The past year has been one with lots of excitement on Tarbone Ranch. There was a better rainfall schedule this summer that allowed better establishment of several acres of new alfalfa food plots. Along with this, we also had good re-establishment of native grasses on some of the acreage that was devastated by the wildfire of 2011. We are still encumbered with a very severe drought, but at least there is some improvement.

Along with these developments came great fawn and calf production. The remaining whitetail population has responded very well with great fawn production. The deer population has doubled in numbers, but of course most of them are young. The same is true for the elk. Their numbers have swell adequately with most of the young being females. This has increased our recruitment potential for the coming years. The elk bulls have continued to increase in size and the herd contains several trophy specimens.

Bison too, have responded well to increased availability of native grasses. They have fattened up very well and are very visible on the new grasslands. Two of the three breeding age cows produced female calves this summer. These along with the introduction of two purchased females will allow a better calf crop this summer as well.

This is all very exciting to us as it allows us to see some positive results from our hard work.

We were able to share our Ranch with several successful guests this year. Every one of our hunters managed to take home the trophy of their choice. The smiles we witnessed have gone a long way to remind us why we manage our property for these opportunities.

The last hunt of the season may have been my favorite. Trey took this great management buck. Knoxx was fascinated by his Daddy’s deer. These experiences with families make all our hard work very fulfilling.

Jim and Kyle were first to enjoy a cow elk hunt. They took home freezers full of elk venison for their families. They both made one-shot kills on these big, fat cow elk.

Shon and Bruce were next to take a cow elk. They used a Ballard Action rifle in .45-90 hand-built by Shon. It was awesome.

Ed and Wyatt came to Tarbone Ranch for a second bison bull hunt. Ed took this great bull in the thick woods on the rocky hill. They report that bison has become their families’ favorite meat.

Karel came all the way to Oklahoma to kill a trophy bison bull. His party including girlfriend, Adeline and long-time friends Albert and Maggie, traveled all the way from Belgium and France to enjoy Tarbone Ranch. They also visited the National Reigning Horse Championship in Oklahoma City. We truly enjoyed the international flavor of this hunt. One of the highlights of this visit was a coyote hunt. Karel took a beautiful coyote for his trophy wall as well as this big bison.

Paul came to Tarbone Ranch with a new Smith & Wesson M&P 10 in .308. He proved its effectiveness by making a one-shot kill on this beautiful non-typical buck. The snow added a unique flair to this hunt.

James also visited during a rare December Snow event. He took this great 10 pt trophy with a T/C Venture in .300 Win Mag. This buck weighed 245 pounds and netted 152”. Beautiful animal for his office trophy wall.