36 replies to this topic

[BullsEye]

Well a friend of mine Ed and I went to Big Horn Canyon Ranch for some game. Chuck was a great host along with his grand kids. Thanks guys. There was plenty of game and some beautiful animals. I used a Barnes MRX in 30-06 180gr and it dropped this guy in his tracks. Ed used a 7mm Mag 140gr CorLockt I believe and his Ram just rolled over. Beautiful area and real close.

[acousticmood]

Sounds like a good time. I've heard nothing but good things about Chuck. So what do you do with those trophies?food, pelts, mounts?

[BullsEye]

Having Bratwurst made out of the sheep as well as short ribs and steaks. We are mounting these guys for fun and having the back halfs turned to rugs. It wasn't an adventurous hunt not much hiking involved but we found the animals and decided to take them. Lots of animals everywhere to see, its hard to hold out for the perfect one. Next time I go I will hunt with my 45 to make things a little more interesting.

[jawbreaker]

The only way to hunt there is with a bow and then it's still easy but very fun.

[ShooterJohn]

Nice! Looks like you had a great day.

[Trikepedaler]

Nice ram BullsEye, by any chance did you see any pigs when you were there? Maybe a boar? Thanks

[Arise]

Having Bratwurst made out of the sheep as well as short ribs and steaks.

Are you having a local guy do it? If so who? Let us know how the Bratwurst turns out. I love the taste of sheep so maybe I can get a few friends to go in on one w/ me being the shooter. Win, Win!I'm also curious if you saw many pigs???Nice going.

[BullsEye]

I am using Harmony Farms in La Cresenta they are on Foothill next to the car wash off of the 210 a 10 minute drive from my place. The owners name is Sonny he is a really cool guy he gave me his cell in case we got in too late he would meet us at his shop to start the processing on Easter Sunday non the less. He has butchered all my CA deer and does a great job. He names all the cuts and seals them in food saver style bags. I have pulled meat out of my freezer after a year of the venison being frozen and it is still fresh as the day I shot it. I saw 2 pigs and they where both at the bottom near the watering hole. One guy shot a 650 pound pig last week at the Ranch.

[JagerBulldog]

http://www.wonews.co...man-031109.aspxHere is the link. I was also thinking about giving that place a try.

[Arise]

Big Horn Canyon Ranch is what it is. I think it's awesome for new sportsmen and Jr. hunters who want to get a taste of blowing out a lung. Humpin hill after hill has never been there forte. The whole bottom line on this hunt is that you want to fill up the freezer, and if you happen to get a mount, from you're kill, thats the icing on the cake and coming back w/ nothing in the freezer. It's very much like a canned pheasant hunt and in thous regards, get's folks into the sport who progress on to bigger and more challanging hunts.Please givr us a report of you're full experience, from start to finish, I understand if you don't want to include prices, but if you're open to thayt, it couolf onlMy personal openion is that this is huntingand we all neede to stick together on this stud

[BullsEye]

Well here is the website:http://www.bighorncanyonranch.com/We drove out for about an hour to Riverside and met Chuck at the gate to Big Horn Canyon Ranch. We drove in and he showed us some pictures of previous hunts and celebrity hunts at his ranch. Apparently Shack has a ton of fun out there with a gold plated Desert Eagle in 44mag. And he had some posters of a beautiful model with all kinds of game animals that she has taken there and other places, she looks like quite the huntress! Chuck explained where the watering holes are and suggested that we walk down to a vantage spot to glass for hogs etc. He said kill all the coyote you see too! COOL! So we start hiking down to the ridge when a group of goats and sheep jump out on our right. Ed saw this black Hawaiian sheep and said, "Thats mine put on your ears!" I put my ear muffs on and watched this Ram through my binos as he blasted the ram at 25 yards with his 7mm Mag. The Ram swayed a second and dropped rolling down the steep hill. Figured we would wait and grab it later.I kept glassing and I could see a four horned sheep in the distance so we got closer to get a better look. It was behind some bushes so it was hard to see its head gear and it stayed huddled together with the other animals. To take a good shot I had to be patient in order not to kill two animals with one. It finally moved away from the animals and I shot it from about 100 yards and it dropped, bullet severed its spine and perforated the lungs. The MRX bullet performed great, tennis ball sized exit wound! We figured since the black Hawaiian had rolled down the hill we would get it later. The four horn dropped so we went to grab it first. Ed and I busted our butts for about 15 minutes trying to drag this thing up the super slippery hill (don't recommend it). Chuck came out to see how we did and when he saw that we downed a few animals he grabbed his grand kids to give us a hand. They pushed the animals down the hill and picked them up at the bottom with the truck. So much easier then bringing them up hill. We hiked back to our truck and then they hung and quartered the animals for us for a small fee. They offered us their shooting range after the hunt to plink some targets on the other side of a hill but we decided to get the meat to the butcher. While we waited for the meat to be quartered we sat and chatted about the black bear Alaska hunts that he guides and shared jokes and stories. Really nice guy with some funny jokes! His family was great they helped us and treated us well and they did a great job butchering the animals. It took me a little while to process this hunt cause my definition of the true sense of hunting is hiking for hours scanning the hills and trying to be as sneaky as possible while pursuing my ever wary prey. But this hunt had all that but in a tighter package. I hiked for a few minutes I could have hiked for hours if I wanted to, I didn't have to be too sneaky because there are animals everywhere, and with a rifle you can reach out and touch something. But I decided on an animal that was maybe 300 yards away and stalked to 100 yards to get my prey! The hunt is what you make it, we where fat and lazy so we spent less time looking around and hiking and decided quickly on our game. It was an easy hunt but it was cool non the less! I recommend it for a first timer to get his/her first blood and take a great animal under ideal conditions or if you want to fill your fridge with a tasty critter and have some fun doing it. Its hard to have restraint when picking animals cause there are a ton everywhere. I wanted to get a Texas Dall but I saw the four horned and got excited! I figure thats not an animal many people see so...BANG! I later saw many other great looking critters and had to restrain myself from looking through the cross hairs at them. All in all it was a good day!

