Bowhunting The Delhi Reagan Ranch

As I started the 6 hour trip to south west Texas I could not help but wonder how the full moon would affect my hunt.

On this trip I would be hunting whitetail and turkey on the Delhi Reagan Ranch just outside of Big Lake Texas. The Delhi Reagan Ranch is a low fenced 3000 acre bow hunting only ranch and it is located in some of the finest deer country around.

The rolling hills of southwest Texas are sparsely covered with Mesquite and Cedar. Even though the cover is not as thick as south Texas it still provides some excellent cover for the local wildlife population and has the potential to grow some outstanding whitetail.

I arrived in Big Lake and got the travel trailer all set up by noon. Tom Hooker is the outfitter that runs the hunting operation on the Delhi Reagan Ranch. Tom picked me up at my trailer and after a quick lunch we were off to take a look at some potential hunting locations.

Tom had some other hunters that had been hunting the past few days and they had already managed to take 3 nice bucks, two turkey and their hunt was not over with yet.

Tom took me to a draw where there had been a lot of activity. I set up a Double Bull blind in the sparse cover in hopes of taking a buck from the blind. We decided that since there was not much cover to brush in the blind that I would let it sit for a day and hunt out of one of Tom’s ground blinds that he already had in place.

The clock was ticking so Tom took me back to my trailer so I could get ready for the afternoon hunt.

I met Tom at the ranch at 2PM and put all of my gear over into Tom’s ranch suburban. My Dad and I were settled in a blind by 3 P.M. overlooking a draw where the deer traveled on a regular basis. Tom scattered out some corn in front of us in hopes of slowing the deer down for a shot.

At 4:30 P.M. it was like the floodgates opened and the deer started flowing into the draw. We had several does and small bucks in front of us picking at the corn. I was watching the show when I saw movement to the right of our blind. It was a buck! A larger buck! The buck walked in and took over the area. He was a 3-½ year old 8-point. By the ranch standards he was a shooter. I grabbed my bow and waited for a shot. The buck only hung out a few minutes and then he was gone and he never gave me a shot opportunity.

By the time darkness arrived we had over 16 deer within shooting distance and one shooter buck! That’s not bad for the first afternoon!

The next morning we were back at the same blind. As we pulled up to the blind, the truck headlights illuminated some deer that were bedding down in front of our blind. The deer got up from their beds and moved on into the darkness.

As we got settled into the blind, Tom put out some more corn. Before the taillights of the Suburban were gone we had deer in front of us.

When the sun came up there was deer all around us. We had lots of does and two small bucks feeding within 15 yards of the blind. The small bucks chased the does around but none of the does showed any interest in the small bucks.

By 10 A.M. all of the deer had disappeared so we called Tom to come pick us up.

Saturday afternoon we decided to give the Double Bull Blind a try. Just before dark we had a 3-½ year old buck come in but his horns were tiny. He was definitely old enough to shoot according to the ranch rules but I wanted to hold out for a deer with a larger set of headgear!

Sunday morning we had the ranch to our selves so we tried a blind on the north side of the ranch. As soon as the sun came up we had a button buck walk right in front of us. The next deer to show himself was a 2-½ year old 8-point buck. After the deer moved on we were covered up in Turkey. I had several shot opportunities at some jakes but I opted to pass in hopes of seeing a shooter buck. We sat in the blind until 10:30 but no such luck.

After a quick lunch and a nap we were back in the blind on the south side of the ranch were we had the close encounter with so many deer the first two days.

As expected the deer were still there. We watched 8 does, a 1 ½ year old 3 point buck, and a 2 ½ year old 8 point with a busted up rack until dark.

It appeared that the big buck movement had just stopped! We had obviously missed the rut and the big buck movement was over. My chances of scoring on a good buck were not looking good!

Monday morning arrived and we decided to try another blind on the north side of the ranch. Just as it was light enough to see, I saw movement to the left of our blind. It was a deer. I grabbed my Bushnell binoculars to see if the deer was a buck. As I stared at the bucks head I could finally make out that he was a young 4 point buck.

This buck walked all around the blind all morning long but he was not a shooter buck. A doe tried to come in but this young buck chased her off and then returned to graze on the edge of the field next to the blind.

As time ticked on, the reality of going home empty handed began to settle in. My hunt had come to an end and it was time to go home.

I had plenty of opportunities to score on turkey and does but I was holding out for a good buck. When you pass on shot opportunities you always take a chance on going home empty handed!

Taking an animal is icing on the cake and is a great way to end a hunt but it is not necessary to have a successful hunt. I had a great hunt! I saw more game than I have seen in a long time. I will definitely be going back to the Delhi Reagan Ranch next year but I will schedule my hunt earlier in the season.

Take a look a the bucks that have been taken at the Delhi Reagan Ranch this season and I think you will want to book a hunt at this outstanding ranch in hopes of tagging one of these beasts yourself!

Until Next Time……

Shoot Straight and Happy Hunting!

James Ferguson

President/CEO

Bowhunting North America, LLC

This hunt was made possible in part by our sponsors:

Mathews, Inc., Carbon Express,

The Gean-Edwards Company, Rynoskin, Trophy Ridge, North Starr Tree Stands,

Shed Hunter Co., Fieldline, DoskoSport, Lumenok, Tru Fire Corp., Rocket Aeroheads, Quake Industries,

Limbsaver, Bushnell, Huntin' Hoist, Wac'em Broadheads,, Beard Buster, The Beckham Group, Sure Grip Gun & Bow Racks