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SCI Apprentice Hunters Program
Apprentice Hunters Program - YO Adventure Camp The YO Ranch – Apprentice Hunting Camp gives youth the opportunity to: Earn their Hunter Safety Certification from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; Expand their knowledge of gun safety and improve shooting skills; Learn practical camp craft and valuable survival skills; Enjoy an overnight stay in the wilderness and Harvest one management Corsican ram, exotic doe or Aoudad ewe. The partnership with YO and SCIF is designed to provide a mentored hunting experience for youth conducted by professional staff who are passionate about our hunting heritage.
YO Adventure Camp Application Request Form YO Adventure Camp Phone: 830-640-3220
SCIF Apprentice Hunter Camp Provides It was a beautiful morning, cool and slightly breezy as the sun crept over the beautiful rolling hills behind my left shoulder. The sun had just begun to peek over the uneven horizon of the hilly Texas landscape when I heard a magnificent, but very strange sound coming from behind me. It was the strangest sound I had ever heard in the woods. When there was enough light for me to observe my surroundings, I noticed two game trails merging together in front of me at a little over 20 yards, as well as one on my left that merged with the two in front and extended on behind me until I lost sight of it behind a few scattered trees. Soon two small whitetail does emerged from the trees following the trail toward me and stopped when they reached the spot where Austin had thrown a few handfuls of corn out at exactly 20 yards. They were so graceful as they cautiously ate taking turns lifting their heads to watch for danger. My Mossy Oak did its job well as they seemed to scrutinize everything around them. I heard the strange sound again behind me, still not knowing what it was. A few minutes later, a Chocolate Fallow, a White Fallow with a fawn and a couple of Sika does came from behind me on the game trail to my left, and joined the two Axis eating corn. I was hunting an Axis buck on the Y.O. Ranch in Kerrville, Texas. My trip to the Y.O. Ranch this summer was possibly the most enjoyable hunting experience I have ever had, second only to the countless memories made over the years, growing up hunting with my father, on our own land in South Carolina. I had never undergone such an exciting stalk before, when Doug Luger, the camp director, and I crept through the dense cedars fervently pursuing a trophy Axis buck. The Camp was great. Doug even showed me Ted Nugent's Favorite bow hunting stand on the ranch. I was in the advanced hunting camp. We learned so much. There was never a dull moment during the week of camp. The staff and counselors were great. We (my brother and cousin and I) liked to hang out with them most of the time, because most of the other campers were younger than us. To us, they were more like great friends than what you would generally think of as counselors. I enjoyed hanging out with the counselors and guides -especially Jeff, Ronnie, Mike, and Austin. Also, there were C.I.T.'s (counselors in training) in every cabin and we became good friends with all of them. I also enjoyed helping the younger campers. They looked up to me since I was the oldest camper there, so I tried to be a good role model to them; I really like kids. I have been a bow hunter for four years this past December. I was the only bow hunter, but there was a bow hunting specialist in camp. He was my age,18, and his name was Michael Gregory. I really liked him. He was a nice guy, and he always made me laugh. We became fast friends since we had common ground in our love for archery. A couple of days before the first hunt, he set up a target to watch me shoot. After getting an idea of my shooting ability, he gave Doug the O.K. I think he was the one who set up the bow stands I saw and hunted in around the ranch. He also gave me a few tips about the animals I would be hunting and the stands I would be hunting from. He was a big help. On the first morning we hunted, Austin Luger, Doug's son, dropped me off at my stand early in the morning before the sun rose. I was hunting for a trophy Axis buck. It was a beautiful morning. The stand: little more than 12 feet above the ground, was the "hang-on" or "chain-on," type. Just a small platform with a seat, no rails and no cover at all. It was perfect for bow hunting. As I watched the group of does and the fawn eat, I again heard the sound behind me. It sounded a little closer. After watching them for half an hour or so, listening to the sound of corn crunching between their muscular jaws, I involuntarily nodded off (I had