Cotton Mesa Trophy Whitetail Ranch

Cotton Mesa Trophy Whitetail Ranch runs trophy whitetail and more than 20 exotic species across 4,200 acres in Richland, Texas, about an hour south of Dallas. Beyond whitetail, the species list runs deep: axis deer, blackbuck, aoudad, elk, kudu, nilgai, red stag, scimitar oryx, zebra, and a long run of sheep and antelope species most Texas ranches don’t carry. Several classes of whitetail hunts are offered, and exotic hunts can be booked on their own or combined with a whitetail trip in the same visit. The six-bedroom lodge, built in 2010, has private baths and cable in every room, a chef preparing meals daily, and bass fishing on the property for downtime between hunts. Robert Gegenheimer has run the operation for more than 33 years. For hunters who want serious species variety within an hour of Dallas rather than a drive to South Texas, this is a rare combination of location and inventory.