A family hunt isn't really about the harvest. It's the hours in the blind together, the stories at dinner, and the look on a kid's face when they spot their first buck. Five Aces is a working family ranch on Concho County rangeland in Millersview, Texas, and that's exactly the kind of trip it's built for. This is what to expect, and how to set your family up for a good one.

Why a real ranch is where it clicks

This isn't a theme park or a shooting line. Your family hunts free-ranging exotic game on private Texas land, with a guide who works one-on-one with newer hunters. The pace is yours: glass for animals in the morning, break midday, head back out in the afternoon, and trade stories around the fire pit at night. Because the family that owns the dirt is the same family that greets you at the gate, no group gets lost in the shuffle. The ranch caps every booking at ten people total, hunters and non-hunters combined.

What "all-inclusive" actually covers

A trophy hunt at Five Aces is two days and two nights with everything handled: private bunkhouse lodging, home-cooked breakfast and dinner (lunch packed for the field), a dedicated guide, and full field care (dressing, skinning, caping, and quartering), with cold storage waiting in the walk-in cooler. Lunch sometimes gets skipped when the group stays out on a good stalk; that's normal and expected.

Bringing family who won't hunt? Non-hunting guests are welcome at $250 a day, and that rate includes their lodging, meals, and run of the ranch. Every trophy hunt also includes one free non-hunting observer, so a parent can ride along in the blind and just watch the kid work.

Bring the whole crew.

Tell us who's coming and what they want to hunt, and we'll build a family package around your group, your species, and your dates.

Build a Family Hunt

The right first animal

For a first-time youth hunter, the animal matters as much as the rifle. Corsican rams and the other exotic rams are the ones we point families toward: they're plentiful, they offer good shot opportunities at reasonable distances, and they're outstanding on the table. Your guide helps pick the right one based on your child's size, comfort, and confidence. There's no rush to put them on something they're not ready for.

Licenses and safety for young hunters

Everyone who hunts in Texas needs a Texas hunting license. Anyone born on or after September 2, 1971 must also complete a Texas Hunter Education course (available online through Texas Parks & Wildlife) before buying one; hunters born before that date are exempt. There's no minimum age to hunt, but young hunters must be accompanied by a licensed adult. Exotics don't require species tags, which keeps the paperwork simple. If you're unsure what your child needs, we'll walk you through it when you book.

Safety isn't a briefing you sit through and forget. We prefer suppressed rifles for the way they keep things calm for young ears and steadier for a first shot, and a loaner rifle is available for a rental fee if you need one. Day one always starts on the shooting range. Verifying zero and practicing shot placement is mandatory before anyone heads to a blind, no exceptions. Your youth hunter is under direct, one-on-one guide supervision the entire time.

First hunt on the calendar?

We'll match a patient guide to your young hunter and pick a first animal they can be proud of. Call and we'll plan it out.

Plan a First Hunt

The lodge after the hunt

The day doesn't end at the skinning rack. The bunkhouse has A/C and heat, hot showers, and Starlink Wi-Fi, so the whole family sleeps well and stays connected. There's a fire pit for the evening recap, a shooting range for sighting in, and home-cooked breakfast and dinner (steaks, venison, comfort food), with lunch packed for the field. It's a working ranch lodge, not a resort, and families tend to feel right at home in it.

When to come

Exotic game in Texas has no closed season, so you can plan a family trip around school breaks, holidays, or whenever the timing works: spring break, summer, Thanksgiving week. Axis activity peaks June through August if that's your target. A 25% deposit (capped at $1,000 per hunter) holds your dates, and the San Angelo Regional Airport is about forty minutes out if you're flying in.

Have a question that isn't covered here? See all frequently asked questions, or just call the ranch. Jeremy would rather talk it through than have you guess.