The name Crockett has a special place in the hearts of those who live in the Lone Star State, and Crockett Ranch’s owner is proud to be a fourth-generation Texan. During your visit to Crockett Ranch, you, too can embrace the spirit of adventure and excitement associated with the Crockett legacy.

At Crockett Ranch, the sporting tradition continues in our commitment to our Orvis endorsed English setter breeding and English setter training programs.  Our staff, kennel facilities and professionally managed habitat provide the training, socialization, and environment necessary to create versatile and first rate English setter hunting companions. Why? Because our passion is the sport of the hunt.

Regardless of the season, you can be sure to find beauty, birds and game aplenty in Crockett hunting areas.  Vast southwestern skies create a picturesque canvas for the flight of quail, doves, ducks and geese.

In springtime, the Texas countryside dresses itself in wildflowers.  The bursting color of the hills and plains provide the perfect nesting and feeding grounds for coveys of the legendary bobwhite and Texas blue scaled quail.  Summer brings horizons of endless yellow sunflowers flavored by whitewing and mourning doves.  In the autumn, shinnery and acorns permit white tail and mule deer to thrive.

Crockett offers hunting and wing-shooting, spanning carefully managed southwestern habitats.  Our many professional guides will take you through ranch lands that showcase the scenic landscape and include healthy populations of game.

Crockett Hunt Program

At Crockett Ranch, you can feel the exhilaration of Opening Day all season long!  Whether your party seeks blue or bobwhite quail, dove, turkey, or white tail deer, we offer an adventure worth coming back for again and again!

Our knowledgeable staff and extraordinary dogs will ensure that you experience the sport of the hunt at its finest.  Our guides are experienced and personable, and will help you traverse the terrain to find the most available game.  Our English Setters love to immerse themselves in the hunt and will eagerly work at your side doing what they love best.

Our superior Hunt Program has created many loyal clients who return annually to relive the experience they have come to know and love.  Don’t miss out on the finest hunting opportunity around!

Habitat and Hunting Grounds

Our ranches are painstakingly and expertly managed.  Wildlife biologists bring years of expertise and optimal management techniques to our terrain.  Prescribed burns, well planned bird buffers, half-cut mesquite cover, and careful management of livestock are just a few of the practices that sustain consistent and healthy populations year after year.
In fact, Crockett Ranch in Bowie was nominated for the Anheuser Busch Quail Unlimited Adopt-a-Covey Award in 2007.

Crockett Guides and Hosts

Our seasoned guides are accomplished horsemen and hunters, as well as gifted dog handlers.  With a combined hunting experience of 80 years, our guides help to ensure you of a successful, enjoyable and memorable trip.  They know where the birds are and how to get there, so you can expect good populations of quail and other game during your hunt.

Crockett Dogs

Two words can sum up our gundogs: manner and polish!  Crockett Ranch and Kennel offers healthy, hard working, passionate, professionally trained English Setters.  All are steady to wing and shot, many are current or retired field trial competitors.  You’ll enjoy a minimum of four dogs per rig, and you can expect dependability and enthusiasm from them in the fields.

Hunting over our English Setters is an inspiring experience.  Their personality and perseverance puts a smile on your face and birds in your bag!  A champion Setter’s dogged determination is a treat to watch, whether or not you ever fire a shot.  Superior English Setters become superior gundogs, and Crockett Kennel is Orvis-endorsed for producing such fine hunting companions.

Our dogs are the foundation of our program and a continuation of the Johnny Crockett legacy.  Bloodlines included Johnny Crockett, Bozeann’s Mosley and Calico’s Future Force, among others.  We continue to improve the bloodlines but while still keeping the influence of our foundation stock.  Under the experience of Russ Pankey, our Setters polish their skills in the field year-round.

The Crockett dogs are ready – are you?

Click Here to Book Your Crockett Ranch Hunt!

