Jack Becker and Missy on the Bunkhouse front porch

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The lifetime hunter and native South Texan is right at home on the remote acres of San Miguel, managing the whitetail deer population, Longhorn cattle herd and guiding hunts. 

You would not know right off that Becker worked in corporate America after graduation from college.  But then, he did study wildlife biology.

He has put his knowledge and experience to good use at San Miguel Creek Ranch located in southern Atascosa County.  The hunting ranch, owned by W.A. “Bill” Buntin, has the rustic simplicity of an old west homestead, with creature comforts, like flat screen TVs and satellite service. 

But it’s the deer that Becker can’t say enough about.  “I have been around whitetail deer all my life, but these are some of the best I’ve seen.  We have a very sound management practice in house.  We take about 15 to 20 bucks a year, ranging between 140 and 170 inches.  They are all mature, native deer.

“We have dove and quail, but we will also do release birds, as well as trophy boar weighing up to 300-plus pounds.  We have a contractor out of the King Ranch area that will do release hunts.  Out here you can hunt hogs now, and turkey.”

The high-fenced ranch is equipped for hunters, with seven 4ftX6ft deer blinds on towers.      “They are three-man towers,” Becker said.  “You can sit in a deer blind and see 20 different varieties of wild birds. You don’t see them in the city.”

Hunters and ranch guests can step back in time in the ranch dwellings.  Part of the main house, built in the early 1900s, was an original one-room schoolhouse that served the area, according to Buntin.  A second house from the 1930s was brought in and joined seamlessly to the schoolhouse, adding to square footage.

Antique furniture pieces and accessories have been collected throughout the years, which add to the ambiance.     Near the main ranch house is a one-bedroom cabin, equally appointed with antiques. 

“This is the hunter’s cabin,” Becker said, describing a bunkhouse on another part of the ranch.  “It’s very simple.  This is for hunters that want to do their own thing and don’t want to be waited on hand and foot.  It has eight bunks in it and a kitchen and a bathroom.”

The bunkhouse overlooks San Miguel Creek that meanders through the property.  Plans are underway for an outdoor pavilion with an outdoor kitchen, fireplace, concrete floor and ceiling fans.  The ranch also has an old rodeo arena from back in the ‘30s and a lake for fishing.  –kf

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