llano texas
American Beauty Berry / French mulberry
Live Oak
Texas Kidney Wood
Elm
Management Plan
The Ranch has a combination of native and exotic animals. The plan is based upon optimum carrying capacity so the deer are receiving a diet that promotes good antler production, body growth, and reproduction. In addition, special attention has been placed on providing the right mix and combination of animals to minimize competition for available forage. A carefully managed population of white-tailed deer, exotic wildlife species, and livestock ( sheep, and goats) provides the right balance for the capacity of the land.
Deer Management
The deer population was established through careful stocking to establish a small population of trophy animals. The ranch offers a wonderful combination of low-growing vegetation for hiding cover to protect fawns, mid-level vegetation or escape cover to provide protection from predators, and overstory vegetation (trees and/or tall shrubs) to protect deer from weather extremes. In order to support the herd, the ranch has a well balance forage including three broad categories of plants found in the Hill Country– forbs, browse, and grass.
The browse on the ranch includes live oak, Texas oak, post oak, blackjack oak, white shin oak, elm, hackberry, Lacey oak, and Texas kidney wood. Mast, such as acorns, persimmons, juniper berries, grapes, and mesquite beans are additional food sources when they are in season. To improve the browse, all Cedar (Ashe juniper or red-berry juniper) has been removed from the ranch.
Exotic Management
There are a number of exotic species on the ranch including Buffalo. The exotics include red stag, axis deer and black buck. The buffalo and black buck browse on native grasses. The red stag and axis deer feed on the same browse as the white tail deer. In addition, the ranch supplements natural browse with protein feed and sometimes corn during the winter months.