Crockett Ranch proudly carries the name of Hall of Fame and National Champion winner Johnny Crockett, the only English Setter to win the National Championship since 1946, and the last English Setter to win the National All-Age Open Championship. Crockett Ranch continues the winning legacy of Johnny Crockett with selective line-breeding and outcrossing to develop an English Setter with style, grace, stamina, and disposition, with both a love and an instinct to hunt. In addition to National Champion Johnny Crockett, our bloodlines include:

• Hall of Fame Champion Bozeann’s Mosley
  
• All-Age Champion Calico’s Future Force
  
• Champion Ultimate Reissue
  
• Champion A Tarheel Sunrise
  
• Champion Havelock Blacksmith

The Ranch offers puppies, started dogs, and finished dogs that have been trained on the wild, elusive Texas Bobwhite quail. We offer gun dog training to the public that is both flexible and focused on the client’s style of hunting, whether that be on foot, ATV, or horseback.

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Crockett’s Comanche Kid

“Hank”

This male setter is the pride and joy of Crockett Ranch & Kennels.  “Hank” was whelped October 21, 2006 and is is a direct AI bred son of Crockett’s Deep Freeze, grandson of Hall of Fame National Champion Johnny Crockett.  This is the closest living get of the famous Johnny Crockett in existence in the United States. Hank’s sister, Crockett’s Prairie Breeze, is being developed to follow her grandfather’s footsteps, and will make her debut as an All-Age Horseback Derby in the spring of 2008.  “Hank” is presently standing stud for the public at Crockett Kennels by private treaty.  His stud fee is $1,000.00.

Calico’s Future Force

“Buddy”

Champion Calico’s Future Force is a direct son of Champion Grouse Ridge Reroy.  “Buddy” was developed and handled by Mike Tracey and his record shows: Winner of the 1998 Region 13 Amateur Open Shooting Dog; Winner of the 1999 Georgia - Line Field Trial Association Classic; Runner-Up of the 2000 Region 13 All-Age Championship; Winner of the 2000 North Eastern Open Shooting Dog Championship and again the following year was placed as the Winner of the North Eastern Open Shooting Dog Championship.

Crockett’s Razor

“Joe”

Joe is a son of Champion Ultimate Reissue and one of our “anchor” dogs for our West Texas hunting string

Hy-Test Buck Master

“Buck”

Hy-Test Buck Master, shown here in his summer cut, is qualified to compete in Championship stakes, and is currently on the All-Age Horseback circuit with professional handler Ray Warren.

Havelock Black Gold

“Pete”

Pete is a son of Champion Havelock Blacksmith and is qualified to compete in Championship stakes in Open Shooting Dog competition. He is also part of the wild west Texas hunting string.

Your special gundog will begin each day with a brush-up on his yard work and basic obedience skills. He will then be evaluated to develop a conditioning program that addresses his or her particular needs while increasing stamina and endurance. Your hunting companion will finish each day with exposure to both the wild, elusive bobwhite quail and quality liberated birds. Of course, training is always conducted with your personal hunting style in mind, be it on foot, vehicle, or horseback.

Our training program is designed for dogs as young as four months. Pups are taught to hunt and are heavily exposed to birds with introduction of the gun at the appropriate time. The program evaluates gundog pups by developing their own natural talent in a fun and relaxed manner in preparation for more formal training.

Training is available year round, with a special autumn tune-up program so that your gundog is ready prior to hunting season. Don’t waste your valuable hunting time by waiting until opening day to work and condition your prized gundog. Take advantage of the Crockett Ranch special 30-Day Preseason Gundog Program.

Our 2007 Crockett Ranch Dog Training Program is $500 per month, plus the cost of birds. This price includes boarding (normally $10 per dog per day).

Documentation of current vaccinations, micro-chip or tattoo I.D. required. Micro-chipping can be performed at Crockett Ranch for $35.

For further details and to secure a reservation in our training program, please contact our main office at
(940) 372-6086 or Contact Us.

Johnny Crockett

When Johnny Crockett won the event in 1970, Boy Dog (as he was called) was owned by H. P. “Hank’ Sheeley of Irving, Texas. The stylish English Setter was handled by W. C. Kirk of Bowie, Texas. Over 25 years ago in American Field, K. C. Kirk was quoted saying, “When ‘Boy’ captured the National Champion in 1970 - the only setter to win that glorious crown since 1946 - it was one of the greatest moments in my life.”

