt them, within reason and common sense, year round with no permits required. 

What if you set up a system where people could pay a fee much cheaper than a $800-$4,000 axis trophy hunt and get to come out every year and bag a guaranteed meat animal for maybe $200-$300? Get a herd of 100 or so sustained over time, then select how many hunts you could parcel out to people wanting a guaranteed deer for the freezer that season based on population regulation. Make it enough to cover costs, but eventually you would have a reproducing herd that would pay pretty much for itself and you'd help the hunters in the community get both an "exotic" hunt for half the price of an exotic in far off Texas, no hunting regulations because it's private property, and get meat for $2-$3 a lb. (Axis can get 75-125 lbs of meat)

Basically, if such a system were set up, I would not be wanting to make a ton of money off it, more-so have my own herd in which I could hunt myself and parcel out a few other hunts to pay for the operation. 

So thoughts people, lets have a brainstorm; what are some better ideas to make this "hunting co-op" a cheaper way for hunters and homesteaders to get quality meat without costing an arm and a leg and making them sit for hours on end in the cold for 2 months out of the whole year? Are there already such systems or similar gigs people have set up I havn't heard about?


----------



## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I just don't think you can make it pay , maybe down south but we are just to darn cheap up here , unlike TX , Wisconsin is full of public hunting land , go archery and cities let you hunt portions of parks

our 10 dollar pheasant stamp up here gets birds planted on the public land most of the season 

trapping squirrel in town where they are thick as flies.

even figured out how to cook **** I have trapped 

I could call the sheriff get on the road kill list and have white tail regular free for the pickup

we don't have a dear lease but i was talking to a guy who has one , they pay the farmers property taxes split among the 13 of them it comes to about 125 dollars each for prime hunting they rarely go without deer and time is the only limiting factor he works to much to get out as often as he would like.


----------



## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

All I can say is, if I ran across one of those that got loose, I'd be thinking that's one heck of a mean looking reindeer fawn...


----------



## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Ok I have hunted many High Fence Exotics. Most have to have so many acres per animal, most Fencing is to be Double Fence, Electric on inside. Most states you need permits and are open for Government Inspection.

You mention Axis Deer I think you will find even in TN it gets too cold in Winter time for them. Most in colder climates bring them in from warmer climates during warm weather.

Have to deal with Climate then if you mix varieties they may not always get along. Seen a Guy have Russian Wild Boars brought in from Austria. He thought he would bring in Exotic Rams. His Boars hunted and killed most of his Rams.  Then another Guy I know had Elk and Red Stags. First off nobody could get close enough to the Red Stags during the daylight to kill one, the only way was to Spotlight at night. Plus he found the Red Stags much tougher than Elk they would fight and kill the Elk.

Just saying not as easy as it sounds.

big rockpile


----------



## Micheal (Jan 28, 2009)

Personally I think buying the deer would be the cheapest part of your plan. I would be thinking the cost of the fencing would be soooo expensive that you'd need a good sized fortune just to get started....


----------



## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I will give you a more sustainable plan you take your 30 acre plant 20 in apples , pears , raspberries and other tree fruit that does well in your area , keep the rest in good habitat 
you will be so over run with deer every bow season as the apples are perfect you can have stands set up all over and rent stands.

a scout leader of mine had an apple orchard he never failed to have a deer by 8am opening morning of gun season with just 1 tree stand , during bow season a friend of mine that worked apple picking for him would hunt the stand 

I have an uncle who has an apple orchard who would call me up during the early doe hunts here , and ask if we wanted any deer , he only had 10 acres in apples but just about any time he wanted he could go sit in the stand in the middle and pick off a deer about sun down , he stopped calling 3 years ago , when they fenced the hole orchard 10 feet high

A cousin of mine used to be a "professional " hunter for the big orchards filling damage control tags he would shoot a dozen deer a night 

you need to make sure your land stays agricultural at least here to save on taxes and find other income from it 

hay and apples make for great deer food and ag income 

be that hay and apple orchard with some deer habitat surrounded my thousands of acres of other peoples corn thats how you make it pay 

people like to sit out in the woods on Saturday morning , make a great habitat for that rent the stands , have them walk in an hour before sun rise and stay put till 10 am . if they shoot a deer you come with the quad and drag it out and you could maybe make a go of it without high fences and exotics

you may even be able to manage the hunting lease of the neighboring farms to help cover their taxes also in time.

land is limited and you need to make it pay for it's self unless your independently wealthy and just want to buy it as an investment


----------



## AndrewOSpencer (Jun 18, 2013)

Some family land had axis all over it. I shot as many as I could. They sort of competed with whitetail, but not much. 

They were free range and the neighbors killed a bunch too. However, not enough to hurt the population. 

This is a very weird opinion I have, but it's this. I enjoy exotics more than I do native species. Allow me to explain. 

Whitetail deer are great and all, but there are other venisons (axis and blacktail) that taste better. While a whitetail is majestic looking, I don't think they are as cool looking as axis, fallow, or black buck. 

Don't get me wrong, I want whitetail, mule deer and elk. But some of these other venison would be fun to hunt. 

Not to get too far off the topic (too late I know) but I really believe siberian tigers should be introduced to Alaska and Canada. They are about to be gone. Same with snow leopards. If we enjoy animals, lets quit blindly pretending they have to be exactly as we found them on the continent. Would it be so bad if fellas in Norther Wisconsin had a herd of fallow to chase in addition to the white tails? Might give the wolves something else to eat as well. 

Pheasant aren't native are they? 

Thoughts?


----------



## Ziptie (May 16, 2013)

Just FYI... Around here u-pick farm apples go for $60-$80 a bushel. I won't even mention what the raspberries sell for. If your thinking of going the orchard route.


----------



## K-9 (Jul 27, 2007)

The area you are in has more deer than a hound dog has fleas, why not just raise beef cattle on your pasture, sell the excess every year for far less aggravation than a deer farm and shoot the whitetail deer out of your orchard, if you wanted to you could as suggested rent stands by the day, week, month, season whatever. I know you are just looking at an alternative but it appears to me you are adding a lot of expense, work and aggravation for the potential economic return, now if you are just wanting to raise them because you like them that is a different story.


----------