[D-Man]

Nice job Alex! How much does that hunt cost out there? Time for us to go out again soon!Darren

[BullsEye]

Bring a good camera too to get some cool wild life shots too!

[acousticmood]

Wow - awesome report! Thanks.

[John Bishop]

http://www.bighorncanyonranch.com/

[usahunter]

Man, I promised myself that I would ignore this nonsense but I can't. I really don't have a problem with high fenced execution's of farm animal's but PLEASE call it what it is , it is not in any way shape or form HUNTING. And no you're not teaching youth's or newbies anything except how to kill a trapped defenseless animal and then brag about your "hunting prowess to the non hunters that visit your home. At least in the wild the animal has something of a chance to evade you and your quarry has been living in the wild all of its life steroid and hormone free, not huddled together for protection because thats all it learned while being raised on the farm by some loving FFA student. Killing is an intregal part of hunting and excepted as nessesary but I despise anyone who kills for the sheer pleasure of ending somethings life. And before you ask yes I've been to the ranch and I've executed a pig, I had to shoo it away and finally shot it with my .44 at 40 yds and the truck came down and picked it up, I went there not knowing anything about the ranch and to this day I wonder why I didn't just pay the non killing fee and go home after I found out what it was. It's great to harvest game on a hunt, but if you don't consider yourself successful unless you kill something than you miss the entirety of the experiece. To the poster who said we should all stick together as hunters....count me out Bubba...these aren't hunter's, they're killer's disguised as hunter's, feel free to flame me but do yourself a favor and do some honest soul searching first.

[Hookum]

So, what's your thoughts on shooting Coyotes and Ground squirrels?

[BullsEye]

Hey USA hunter. It definitely isn't a traditional hunt(call it what you will). The experience I had there was an interesting one because it was not fair chase. The animals heard the shots and did not get scared... it is a canned hunt. If you take it for what it is then great you can still learn from this hunt regardless. I had a hard time digesting the hunt at first which is why I originally didn't write a report. I was asked to tell more about it so I portrayed it in a positive way. My experience with the staff was great, the hunt was a slaughter. It didn't require hard work, scouting or perseverance like a true back woods hunt. The escapade at Big Horn Canyon lasted 20 minutes tops and the rest of the time there was spent processing. The animals are there for the taking like fishing in a barrel. It is what you make of it.

[fyrewil]

This reminds me of a hunting club (Pig and Deer) I went to go check out just west of Red Bluff CA. After meeting with the owner and driving up to the property (30 Min) we were greeted by about 10 pigs running after the truck......Waiting to be fed.No Thank You.

[usahunter]

Hey USA hunter. It definitely isn't a traditional hunt(call it what you will). The experience I had there was an interesting one because it was not fair chase. The animals heard the shots and did not get scared... it is a canned hunt. If you take it for what it is then great you can still learn from this hunt regardless. I had a hard time digesting the hunt at first which is why I originally didn't write a report. I was asked to tell more about it so I portrayed it in a positive way. My experience with the staff was great, the hunt was a slaughter. It didn't require hard work, scouting or perseverance like a true back woods hunt. The escapade at Big Horn Canyon lasted 20 minutes tops and the rest of the time there was spent processing. The animals are there for the taking like fishing in a barrel. It is what you make of it.

Bullseye, That wasn't a personal attack, I'm glad you had a good time, I just have a problem with the way its portrayed and defended . I do have a question, what could you learn from that experience as you stated ? Thank's for your civil reply .

