Stowers Ranch Blog
As dramatic testimony to the success of the 2016 hunting season see the picture below of the whitetail buck that was shot on Stowers Ranch on December 7, 2016. This beautiful 14 point buck with a B&C score of 174 is a native Stowers Ranch deer that had been on free range his entire life. Other than a small amount of alfalfa on the coldest months he received no supplemental feed. Good genes and plenty of natural forage did the trick.
2015 was a great year here at Stowers! We had strong winter forbs followed by a wet spring, perfect conditions for antler growth. We shot some solid Hill Country deer, with our top whitetail scoring 162 1/2.
The drought that started in 2011 ended in 2014. This long period of low rainfall had a seriously negative impact on our cattle operation. However, because we removed almost all of the livestock from the ranch during that time and initiated a program of feeding high quality alfalfa to the wildlife, we have come through with very healthy herds of whitetails and exotics. We expect to have excellent hunting during 2015 and the early part of 2016. If you are interested in hunting at Stowers Ranch, please contact us right away so we can arrange a hunt for what you want to shoot and when you want to be here.
Although we are in the fourth year of a severe drought and experienced a few cold and windy days during the winter, our wildlife populations are in fine shape. Our Spring hunting has been excellent and we anticipate having good hunting throughout 2014 and early 2015. If you are interested in hunting with us, please make a reservation right away so we can arrange a hunt for what you want to shoot and when you want to be here.
2013 proved to be an exceptionally good year for hunting at Stowers Ranch. We harvested many outstanding whitetail bucks during the season, with B&C scores ranged from 125 to 150. You can see pictures of some of these in our Hunting Photos section. We continued to increase the number of large whitetail bucks by limiting the total taken and by giving a pass to many high potential young bucks that will have outstanding antlers in another year or so.
Although we are in a drought, our wildlife populations are in fine shape. We anticipate having good hunting this year and in early 2014. If you are interested in hunting with us, please call right away so we can arrange a hunt for what you want to shoot and when you want to be here.
Stowers Ranch, like much of the Texas Hill Country, is experiencing a third year of severe drought. We began adapting to this in May 2011 when we moved our calves and cows to leased pasture. In 2012, they returned to the Ranch for a few months and then were sold because we believed that the long term welfare of the pastures, especially the preservation of high quality grasses, required cessation of grazing until more normal rainfall returns. Our cattle operation presently consists of one spotted cow (Whitey, a family pet) and her big, healthy, white heifer.
