Today I bring to you a ranch with one of the finest, native whitetail herds in Texas, the Las Raices Ranch. What really peaked my interest in the ranch is their intense dedication to game management as a whole. While Las Raices is a high fenced ranch, they have never introduced new deer to the property. What their team has been able to create in south Texas is a true testament to selective harvest, supplemental feeding, and often overlooked, habitat management. I applaud their effort and success in creating such a wonderful deer herd. Las Raices leads by example, and I believe every serious deer hunter should learn as much information about these management techniques in order to have a healthier deer herd and grow bigger bucks. Let’s jump into the Q&A to learn more from Marko Barrett about the Las Raices Ranch.
1. How and why did the ranch start, and how long have you been operating?
My father has been a South Texas deer hunter since a very young age. He grew up hunting leases in the 60’s on friend invites, and as soon as he was able, started to lease land to hunt himself. He always had in mind that he wanted to buy, and any time he saw a big deer at a taxidermy shop, in a record book or at a gas station he would make a point to ask where it came from. That’s how the ranch came about. We used the now closed Nowotny taxidermy shop in San Antonio. A ranch owner told David Nowotny he was looking to find a new partner on their ranch in Webb County. David immediately thought of Dad since he had inquired about deer off the ranch. They arranged a meeting. Dad bought into the partnership in 1992 and bought out the rest of the partners in 1997.
A lot has changed since. In 1998 our northern neighbor decided they wanted to put up a high fence, completely enclosing our property. We implemented a protein feeding program in 2000. In 2002 we sold our first hunt to the public, and have been selling some amount of hunts commercially ever since.
2. Where is the ranch located and how many acres is it?
The ranch is ~4200 acres and located in Northern Webb county very close to both the Dimmit and LaSalle county lines.
3. What type of hunts do you offer…gun, bow, whitetail, exotics, migratory birds, etc.?
We offer 100% native whitetail deer hunts. We have owned the ranch since it was low fenced. No deer have ever been brought in to the ranch and there has never been any artificial breeding of any kind. No Breeding. No Breeder release. No DMP. No TTT in. We pride ourselves in the work it has taken to manage towards one of the finest native deer herds in the state. Javelinas, hogs, and coyotes are often taken by hunters after they get their whitetail at no extra charge. We do have a charge for taking a bobcat, and may occasionally take does or turkeys depending what we feel like the population can withstand.
4. How many guides do you employ?
We employ guides as needed. We have 12 guest beds and can handle that many hunters, though it can get a touch crowded at capacity.
5. Can the prices be found on your website?
Yes, pricing can be found on our website.
6. Do you offer extracurricular activities in between hunting?
Obviously, our main focus is on the deer hunt, but depending on the time of year there can be downtime in the middle of the day that the deer just aren’t moving. In those instances, we have two TVs in the lodge with surround sound that are great places to catch a game or chill out watching a movie. The pool table in the game room seems like it always has someone on it.
For those that don’t want to stay at the lodge and rest, there is always something going on. We’re out here to have fun just like out hunters! Checking trail cameras, searching for sheds, looking for arrowheads, calling coyotes, and running trap lines are all things outside of normal deer hunting activities that we find ourselves doing during the middle of the day and many of our clients seem to love coming along!
7. What differentiates your ranch and operation from others?
Real Native Deer, Honesty, Camaraderie and Experience.
A lot has changed on the Texas hunting landscape in the last 25 years. We manage for deer with selective harvest, habitat management and supplemental feed. Some people are looking for the biggest possible by any means. If that’s what you want, that’s great, but it’s not the kind of hunt Las Raices provides. We manage for the largest native deer our ranch can produce, just like when we started in 1992, and we feel like we’ve gotten pretty good at it.
8. What is the largest whitetail buck ever harvested on the Las Raices Ranch?
In 2007 and 2010 we took the Texas Big Game awards Non-Typical all time state record. After a record rain year in 2007 in which the ranch received 59” of rainfall, a buck that was just over 190” as a 6 year old the year before blew up to 278!
In 2010, the same thing happened. A buck we nicknamed “Mini” grew from around 205” in 2009 over 100 extra inches the next year scoring right around 311. A video of his age progression can be seen on youtube here:
9. What is one thing you want potential hunters/clients to take away from this?
We, the Las Raices staff, and Barrett family are just as passionate about deer hunting and whitetails as our clients, and we strive to treat our hunters the way that we would want to be treated. We are in this for the long haul and have far more interest in creating long term relationships and friendships than making a quick “buck”.
If you’re ready to enjoy one of the best whitetail ranches that Texas has to offer, give Marko Barrett a call at 210-827-0897, or send him an email at markobarrett@yahoo.com. You can stay up-to-date with Las Raices by following their social media on Facebook, and Instagram.
Hunt.Fish.Love.Texas.