That year American Field Magazine writer William F. Brown’s reported on the Championship. Of Johnny Crockett, he wrote:

His followers exulted with the excellence of his bird-finding efforts, the amount of game he found when birds were hard to come by. Johnny started with an attractive, fox-like gait . . . indicative of the route-goer. He was under remarkable control throughout the three hours, a pleasing rapport between him and his devoted handler, W. C. Kirk.

Crockett Ranch still proudly carries the name of English Setter Johnny Crockett, and still, his legacy continues with selective line-breeding and outcrossing to develop an English Setter with style, grace, stamina, and disposition, with both a love and an instinct to hunt.

Bozeann’s Mosley

Known as Rocky, Bozeann’s Mosley broke the all-time Setter sire record, previously held by Hall-of-Famer Sports Peerless for over half a century. Through artificial insemination, Rocky is still going strong as a sire. Rocky has produced hundreds of winners with a total of over 900 wins at all levels of trial competition. The love of Rocky by his owners, our friends Loyd and Ruth Bozeman, was such that the threesome were only separated twice during Rocky’s life, one time being to accept an invitation by Norway’s Royal family to consult on their own dog breeding program.

Ch. Calico’s Future Force

Calico’s Future Force, called Buddy, was whelped on February 1, 1997. He placed third in the National Pheasant Shooting Dog Championship, won the 2000 Northeast Open Shooting Dog Championship, and is a two-time runner up in the field.

Crockett’s Razor

Crockett’s Razor, Joe, was whelped on January 3, 2002 from Ultimate ReIssue x Zorrina. He is a runner-up winner of the Mid-Atlantic Open Shooting Dog Championship.

Toby’s Sunrise

Toby’s Sunrise, Buddy, was whelped on January 15, 2002, from A Tarheel Sunrise x Aaron’s Lady in a repeat of the successful breeding that produced trial champion, Lady Selina.

Lady Selina

Lady Selina, or Betty, was whelped on January 3, 2001. She is the daughter of A Tarheel Sunrise x Aaron’s Lady. Betty’s wins include the Prairie Field Trial, Hale Creek Quail Trials, Clarksville Pointer Shooting Dog Championship, and the U.S. Championship at Shell Creek. Betty recent litter was nominated for the American Field Quail Futurity.

Crockett Ranch & Kennels
5578 FM 1816
Bowie, TX 76230

Crockett Ranch is located approximately 5 miles north of Bowie on FM 1816. When driving from downtown Bowie, the ranch is located on the right.

GPS Coordinates:
N 33° 38.005’
W 097° 50.676’

Directions from DFW Airport

• Exit the airport via the North Exit and merge onto International Parkway N
  
• Merge onto TX-114 W toward TX-121 S / GRAPEVINE / FT WORTH
• Stay on 114W for approximately 28 miles
• Merge onto US-287 N / US-81 N via the exit on the LEFT
• Stay on US-287 N / US 81 N for approximately 41 miles
• Exit 287 onto Highway 81 into Bowie.
• Continue on Hwy 81 and turn right onto Hwy 59 at the second stop light which is the downtown intersection.
• From 59, turn left onto West Pecan which is the street just North of Legend Bank.
• Follow West Pecan to the first stop sign which is Hwy 1816 (Matthews Street), turn Right and follow Hwy 1816 about 5 miles North to the Crockett Ranch Headquarters on the right.

Our facilities include miles of trails for horses and dogs, and the property is professionally cared for by wildlife experts with years of experience in outdoor wildlife area management.

The kennels are state of the art and raised to reduce ground parasite and pest problems, as well as increase cooling air flow to keep the dogs comfortable.

The horse stabling and training areas include enclosed stables, arena and round pin, as well as an outdoor arena and other training areas.

