December 26, 2016 by Jason Cross
Its been a great season so far at the Cross Oaks Ranch. Many of our hunters have since come and gone. Weve had some awesome hunts and fun times with many long time friends and some new ones. Its been really busy the past few months, so we hope to get you caught up on the action in this field notes post.
Our first hunt of the season was with our long time hunters and good friends out of Colorado. We had a really great time with them as always. It was also another successful hunt this year. Jill Guillory took an awesome 171 inch 12 point Buck, a management axis, and a pig. Bobby Guillory took a very nice axis buck and a management blackbuck with his bow. He also took a unique Managment Whitetail buck and pig. Jeremy Melichar took a beautiful blackbuck and whitetail doe with his bow. Jeremy Guillory took a good Rio Gobbler with his bow and a pig. Jeff Klassens may have had one of the biggest accomplishments, taking a big Bobcat with his bow! He also took a nice Axis buck with his bow, but unfortunately we have not been able to retrieve it yet. Also, Jeremy Guillory and Jesse Silva suprised their long time guides Roger and Bill, telling them they had got them each a Trophy Whitetail Hunt for this year! A very generous gift that we all really appreciated. There was only so much time on the hunt to get everything done, so Roger hunted his buck later in the season when we had some down time, updates coming below. Bill will be attempting to get his later on. Thanks again to all of them for another great hunt and we look forward to chasing turkey in the spring with them!
Our second hunt of October included 2 groups which have both been coming to see us for a long time. Cody Guillory from Louisiana has been hunting with us for many years. This year he also brought his friend James Breaua, who also came with Cody to help on the ranch's crawdad boil this last summer. The other group included Mikey Montoya who has also hunted several times at the ranch. This year he brought Dean Horton, Mitch Horton, and Jose Rojas of New Mexico to try a Corporate Texas Hunt. Cody was able to get a 156 inch 11 point buck and and great Axis. James was on a meat hunt and got 3 blackbuck does. Jose took a 20 4/8 inch wide 8 point buck for his first deer ever, as well as a doe. Mitch got a nice 9 point Buck and a doe with a crossbow. Dean was just along as a guest enjoying the ranch and watching Mitch and Jose hunt. Mikey Montoya took an old 147 inch 14 point buck. We really had a great time with both of these groups!
Our next hunt was also with 3 repeat hunters. Todd Robinson and Rick Lawson came back to see us this year. Todd has hunted with us for several years now and Rick was back for his second hunt. Also Mark Freeman of Florida came back down for his 2nd year in a row. Todd was able to bag a 150 inch 11 point Buck and a doe. Rick took a heavy Iranian Red Sheep Ram on a long and exciting spot and stalk hunt. Mark was after a Gold whitetail buck and unfortunately we were not able to get one. The weather turned misserably hot and the older big bucks just werent moving as much as they had been. Several potential bucks were seen, but just werent old enough. Hopefully we can give it another try in the future. But Mark was able to take 3 blackbuck does which will be plenty tasty! We thank Todd, Rick, and Mark for another fun time and for coming back to see us at our Texas Hunting Ranch!
Next up we had a family of new hunters from Alabama join us at the ranch for some Whitetail Hunting. Robert Rodda took his best buck ever, a 158 inch 10 point, a doe, and 3 pigs! Joe Rodda also got a nice 10 point Buck scoring 153 inches, and a doe. Kelly bagged her first animal ever, a heavy 153 inch 9 point buck! She also was able to get a doe. We really enjoyed getting to know them and grateful for the opportunity to have them at the ranch!
Our final hunt of October included a new couple from Oregon and another couple from Idaho who have visited us several times now. Brooke Gramer of Oregon was able to take an awesome 149 inch 10 point with her bow! Her husband Andy also took a nice buck, a 154 inch 11 point. Andy was also able to get a doe on the trip. Forest Hoffman of Idaho was able to get another geat buck this year, a 148 inch 11 point. He was also able to get a doe. It was great seeing Forrest and Grace again and hope they had another fun and relaxing hunt. We also enjoyed getting to know Andy and Brooke, and look forward to hunting with them next season.
Our good friend Bernie White from Mississippi came back to see us this year and this time brought his son in law Chris Koehn. Bernie Got a huge fallow buck, after a really long, exciting stalk in a cold, rainy storm. Chris was able to take a 137 inch 9 point buck that was nearly 20 inches wide. Bernie also got 2 blackbuck does and Chris got a pig. Also returning was the father/daughter team of Jillian and Charles of West Virginia. Both of them took a great blackbuck each, as well as a whitetail doe each. We really enjoyed visiting with both groups and look forward to seeing them back in the future.
During the Thanksgiving break Roger finally got some time to hunt his Texas Trophy Whitetail Buck that was given as a gift during the first hunt. Roger was actually out scouting and looking for culls, and one evening an old 14 point came out and Roger knew that he couldnt pass it up. His buck gross scored 182 4/8. Congrats to Roger on a well deserved buck. John was also out scouting and came over to help and get in on a memorable pic. A Ton of thanks to Jeremy, Jesse, and their entire group for such a generous gift. We have been blessed to be able to call them not only our friends, but family. This was something we all really appreciated and will never forget.
In early December we had our good friends and longtime hunters Brandon and Misti Lipe back hunting with us. For the second year in a row their cousins Jerry and Lisa White joined them. Jerry took a 21 inch wide 10 point buck that grossed 145 inches. He also got 2 does and a pig during his hunt. Brandon stalked fallow for a few days in the rain and was able to take a nice fallow buck. He also took a big Boar Hog late one evening. They are a really great family and we enjoyed having them all back again this year.
What a start we had to our season! Thanks again to all the hunters who gave us an opportunity to take them hunting at our ranch. We look forward to getting things rolling again in January with meat and exotic hunts.
We do have a few meat hunts still available, so let us know if you have any interest because they are going fast!
We have also started booking for next season. Now is the time to start planning for next year, so let us know if you have any interest! Info@CrossOaksRanch.com
Thanks for reading and check back for more field notes in 2017!
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year!
