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I have a buddy that I introduced to hunting about 10 years ago. He's now a pretty decent hunter on his own, and he called me up last year and said he wanted to try and hunt something other than Whitetail.
After some digging, I finally decided on Wilderness Hunting Lodge in Monterrey. I had heard from several people that it was a great place, though I was skeptical of hunting high fence. The cost for most of the small/midsize game was $750 per person but that includes multi-night lodging and food. (The food was excellent btw). They also had a special combo Bison/Boar hunt for about $2000. There was no way I was going to spend that much, but he was sold so we decided to go.
The Lodge was gorgeous, and the property - albeit high fence - is fairly rugged mountainous terrain and pretty expansive (several thousand acres). Because of the snow storm, it was hard to believe I was only 3 hours from home. I will say, this hunt can be whatever you want it to be. If you want to walk out to one of the fields and shoot a hog or a ram, it would be quite easy. But if you want challenge, its there as well. I didn't pull the trigger until day 3, but that's getting ahead a little.
The drive to the lodge itself was hairy. 8 inches of snow + backroads was interesting. Here is the view approaching the lodge.
The lodge itself was fantastic, and we ended up sharing the space with some guys from Wisconsin and also one guy who was noticeably .... athletic. It would later turn out to be Kyle Long (Chiefs OL), son of Howie Long, on his first hunt ever. We ended up hanging out all night, sharing some Bourbon and eventually becoming friends. I am supposed to head out to KC to watch him play later this fall. He's a seriously great, funny dude. It made it really enjoyable to have a group of guys to share experiences with at the end of each day. A little like Deer Camp, but a little spoiled.
Once we were settled, they drove us around the property and got acquainted with the landscape. Again - did not feel like TN!
By the next day the front had pushed out and it was beautiful. These 2 pictures are actually from the last day after the snow had melted down low, but it was still 3-6+ inches up on the mountain.
I asked the guide (They assist, but its self guided) what the most elusive animal was and he said without question Fallow Deer. That time of the year they have been hunted for several months and tend to stay way up on the mountain, and are hard to get close to. They don't move a lot during the day, so just finding them was a challenge. I spent the next day and a half just hiking around, glassing, and seeing all kinds of animals.
These fallow above were on the second property with the Bison, they don't get hunted as much and are not as wary as the ones on the mountain. Still, this is a pretty powerful lens and they wouldn't let us get any closer than about 100 yards.
My buddy decided to go ahead and find a Bison. To call this a hunt is not really accurate. Bison are big and just generally don't care what you do. I've been told this is pretty similar to hunting them anywhere. The hardest part was getting in position and making a safe shot. I really didn't imagine how tough they would be to bring down, but they were impressive.
For privacy reasons, I won't post his pic, but I did get a special opportunity while we were there.
A 14 year old kid named Logan was there with the "Hunt of a Lifetime" group (Think make-a-wish for hunting/fishing). He has a terminal illness and his wish was to harvest a Bison. I was able to film the whole hunt and then produce a video for his family. It was the highlight of the trip for me. This video has been posted publicly by his family, so assuming its fine to share.
The next day (our final day) I set out for a fallow doe early in the morning. I initially wanted to try and take a Ram, but I didn't want to deal with the taxidermy stuff and I've heard its hit or miss on the dinner table. But on day one I had spotted this beautiful, almost albino looking fallow deer that just kinda captivated me, and have always heard fallow venison is phenomenal. Considering they are supposed to be a challenge to hunt, it was an easy choice. My goal was to find this particular fallow again.
The fallow herd hadn't been spotted since the first day, so it was really just a lot of hiking and glassing. I climbed about 600-700 feet in ankle/calf deep snow up a ridge, covering 2-3 miles until 2.5 hours later I finally spotted some movement. Unfortunately, they had already spotted me, and bolted over the ridge about 150 yards away. Now this is what I was hoping for! I'll spare you guys the details, but another hour approaching slowly from a different ridge and I was in position. So I thought.