Crockett Ranch does not breed Tennessee Walkers. We leave that expertise to our trusted friend, Brandon Carpenter, the proprietor of Hashknife Tennessee Walkers.  Brandon has spent his lifetime perfecting his philosophy and approach to horse training. Brandon’s training techniques are gentle and quiet.  Most horses want to please their handler, so capitalizing on that natural desire enables the training to become deeply ingrained into the mind of the horse.  The results yield a quiet, relaxed horse that is willing to work for the rider and is responsive to a light rein.  Hashknife does not follow current fad training, since their techniques were used and proven. Only the best and most effective training methods are used to create a “Hashknife Horse.”

Hashknife Tennessee Walkers is a family operated business located just north of Shepherd, Montana. The name Hashknife comes from the Hashknife brand that was given to Brandon by his grandfather, Yates Allen.  The brand symbol has been in the family nearly 100 years. Brandon has authored articles and given training advice in publications such as The Gaited Horse, Equestrian Network Magazine, The Journal of Equine Veterinary Science and others. He is also featured in the book Walking With Friends by Maggie Moore.

The Foundation Quarter Horses at Crockett Ranch are very special. Under the careful watch of our staff, horses are selectively bred to continuously improve the conformation and temperament of the Foundation Quarter Horse. Expert training completes the program with horses ready, able, and especially willing to do any task requested.

Crockett Ranch sells horses to show-ring competitors and to hunting and pleasure riders. Our Foundation Quarter Horses range from mares-in-foal to yearlings and proven money-earners. Crockett Ranch understands the importance of proper conformation and attitude, and our commitment to the legacy of Foundation Quarter Horse is demonstrated in all aspects of our horse program—from foals with head-turning color to competitors in the show ring.

In addition to our prized quarter horses, our Tennessee Walkers will enchant you with their style and disposition. After you’ve watched the sport of the hunt from atop one of our Walkers, you’ll want to make that horse your own.

Whether it’s a show-pen Foundation Quarter Horse or a Tennessee Walker for your next field trial, you’ll find your horse at Crockett Ranch.

At Crockett Ranch, we take our horses seriously.  They are a large part of our daily activity on the ranch, taking part in hunts and trail rides in addition to being trained working horses.  We pride ourselves in producing and selecting horses with great temperament and trainability.  Horses are our business and our companions, so we work with them every day to improve their skills and ours.  Our horses are trained using non-violent methods with a proven success record, including Shawna Karrasch’s click-training techniques.

Whether you’re looking for a fine Foundation Quarter Horse or a Tennessee Walking Horse - a horse for competition, hunting or leisure - you’ll find your companion at Crockett Ranch.

Two words can sum up our gundogs: manner and polish!  Crockett Ranch and Kennel offers healthy, hard working, passionate, professionally trained English Setters.  All are steady to wing and shot, many are current or retired field trial competitors.  You’ll enjoy a minimum of four dogs per rig, and you can expect dependability and enthusiasm from them in the fields.

Hunting over our English Setters is an inspiring experience.  Their personality and perseverance puts a smile on your face and birds in your bag!  A champion Setter’s dogged determination is a treat to watch, whether or not you ever fire a shot.  Superior English Setters become superior gundogs, and Crockett Kennel is Orvis endorsed for producing such fine hunting companions.

Our dogs are the foundation of our program and a continuation of the Johnny Crockett legacy.  Bloodlines included Johnny Crockett, Bozeann’s Mosley and Calico’s Future Force, among others.  We continue to improve the bloodlines but while still keeping the influence of our foundation stock.  Under the experience of Russ Pankey, our Setters polish their skills in the field year-round.

Russ Pankey

Kennel Manager & Trainer

On June 1, 2005, Russ Pankey joined the staff of Crockett Ranch and Kennels. After 25 years of government service, Russ elected to take an early retirement to pursue his passion breeding and training fine gun dogs.

“I had a rewarding career, serving in several capacities including executive security, training academy instructor, special ops, assignments with the US Marshal’s Service, and ultimately as supervisor of the Fugitive Apprehension Unit. Spending time working dogs and hunting upland birds was my stress outlet through the years. I was fortunate to have a father that introduced me to hunting and fishing at an early age and my fondness for the great outdoors intensified as I got older and started my own family.”