stayed up pretty late the previous night). I was suddenly and abruptly awakened by the sound of a loud powerful bellow right next to me! I felt the warm sun on the back of my neck, on which every hair was standing straight up! I slowly turned my head to the left, trying not to give away my presence. My eyes bugged with awe and wonderment as they fell upon, at less than 15 yards, the most beautiful, and magnificent, animal I have ever seen in the wild. It was large and muscular, and a reddish-brown color. Its body was covered with very small white spots and a distinct line of dots that ran on each side, down the neck, along its side to the tail. It was absolutely gorgeous. The sun glared off of its long, thick, polished antlers that stood majestic and tall above its head like an enormous crown. I was too amazed to even think about judging antler length in inches at that moment, I just knew he was huge! It was a beautiful trophy axis buck. He tilted his head back and let out another glorious bellow. I noticed all his attention was focused on something in front of us (good thing, because he didn't see me when my skinny butt jumped a whole foot off of my seat when I was so suddenly awakened). So I turned and looked straight ahead of me where the corn was, and there were two beautiful Axis does standing over the corn, checking out this charming hunk of a buck. He had followed them in, and was who I had been hearing all morning. Just then I heard a challenging buck bellow in the distance. He sounded to be about a hundred yards through the trees on the other side of the two does. I turned my attention back to the buck on my left as he trotted over to the two does. I guess he decided he needed some fuel for his himself. Because before attempting to breed the does he joined them in eating the corn. He was broadside facing to my right at exactly 20 yards but the does were in front of him, preventing me from making a shot. At that point I realized that his antlers appeared to be a little longer than my arrows which were 31 inches, so I estimated his length to be somewhere between 33 and 36 inches. I watched them eat and about five minutes later that challenging buck had covered the 100 yards of ground between him and the first buck. He stopped at the edge of the trees, about 40 yards away. He was younger and quite a bit smaller than the first buck, so I was not interested in harvesting him, but I admired his stunning good looks as he came prancing in from my left to challenge his adversary. Thinking quickly, I predicted the larger buck would turn to fend off this insubstantial challenger, so I readied my bow. He looked over his shoulder at the smaller buck and I knew he was going to turn to face him so I slowly drew the 65 pound PSE and anchored. Just as I expected, he turned around. When he turned around completely broadside and stopped, I put my top pin tight behind his shoulder. I was so pumped up, but I still remembered what Bud Bolen, a friend from Safari Club had told me before the trip. He said, "With Axis deer, those white spots make it easier, pick a small point to concentrate on". Thanks Bud! I found my spot, took a deep breath, and released. THWOP! I heard the arrow smack flesh, and saw the buck run off with my Easton XX75 shaft protruding from his side. I let out a hoot so loud the Mexicans must have heard it! So many emotions rushed through me, it was like nothing I could ever explain or begin to put into words! It was my first shot with a bow hunting big game. But then immediately I realized something was wrong. It took a few seconds for my brain to process it. Something happened to me that had not happened in the past, but of course, now that it mattered, it happened- the string hit my arm. This disrupted the trajectory of the arrow, causing it to fishtail and drift a little to the left. The buck was facing left, so the arrow hit too far forward on the deer, hitting the shoulder with minimal penetration. The intense joy I felt was suddenly overshadowed by doubt. A sickening feeling came over me adn I was not very confident with my shot. After giving him about half an hour, I got down and went to the exact place he was standing when I had taken my shot. I found no blood, so I went back to my stand. I don't know how I fell asleep with all the excitement that just went on, but somehow I managed to drift-off again while I waited for Austin and my brother. When Austin arrived, their laughter woke me up, but I didn't care. I was too excited and yet worried at the same time. Doug Luger was one of the kindest men I had ever met. He knew I was disappointed about the buck I had failed to harvest. So for the next few days, he made it his top priority