Game Preserve

Hunters were winning awards and authors were publishing articles in national magazines about the monster bucks of Plaska Lodge. This was both a blessing and a curse. Family land in our county that had never been leased was now teaming with hunters as deer stands and hunting camps littered the landscape. Years of strict management were in vain if a beautiful young 10-point wandered on to neighboring property. Just as the controversial barbed wire found its way into Texas as a management tool for livestock, it looked as though game fence would follow the same path for wildlife.

I began to make plans for something I thought I would never do. The following summer, my two very young sons and I set out to conquer Goliath, and build a high fence in some of the roughest most rugged canyon country in the county. Four long, hot summers later, we shut the gate on some of the best genetics in Texas. The very next summer we began again on a totally different piece of our property. The three of us had pounded every post and tied every wire and had endured every grueling second of it to protect the wildlife and nothing more. No animal inside these enclosures would ever have its life cut short by human hands again. Every buck would live to see its full genetic potential.

Plaska Lodge has had a portion of our property high fenced now for 13 years. The gene pool is the same as it was in 1997 and we are able to give them the proper nutrition and age needed to produce world-class trophies. There are no cross fences or pens. This is not a canned hunt. We do not release them to be shot. There is absolutely no difference in hunting inside or outside. The deer are wild and untamed, and there is no guarantee. We have two separate ranches under high fence. One is rough, rugged, breaks and canyons that is home to Whitetail, Mule Deer, Aoudad Sheep and Elk, while the other is thick bottom land full of cactus flats and mesquite that provide a sanctuary for Whitetail, Mule Deer and six different species of rams. There is a total of just under 2,000 acres game fenced.

If you would still rather hunt open range, the trophy Whitetail genetics are still there as well. We have the exact same management plan in place as we had 20 years ago. There are 8,000 acres to hunt and the deer are free to roam wherever they desire. Please just remember, although there are some monster bucks out there, we have no control over our neighbors.

Wildlife is OUR life. This is all we do. Plaska Lodge is blessed by God to take care of a small little portion of some of his beauty. We take pride in that. We do everything in our power to make sure it’s done right, so that when you come see us you take back home unforgettable memories.