Prior to retirement Russ worked as a guide for outfitters and hunting preserves. He received requests for puppies from his personal line of English Setter gundogs as well requests from clients wanting him to train and polish their own gundogs and young field trial prospects.

“By that time, I made the decision to retire early, and pursue a full time career developing gundogs and working in the high-end markets of the hunting industry.”

Prior to coming to Crockett Ranch, Russ managed the Upland Hunting Division and Horse Stable Division for a four-star Orvis-endorsed property in the mid-west. His gun dogs have been featured in several publications including Double Gun Journal, Shooting Sportsman, Midwest Outdoors and Gun Dog Magazine. He was also featured on several television shows including In Pursuit, The New American Sportsman, Midwest Outdoors and major networks such as Fox and The Outdoor Life Network. He also served as a pro staffer and seminar speaker for special events at Bass Pro Shops, Dunn’s Sporting Goods, and other specialty sporting goods stores.

“Working as a professional guide brought me a deeper appreciation for the demands of gun dog owners and field trial enthusiasts. The sporting men & women of today want a hunting companion with intelligence, good disposition, manners, above average scenting abilities and stamina. Many also want a versatile dog that can hunt birds with their family and friends through the week and compete in field trials on the weekends.”

Russ has bred and trained many breeds of sporting dogs but has a special affection for the English Setter.

“There is something about a fine setter on point, high at both ends with a gentle breeze moving his feathers that still electrifies me every time I see one down on birds. The setter also has an almost noble disposition and intelligence that can work its’ way into your heart like no other breed can. The opportunity to develop and train setters from the legacy of National Champion Johnny Crockett is a dream come true.”

Alan Heirman has been involved in wildlife for over 35 years, primarily in West Texas with the Natural Resource Conservation Service. After 35 years with the NRCC, Alan retired in January 1007, and joined Crockett Consulting. He is an expert in quail habitat and upland bird hunting.

Alan is widely respected throughout Texas for his knowledge of wildlife and habitat improvement practices. He has been honored by the Sportsmen Conservationists of Texas, the Texas Section of the Society of Range Management, the Bobwhite Brigade, and in 2005 was recognized as an outstanding leader in fire ecology. He has received 23 USDA and NRCS awards.

In addition to adults, Alan brings his hunting expertise to young people and is actively involved in the Bobwhite and Buckskin Brigades. These Texas Brigades are wildlife-focused leadership programs for high school youth. Students are introduced to habitat management and hone their communication skills while developing a land ethic. Alan and other top wildlife professionals and resource managers serve as instructors and mentors.

With the Natural Resource Conservation Service, Alan provided technical assistance to Texas landowners including wildlife census collection, wildlife harvest recommendations, range and wildlife habitat improvement practices, range monitoring, grazing systems, food plot establishment, range seeding, forage inventories, wetland development, riparian area management, and associated practices.

Alan graduated from Abilene Christian University in 1969 with a degree in Range Management and Animal Science. He went on to Texas Tech University and graduated in 1971 with a Masters in Range and Wildlife Management. 

To find out more about what Crockett Ranch Consulting can offer you specifically, please contact us to be put in touch with a Wildlife & Habitat Management Specialist.

Hollow Oak Pond is one of four ponds on Crockett Ranch that are professionally managed for sport fishing.

Fish are sampled regularly to determine progress.

Bobwhite quail prefer milo, a grain sorghum.

Milo is distributed in feeding lanes every two weeks year round to enhance wild bobwhite populations.

Nest predators are trapped from December through June to enhance wild bobwhite nesting success on Crockett Ranch.

Covey counts conducted in the fall and whistle counts conducted in the spring monitor quail numbers on Crockett Ranch.

This oat-clover plot provides supplemental food for deer and turkey.

Crockett Ranch consultants ensure the environment is as its best to provide a stable and attractive habitat for desired birds and animals.

Prescribed burns are an important habitat management tool, used to thin overabundant brush, remove thatch, and stimulate forbs. Various units are burned in rotation to promote habitat diversity.

Winter infrared camera and fall spotlight surveys are used to monitor management progress of the Ranch deer herd.