to get me a trophy axis buck. He was an excellent guide and a wonderful friend. Those couple of days stalking Axis bucks with Doug were the most exciting hunting I have ever experienced. We started out listening for bellows. We would hear a bellow and if Doug said it sounded worthy of pursuit, we would begin the stalk. He was an unbelievably still hunter! On one occasion, we were stopped under some really thick cedars looking for the buck we were stalking. Doug was using his Kahles binoculars to look under the cedars for legs or bedded deer. I was listening with all my might, completely alert to my surroundings-I heard nothing. But Doug whispered to me "do you hear that?", and turned to look behind us. "No", I said. I didn't hear anything. We returned our attention to the brush ahead of us looking for axis and when Doug spotted the buck with its little group of does, he handed me the binoculars and told me where to look. I couldn't see a thing! Finally after picking apart the area with my eyes, I finally spotted part of a doe's head and ear. Every now and then, legs would pass by her, so we quietly got back to our feet to continue the stalk and as soon as we did, we heard a rock shuffle behind us. We both turned to see and approximately 40 yards, a Sitka doe stood behind us! "I new I heard something!", Doug said after that it ran off. I was amazed and extremely impressed. I consider myself a pretty experienced hunter, having hunted since I was in diapers, and studied and practiced, the art of hunting more passionately and obsessively than the average hunter. I thought I was skilled at tracking game, but compared the Doug, I am nothing! I carried my bow the first few days until it started getting late in the week. Then I switched strictly to rifle; my favorite caliber Remington .270. On the very first stalk, we were kneeling down behind a cedar when the buck we were stalking walked past a clearing at approximately 50 yards. He was not a trophy. We had all of our attention focused on him to see what would walk out behind him. Then for some reason, I just happened to look to my left. My eyes bugged out the size of grapefruits. My jaw dropped. "D-Doug", I whispered as quietly as I could, after I quickly pulled myself together. He turned and looked. "Oh my gosh -don't move!". He whispered back. But he didn't have to -I was as stiff as a statue! It was a MONSTER Axis buck at about 20 yards. He didn't even know we were there! Doug said it was a Haas!. I already had an arrow knocked, so in slow motion, I closed the jaws of my release ever-so-softly and quietly around my aluminum Ultranock. Then a doe stepped in the way of his vitals. I waited anxiously but then they turned and walked directly away from us. With Doug carrying the .270, we pressed on for another hour and a half, having a few more close encounters but none presenting a clean shot. It was an awesome adventure that I thoroughly enjoyed! Harvesting that buck would have just been icing on the cake. He said it would score extremely high. So for the next few days we stalked him diligently. We came across him a few more times in the following days but he never presented a shot. On the last day, I had still not taken a trophy Axis buck. When riding with Austin and my brother, trying to get him a nice Blackbuck antelope, I saw a pair of enormous, unbelievable trophy Texas Dall rams traveling together. I had taken a Corsican ram the last time I was at the Y.O. but he was a management ram -no trophy. Ever since then I have had a strong desire for a trophy Texas Dall. So the next day, the last day we hunted, after one last unsuccessful attempt at finding that trophy Axis -or any trophy Axis, Austin and I, set out for one of those trophy Dall sheep. I had a great time hunting with Austin. Of course, since we were looking for them, we never found those two phenomenal rams I had seen the day before, but we did find a herd with a few trophies and one especially nice trophy ram. It took most of the day, and we got a little frustrated at first because we kept spooking the herd, but finally after several attempts, and a long stalk, we got within rifle range. I made a good shot, and harvested the largest of the herd, a beautiful trophy ram. I was extremely happy with my ram and the whole trip overall. It was a trip that I will never forget and I would recommend the Y.O. Ranch to any hunter who likes to hunt in a place with large numbers of trophy animals who doesn't!? Maybe I will get an Axis Buck someday, but I will never forget my experiences at the Y.O. Ranch, the adventures I had, the friends I made, and all of the great times that I had there.
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