ENews from Wildlife Systems, Inc.

WSI ENews...Serving Hunters' and Landowners' Needs Since 1987

TWA President's Address
Advancing Conservation Value

At our recent Texas Wildlife Association Convention, I am humbled to say that I was elected to President of this great organization that I served as Vice President during the past two years, and as Treasurer for two years previous to that post.

In my address during the Saturday luncheon, my presentation focused on Advancing Conservation Value, which I feel is one of the most important challenges facing our society. Though it is relatively lengthy, I encourage you to read the transcript of the program, which was printed in the most recent issue of Texas Wildlife, as it should be relevant to anyone interested in natural resource conservation. The link is below.

Click here for TWA's President Address on Advancing Conservation Values

Thank you for perusing this issue of our WSI ENews. Please let us know if we can be of service to you.

Cheers,

Greg Simons

WSI In-Service Meeting

Our WSI annual in-service meeting was recently held in Kerrville at the Y.O. Resort and Conference Center. A total of 25 individuals were in attendance, primarily representing those who serve as guides and cooks on our hunts. This two day event was once again a fun and productive time, beginning with our Friday evening social and 2-man washer pitching competition, which was won by Michael Messman and Pat Keating.

Saturday's program covered an assortment of important topics such as company policies, standard operational procedures, company service philosophies, risk management, harvest photography, and standard first aid.

David Griffith, who serves as our cook, was recognized for his outstanding service to our organization.

Whitetail Openings

Craig Anderson

La Rucia Ranch - 12/1/2012

We are pleased to report that much of our whitetail country has received some generous rainfall over the last few months, and we are optimistic about this year being a good antler growth year on much of our country. With the acquisition of a few new large properties, we have a variety of deer hunting options which include high fenced properties, as well as low fenced properties.

Dale Brawley

Longbranch Ranch - 10/20/2012

Most of our whitetail hunts are 3-4 day packages with annual success rates well in excess of 90%. These trips are versatile, providing a good option for friends, corporate excursions, as well as parents wanting to take their son or daughter on a fun and exciting Texas hunting trip.

Sam Hay III
S Ranch - 11/17/2012

The majority of these hunts take place in October through December, and though many of our dates are full, we still have some good options to offer. Hunting licenses are guaranteed with no lottery or drawing. Lots of deer, comfortable accommodations, Texas-style cuisine, and friendly people....what else could a hunter ask for? "A big deer," you say; well, we have those, as well.

Payment Policy

For any of you who may have a hunt booked with us over the next few months, please be reminded that balances are due 30 days prior to the scheduled hunt. If you wish for WSI to process your license, please include license fees in with the balance payment, and make sure that we have a Hunter Profile from you so that we will have all the necessary information.

We also have a new way to pay online using your checking account. It is fast and secure.

Why use this FREE payment service?

It's safe and secure - Your bank account information is safe and never shared with your vendor.
You can pay directly from a checking account. Make partial payments or schedule payments for a future date.
No sign up required - Pay right away, or create an account to save your payment info and track multiple payments.
Go green - Eliminate writing paper checks and easily manage your payables online.

Also very important, on those hunts where there are fees due at time of hunt, such as trophy fees on exotic hunts, balance must be paid in cash, cashier's check, or credit card prior to departure. All credit card charges are assessed a 3% upcharge on amount being charged.

Wildlife Consulting Services

Perhaps one of the lesser known qualities of Wildlife Systems, Inc. is our other company that deal with ranch and wildlife management services, Wildlife Consultants, LLC., With two full time wildlife biologists on staff we spend a great deal of time consulting for private landowners throughout the state of Texas.

Wildlife Consultants provide an assortment of wildlife related services, including wildlife population surveys, wildlife management plans, 1-d-1 wildlife valuation plans, enterprise plans, expert witness retainer, and other services, as well.

For those of you who are ready to take your property and wildlife to the next level, now is the time to schedule fall surveys, write management plans, and file paperwork as the hunting season will be upon us quickly.

Check out our Wildlife Consultants Website here.

Survey

Gun Readiness

It is surprising how many hunters spend thousands of dollars to go on a hunting trip, but spend little or no time at the rifle range in preparation for their trip.

In order to maximize your efforts, and in fairness to ethics at ensuring a quick kill and minimizing the possibility of losing a crippled animal, we highly recommend that you spend some time properly preparing for your hunt. Here are a few suggestions.

1. Use an adequate caliber. Generally, we prefer a minimum of a .270 caliber, but we have a ranch policy on the Yturria Ranch of a 150 grain bullet, and typically prefer a 130 grain bullet minimum on our other properties. On nilgai, we require a minimum of a .300 caliber.

2. Avoid highly expandable bullets, such as certain ballistic tips and hollow points. Partions, A-Frames, bonded bullets, and bullets that retain the majority of their mass are preferred on our big game hunts.

3. Shoot at least 20 rounds through your gun in preparation for your hunt, with at least two different trips to the range. You are not simply making sure that your gun is sighted in, but you are also practicing, becoming familiar with your trigger pull, follow through, breathing control, etc.

4. The most common mistake that we see our hunters make is having their gun sighted in too high at 100 yards. Please have it dead on at 100 yards. If you happen to have to take a 300 yard shot, which our clients rarely do, you can hold your horizontal cross-hair on the top of the back and that will put you in the money with most big-game calibers.

5. Always check your gun when you get to your hunting destination, just to make sure that all is still good to go.