The thing I hadn't anticipated is how well the fallow blend in! Between the spots, the branches, the snow, and the constant herd movement, it was really difficult to ensure that you make a safe, clean shot on the exact animal you are going for. I did end up finding that same doe, but realized with her near the group that she was a young, small fallow.
In the end, they bolted, and I let most of the group crest the ridge. There was one mature doe near the rear of the group, and as she stepped between a couple trees, I squeezed. The shot was about 125 yards.
Thankfully, she went straight down and the hunt was over. For me anyways. My buddy still had a hog tag, and so we just sat down in the snow and decided to wait. A little while later, a large, lone hog came tearing up through a valley. Thankfully he made a clean shot and that was it. It was funny, because we hadn't seen many hogs on the mountain. They mostly stayed down low. Both animals were within 100 yards of each other.
Now - the best part. His wife is a pescatarian, and he didn't think they would eat a lot of the meat, so as we agreed when booking the hunt, he ended up getting half the Bison process, and gave me the other half. I convinced him to have the head mounted and the pelt made into a blanket, and it turned out awesome. Not that its a "great hunter" story, but its memorable and, to me, shows respect to the animal.
By the time we were loaded up and headed back, I had half of a 900 lb bison, a 250 lb hog and a fallow doe on ice. It ended up taking me a week to process everything, burned up one grinder and I had to buy an extra freezer. But we have basically been able to avoid the meat section of Kroger for the better part of a year. Especially with meat being sometimes hard to find during the pandemic.
In the end, it was a super fun trip, gorgeous landscape, and I felt really lucky to have gotten the chance to do it in rare snowy TN landscape.
It was definitely worth the money for the experience alone. All in, tips and everything I spent about $900 for a 3 day lodging, food and hunting package.
For those skeptical of high fence - I'm with ya. But for me it was an opportunity to see a lot of animals I would otherwise never get to see (I think it was about 20 different species), good company and a unique experience that I hope I will get to relive one day. I think the total property is 4,000 acres so this is not like walking into someone's yard and picking an animal out. If you were hunting one particular animal, and looking for a "trophy", they are scattered all over the place and it would be a challenge to find just the right one. And the hunting can be as tough or as easy as you want. Always hard to complain about a full freezer too.
After some digging, I finally decided on Wilderness Hunting Lodge in Monterrey. I had heard from several people that it was a great place, though I was skeptical of hunting high fence. The cost for most of the small/midsize game was $750 per person but that includes multi-night lodging and food. (The food was excellent btw). They also had a special combo Bison/Boar hunt for about $2000. There was no way I was going to spend that much, but he was sold so we decided to go.
The Lodge was gorgeous, and the property - albeit high fence - is fairly rugged mountainous terrain and pretty expansive (several thousand acres). Because of the snow storm, it was hard to believe I was only 3 hours from home. I will say, this hunt can be whatever you want it to be. If you want to walk out to one of the fields and shoot a hog or a ram, it would be quite easy. But if you want challenge, its there as well. I didn't pull the trigger until day 3, but that's getting ahead a little.
The drive to the lodge itself was hairy. 8 inches of snow + backroads was interesting. Here is the view approaching the lodge.
The lodge itself was fantastic, and we ended up sharing the space with some guys from Wisconsin and also one guy who was noticeably .... athletic. It would later turn out to be Kyle Long (Chiefs OL), son of Howie Long, on his first hunt ever. We ended up hanging out all night, sharing some Bourbon and eventually becoming friends. I am supposed to head out to KC to watch him play later this fall. He's a seriously great, funny dude. It made it really enjoyable to have a group of guys to share experiences with at the end of each day. A little like Deer Camp, but a little spoiled.
Once we were settled, they drove us around the property and got acquainted with the landscape. Again - did not feel like TN!
By the next day the front had pushed out and it was beautiful. These 2 pictures are actually from the last day after the snow had melted down low, but it was still 3-6+ inches up on the mountain.
I asked the guide (They assist, but its self guided) what the most elusive animal was and he said without question Fallow Deer. That time of the year they have been hunted for several months and tend to stay way up on the mountain, and are hard to get close to. They don't move a lot during the day, so just finding them was a challenge. I spent the next day and a half just hiking around, glassing, and seeing all kinds of animals.
