"Rough Creek Lodge is primarily a bird hunting operation with 11,000 acres of rolling hills and prairies and enough creek bottoms and other cover to attract and hold numbers of whitetails. The place has been in operation for five years, but this coming season will be the first time deer hunts will be offered.
"Rough Creek is completely open range; no high fences here, so the deer can come and go as they please. Wildlife Director Butch Brannon says hunters can expect to see good numbers of bucks ranging from 120 to 140 B & C. He has also seen a couple of deer he believes would push 150 B & C. A patient hunter has the very real chance of harvesting a mature, trophy-class buck here, he says.
"Hunting is from comfortable stands overlooking corn feeders, usually located on the edge of wood lines along the many creeks and draws. Brannon or one of his experienced guides provides transportation to and from the stand. The client has the option of hunting alone or with a guide, and if the hunt takes place during the rut, in mid-November, a guide can do some antler rattling, a very effective way of getting those big boys out of the brush. Once a buck is harvested, the guide will field dress the animal and take it to a nearby meat processor to be butchered and packaged for shipment to the hunter. Taxidermy is available in nearby Glen Rose.
"The cost of a three-day hunt here is $2,194.44, which includes taxes and gratuities in addition to three nights lodging and two gourmet meals per day (brunch or breakfast and dinner). If you are unsuccessful for some reason, Brannon says the next hunt is free, with lodging and meals the only charges. For........(continued)
