San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Y.O. Ranch’s new owners celebrate with auction, show
The new owners of the Y.O. Ranch recently hosted its 32nd annual exotic game auction, with 500 guests crowding the auction barn to bid on more than 200 lots of exotic animals.
Guests also were able to walk around the grounds, checking out the ranch’s animals, such as a white baby camel, bison, baby goats and full-grown camels. Then there was the the evening concert, featuring Ray Wylie Hubbard, Django Walker and Ryan Culwell.
A partnership out of San Antonio and Austin recently purchased the ranch for an undisclosed sum, and have said they want to take the ranch in a different direction.
“We didn’t really buy the ranch, it was more like a gift from God,” said Darren Casey with the Casey Group.
He said he felt compelled to purchase the ranch to preserve its place in Texas history.
“We have an obligation to preserve Texas history,” Casey said. “We owe it to our future Texans, future Americans. We are the stewards of history.”
Hunting on the ranch has been suspended temporarily, due to losses during the last two winter storms. The animals
need time to breed and replenish the herds.
Longhorn cattle have been a staple of the ranch for generations, beginning with the huge herds of longhorns driven by Capt. Charles Schreiner, in numbers as high as 300,000 or more on the trails.
Today, more than 60 animal species call the ranch home. Visitors who take tour the
ranch can see giraffes, cape buffalo, camels, several species of deer, bison, rheas from South America and lots of other farm animals.
Debbie Hagebush, director of tourism for the ranch, has been there for more than 28 years and has a close relationship with many of the animals. Most of them she calls by name, and she carries treats in her Polaris
four-wheeler when she visits them.
Bella, an African giraffe, has been with the ranch for as long as Hagebush has been there.
“I nursed Bella when she was a baby,” Hagebush said. “She is kind of skittish around people, but she loves the cookies I bring.”
Visitors to the ranch can arrange for tours that feature many of the exotic animals, historic homes and tourist features, such as the 1,000-seat amphitheater, the Old West hotel area and the many rooms and homes that are available for guests to stay in while visiting the ranch.
Part of the future for the Y.O. will be a heightened presence in the community, according to Suzanne Hoffmann Erickson, who is with the marketing firm that represents the ranch.
“The Y.O. Ranch is looking to bring more conventions to the ranch and large groups of people wanting to meet somewhere,” Erickson said. “The owners want the Y.O. Ranch to be even more of a destination location than they already are.”
Although the original 40,000-acre Y.O. Ranch has been whittled down over the years, there is an effort to return the ranch to its former glory. Several plots of land surrounding the ranch are in the process of being returned to the ranch through purchase. The ranch is currently at 11,200 acres.
“We can’t do this without the support of the community,” Casey said. “Also, we want our employees to feel a pride of ownership. They are not really employees, they are our partners.”