Albany Hall B · 09/01-03 · Group 02

About this property

Housing is at the Lake Brownwood Christian Retreat, reserved through BBOS' partnership with Executive Outfitters. Four dorms hold the whole camp in traditional hunting-camp style — bunk beds, wide-open spaces, oak groves, and the Lake Brownwood shoreline. Chow is at Mac's Dining Hall, the mess hall, and it eats like a feast: all the breakfast fixings in the morning, and a lunch and dinner menu of fajitas, steak, and fried catfish with refreshments. A competitive trap course runs for bragging rights at the full-service bar, with prizes and accolades after dinner on the last night — and anyone skilled enough to take first at all five stations has earned a free hunt next year. From this campus, hunters convoy with their assigned guides to one of over 40 fields the Executive Outfitters team has been tracking across 25 years of operation. They count birds, they know the flight patterns in every weather condition, and they are focused on one thing: putting you right in the thick of them.

About this hunt

Every hunt is fully guided — you convoy from camp with your assigned guide to whichever field is flying best, with 100 rounds, water, Gatorade, and a chair provided for every hunter. Bird cleaning is provided by the staff, though anyone who would rather clean their own birds is welcome to. Here is how it runs — every hunt is an afternoon hunt. Check-in opens at 10:30 am and runs until noon, followed immediately by a BBQ lunch of pulled pork shoulder, ribs, turkey, and sausage with potato salad, pinto beans, a salad bar, rolls, and cornbread. Groups then roll out for the afternoon field hunt, and return to chips with picante, homemade salsa, and queso ahead of a dinner of beef and chicken fajitas, Spanish rice, refried beans, and tamales. The bar opens at 7 pm and pours until midnight, with a large-screen television for football. The second morning kicks off with a country breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, blueberry and buttermilk pancakes, biscuits and gravy, juice, milk, and an ample amount of coffee. After breakfast, head to the shooting range for bragging rights and a chance at prizes — hats, shirts, canteens, and even a free hunt for next year. Lunch is fried fish, potato soup (tomato bisque is available as a gluten-free alternative — please tell us about any food allergies), hush puppies, coleslaw, the salad bar, and garlic cheese biscuits, and then it is out to the second field hunt on a different field. Dinner that night is a feast: peel-your-own shrimp in the field, then steaks grilled over mesquite coals with baked potatoes, green beans with sauteed onion and bacon, okra, rolls, and the best whiskey sauce outside of Austin. Camp starts breaking down at 6:30 am on the final morning, and breakfast is hot and ready whenever you are — cinnamon rolls, jalapeno cheese kolaches, juice, and milk — with your birds cleaned, packed, and ready to travel. Basketball courts and lake access nearby keep the youth busy. This is premier Texas dove hunting, fully inclusive. Open bar, shells and ammo provided, staff-guided fields, and a field stool and cooler of beverages for every hunter. Hunters 14 and younger are half off. Dogs are welcome and kennels are provided — the dog's care is the responsibility of the hunter. Every hunter needs a valid Texas hunting license — available for purchase through your host on arrival (out-of-state hunters can get a 5-day non-resident small game license) — and everyone joining, including non-hunters over the age of 10, must carry one.

Seasons Available

• Central Zone — First Season (Sep 1 – Oct 25)
• Central Zone — Second Season (Dec 11 – Jan 14)

Amenities

Rules & Expectations

No smoking in any building; some fields are no-smoking — your guide will brief you. No alcohol at the shooting range or in the fields; the bar opens after hunters return and closes at midnight. Hunting license and photo ID on you in the field. Guns stay outside buildings; actions open unless in position to shoot; guns holding more than 3 shells must be plugged (plugs available). Stay in your assigned field — wandering can put you on unleased land. Follow your guide to the field; carpooling encouraged; bring fuel for about 50 miles each way. The Texas dove limit is 15 — tag and bag your birds with the tags furnished. Retrieve every downed bird; leaving birds in the field is unsportsmanlike. Spent hulls and trash go in the bags provided. No animals inside any building ($250 facility fine) — kennels are free. Field assignments post on the dining-hall bulletin board and change daily; departure times are firm.