These fallow above were on the second property with the Bison, they don't get hunted as much and are not as wary as the ones on the mountain. Still, this is a pretty powerful lens and they wouldn't let us get any closer than about 100 yards.
My buddy decided to go ahead and find a Bison. To call this a hunt is not really accurate. Bison are big and just generally don't care what you do. I've been told this is pretty similar to hunting them anywhere. The hardest part was getting in position and making a safe shot. I really didn't imagine how tough they would be to bring down, but they were impressive.
For privacy reasons, I won't post his pic, but I did get a special opportunity while we were there.
A 14 year old kid named Logan was there with the "Hunt of a Lifetime" group (Think make-a-wish for hunting/fishing). He has a terminal illness and his wish was to harvest a Bison. I was able to film the whole hunt and then produce a video for his family. It was the highlight of the trip for me. This video has been posted publicly by his family, so assuming its fine to share.
The next day (our final day) I set out for a fallow doe early in the morning. I initially wanted to try and take a Ram, but I didn't want to deal with the taxidermy stuff and I've heard its hit or miss on the dinner table. But on day one I had spotted this beautiful, almost albino looking fallow deer that just kinda captivated me, and have always heard fallow venison is phenomenal. Considering they are supposed to be a challenge to hunt, it was an easy choice. My goal was to find this particular fallow again.
The fallow herd hadn't been spotted since the first day, so it was really just a lot of hiking and glassing. I climbed about 600-700 feet in ankle/calf deep snow up a ridge, covering 2-3 miles until 2.5 hours later I finally spotted some movement. Unfortunately, they had already spotted me, and bolted over the ridge about 150 yards away. Now this is what I was hoping for! I'll spare you guys the details, but another hour approaching slowly from a different ridge and I was in position. So I thought.
The thing I hadn't anticipated is how well the fallow blend in! Between the spots, the branches, the snow, and the constant herd movement, it was really difficult to ensure that you make a safe, clean shot on the exact animal you are going for. I did end up finding that same doe, but realized with her near the group that she was a young, small fallow.
In the end, they bolted, and I let most of the group crest the ridge. There was one mature doe near the rear of the group, and as she stepped between a couple trees, I squeezed. The shot was about 125 yards.
Thankfully, she went straight down and the hunt was over. For me anyways. My buddy still had a hog tag, and so we just sat down in the snow and decided to wait. A little while later, a large, lone hog came tearing up through a valley. Thankfully he made a clean shot and that was it. It was funny, because we hadn't seen many hogs on the mountain. They mostly stayed down low. Both animals were within 100 yards of each other.
Now - the best part. His wife is a pescatarian, and he didn't think they would eat a lot of the meat, so as we agreed when booking the hunt, he ended up getting half the Bison process, and gave me the other half. I convinced him to have the head mounted and the pelt made into a blanket, and it turned out awesome. Not that its a "great hunter" story, but its memorable and, to me, shows respect to the animal.
By the time we were loaded up and headed back, I had half of a 900 lb bison, a 250 lb hog and a fallow doe on ice. It ended up taking me a week to process everything, burned up one grinder and I had to buy an extra freezer. But we have basically been able to avoid the meat section of Kroger for the better part of a year. Especially with meat being sometimes hard to find during the pandemic.
In the end, it was a super fun trip, gorgeous landscape, and I felt really lucky to have gotten the chance to do it in rare snowy TN landscape.
It was definitely worth the money for the experience alone. All in, tips and everything I spent about $900 for a 3 day lodging, food and hunting package.
For those skeptical of high fence - I'm with ya. But for me it was an opportunity to see a lot of animals I would otherwise never get to see (I think it was about 20 different species), good company and a unique experience that I hope I will get to relive one day. I think the total property is 4,000 acres so this is not like walking into someone's yard and picking an animal out. If you were hunting one particular animal, and looking for a "trophy", they are scattered all over the place and it would be a challenge to find just the right one. And the hunting can be as tough or as easy as you want. Always hard to complain about a full freezer too.
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