[BullsEye]

I didn't take it as an attack but as a comment and I hope you don't consider my post an attack either. As for things to learn, I know when I started hunting I didn't know many other hunters nor did I have any in my family. The thing that I wanted to learn was how to properly care for the game once taken. This isn't really something that can be learned properly in a book. I was lucky however and eventually made a friend who has mentored me and showed me the ropes and was there for my first small game and big game harvest. I continue making friends even here on the forum who have mentored me in hunting, reloading among other things. The thing is Big Horn Canyon Ranch while not a challenging hunt they will clean the animals and process the majority of it for you something that some people can't experience when hunting without another experienced hunter. Another thing that this facility allows is for someone to experience the kill. Something that many new hunters want to experience and are very excited to experience as well. Hopefully they will learn like you said it isn't always just about the kill. Eventually they will want to pursue harder game on a more even playing field and a lot of the times in a playing field that the game has the advantage in. There is also the lesson of shot placement and gaining the confidence in your marksmanship on game. New and experienced hunters don't always know how their equipment will perform. I was impressed with the Barnes MRX's performance on a deer I shot last year, however with all the complaints I was skeptical of its performance and shot my buck twice to be safe even though the first demolished the liver and lungs and the second severed the spine. The bullet also mushroomed perfectly on my Ram despite what many have said about Barnes (I had a 30 cal entrance and a tennis ball exit).There is something priceless about seeing game in the wild without high fences but it was still cool to see all the animals roaming around the ranch too. Ed my hunting buddy had not gone hunting in 15 years. He thought since he moved to CA he would never hunt again. I had showed him a picture of a wild hog I shot in Hawaii and he got excited, he wanted to go hunt pigs. He didn't know I was a hunter, not many people are in LA county. I told him about this place and that it would be a sure thing and he was even happier when he took the Ram. We understand the idea around a canned hunt but neither of us thought we would be taking such cool looking animals. I realize you don't have to be a Ninja to take an animal on this ranch but it was instant gratification of harvesting something cool looking and tasty. I guess I could have gone to the market but I would look funny walking through VONS with my camo, backback, binos, skinning knife and rifle. Anyway I hope that answers your question.

[Trikepedaler]

Well written. Thanks for your post.

[usahunter]

Well explained, again, I'm glad you had a good day, Hookem, If that question about ground squirrels and coyotes was directed to me, I can't imagine what that has to do with the subject but I hunt free ranging animals 12 months of the year but I've never seen a high fence coyote hunt ???

[Hookum]

Yea USA, it was directed towards you. After your comments to Bullseye "I despise anyone who kills for the sheer pleasure of ending somethings life" I didn't see that in Bullseye's post at all. He simple gave a report. And did mention that it was a canned hunt and that he wasn't that comfortable about it. It appeared that you were upset at Bullseye and blasted him for making a report to the group. After both of your responses it was obvious that it wasn't an attack on Bullseye at all. Lots of people go on canned hunts in this state. It's either hunting raised birds or whatever or not hunting at all for some people. Some don't have the time or money or physical ability to hunt truely "wild game". I was a licensed hunting and fishing guide in this state for about 10 years and saw all kinds of people and ethics. You wouldn't want some of the people I guided out in the wild on thier own. They would probably never make it back to their vehicles. So yes, it was a question to you, "Bait" to see if you were a wack job or something. Turns out your not. I'm glad. There's already to many out there in the world. Oh yea, and I do shoot coyotes and ground squirrles. Good hunting USA

[usahunter]

Hookum, yeah, I was a Master Instructor in the bowhunting ed course in NY for about 6 years, I helped teach literally thousands of students and certified about a dozen instructors, I was appalled at the mindset of a prcentage of my students but if they passed the course I had to certify them and turn them loose on the public, good hunting

[Arise]

And no you're not teaching youth's or newbies anything except how to kill a trapped defenseless animal and then brag about your "hunting prowess to the non hunters that visit your home.

Oh man I disagree. My daughter caught her first trout in a stocked pond out at whitewater. You basically throw the bait in the water and you are hooked up. She was 2 years old and that lit a fire in her to catch fish. She's now 10 and she catches more fish than adults (including me) I know. Kids don't have the patience that adults do. This type of hunting/fishing gives then an edge to be sucessful right out of the gate (no pun,lol).Same thing goes for canned pheasant hunts. I have seen many kids w/ smiles beaming ear to ear after they shoot a few pheasants for the first time. I can tell you from experience it leads to bigger and better hunts.I have personally never been to BHC but from what I have heard of the place, I'm not so sure if i would hunt it. However, for a jr. hunter or a newbe hunter to exp. that and put meat in the freezer is priceless. All thats going to do (IMO) is light a fire in that kid and get him thinking about humpin hills going after deer, pigs, etc.

[BullsEye]

Hey Arise here is the butchers websitehttp://www.harmonyfarmsonline.com/

[Arise]

Right arm! He is nice and close, thanks.

[acousticmood]

So, what's your thoughts on shooting Coyotes and Ground squirrels?

I can't get enough! Esp. squirrels - just wish I could find more close to home!

[Shoot-it]

After a few months farm hogs will go feral but if they are feeding them they will probably not.Bullseye you can't be a real big game hunter if you have to put muffs on when you shoot. One shot or 2 will not hurt your ears you are so pumped up you won't hear it.