The Catskill Game Farm was opened in 1933 by Roland Lindemann, and was still owned by the Lindemann family, as Catskill Game Farm Inc. at the time of its closing. At first, it held only deer, donkeys and sheep. In 1958, the United States Department of Agriculture recognized Catskill as a zoo, and it became the first privately-owned venture to achieve such status. The collection was now allowed to grow more exotic and at the time of its closing played host to roughly 2,000 animals from over 150 species, imported from around the world.
The zoo spanned more than 370 hectares (914 acres), most of which was used to breed animals for other zoos worldwide. Only around 55 hectares (136 acres) was available for public viewing, and then only in the summer and autumn.
Closing
On August 2, 2006, the Catskill Game Farm announced that it would be closing on Columbus Day of that year, ending its 73-year run. Its owners attributed the closing to mounting financial difficulties, dropping attendance, and legal regulations leading to the shutdown of its Splashdown attraction, though Splashdown itself never violated regulations.
Auction
The auction was organized and conducted by Norton Auctioneers of Michigan, Inc., a worldwide auction group based in Coldwater, Michigan. Norton’s is known for auctions of tourist attractions of every shape and kind – amusement parks, zoos, carnivals, family entertainment centers, museums, carousels, and unique collections.
The two-day Catskill auction attracted over 1,000 potential bidders from across the nation, Canada, and Mexico. Selling the first day were the amusement park rides, restaurants, gift shops, and related items. The second day had over 900 animals, vehicles, and farm and construction equipment offered.
Animal highlights included two rhinos that went for $6,000 and $9,250 to an organization that will place them for the International Rhino Association. A bull elk sold at $1,325, and five female elks sold for $3,600. A small group of Dall sheep sold for (more…)
Rhino Outdoors is a family owned outfitter & guide service specializing in quality hunting and fishing adventures at affordable prices.
‘We cater to families, small hunting parties and corporate groups. Our Mission is to provide the very best professional service & create a friendly family atmosphere for our customers so that they can enjoy their adventure & benefit from a successful hunt.” — Ryan “Rhino” Haecker
With Rhino Outdoor Adventures you can hunt a variety of native & exotic game species on one of several ranches they offer in Texas. Whitetail, Mule Deer, Rio Grande Turkey, Javelina, Axis, Aoudad, Blackbuck, Elk, Fallow deer, Sika deer and a variety of Rams, along with other exotic game animals. Predators are also offered for hunting, which includes Bobcat, Coyote, Fox, Mountain Lion and hundreds of Wild Hogs!
Most of Rhino hunting adventures are set up as all inclusive packages that include food, lodging, guide services & preparation of game harvested. They also plan annual hunting adventures to South Africa, Alaska, Canada, Mexico & other destinations across the United States. Rhino Outdoors also offers many Hunting Leases if your looking for a do it yourself type of hunt. Let Rhino guide you on a hunting adventure like no other!!
To book your Rhino hunting adventure contact Ryan “Rhino” Haecker at (830) 660-4933 or learn more at www.rhinooutdoors.com.
For more exotic outfitters visit the AAE ‘Find A Hunt’ directory.
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Category AAE News, Outfitters | Tags: Tags: AAE Outfitters, aoudad, axis, blackbuck, exotic hunting Texas, exotic hunts, fallow, Find A Hunt, rams, sika, Texas,
Answer: How about two of them!?!
This is a recent post from HunTTrader.com about one hunter’s “fortunate mishap”.
“Aoudad” by Henry (Hank) Sherrill
“Ever hear the story about the guy that was out hunting Turkeys? Well this fella was out hunting turkeys and kept seeing this turkey pop his head up from behind a log. Every time the head would pop up he would shoot at it. Finally, after he ran out of ammo, he went to look at what was behind the log and found about 5 turkeys. All of them shot in the head.
Well something like that happened to a coworker of mine on 11/20/10. He was 
out at my land and saw some Aoudad about 100yds down range and took a shot. He saw the sheep run off and he thought that he missed. A few minutes he saw the sheep return to the same place where he took his first shot at. So he took another shot. He saw one of the Aoudad drop. When he went to get his sheep he saw not one, but TWO Aoudad! He had hit both with perfect shots!”
NOT the ram in question...or was that even a question?
There is news out of SW Texas that a potential new world record aoudad ram may have been harvested near Rocksprings, Tx very recently. The ram is rumored to have horn lengths of 44 inches! Eighty-eight inches of horn coupled w/ even average mass measurements would give the current world records a run for their money, to say the least!
The current SCI scoring record is currently held by LeNan Hancock and scores 166 & 6/8″ SCI, while Larry Casey’s 130 & 7/8″ ram tops the charts in the ROE record book (Hancock’s ram is #2 in ROE). If these initial reports are true and this new ram does sport close to 44″ horns, it will most likely shattered both records. Casey’s record ram had 39 & 40 inch horns, while Hancock’s trophy could boast only 39 & 37 inch measurements! This gives some idea just how big this ram could be…44″ is mind blowing!
We will keep you posted on any pictures or news about this giant ram as it becomes available.
