During my tenure at Academy, I attended a lot of hunts hosted by manufacturers like Strike King and Mossy Oak. The Mossy Oak boys do it right and still hunt the way I like to hunt. But I was totally turned off by a hunt hosted by StealthCam at the Nooner Ranch in Hondo, TX. Sammy Nooner is the first deer breeder to pay over $1Million for a breeder buck. I asked ahead of time and was told that portions of the ranch were free range and other portions high fenced. So I accepted. Turned out to be all high fence. Some "hunting" enclosures were as small at 100 acres. Total canned hunt in my opinion. I did the gracious guest routine and hung around camp, but no way was I shooting anybody's domesticated livestock under the guise of hunting. One of the invitees shot a 170" buck and StealthCam gladly paid the $9,600 trophy fee. A group of 180-class bucks were feeding behind the lodge while Sammy and I sat on the back porch. He said, "Don't you want to kill a buck like that? You are welcome to." I replied, "Yes sir I do want to kill a buck like that, but only if it is under free range fair chase conditions." To this day I have no appetite for Outdoor Channel shows built around this kind of "hunt."

Last edited by WildlifeBiologist; 12/02/16 04:37 AM.

Micah 6:8