CHAUMONT, N.Y.--The first week of March found me in upstate New York on a fallow deer hunt that had been arranged by my hunting partner, Carolee Boyles-Sprenkel.
We arrived at Baron Josef von Kerckerinck's Lucky Star Ranch in the middle of a snow storm. Carolee and I had met at the airport in New York City the day before, visited with our respective publishers, and then rented a car and loaded it up with our gear and driven to upstate New York. The snow was a problem but it wasn't going to keep us from hunting.
Baron Kerckerinck is an interesting man. Although a European born aristocrat he is not what a person might expect. Outgoing and eager to please the guests at his ranch, he takes a personal interest in everyone's hunting.
Before opening the game ranch, the Baron was raising deer on it and selling the processed meat to restaurants around the country. Two years ago he decided to switch from being just a deer farming operation to exotic game ranch.
"I wanted to do something different," the Baron said. "So I have made an effort to keep many of the European traditions of the hunt alive here."
The result has become an interesting mix of American and European hunting traditions. After a kill the Baron's guides will place a branch from an evergreen tree in the mouth of the game killed. This branch is symbolic of the animal's last bite. A second branch is presented to the hunter, which is symbolic of the hunter's success.
"We also blow the hunting horns and hold a little ceremony for the hunt," the Baron explained.
Carolee and I hunted the ranch for two and-a-half days. She was bow hunting for Russian boar and I was fallow deer hunting. Although the hunting area of the ranch is about 1,200 acres, it was some of the toughest hunting I've experienced. The deer are not tame, but are wary and stay in the thick brush and seldom present an opportunity for a shot.
I finally took my fallow deer buck on the last day of our hunt with less than an hour before we had to start back. Carolee had taken her boar the day before after a long and careful stalk to get in bow range.
Accommodations at the ranch are excellent and the hunting lodge has a private bathroom and shower for each bedroom. The kitchen is self-catering although breakfast and lunch are served to the hunters during the hunt. For dinner you can either cook in the lodge or drive to town.
Game on the ranch is managed for trophy hunting and the season is from Labor Day to early May. The ranch offers fallow deer ($1,250), European Red Stag ($3,500), Japanese sika deer ($800), North American Elk ($3,000), Mouflon sheep ($850), and wild boar ($600). The daily hunting fee is $100 per person and the fee is waived for successful hunters.
After our hunt Carolee and I made arrangements to ship the meat from our animals to our respective homes. I also made arrangements for the antlers and cape to be shipped to my taxidermist, then we piled our gear back in the rental car and drove through the night to the city, arriving in time to turn in the rental car and catch our flights home. We realized too late we could have flown to nearby Watertown.
Best,
Galen L. Geer
For more information on the Lucky Star Ranch write: Josef von Kerckerinck, Dept. AOL/GLG, RR1, Box 273, Chaumont, New York, 13622. Phone 315-649-5519 or fax 315-649-3097.
Copyright (c) 1996 Galen Geer. All rights reserved.
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