Spring Creek Arts Guild: Like a Whole "Nother State

Way down below is the Pruett house where we stayed in the past.

A couple of years ago I wrote about spending some time in the Pruett house on a 90,000-acre ranch in the Davis Mountains of West Texas. We returned to the ranch this year, but this time we stayed in the main lodge as the outfitter and all of his hunters and guides were off for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

I grew up in the Southeast where most people think that Texas is all hot, dry desert year-round. You cannot blame them for this misconception as that is the way it has been represented in movies and television shows. There is a new show about a female Texas Ranger that has been advertised and guess where it is filmed…..in Albuquerque. But I have found a remarkable number of people right here in Central Texas that have never been to far West Texas, or have only been along interstate from here to El Paso. If that is you, do yourself a favor and go visit the western part of your state.

The ranch we visit is in the Davis Mountains. According to geologists, the Davis Mountains were formed by eruptions of the Trans-Pecos volcanic field. Anyone who is even slightly interested in geology—otherwise known as being a rock-hound—would surmise that these mountains are volcanic just from the looks of the landscape, particularly if you get up on top of one of the mountains and look across. Some of the contour looks like waves or ripples on the ocean, while others look as if they were pushed up from below. Many of the taller mountains on the ranch are made up of columns of red stone, which have broken away around the edges and sent house-size boulders tumbling down. The soil in the flats below the mountains is fine and powdery, and is a light grayish color like ash, which it likely is considering it is in a volcanic field.

My son wishing he could find a way up
to that eagle nest on top of the rock.

Further west from the ranch, northwest of Fort Davis, the mountains are much higher and are bunched up, without the flats below and without the giant mesas that are found in the foothills. These mountains are covered in trees like piñon and ponderosa pines. The average altitude in the Davis Mountains is right at one mile, so the temperatures tend to be a cooler, especially at night.

Some of the plants are the same as here like juniper (cedar), agarita, whitebrush, prickly pear, and tasajillo. The yuccas that grow wild tend to look like miniature palm trees with long trunks topped by a crown of blades. I found loads of blackfoot daisies in huge clumps all over the ranch. I would love to be there when they are blooming! There is one plant called Allthorn—because that is all it is. Seriously, you look at it and all you see is green thorns.

Once you are that far west, you are in mule deer country. Once upon a time, you would also be in pronghorn antelope country, but their numbers are diminishing due to a parasite. There is the occasional elk in the area but I have not seen one with my own two eyes. I did see javelinas and aoudad sheep, and, unfortunately, some feral hogs. Near the springs that are on the ranch, we saw a nice flock of Rio Grande turkeys and we saw Blue Quail throughout the ranch. There is a quail feeder in the front yard of the lodge that is frequented by blue quail and a large flock of white-wing doves. I am told that the occasional Montezuma quail shows up so I watched it like a hawk, but never saw one.

Of course there are lots of things to see and do in the area, such as swim at Balmorrhea, trying to see the Marfa lights, visiting old Fort Davis or the McDonald Observatory, or heading down to Big Bend. It’s enough for me just to get out and “be” in the Davis Mountains. I will post lots of pictures on my blog so you can share a bit of the experience. And if you are interested in booking a hunt on this beautiful place, send me an email and I will share his contact info with you.