Constructed wetlands provide water and emergent vegetation that are attractive to a variety of wildlife.

A recently constructed 2.3 surface acre wetland unit has already filled with a heavy April rain.

Crockett Ranch headquarters is located in Montague County, Texas, near the Oklahoma border. The alluring terrain of the Cross Timbers consists of gentle hills, broad valleys, and high-rolling prairies making it an ideal location for a state-of-the-art equestrian ranch and hunting dog program. Crockett Ranch also has thousands of acres of ranch lands situated from Glasscock County in far West Texas, to Jones County near Abilene, and into the Panhandle region. We go where the birds are, so your Crockett adventures might take you across the great State of Texas.

Crockett Ranch was named after Johnny Crockett, the Hall of Fame English Setter, and the only English Setter to win the National Championship since 1946. His superior bloodline continues in many of our fine English Setters, and Crockett Ranch takes great pride in the quality of our champion dogs and in the coveted Orvis Hunting Dog Program endorsement.

The Crockett Ranch commitment to the Foundation Quarter Horse is evident in our breeding program. Our stallions have show experience in reining and in versatility ranch horse competition. They consistently reproduce sound conformation, head-turning color, and an easy-to-get-along-with attitude. Several of our Foundation Quarter Horses have achieved numerous wins and placements, including RHAA and FQHR.

Crockett Ranch welcomes guests to visit the ranch. We have Tennessee Walking Horses available for those who want to see their gundogs from horseback, or to tour the ongoing habitat management projects at the ranch.

We love our dogs and our horses, and it shows in their pleasant demeanor and enthusiasm with life. Crockett Ranch is a haven to all, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

A compilation of several historical ranches, Crockett Ranch lies just north of Dallas/Fort Worth, between Bowie and Nocona, Texas.  It is an area rich in Texas heritage and along the famous Chisholm Trail.

In the decades following the Civil War, more than six million cattle were herded out of Texas in one of the greatest migrations of animals ever known.  Although a number of cattle routes existed during this period, none have penetrated the of popular imagination through songs, stories and mythical tales like the Chisholm Trail.

“I woke up one morning on the old Chisholm Trail,
Rope in my hand a cow by the tail.
Feet in the stirrups and seat in the saddle,
I hung and rattled with them Longhorn cattle.”

“The Old Chisholm Trail” - (American folk song)

The major destination for Texas cattle was the cattle-shipping terminal established by Joseph G. McCoy in 1867.  Cattle drivers from Texas used a route blazed by trader Jesse Chisholm (pictured right), which extended from present day Spanish Fort (just north of Nocona, Texas) across the Red River, through the Indian territory (present day Oklahoma), to Wichita, Kansas.  As a result of this trail Chisholm’s name is indelibly linked to the vast movement of cattle from Texas to the northern markets.

It was during this period that Texas became the land of cattle barons and the image of the American cowboy first began to permeate the national consciousness.  This period was relatively short, beginning around 1867 and ending during the mid 1880’s.

Lest the name be misleading, not all “cowboys” were men.  There were women who joined the trail drives, and some drove their own herds.  A few even dressed as boys.

Bread, biscuits and pies were commonly baked in a Dutch oven (a large, heavy pot).  The cook, or coosie, placed burning coals under the pot and on top of its lid, allowing the food to cook from both sides.  The cook was second in charge behind the trail boss.  His meals were often the key to making the harsh drives tolerable.

Today, Crockett Ranch continues the historical Texas traditions with trail rides on the ranch and the LBJ Grasslands near Decatur, Texas.  We may have a state of the art facility, but we enjoy returning to our roots with chuck wagon cookouts, mounted quail hunts with Tennessee Walking Horses and excellent bird dogs, and other Texas outdoor sporting traditions. 

“All day long on the prairie in the saddle I ride
Not even a dog, boys, to trot by my side.
My fire I kindle with chips gathered round
And bail my own coffee without being ground.
I wash in a puddle and wipe on a sack,
I carry my wardrobe right here on my back.”

“A Cowboy Song,” - Life on the Trail